You are designing a SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services (SSRS) solution. You have a report that has several parameters that are populated when users execute the report. You need to ensure that the solution meets the following requirements:
-Users can define their own default parameter values for the report.
-Users can schedule snapshots at any time.
Which feature should you use?
A.
My Reports
B.
Linked Reports
C.
Standard Subscription
D.
Data-Driven Subscription
Explanation:
Tip: "schedule snapshots" = "Linked Reports"With a linked report, our report is deployed to one folder. It is then pointed to by links placed elsewhere within the Report Catalog. To the user, the links look just like a report. Because of these links, the report appears to be in many places. The sales department sees it in their folder. The personnel department sees it in their folder. The fact of the matter is the report is only deployed to one location, so it is easy to administer and maintain.
An execution snapshot is another way to create a cached report instance. Up to this point, we have discussed situations where cached report instances are created as the result of a user action. A user requests a report, and a copy of that reports intermediate format is placed in the report cache. With execution snapshots, a cached report instance is created automatically.
Not all users can change execution snapshots. To change the execution snapshot properties for a report, you must have rights to the Manage Reports task. Of the four predefined security roles, the Content Manager, My Reports, and Publisher roles have rights to this task.
(McGraw-Hill – Delivering Business Intelligence with Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (2009))http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630404.aspx
A linked report is a report server item that provides an access point to an existing report. Conceptually, it is similar to a program shortcut that you use to run a program or open a file.
A linked report is derived from an existing report and retains the original’s report definition. A linked report always inherits report layout and data source properties of the original report. All other properties and settings can be different from those of the original report, including security, parameters, location, subscriptions, and schedules.
You can create a linked report on the report server when you want to create additional versions of an existing report. For example, you could use a single regional sales report to create region-specific reports for all of your sales territories.
Although linked reports are typically based on parameterized reports, a parameterized report is not required. You can create linked reports whenever you want to deploy an existing report with different settings.