Report design for hierarchical xml data

Question

I need to create a report that shows hierarchical xml data. I already have an xml saved to a database. How would I go bout creating a design for such a report? Should I be doing groups on every parent with children? Any example?
Thanks

Answer 1

Hi markgoldin,
I tested the issue in my local machine by following steps:
  1. Created a table and store the xml into the table with the following query:
CREATE TABLE xmlTbl (id INT, xmlVal xml);
INSERT INTO xmlTbl values(1,
'<Customers>
<Customer ID="11">
<FirstName>Bobby</FirstName>
<LastName>Moore</LastName>
</Customer>
<Customer ID="20">
<FirstName>Crystal</FirstName>
<LastName>Hu</LastName>
</Customer>
</Customers>'
 2. Created a stored procedure to retrieve data from the table with the following query:
create procedure xml_report
as
DECLARE @xmlDoc XML;
SELECT @xmlDoc = xmlVal FROM xmlTbl WHERE id=1;
SELECT T.c.value('(@ID)','int') AS ID,
T.c.value('(FirstName[1])','varchar(99)') AS firstName,
T.c.value('(LastName[1])','varchar(99)') AS lastName
FROM @xmlDoc.nodes('/Customers/Customer') T(c)
GO
  3. In the Report Data pane, right-click Data Sources and click Add Data Source.
  4. For an embedded data source, verify that Embedded connection is selected. From the Type drop-down list, select a data source type; for example, Microsoft SQL Server or OLE DB. Type the connection string directly or click Edit to open the Connection
Properties dialog box and select Server name and database name from the drop down list.
  5. For a shared data source, verify that Use shared data source reference is selected, then select a data source from the drop down list.
  6. Right-click DataSets and click Add Dataset, type a name for the dataset or accept the default name, In Data source, select the name of an existing shared data source, select StoredProcedure in Query type, then select xml_report from stored procedure
name drop down list.
  7. In the Toolbox, click Table, and then click on the design surface.
  8. Drag the Date field from the dataset to the cells in the table.
The following screenshot is for your reference:
For more information about how to use the xml data type methods, please refer to the following document:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms190798.aspx
If you have any more questions, please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Wendy Fu