Lesson 1: Adding Parameters to Filter

Reports by Date (SSRS)

SQL Server 2008 R2
Other Versions

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By including parameters for a start and end date in a query for your report, you can specify
a date range that limits the data retrieved from the data source. You can create additional
parameters to filter the data after it is retrieved from the data source.
In this lesson, you will add the parameters @StartDate and @EndDate to the query to limit
the data retrieved from the data source. Two report parameters, StartDate and EndDate, are
automatically created for you and appear in the Report Data pane. Parameters are case-
sensitive. Query parameters begin with the @ symbol, whereas report parameters do not.
You will set the data type of the parameters to DateTime and see that a calendar control
appears with the parameter text box on the report viewer toolbar. You will set default
values for the parameters so that the report can run automatically. Finally, you will create a
report parameter DayofWeek that is not bound to a query parameter and use it to filter data
after the data is retrieved from the data source.
This tutorial requires that you have completed Tutorial: Creating a Basic Table Report
(SSRS).
To open an existing report server project
1. Click Start, point to All Programs, point
to Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2, and
click Business Intelligence
Development Studio.
2. From the File menu, point to Open, and
click Project/Solution.
3. Click on Tutorialand then choose
Tutorial.sln. This is the tutorial that was
created in the Tutorial: Creating a Basic
Table Report (SSRS).
4. Click OK to open the project. The
Tutorial project is displayed in Solution
Explorer with one report called Sales
Orders.rdl.
Note If Solution Explorer is not visible,
from the View menu, click Solution
Explorer.
To convert an embedded data source to a shared data source
1. In the Report Data pane, right-click the
data source AdventureWorks and select
Convert to Shared Data Source. A data
source called AdventureWorks.rds is
added in Solution Explorer.
2. In the Report Data pane, right-click the
AdventureWorks data source and select
Data Source Properties.
3. In Name, type AdventureWorks_Ref.
4. Click OK.
To replace the existing dataset
1. In the Report Data pane, right-click the
dataset AdventureWorksDataset, and
then click Dataset Properties.
Note
If you do not see the Report Data pane, from the View menu, click Report Data.
2. In Data source, verify that
AdventureWorks_Ref is selected.
3. In Query type, verify that Text is
selected.
4. Click the Query Designer button to open
the query designer.
5. Replace the text with the following
query into the text box.
Copy
SELECT
soh.OrderDate AS [Date],
soh.SalesOrderNumber AS
[Order],
pps.Name AS Subcat, pp.Name
as Product,
SUM(sd.OrderQty) AS Qty,
SUM(sd.LineTotal) AS
LineTotal
FROM Sales.SalesPerson sp
INNER JOIN
Sales.SalesOrderHeader AS soh
ON sp.BusinessEntityID =
soh.SalesPersonID
INNER JOIN
Sales.SalesOrderDetail AS sd
ON sd.SalesOrderID =
soh.SalesOrderID
INNER JOIN Production.Product
AS pp
ON sd.ProductID =
pp.ProductID
INNER JOIN
Production.ProductSubcategory AS
pps
ON pp.ProductSubcategoryID
= pps.ProductSubcategoryID
INNER JOIN
Production.ProductCategory AS
ppc
ON ppc.ProductCategoryID =
pps.ProductCategoryID
GROUP BY ppc.Name,
soh.OrderDate,
soh.SalesOrderNumber,
pps.Name, pp.Name,
soh.SalesPersonID
HAVING (ppc.Name = 'Clothing'
AND (soh.OrderDate BETWEEN
(@StartDate) AND (@EndDate)))
This is the same query as before, except
that a condition with two limiting
parameters has been added:
AND (soh.OrderDate BETWEEN
(@StartDate) AND (@EndDate))
6. Click Run (!) on the toolbar. The Define
Query Parameters dialog box opens to
prompt you for parameter values.
7. Provide two values to see a filtered
result set:
1. In the Parameter Value column,
enter a value for @StartDate, for
example, 1/31/2001.
2. In the Parameter Value column,
enter a value for @EndDate, for
example, 1/31/2003.
8. Click OK.
9. The result set displays a filtered dataset
for orders in the years 2001 and 2002.
10. Click OK twice. The Report Data pane
is populated with the dataset fields. Also
note that two report parameters,
StartDate and EndDate, are
automatically created and appear under
the Parameters node.
After you have defined query parameters for the report, you have to change the data type of
the report parameters to match the data type of the source data. The default is Text, which
maps to the String data type in most data sources. If a source data is numeric, Boolean, or
Date/Time, you have to change the report parameter data type.
To change the data type and default values of a report parameter
1. In the Report Data pane, expand
Parameters, and double-click StartDate.
The Report Parameter Properties dialog
box opens.
2. Verify that the name of the parameter is
StartDate and the prompt is Start Date.
3. In Data type, select Date/Time.
4. Click OK.
5. In the Report Data pane, double-click
EndDate. Verify the name and prompt
values.
6. In Data type, select Date/Time.
7. Click OK.
8. Click Preview. The StartDate and
EndDate parameters each appear on the
report toolbar with a calendar control.
Calendar controls automatically appear
when the parameter is data type
Date/Time and you have not defined an
available values list. If you define an
available values list, a drop-down list of
values appears instead.
9. Provide two parameter values to run the
report:
1. In the StartDate parameter text
box, enter the date 1/31/2001.
2. In the EndDate parameter text
box, enter the date 1/31/2003.
10. Click View Report. The report displays
only the data that falls within the report
parameter values.
After you have created report parameters for the report, you can add default values for
those parameters. Default parameters allow the report to run automatically; otherwise, a
user must enter parameter values to run the report.
To set default values for parameters
1. In Design view, in the Report Data
pane, expand Parameters, and double-
click StartDate. The Report Parameter
Properties dialog box opens.
2. Click Default Values.
3. Select the Specify values option. The
Add button and an empty Value grid
appears.
4. Click Add. An empty row is added to
the grid.
5. Click in the Value text box and delete
the default text (Null).
6. Type 1/31/2001. Click OK.
7. In the Report Design pane, and double-
click EndDate.
8. Click Default Values.
9. Select the Specify values option.
10. Click Add.
11. Type 1/31/2003. Click OK.
12. Click Preview. The report runs
immediately because there are default
values defined for all parameters.
To add a new field to the query to use for filtering
1. Switch to Design view.
2. Right-click the dataset
AdventureWorksDataset and select
Dataset Properties. Open the query
designer and replace the query with the
following new query:
Copy
SELECT
soh.OrderDate AS [Date],
DATENAME(weekday, soh.OrderDate)
as Weekday,
soh.SalesOrderNumber AS
[Order],
pps.Name AS Subcat, pp.Name
as Product,
SUM(sd.OrderQty) AS Qty,
SUM(sd.LineTotal) AS
LineTotal
FROM Sales.SalesPerson sp
INNER JOIN
Sales.SalesOrderHeader AS soh
ON sp.BusinessEntityID =
soh.SalesPersonID
INNER JOIN
Sales.SalesOrderDetail AS sd
ON sd.SalesOrderID =
soh.SalesOrderID
INNER JOIN Production.Product
AS pp
ON sd.ProductID =
pp.ProductID
INNER JOIN
Production.ProductSubcategory AS
pps
ON pp.ProductSubcategoryID
= pps.ProductSubcategoryID
INNER JOIN
Production.ProductCategory AS
ppc
ON ppc.ProductCategoryID =
pps.ProductCategoryID
GROUP BY ppc.Name,
soh.OrderDate,
soh.SalesOrderNumber,
pps.Name, pp.Name,
soh.SalesPersonID
HAVING (ppc.Name = 'Clothing'
AND (soh.OrderDate BETWEEN
(@StartDate) AND (@EndDate)))
In the query, an additional calculated
column is defined for the day of the
week a sale occurred by adding the
following command to the SELECT
statement:
DATENAME(weekday, soh.OrderDate)
as Weekday.
3. Click Run (!).The Define Query
Parameters dialog box opens.
4. In the Parameter Value column, enter a
value for @StartDate, for example,
1/31/2001.
5. In the Parameter Value column, enter a
value for @EndDate, for example,
1/31/2003.
6. Click OK. You should see a new
column in the result set labeled
Weekday.
7. Click OK twice. In the Report Data
pane, verify that Weekday is a field.
(Optional) To format the date in the table data that will be filtered
1. Click the Design tab.
2. Right-click the cell with the [Date] field
expression and then click Text Box
Properties.
3. Click Number, and then in the Category
field, select Date.
4. In the Type box, select Monday,
January 31, 2000.
5. Click OK.
To add a new report parameter
1. In Design view, in the Report Data
pane, click New, and then click
Parameter. The Report Parameter
Properties dialog box opens.
2. In Name, type DayoftheWeek.
3. In Prompt, type Filter on the day of the
week:.
4. Verify that the data type is Text.
5. Click Default values.
6. Select the Specify values option. The
Add button and an empty Value grid
appears.
7. Click Add.
8. Type Friday.
9. Click OK.
To set a table filter with a parameter expression
1. In Design view, right-click on a row or
column handle of the table and select
Tablix Properties.
Note
The Table data region is a template based on a Tablix data region.
2. Click Filters. An empty filter grid
appears.
3. Click Add. An empty row is added to
the grid.
4. In Expression, from the drop-down list,
select [Weekday].
5. Verify that Operator displays the equal
sign (=).
6. Click the expression (fx) button next to
the Value text box. The Expression
dialog box opens.
7. In Category, click Parameters. The
current list of parameters appears in the
Values pane. Double-click
DayoftheWeek. The parameter
expression is added to the expression
text box. The following expression now
appears in the expression text box:
=Parameters!DayoftheWeek.Value.
8. Click OK. Click OK again to exit the
Tablix Properties dialog box.
The filter for the table is now set to
compare the value in the field Weekday
with the parameter value for
DayoftheWeek. For example, when you
enter the value Friday in the report
toolbar for DayoftheWeek, the report
processor will process only those rows
in the table where the value for the field
Weekday is Friday.
Click Preview. Because all parameters
have default values, the report runs
automatically. The table shows only
values that fall within the date range
defined by StartDate and EndDate and
that fall on a Friday.
Next Steps

You have successfully defined query parameters and report parameters, set default values
for the parameters, and set a filter on the table. In the next lesson, you will learn how to
create an available values, or valid values, list for a parameter. See Lesson 2: Adding
Parameters to Create a List of Available Values (SSRS).
See Also

Concepts
Using Date and Time Data
Report Parameters (Report Builder 3.0 and SSRS)