1.1 Glossary
This document uses the following terms:
absolute path: A string that identifies the location of a file and that begins with a drive identifier and root directory or network share and ends with the complete file name. Examples are C:\Documents\Work\example.txt and \\netshare\Documents\Work\example.txt.
action: An interactivity event in a report, such as a hyperlink, bookmark link, or drillthrough link, that is associated with an item in a report.
aggregate function: A function that returns a single value by summarizing data. RDL specifies the following standard aggregate functions: Sum, Avg, Max, Min, Count, CountDistinct, CountRows, StDev, StDevP, Var, and VarP. In addition, RDL specifies the following advanced aggregate functions: First, Last, Previous, RunningValue, RowNumber, and Aggregate.
anti-aliasing: The smoothing of the jagged appearance of font characters and lines, which is an artifact of the limited resolution on an output device. The pixels that surround the edges of the character glyph or line are changed to varying shades of color in order to blend the sharp edge into the background.
background image: The background that appears behind an entire report or a particular report item.
band: An interactive tablix with a navigation mechanism. Multiple navigation mechanisms are available to choose for navigating through the band sheets.
band sheet: A page in a band. A band can have more than one sheet.
bookmark: An anchor that is used in a report to assist navigation, typically through the use of hyperlinks. A bookmark link in a report sends the user to another location in the report.
border skin: The appearance of the border that is drawn around a chart or map.
chart: An object that displays data or the relationships between sets of data in a visual form.
chart area: A region in a chart object that is used to position chart elements, render axes, and plot data.
chart data region: A report item on a report layout that displays data in a graphical format.
chart item: An item within a chart such as an axis, legend, series, data point, data label, trendline, error bar, or data table.
class: A reference to a class module whose methods and properties can be used within a report.
CLS-compliant identifier: An identifier that must follow the rules of Annex 7 of Technical Report 15 of the Unicode Standard 3.0 [UTR15], which governs the set of characters that can start and be included in identifiers. For two identifiers to be considered distinct, they must differ by more than just their case.
color palette: A collection of colors that is available to format text, shapes, cells, and chart elements.
column header: The header area of a column in a data region layout.
column member: A member in a data region layout that represents a column, including an optional header, an optional grouping of data, and an optional inner hierarchy.
coverflow: A mechanism that is used for navigating among band sheets.
custom property: Data that can be passed from a report for use by a custom report item or a custom user-defined renderer.
custom report item: A report item that provides a way to add certain types of report functionality that is not natively supported in the RDL schema.
data correlation: A join between related datasets.
data element: An element that describes how report data is to be represented in a text rendering.
data point: A prototype for the data values that are displayed by a chart series. Data points can be displayed in different shapes depending on the chart type.
data provider: A known data source that is specific to a target type and that provides data to a collector type.
data region: A region of a table that encompasses the range of cells that contains the table records. A data region does not include the header row, insert row, or total row of a table.
data rendering: A rendering of a report that is intended for data processing by a machine and that does not necessarily contain any visual information for human reading.
data scope: An RDL data scope: dataset, data region, dynamic member, and cell.
data visualization data region: A data region for a chart or gauge panel.
dataset: A named specification that includes a data source definition, a query definition, and optional parameter values, calculated fields, and filtering and collation information as part of a report definition (.rdl) file. An .rdl file can have multiple datasets.
derived series: A set of data points whose values are calculated by using statistical or financial formulas. Also called "calculated series".
detail group: A Group element that has no descendant group expressions.
detail member: A dynamic member that has no descendant group expressions.
detail scope: A scope represented by a Group element that has no descendant group expression.
deviceinfo: A string key/value pair of configuration information that is passed to a renderer.
document map: A UI element that provides a hierarchical listing of report items and group labels within the UI, and that reflects the object containment hierarchy in the report definition. The preferred listing for peer items is left-to-right top-to-bottom order.
drillthrough parameter: A parameter that can be passed to a drillthrough report.
drillthrough report: A report that can be executed and viewed after clicking a report item that contains an action that has a drillthrough link.
dynamic category: A dynamic member in the ChartCategoryHierarchy element or DynamicCategories element.
dynamic column: A member in a data region layout that represents a column and repeats based on its data grouping.
dynamic group: A Group element that has at least one descendant group expression.
dynamic member: A member that has a Group element descendant. See also detail member and static member.
dynamic row: A member in a data region layout that represents a row and repeats based on its data grouping.
dynamic series: A dynamic member in the ChartSeriesHierarchy element or DynamicSeries element.
embedded image: An image that is stored within a document rather than being linked to a source file that is outside the document.
empty point: A data point that does not have values for the value axis.
filter: A set of criteria that controls the set of records that is returned as a result set.
gauge: A presentation of data as a range with an indicator that points to a specific value within the range.
gauge panel: The encompassing outer element that contains one or more radial gauges and linear gauges. The gauge panel is used to define properties that apply to all gauges in a gauge panel.
global collection: A collection of predefined property names accessible to all expressions in a report.
group expression: An expression by which to group the data.
grouping scope: A column member or row member in a data region layout that has a non-empty descendant group element.
image: A rectangular grid of pixels that has a definite height and a definite width and that can be displayed in a report.
interactive renderer: A renderer for reports that can also output interactivity features such as actions.
intersection scope: The scope at the intersection of a dynamic column group and a dynamic row group, such as TablixCell, DataCell, and ChartDataPoint.
join: A combination of data from multiple sources that is based upon a common attribute or join condition.
leaf level: The bottom level of a data region member hierarchy. A leaf member does not have children.
line: A standalone segment that connects two points within a report.
line layer: A map layer that displays line-based spatial elements.
line template: An appearance template that is applied to map lines in a mapline layer.
linear gauge: A gauge that is rectangular in shape and can contain one or more linear pointers.
linear pointer: A vertically or horizontally facing pointer that points to a value in a linear gauge.
linear scale: A vertically or horizontally aligned scale that can cover a range of values within a linear gauge.
list: A report item on a report layout that displays data in a list format.
list data region: A report item on a report layout that displays data in a list format.
map: A report item on a report layout that displays data as a graphical map visualization.
map bucket: A report item on a report layout that displays data as a graphical map visualization.
map color scale: A scale that displays the range of colors that are used for data distribution in a map.
map coordinate: The coordinate system that is used for map contents.
map distance scale: A scale that displays the distance scale in a map.
map item: A spatial item (map polygon, map point, or map line) that is displayed in a map layer.
map layer: A layer that contains map items in a map.
map line: A visual element in a map that displays a line-based spatial element.
map marker: A visual element that is used to mark a map point within a map.
map meridian: Vertical gridlines that are displayed in a map.
map parallel: The horizontal gridlines that are displayed in a map.
map point: A visual element in a map that displays a point-based spatial element.
map polygon: A visual element in a map that displays a polygon-based spatial element.
map tile: An image that displays a portion of a tile layer.
map viewport: A rectangular area that shows the content of a map.
marker template: A template that is applied to map markers in a polygon layer or a point layer.
matrix: A report item on a report layout that displays data in a variable columnar format.
matrix data region: A report item on a report layout that displays data in a variable columnar format.
member: A general term for a tablix member, data member, chart member, or gauge member.
MIME type: A method that is used by protocol clients to associate files of a certain type with applications that can open or access files of that type.
null value: A term that means "having no explicitly assigned value." In particular, a null value is different from a zero or a blank.
page: Represents the layout settings for page-oriented report rendering formats.
page footer: A set of static text, images, lines, rectangles, borders, background color, and background images that repeats on the bottom of each page of a report.
page header: A set of static text, images, lines, rectangles, borders, background color, and background images that repeats on the top of each page of a report.
physical-page oriented renderer: A renderer that generates page breaks based on physical measurements. The renderer can set properties to precisely control how the pages will break in reports.
play axis: A mechanism for navigating among band sheets.
plot area: A portion of a chart area that contains the plotted data and axes.
point layer: A map layer that displays point-based spatial elements.
pointer image: An image that is used as a pointer within a gauge.
polygon layer: A map layer that displays polygon-based spatial elements.
polygon template: An appearance template that is to be applied to map polygons within a polygon layer.
query: A dataset query instance.
radial gauge: A gauge that is circular in shape and that can contain one or more radial pointers.
radial pointer: An outward pointer that points to a value within a radial gauge.
radial scale: A circular or arched scale that can cover a range of values within a radial gauge.
rectangle: A report item that can be used as a container for multiple report items or as a graphical element on a report.
related dataset: A dataset that with another dataset defines a relationship.
relationship: A combination of related dataset and join conditions to perform data correlation.
relative path: A string that specifies a folder path or a web directory (such as "/details") relative to either the current report directory (such as "/salesreports") or the current URL for the report server (such as "http://reportserver").
renderer: An application that outputs representations of reports, which contain visual layout information and/or data to be used by consumers of the reports.
report: An object that is a combination of three kinds of information: data or other kinds of information about how to obtain the data (queries) as well as the structure of the data; layout or formatting information that describes how the data is presented; and properties of the report, such as author of the report, report parameters, and images included in the report.
report definition: The blueprint for a report before the report is processed or rendered. A report definition contains information about the query and layout for the report.
report item: An object that exists on a report layout.
report layout: A region in a report that consists of a body area and optional page header and page footer areas.
report parameter: A parameter that is defined within a report definition. All query parameters have report parameters, but report parameters can be created independent of a query.
report parameter layout grid: A grid that is used to define a layout for report parameters. All report parameters are laid out on this grid regardless of their visibility when the report is rendered.
report section: A section within a report layout.
row header: The header area of a row in a data region layout.
row member: A member in a data region layout that represents a row, including an optional header, an optional grouping of data, and an optional inner hierarchy.
rowset: A set of rows in which each row has columns of data.
scale break: An intentional break on the value axis that is meant to improve the readability of data points on a chart when there are large differences between data point values.
scope: An item that represents a hierarchy in a report. There are explicit scopes (such as data region, dataset, group) and implicit scopes (such as report scope). At any level in the hierarchy, there can be only one ancestor scope (except for the top-level report scope and the page scope) but an unlimited number of descendants as well as peer scopes.
server subtotal: An aggregate that is already precalculated in the retrieved dataset.
shapefile: A geospatial vector file format that is used for storing geometric information.
slider: A navigation control for a band.
slider metadata: A dataset that contains identifier (Key) and Label data for every single band sheet.
spatial element: An element that is displayed in a map layer.
static category: A static member in the ChartCategoryHierarchy element or StaticCategories element.
static column: A member in a data region layout that represents a column that does not have a Group element descendant.
static member: A member, such as a TablixMember or ChartMember, that does not have a Group element descendant. See also dynamic member.
static row: A member in a data region layout that represents a row that does not have a Group element descendant.
static series: A static member in the ChartSeriesHierarchy element or StaticSeries element.
StringArray: An array of string.
strip line: Vertical and horizontal lines that are used to highlight specific sections of a chart area.
table: A data region on a report layout that displays data in a columnar format.
table group: A group within a table.
tablix: A data region that contains rows and columns that resembles a table or matrix, possibly sharing characteristics of both.
tabstrip: A mechanism to navigate among band sheets.
text box: A report item that represents textual information with formatting.
tile layer: A layer that displays an image-based map in a map viewport.
toggle image: The initial hidden or displayed state, represented by an image that displays +/-, for a report item that has a toggle item.
variant: A value that is specified as one of the following RDL types: String, Integer, DateTime, Float, or Binary.
VariantArray: An array of objects.
Well-Known Binary: A data format that provides a portable representation of a geometric values as a contiguous stream of bytes as defined by [ISO19125-2].
zIndex: Specifies the drawing order of an item within the containing item. Items are drawn in order according to the zIndex element for the item. Items with lower indices are drawn first, appearing behind items with higher indices.
MAY, SHOULD, MUST, SHOULD NOT, MUST NOT: These terms (in all caps) are used as defined in [RFC2119]. All statements of optional behavior use either MAY, SHOULD, or SHOULD NOT.