One nice thing about getting in SSRS 2005 is you can fairly quickly being creating reports that look decent. Unfortunately, once you have to create ALOT of reports it becomes horrible. Two main gripes that are really what I think would be standard practice in UI/UX practices:
- Let me work mouseless...there isn't even an ALT option for the "OK" button in dialogs. Very lame. I am constantly having to grab the mouse for trivial tasks which makes the friction level higher if you are a developer who works in CODE most of the time.
- Default format settings....I can't for the life of me figure out where to alter default font/format/whatever options for 'controls' I drag on the page. I am sure there is a way but it isn't intuitive. So now I have to change font sizes to 8pt, padding:0, and so on FOR EACH CONTROL I DRAG ON. Maybe I am missing something but this seems like an obvious oversight.
So, assuming my company wants to stick out with SSRS how do you get around this goofy designer? I feel like I am eating through a straw with this thing. How about a reasonalbly priced reporting solution? Any favorites you have that won't make our company go broke?