Adding a Gauge in C#.NET

Paint Code128 in C#.NET Adding a Gauge

In the Gauge data region, you can display a single value in your dataset. Gauges are useful for displaying key performance indicators (KPIs). You can also use a gauge inside a table or matrix to illustrate values inside each cell. A gauge is always positioned inside a gauge panel. You can add child or adjacent gauges in the gauge panel. You might want to use multiple gauges in a single gauge panel to compare data between fields. You can use two types of gauges: radial and linear. Both types have pointers. A radial gauge has a pivot point around which one or more pointers rotate. A linear gauge displays the values as a portion of the scale of the gauge in a horizontal or vertical orientation. You select the gauge type when you add a gauge to your report by dragging the Gauge report item from the Toolbox window. However, you cannot change the gauge type in the same way

you change a chart type to change the gauge type, you must remove the gauge and then add a new gauge. You can change the other gauge properties by right-clicking the gauge and then clicking Gauge or Gauge Properties. From the Gauge option, which is actually a submenu, you can define scale, range, pointer, and gauge panel properties. From the Gauge Properties option, you can change general properties, such as name and size, frame and fill options, and actions. When you right-click a gauge, you can also add a scale, a pointer, a range, a gauge label, and an adjacent gauge.

The Tablix data region is probably the mostly used data region. You can use a Tablix to display fields from a dataset, grouped or detailed, and in a grid or free-form layout. You can add a Tablix to your report by dragging a Table, Matrix, or List template from the Toolbox window. The template choice gives you the initial shape of the Tablix; however, you are not limited to this initial choice. You can modify the Tablix design later by adding groups, totals, labels, nested groups, independent adjacent groups, or even recursive groups. Use the Table template as your starting point when your goal is to display detail data and row groups. Use the Matrix report item as your starting point when you need to present aggregated data summaries, grouped in rows and columns similar to Microsoft Office Excel PivotTables. And use the List template as your starting point to create a free-form layout. A single Tablix, as is the case with a single chart, is bound to a single dataset. You will learn more about designing a Tablix in the practices for this chapter and in 11.

SSRS also lets you configure other graphical elements, such as lines and rectangles, to add visual effects to your report. To add a graphical item, drag the item from the Toolbox window onto the design surface in the Report Designer. In addition, you can display another report a subreport inside the body of a main report. A subreport is similar to a frame in a Web page. Typically, you would use parameters to filter datasets in the subreport and then pass parameters from the main report to the subreport. For example, you could have a main report showing sum of sales per product and a subreport showing product details for a specific product, using ProductId as a parameter to filter the subreport s dataset. You would open the subreport through an action defined on the product name field in the parent report. You will learn about dataset filters in 11, and you will see how actions work later in this chapter.