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The labels on a pie chart in SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services (SSRS) are very ugly. They just get thrown over the chart by default and they all overlap. I hate it!

This MSDN page tells us how to fix it http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms156263(SQL.90).aspx

To change the position of point labels in a pie chart
Using Report Designer, create a pie chart. For more information, see Working with Chart Data Regions.

In Layout view, right-click the chart, and then click Properties.

On the Data tab, in Values, and then click Add or Edit to open the Edit Chart Value dialog box.

On the Point Labels tab, clear Auto, and then select a button other than the center button.

To set options on this tab, Show point labels must be selected.

I was completely stumped on this error that I was getting on the report manager web page after I uploaded an RDL file and set it use a shared connection I had already set up:

An error has occurred during report processing.
Cannot create a connection to data source 'TWO'.
An error has occurred while establishing a connection to the server. When connecting to SQL Server 2005, this failure may be caused by the fact that under the default settings SQL Server does not allow remote connections. (provider: Named Pipes Provider, error: 40 - Could not open a connection to SQL Server)

It turns out I had simply mistyped my connection string when I was setting up the shared connection. So that’s something you should check first.

I got this error when starting the report server:


System.ServiceProcess.TimeoutException: Time out has expired and the operation has not been completed. at System.ServiceProcess.ServiceController.WaitForStatus(ServiceControllerStatus desiredStatus, TimeSpan timeout) at ReportServicesConfigUI.Panels.ServerInformationPanel.StartStopServiceTask(Boolean start).

To fix I opened up a command prompt and typed:

C:\> cd C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727

C:\WINDOWS\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v2.0.50727>aspnet_regiis -i
Start installing ASP.NET (2.0.50727).
.............................................
Finished installing ASP.NET (2.0.50727).


Apparently I had some issue with my ASPNET account

The best fix I found is a superior program xxcopy which has as the same switches as xcopy but doesn’t hit this error. So you just download it, install it, and change your xcopy command to xxcopy and everything just works.

Click the Microsoft Office Button (The big round thing with the Windows Icon in the top left) , and then click Excel Options.
Click Resources, and then next to About Excel, click About.