figure 1-3. the pivottable component.
the pivottable control can also perform the same operations directly on a relational database, so you can use it even if you don't have an investment in an olap system. however, the performance when using an olap data source is always much faster because of the nature of the technology. olap has other logical benefits that we'll discuss further when we explore the sales analysis and reporting solution in chapter 7.
the data source component (dsc) is the backbone for controls that require data from external sources. although this control is invisible, it is widely used to retrieve data, manipulate data into hierarchies or temporary olap cubes (more on this in chapter 4), and establish data bindings between the various controls. since the dsc supports the same standard interfaces as other data source controls found in internet explorer and visual basic, it will interoperate in those environments. the dsc is used heavily in access 2000's data access pages feature and encapsulates much of the functionality found in the access reporting engine.
