Reporting Tips for people using SSRS, SSIS, SSAS, SSMS, PowerBI, and Excel.

1. 60 Reporting Tips in
60 Minutes
April 20 - 22, 2015 | Santa Clara, CA
Ike Ellis
Partner
Crafting Bytes

2. SSRS: HTML color picker websites

3. SSRS: Skip GIS, use MorgueFile

4. SSMS: Query Shortcuts
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM
SELECT TOP 100 * FROM

5. SSMS: Don’t forget the splitter bar

6. SSMS: Comment Shortcut Key
CTRL-K, C
CTRL-K, U

7. Lifehack: Start 2014 with a jar and fill it
with notes of good things that happen
Next New Year’s Eve, empty the jar and see what awesome
stuff happened that year.

8. Performance: Check for heaps/clustered
indexes
SELECT t.[Name] FROM sys.Indexes i
JOIN sys.Tables t
ON t.Object_ID = i.Object_id
WHERE i.type_desc = 'HEAP'
ORDER BY t.[Name]

9. Performance: Index all the keys
select object_name(c.object_id), c.name from sys.columns c
where c.name like '%id'
and c.object_id not in
(
select object_id
from sys.index_columns
)

10. Lifehack: Readable Presentations
Take the average age of the people in your audience and
divide by 2: That’s your font size
Do you want to know what I think you’re average is? My font size is
typically 20 – 24.

11. SSIS: The proper way to execute an SSIS
package

12. Power BI - Visualization: Bad Dashboard

13. Power BI - Visualization: Use color
sparingly.
In nature, colors do two things:
1) Entice
2) Warn
So let’s use them sparingly..
WARNING: POISON FROG!

14. Power BI -Visualization: Stephen Few

15. Power BI - Visualization: Cynthia Brewer

16. Power BI: Tips for Visualization
Make the most important information the biggest
Put it in the upper-left corner

17. T-SQL: No reason to use ISNULL 
CONCAT!
Messy vs clean code
No + symbol needed
No ISNULL needed

18. Lifehack: If you backpack, but need
news, search Wikipedia by month &
year

19. Search Schema: Object Explorer Details
F7

20. Search Schema: T-SQL
select object_name(object_id), definition as name
from sys.all_sql_modules
where definition like '%cust%'

21. Search Schema: SQL Search - Free

22. SSDT: Search options
Spotlight

23. T-SQL: Use windowing functions
Neat evolution

24. Lifehack: Presentation tip

25. T-SQL: Prettify!
http://extras.sqlservercentral.com/prettifier/prettifier.aspx
RedGate PlugIn for SQL Server Management Studio

26. TSQL: Or use SQLPrompt - RedGate

27. T-SQL: Execute scripts over multiple
servers

28. Tip: Life is so easy with a dates table
Find the sales numbers for the first Monday of every month
of the year
T-SQL with no dates table
T-SQL with dates table

29. Lifehack: Motorcyclist signaling cop to
other motorcyclist
Looks like a siren on top!

30. T-SQL: Try_Cast
Avoiding terrible casting errors

31. T-SQL: Never reinvent the wheel – SQL#
Take SQL# for example
Good Documentation
Easy Syntax
Cheap (and much of it is free)

32. LIfehack: If you take a power strip to
the airport during the winter, you’ll be a
hero

33. T-SQL: Save scripts in a project for easy
navigation

34. SSRS: Log, Log, Log (and beware of
subscriptions)select c.Name
, e.InstanceName
, e.UserName
, e.Parameters
, e.TimeStart
, e.TimeEnd
, e.TimeDataRetrieval
, e.TimeProcessing
, e.TimeRendering
from executionlog e
join catalog c
on e.reportid = c.ItemID
Send a Link, or a file on a shared folder that you can audit. Find someway to audit who opened the link or the file
in the folder. Try to avoid sending the PDF without a way to audit it.

35. Performance: Big lines
When troubleshooting, thick rows means lots of data, thin rows mean not much data.
You’re probably better off following the thick rows.

36. Lifehack: Today’s most precious
commodity – FOCUS!

37. SSRS: Store colors in the database
Colors = Business Logic
Put it in the database
Use Expressions to read the colors
Include action colors and levels

38. SSRS: Get Buy-in to Export to Single
Format
Build to export to a single format
• Excel
• Word
• Web
• PDF
Then get buy-in and make it a standard in the organization
Demo: Build to export to excel

39. Manage: Alias, Obscure, and De-couple
Views, Aliases

40. Lifehack: Keep notes daily on what you
do
Makes CVs easier
Makes reviews easier
Makes promotions easier

41. SSAS: Views are better than DSVs
• Easier to manage
• Can use SQL Search tools
• Can use SQL Dependency Tools
• Have a set of views only used by analysis services..so you
can change them without telling anyone else

42. SSRS: Used Linked Reports to Manage
Security
• Allows you to use Role assignments and
• Not have duplicate reports in folders
• Not have users in folders they shouldn’t be in
• Not manage security on individual reports

43. Management: Use Active Directory for
report security and cube security
User
Active Directory Group
Permission
One group – One Report

44. Management: Keep Report Quantity
Small
Too many reports means that there are more things to keep
consistent
Reports that aren’t used, tend to get forgotten, and then
used with bad data

45. Manage: Interview one person at a time
when gathering requirements

46. Manage: Find the key person
• They know a lot
• They have time
• They respond quickly
• They are most often right
• They might not be
likeable, and that’s OK
• Success – Work in their
office

47. Lifehack: If you want ambient light, do
this

48. SSAS: Change one thing at a time
And break calculations down to their simplest form, deploy,
test, and change one more thing.

49. Manage: Very few KPIs and numbers!
""The well-intentioned desire to be great at everything is
precisely what leads to exhausted
mediocrity" https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DWKvSG_
9s5I"
Walmart customer service

50. SSRS: Use a report footer
Put row count there

51. SSRS: Report footer
Put executive sponsor there & email address

52. Data mart: Use friendly names
everywhere
Use spaces and long names

53. Manage: Use a wiki for taxonomy
Record owner
Record changes
Record technical calculation

54. Lifehack: Have the child call you
Whenever someone comes around saying "Would you like
to buy blah blah blah, my kid is going to do whatever."
I tell them, "Yes, I would love to! But your child has to be
the one to ask me." I then give them my number and say
the child can call anytime after 6pm.

55. Career: Learn in a group

56. SSMS: Status bar on top

57. SSMS: Color the status bar

58. Excel: Defer Layout Update
SSAS – Prevent load and delay when using
pivot tables.

59. Excel: Four Directional Arrow for
custom sort

60. Excel: Sorting is by level

61. Excel: Filter – Keep only selected items
And hide selected item.
Notice the total changes.

62. Excel: Member Search

63. SSMS: Script parameters

64. Windows: Use the middle mouse
button to close tabs
Close windows fast
Works in Chrome, SSDT, SSMS, Excel, Everywhere

65. SSMS: Quickly alias columns
CTRL-ALT-DOWNARROW for block selection

66. Manage: How to share passwords

67. LAST TIP! My YouTube Channel!
https://www.youtube.com/user/IkeEllisData

68. Contact Me!
http://blog.ikeellis.com
http://www.ikeellis.com
YouTube
• http://www.youtube.com/user/IkeEllisData
SQL Pass Book Readers
• http://bookreaders.sqlpass.org/
San Diego Tech Immersion Group
Twitter: @ike_ellis
619.922.9801
Email address is just my first name @ikeellis.com

69. Your feedback
is important
and valuable.
Submit by
11:59 PM PT,
April 30, 2015 to
WIN prizes
Session Evaluations
Go to
passbac2015/evals
Download the PASS
EVENT App from
your App Store and
search: PASS BAC
2015
Follow the QR code
link displayed on
session signage and
in the program
guide

70. for attending this
session and the
PASS Business
Analytics
Conference 2015
Thank
You