SMDL Query Designer User Interface
New: 14 April 2006
Report Designer provides several query designers to help you specify which data from a Report Server Model data source you want to use in a report. Use the graphical query designer to explore and choose model entities and entity fields. Use the generic query designer if you have an SMDL query specification in XML format. The Report Designer Data tab defaults to the graphical query designer.
Graphical Query Designer
Report Designer provides a graphical query designer that you can use to design and run SMDL queries that, during report processing, populate a report dataset. The graphical query designer is divided into three areas, or panes. The following figure labels each pane.
.gif "Semantic Model Query Designer UI")
The following table describes the function of each pane.
| Pane | Function |
|---|---|
Explorer pane |
Displays graphic representations of the entities and entity fields in the model. Use this pane to explore entities, their related entities, and fields. |
Design Area |
Displays a list of fields from the model. Use this pane to arrange the layout of the fields you've chosen. |
Results pane |
Displays the results of the query. To run the query, right-click in any pane, and then click Run, or click the Run ( |
Changing information in the Explorer or Design Area panes will affect the contents of the Result pane when you click Run.
To perform actions within a certain pane, such as deleting a column in the design area, right-click on the column and then click the command on the menu.
Important
If you create or update a query using the query designer, you must save the report or change to Layout view, which automatically saves the report, before your changes appear in the Report Datasets window.
You can also use toolbar buttons when designing your query.
.gif "Semantic Model Query Language - Designer toolbar")
The following table lists the buttons on the toolbar and what they can be used for.
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
.gif "Ellipsis (3 dots) to edit selected dataset")
|
Edit the selected dataset. |
.gif "Delete selected dataset")
|
Delete the selected dataset. |
.gif "Refresh dataset fields")
|
Refresh the dataset fields from the data source. If you have the Datasets window visible, any field changes you've made are updated in the list of fields for the selected dataset. To view the Datasets window, on the View menu, click Datasets. |
.gif "Icon of the Generic Query Designer button")
|
Toggle between generic query designer and graphical query designer. |
.gif "Undo action")
|
Undo the last action. |
.gif "Redo action")
|
Redo the last action. |
.gif "Run the query")
|
Run the query and display the resulting rows in the Result pane. |
.gif "Filter graphic next to selected filter column")
|
Open the Filter Data dialog box, which allows you to specify which data you would like to filter on. You can specify filters independently of data currently in the Design Area. |
Generic Query Designer
When you create a Report Server Model dataset, Report Designer defaults the view to the graphical query designer. To switch to the generic query designer, click the generic query designer () toggle button on the toolbar.
The generic query designer consists of two panes: an SMQL query pane and a Result pane. This query designer view is primarily useful when you already have an SMQL query specification from some other source and would like to paste it in the query pane. Unlike the graphical query designer, the generic query designer does not check query syntax or restructure the query. When you click Run on the toolbar, the query runs on the data source and the results are displayed in the Result pane.
.gif "Generic Semantic Model Language Query Designer")
The following table describes the function of each pane.
| Pane | Function |
|---|---|
Query pane |
Displays the SMQL specification text. Use this pane to edit or paste a query using SMQL query language. |
Result pane |
Displays the results of the query. To run the query, right-click in any pane, and then click Run, or click the Run button on the toolbar. |
You can also use toolbar buttons when designing your query.
.gif "Semantic query language designer toolbar")
The following table lists the buttons on the toolbar and what they can be used for.
| Button | Description |
|---|---|
|
|
Edit the selected dataset. |
|
|
Delete the selected dataset. |
|
|
Refresh the dataset fields in the Datasets window from the current query text. |
|
|
Run the query text and display the resulting row set in the Result pane. |
See Also
Other Resources
Query Design Tools in Reporting Services
Defining Report Datasets
Defining Report Datasets from Report Model Data Sources