Guidelines for selecting a data-sharing method

Use the guidelines in Table 25‑1 to decide whether to share data set data or report element data when creating multiple report elements to display the same data. Because a cube is limited to cross tabs and charts only, Table 25‑1 does not include the cube-sharing method in the comparison.

Table 25‑1 Guidelines for selecting a data-sharing method
When to share data set data	When to share report element data
The data set returns the necessary data for the different report elements.	The data set does not return data that can be summarized in a chart. With XML or text data, for example, you do not have the capabilities of a SQL query to group or aggregate data. In these cases, use a table to group and aggregate the data, then set up the chart to use the table data.
To sort, group, filter, or aggregate data differently in each report element, so that each element shows a different perspective of the data.	To sort, group, filter, or aggregate data identically in each report element to reinforce key data.