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I asked a question, Default Sort Order for Groups in Report Builder, regarding sorting below, placed it in the category Reporting Services (SSRS) and it was closed due to it not being a "programming question". I did not notice any alternate group being recommended.

The FAQ says the questions would include "software tools commonly used by programmers". Was this question improperly closed, or is there another place where I could ask questions regarding Report Builder?

I've programmed for decades and would definitely consider Report Builder (and also Analysis Services projects) to be extremely advanced tools that are definitely programming related. But maybe I'm wrong. Is there someplace else dedicated this topic?

These are very important tools with not a lot of experts, so it is essential to have a SE site I can go to.

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  • Do non-programmers use Report Builder? Also, if anybody is wondering, SuperUser and DBA both show very few SSRS/Reporting-Services questions, and ServerFault is all about administering rather than creating reports.
    – user1228
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 15:13
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    Actually, non programmers can use Report Builder, but I'm not sure how often they do. It's something I didn't really consider. I thought of it as an IDE for editing RDL files. But it depends on your perspective.
    – David
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 15:23
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    In much the same way that Excel is an IDE for editing spreadsheets?
    – user1228
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 16:00
  • Well no, I would guess primarily programmers (if anyone) use Report Builder, whereas accountants use Excel. Both edit XML files. I could use Visual Studio with BIS, but I find Report Builder a cleaner IDE, it's fewer clicks to open and save RDL files. I wonder if I'd been using Visual Studio to do the same thing, if that would have been ok.
    – David
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 16:54
  • Possibly... In gray areas like this, it usually helps to emphasize the programming related aspects of your question.
    – user1228
    Commented Sep 13, 2011 at 18:09

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I really think this question should not have been closed.

Have the people who closed the question ever used Reporting Services? Just because there is a report builder for typical users does not mean it's not programming related.

Reporting Services definitely is programming related as it first deals with datasets (which in fact is writing t-sql), then it involves the design of the report, any custom coding / formatting, etc.

The fact that it was closed with a silly link to the FAQ is rather cumbersome.

I voted to re-open it.

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