Create dynamic business intelligence (BI) solutions for SharePoint faster and with more capabilities than previously possible. With this book, you’ll learn the entire process—from high-level concepts to development and deployment—for building data-rich BI applications with Visual Studio LightSwitch, SQL Server 2012, and a host of related Microsoft technologies.
You’ll learn practical techniques and patterns necessary to use all of these technologies together as you build an example application through the course of the book, step by step. Discover how to solve real problems, using BI solutions that will evolve to meet future needs.
* Learn the fundamentals of SharePoint, LightSwitch, and SQL Server 2012
* Get a solid grounding in BI application basics and database design principles
* Use LightSwitch to build a help desk app, including data model design and SharePoint data integration
* Build a tabular cube with Microsoft’s Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM)
* Dive into the data visualization stack, including Excel and SQL Server Reporting Services
* Create reports with Excel Services, Report Builder, and PowerView
* Use tips and tricks for setting up your BI application development environment

David Feldman is a software development manager in the defense industry. He is an industry-recognized expert in SharePoint, SSAS, Silverlight and SQL. Built a world-class technical organization of 40+ Microsoft Certified developers and infrastructure architects.

Jason Himmelstein is an IT Pro Solutions Architect with more than 15 years of experience working with Microsoft and related technologies. With a passion for technology, Jason has spent the past 7 years dedicated to SharePoint, becoming a recognized expert in the field. Having successfully architected solutions for up to 120,000 users, Mr. Himmelstein maintains an active speaking schedule, addressing conferences in the United States & Canada. He is currently the Senior Technical Director for SharePoint at a New England based consulting firm.

Preface;
Why You Need to Read This Book;
Business Application Components;
The Example Application;
Conventions Used in This Book;
Using Code Examples;
Safari® Books Online;
How to Contact Us;
Acknowledgments;
;
Chapter 1: SharePoint, Apps, and Business Intelligence;
1.1 So What Does All This Have to Do with Business Intelligence?;
Chapter 2: Choosing the Right Tools for the Job;
2.1 Technology Selection Goals;
2.2 Solution Components;
2.3 Visual Studio LightSwitch;
2.4 SharePoint Server 2010-2013;
2.5 SharePoint Development: Past, Present, and Future;
2.6 SQL Server 2012 for Business Intelligence;
2.7 Summary;
Chapter 3: Basic Concepts of Relational Database Design;
3.1 Normalization;
3.2 Many-to-Many Relationships;
3.3 Summary;
;
Chapter 4: Why You Need LightSwitch;
4.1 Traditional SharePoint Development Is Difficult;
4.2 Custom Development Is Tedious;
4.3 Build Custom Apps, Coding Optional;
Chapter 5: Start with Data;
5.1 Defining Basic Fields and Data Types;
5.2 Using the Properties Window;
5.3 Enhancing a String with a Choice List;
5.4 Setting Default Values;
5.5 Adding Relationships;
5.6 Business Types;
5.7 Defining Uniqueness;
5.8 Practicing What We Just Learned;
5.9 Calculated Computed Properties;
5.10 Advanced Relationships;
5.11 Summary;
Chapter 6: Screens: The LightSwitch User Interface;
6.1 Creating Screens;
6.2 Creating a Modal Window;
6.3 Summary;
Chapter 7: Adding Business Logic;
7.1 Change Tracking in LightSwitch;
7.2 Factoring Out Repeated Logic;
7.3 Customizing the Add and Edit Buttons;
7.4 Designing Running Screens;
7.5 Creating a Custom Details Page;
7.6 Custom Validation;
7.7 Summary;
Chapter 8: Application Security, Access Control, and Personalizing Your Application;
8.1 Enabling Authentication: Windows or Forms;
8.2 Adding a Welcome Message Using Our ViewModel;
8.3 Summary;
Chapter 9: Running and Debugging Our Application;
9.1 The LightSwitch Runtime Experience;
9.2 The LightSwitch Grid Control;
9.3 Search;
9.4 Running as a Web Application;
9.5 Summary;
Chapter 10: LightSwitch with SharePoint Data;
10.1 Logical SharePoint Architecture;
10.2 Adding a SharePoint Data Source;
10.3 Populating the Knowledge Base;
10.4 Summary;
Chapter 11: Deploying Your LightSwitch Application;
11.1 The Application Designer;
11.2 The Publishing Wizard;
11.3 Deploying Your Packages to the Server;
11.4 Summary;
;
Chapter 12: Introduction to Business Intelligence;
12.1 What Is Business Intelligence?;
12.2 Applications of Business Intelligence;
12.3 Microsoft's Tools for Business Intelligence;
12.4 Summary;
Chapter 13: Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM);
13.1 Why Business Intelligence Semantic Model?;
13.2 BISM Design Goals;
13.3 Business Intelligence Semantic Model Architecture;
13.4 Consuming Data from OData Sources;
13.5 How Do Existing Analysis Services Applications Translate to the New Semantic Model?;
13.6 Pros and Cons of the New BI Tabular Data Model;
13.7 How Do the Data Access Methodologies Stack Up?;
13.8 Business Logic;
13.9 DAX Syntax;
13.10 Getting Started with DAX;
Chapter 14: Populating Sample Data into Our Database;
14.1 Downloading Adventure Works Data from Microsoft;
14.2 Attaching the Database;
14.3 Importing People from Adventure Works;
14.4 Synthesizing Help Desk Queues from Adventure Works;
14.5 Importing Tickets from Adventure Works;
14.6 Review the Results;
Chapter 15: Building the Help Desk Tabular Cube;
15.1 Importing SQL Server Data into PowerPivot;
15.2 Connecting Excel to the PowerPivot Model;
15.3 Importing Data from the Windows Azure Marketplace DataMarket;
15.4 Summary;
Chapter 16: Enriching the Cube: Relationships and DAX;
16.1 Relationships in PowerPivot;
16.2 Manually Adding Relationships;
16.3 Traversing Relationships with DAX;
16.4 Hiding Columns and Tables from Client Tools;
16.5 Using DAX to Aggregate Rows in a Related Table;
16.6 Calculating Earliest and Latest Related Dates with DAX;
16.7 Parsing Strings with DAX;
16.8 Counting and Aggregating Related Rows with DAX;
16.9 Count of Distinct Values with DAX;
16.10 Calculating the Difference Between Dates with DAX;
16.11 Adding a Measure from the Excel Side;
16.12 Counting Rows Across an Inactive Relationship;
16.13 Creating a Hierarchy for Dates;
16.14 Looking Up Related Data Without an Active Relationship;
16.15 Summary;
Chapter 17: Deploying to SharePoint;
17.1 Sharing with Your Team;
17.2 Summary;
Chapter 18: SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS);
18.1 Scalability;
18.2 Manageability;
18.3 Security;
18.4 Development Tools;
18.5 Direct Feature Comparison;
18.6 Upgrading a PowerPivot Workbook to a Tabular Model;
18.7 Validating the Deployment;
18.8 Automating Processing Your Cube;
18.9 Summary;
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Chapter 19: PivotTable Basics;
19.1 Meaning from Data;
19.2 The Universal Business Intelligence ToolComment [RR1]: Should the first ...pages be a chapter on Excel 2012 or maybe even an Appendix...it seems like a bunch of great but individual things you can do with you data...no flow...Comment [DMF2]: This is the chapter you broke from one huge chapter into many. I think the chapter just needs to be renamed as its really just pivot table basics. Excel continues for several chapters and excel services isn't in this chapter anymoreComment [GM3]: I renamed it Pivot Table Basics.;
19.3 PivotTables;
19.4 Ranking Largest to Smallest;
19.5 Percentage of Parent Row;
19.6 Filtering and Sorting PivotTable Dimensions;
19.7 Visual Totals;
19.8 Values on Rows;
19.9 PivotCharts;
19.10 Summary;
Chapter 20: Slicers;
20.1 Inserting an Additional PivotTable;
20.2 Connecting Additional PivotTables to Slicers;
20.3 Summary;
Chapter 21: Formatting;
21.1 Custom Slicer Formatting;
21.2 Disabling Gridlines and Headings;
21.3 Formatting PivotTables and PivotCharts;
21.4 Summary;
Chapter 22: PivotTable Named Sets;
22.1 Scenario: Last Four Years of Ticket Counts and Total Average Time to Closure;
22.2 Reusing a Named Set for Another Chart;
22.3 Summary;
Chapter 23: Sparklines and Data Bars;
23.1 Sparklines: Intense, Simple, Word-Sized Graphics;
23.2 Adding a Data Bar;
23.3 Summary;
Chapter 24: Configuring a Gallery for Reporting Services, Power View, and Excel Services;
24.1 Enabling Required Features;
24.2 Creating the PowerPivot Gallery;
24.3 Enabling Business Intelligence Content Types;
24.4 Setting Up Your Default View;
24.5 Summary;
Chapter 25: Reporting Services Basics;
25.1 What Is Reporting Services?;
25.2 Report Architecture;
25.3 Creating a Reporting Services Data Source;
25.4 Launching Report Builder 3.0;
25.5 Creating Datasets;
25.6 Creating a Reporting Services Report;
25.7 Adding a Chart;
25.8 Consuming an OData Feed from Reporting Services;
25.9 Summary;
Chapter 26: Advanced Reporting Services Charting;
26.1 Create a Drill-Down Report;
26.2 Two Approaches to Drill-Down Reporting;
26.3 Basic Drill-Down Reports;
26.4 Advanced Pop-Up Window Drill-Down Report;
26.5 Summary;
Chapter 27: Subscriptions and Data Alerts;
27.1 Report Subscriptions and Delivery;
27.2 How Does It Work?;
27.3 Setting Up a Report;
27.4 Common Scenarios for Subscriptions;
27.5 Data Alerts;
27.6 Summary;
Chapter 28: Excel Services and Power View;
28.1 What Is Excel Services?;
28.2 What Is Power View?;
28.3 Why Are We Talking About Excel Services and Power View Together?;
28.4 Publishing a PowerPivot Model to Excel Services;
28.5 Using Excel Services 2013 as an OData Feed;
28.6 Using Power View on a PowerPivot Model;
28.7 Saving Your Power View;
28.8 Exporting to PowerPoint;
28.9 Connecting to Tabular CubesComment [GM4]: AU: This section needs some fleshing out. Can you review it?Comment [GM5]: PROD: The author fleshed out this section. I made some grammatical corrections; can you reapply styles (body text and num list)?;
28.10 Summary;
Chapter 29: What's Next for Excel and Power View 2013;
29.1 Quick Explore;
29.2 PowerPivot and Power View Are Built into Excel 2013;
29.3 Power View Maps;
29.4 Power View Hierarchies and Drill DownComment [GM3]: AU: Please add content between the two headings, or combine the headings into one.Comment [DMF4]: Removed the 2nd;
29.5 Power View Pie Charts, Slices, and Drill Down;
29.6 Enabling Tabular Drill Down with the Matrix;
29.7 Key Performance Indicators;
29.8 SummaryComment [GM10]:;
;
Chapter 30: Architecture to Support SharePoint BI;
30.1 SharePoint Architecture with SQL 2012 BI;
30.2 SharePoint 2013 Changes;
30.3 Summary;
Chapter 31: The Infrastructure;
31.1 The Environment;
31.2 Microsoft SharePoint 2010;
31.3 Visual Studio LightSwitch 2011;
31.4 SQL Server;
31.5 SQL Server Licensing;
31.6 Summary;
Chapter 32: Your Environment;
32.1 Server Requirements;
32.2 Logical Requirements;
32.3 Recommended Specs;
32.4 Summary;
Chapter 33: Active Directory;
33.1 Before Setting Up Active Directory;
33.2 Creating the Active Directory;
33.3 Managing Service Accounts;
33.4 Security in Active Directory;
33.5 Summary;
Chapter 34: Visual Studio LightSwitch;
34.1 Visual Studio LightSwitch Client-Side Installation;
34.2 Visual Studio LightSwitch Server-Side Implementation;
34.3 Summary;
Chapter 35: Installing the BI Components for SharePoint;
35.1 SQL 2012 for PowerPivot on the App Tier;
35.2 Summary;
Chapter 36: PowerPivot Instance Configuration;
36.1 Initial PowerPivot Instance Configuration;
36.2 Summary;
Chapter 37: PowerPivot Service Application Configuration;
37.1 PowerPivot Management Dashboard Setup;
37.2 Request Allocation;
37.3 Using the PowerPivot Management Dashboard;
37.4 Summary;
Chapter 38: Excel Services ConfigurationComment [GM1]: PROD: Global - move figures to appear after their references in text.;
38.1 Excel Services and the Secure Store;
38.2 Allow Cross-Domain Access;
38.3 Summary;
Chapter 39: Office Client Configuration of PowerPivot and Power View;
39.1 Getting Started;
39.2 The Light-Up Story for PowerPivot and Power View in Office 2013;
39.3 Power View Light Up on SharePoint;
39.4 Summary;
Chapter 40: SQL Server Reporting Services Configuration;
40.1 Provisioning Subscriptions and Alerts;
40.2 Email Configuration;
40.3 Key Management;
40.4 Leveraging EffectiveUserName;
40.5 Summary;
Colophon;