Chapter 1, Introduction to Reporting in Microsoft Dynamics CRM explains the different types of reports we can use in Dynamics CRM. Further, it explains SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) and how to install the Dynamics CRM 2011 Extensions. It also covers how to install the Microsoft Dynamics CRM 2011 Report Authoring Extension, which we are going to use and explain later in this book.

Chapter 2, Database Basics explains the entity-relationship model of Dynamics CRM; we will review the basic and advanced commands of the SQL language as well as the FETCH XML language that we will need to use in order to create the queries we will use in our reports. We are going to keep using these two languages in the following chapters.

Chapter 3, Creating Your First Report in CRM helps us to create our first report using the Report Wizard and also to export the report to be edited with Visual Studio 2008, where we will make some customizations to reupload the report in Dynamics CRM. We will also see how to publish the report to be visible on the Reporting Server manager for external use.

Chapter 4, SQL Server Report Builder helps us to create our first report using the Report Builder and shows us the features we can use that were not available in the standard CRM Report Wizard. We will also create an advanced report using the Map Wizard, where we will show the records held by the USA.

Chapter 5, Creating Contextual Reports explains the advanced tools and controls we can use to create reports with Visual Studio. We will review the CRM Report parameters and the chart controls. This chapter explains the differences between the data source and datasets, and finally looks at how to use the groups, drill-down and collapsible controls in reports.

Chapter 6, Creating Inline Reports shows us how we can embed a report inside any entity form by creating a custom solution that uses an HTML web resource. We will also see how to implement this custom solution on the account entity using the account overview report. We will then review the development toolkit, which will help us work in a more organized manner with custom CRM solutions to get the benefit of IntelliSense. The deployment capability also allows us to integrate our source code with a source controller software, such as the Team Foundation server.

Chapter 7, Using Reports and Charts in Dashboard shows us how we can integrate a report in a CRM Dashboard and explains the chart basics as well as more advanced details; this is always a good option to display important information about the CRM system if we don't want to use reports.

Chapter 8, Advance Custom Reporting and Automation shows us how we can integrate a custom ASP.NET or Silverlight application to show a dynamic or more sophisticated report inside Dynamics CRM 2011. We will look at the different ways to bind CRM data by using early or late binding methods, and finally we will look at some ways to automate SSRS reports by either using scheduling or by automating export report generation with code.

Chapter 9, Failure Recovery and Best Practices shows us how we can troubleshoot different authentication issues we might face when working with reports in Dynamics CRM, as well as the different ways to improve the report development performance and deployment by using some of the best practices for SQL Reporting Services.

Chapter 10, Mobile Client shows us the new features of Dynamics CRM and SQL Server 2012 to show and run reports on mobile devices, such as iPhone, iPad, and Surface. We will look at how to configure the IFD authentication so we can give external users access to our on-premise CRM environment.

Appendix, Expression Snippets shows us some basic expressions and how we can use them in our reports; we will learn how to use constants, variables, and functions, as well as using external .NET assemblies by using the references. Finally, we will look at the user interaction controls that will help us interact with the users.

This book is an indispensable guide for users and developers new to Dynamics CRM Reports and SQL Server Reporting Services, and who are looking to get a good grounding in using the reporting capabilities of Dynamics CRM 2011. It's assumed that you will already have some experience in HTML and JavaScript to build advanced reports, but no previous programming experience is required to build and learn how to create some basic to intermediate reports, which will be used for the exercises within this book.

In this book, you will find a number of styles of text that distinguish between different kinds of information. Here are some examples of these styles, and an explanation of their meaning.

Code words in text are shown as follows: "To group you add the aggregate='true' attribute to the fetch node."

A block of code is set as follows:

<fetch version="1.0" mapping="logical" distinct="false">
  <entity name="account">
    <attribute name="telephone1" />
  </entity>
</fetch>

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

DataTable accounts = new DataTable("Accounts");
            accounts.Columns.Add("name");
            accounts.Columns.Add("accountid");
            string fetchQuery = @" 
                <fetch distinct='false' mapping='logical' > 

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

declare @name as varchar(160)
declare @revenue as money

New terms and important words are shown in bold. Words that you see on the screen, in menus or dialog boxes for example, appear in the text like this: "Check the checkbox that says I accept this license agreement and click on I Accept to continue".

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