"HideIfNoRows"=False not performing as expected - reporting-services

In my report, I have 4 different row groups, each has "HideIfNoRows" property on its static row set to False. In spite of this, when a group doesn't have any row, the static row disappears. I need to show the group row even if it has no data in it, i want it to be empty.

Why not add a group header that does not have this property if you are only interested in having a section title to display.
If you want the full functionality of a record to print with no data then you are better off setting this property to false and adding a phantom record in your data, set with nulls, that will always exist with or without "real" data.

Related

SSRS report to print labels from a roll

Does anyone have any experience of creating a report that will print labels that are on a roll?
I can see plenty of examples for a sheet of labels, but nothing with any great detail regarding a roll.
Would the best method be to set the report page up to have 1 column and then adjust the size of the page to be the size of the label?
There will be different info on each label, and a varying number of labels per print.
So basically set up the report to mirror the label size and then repeat pages depending on how many labels need printing?
You should just be able to set your report to have the same page size as your label then design the report as normal.
As for producing multiple labels, you can either
have a single dataset containing all the info you need for all labels and group by whatever makes each label unique (e.g. a label number). Then add a page break on the row group property to put a break between each, or ..
you could create a subreport that just handles a single label and then have a master report that with a table control with a single 'cell' and the subreport inside that cell. You would then pass the parameters to the subreport from the main dataset. I think you've seen a similar answer I posted about printing sheets of labels, if you follow that then it should get you most of the way there.
Option 1 is probably the simplest method...
Step-by-Step for option 1
In this example I've used the Microsoft sample database WideWorldImporters, just so I could get some names and addresses.
Step 1: Write your query to get your data. In my example I used the following..
SELECT top 10 o.OrderID, c.CustomerName, c.DeliveryAddressLine1, c.DeliveryAddressLine2, cty.CityName, c.DeliveryPostalCode
FROM [Sales].[Orders] o
JOIN Sales.Customers c on o.CustomerID = c.CustomerID
JOIN Application.Cities cty on c.DeliveryCityID = cty.CityID
ORDER BY OrderID
This just gives me the order number, company name and address.
Step 2: Create a new report. I'm using Visual Studio but the process is almost identical in Report Builder if you use that.
Create a new, blank report
Add a datasource and dataset containing your query from step 1
Select the 'body' and set the size property to your label size. I used 100mm, 40mm
Select the 'report' and set the PageSize property to the same values as above and the margins to 0
Step 3: Add a table to contain the data
Add the new table
Delete the header row
Delete the last column (I have a two column label in my example but obviously up to you)
Select the table (tablix) using the grey table handle (top left of the table) and then set the dataset property to the name of the dataset you created earlier
Add enough rows to contain all your data, in my case 6 in total
In the RowGroups panel under the main report design, right-click the details rowgroup and choose Add Group => Parent Group. Select OrderID as the field to group on and click OK
Remove the newly added column and if prompted choose 'remove column only'
Right-Click the (OrderID) Row group and go to Group properties, click Page Break and choose 'between'
Set each row to contain your data until you end up with something like....
Clean up the formatting and that should be it. One label per page and each page set to your label size.
You may need to adjust the layout slightly to adjust for margins etc but this should give you a good start.

How Can I use a ComboBox bound to a null record in a detail section?

In a form, I am displaying rows of data in the detail section.
Around 5% of the rows might actually have a float value in one column that I need to be displayed as a combobox. The column in question results from a left join, so it may have a float, or it may be null with no existing record behind it. I don't want to have 100000 rows added to a table just to show a zero in the combobox on the outside chance that a user actually displays that particular record. Yes, I can add the rows, then delete them later, but that seems stupid. For the life of me, I cannot figure out how to get the combobox to default to a zero for each row, and still be selectable. Basically for each row, show the value if there is one, zero otherwise, and let the user select a new value if they want.
The VBA side is easy. I can totally create the row if a non-zero value is selected, and delete the row if the user changes it to 0. Ideal would be to bind a combobox to NZ(myField,0), or something similar. When I tried that, the combobox was not selectable.
Right now my combobox is selectable, allows the users to change the value, but shows a blank, not zero if the column is null.
The SQL the form is bound to:
SELECT dbo.PersonClasses.ClassID, dbo.ClassDates.ClassDate, dbo.PersonClassHours.ClassHours
FROM dbo.PersonClasses
INNER JOIN dbo.ClassDates ON dbo.PersonClasses.ClassID = dbo.ClassDates.ClassID
LEFT OUTER JOIN dbo.PersonClassHours ON dbo.People.PersonID = dbo.PersonClassHours.PersonID AND dbo.ClassDates.ClassID = dbo.PersonClassHours.ClassID AND dbo.ClassDates.ClassDate = dbo.PersonClassHours.ClassDate
I am looking to represent ClassHours as a Combobox for each record on the form with valid selections being 0,.5,1,1.5,2,2.5. To keep it simple for the users, I want 0 to be preselected. This is how it looks now:
You could set the Format property of the combobox to
#;\0
This will display a zero if the field value is Null. Otherwise the actual value.
Other properties which will also need to be set are the Row Source Type to Value List and Row Source to 0;0.5;1;1.5;2;2.5
Using a function, such as Nz(), in your query to change the value of the field, actually creates a new field, which is read-only.
In your case you need the field to be updateable, so one of your options is to play around with the Format propery, or Conditional Formatting.

SSRS - Get the ReportItem!____.Name of the current item (textbox or column)

I have a big report with 100+ columns named 'Column001', 'Column002' etc etc.
These columns hide depending on whether there is any data or not, and I'd like to have the last column have a right side border.
So I could do something like (in pseudocode)
= IIF(COUNT(ReportFields!Columns.Values) = CINT(RIGHT([CurrentReportItem].Name,3)), RIGHT_BORDER, NO_BORDER)
Is there any way to get the current item (ReportItem!) so that I can get it's name?
If you have control over the query then you can modify it to return the number of visible rows as a non-displayed new field in the result set and then compare that value at each column to decide if the border should be displayed.
If you do not have control over the query then I think you are limited to a painful series of nested IIf() statements.

Show a message to the user instead of blank report [duplicate]

I am building an SSRS 2005 report using BIDS. My report filters on date. When the selected date returns no data rows the report is blank, just the title is displayed, no table or column heading.
How can I change this to display a message like No data available. or Report is empty.?
You could set the property NoRowsMessage available on the report's table control like this:
Select the Tablix control and press F4 to view the Properties pane.
Find the NoRowsMessage property and set the value to whatever message you'd like.
You can also to format the message using the Font and TextAlign properties.
Here are some examples of what the report will look like under various settings:
Further Reading: Here is a Technet article on how to Set a No Data Message for a Data Region
Avoid NoRowsMessage and build your own conditional empty row
One problem (or feature if that's what you want) with NoRowsMessage is that it'll literally replace the entire table with just a plain old message string.
Which provides a relatively counter-intuitive end user experience in my opinion. Normally when no data is found by a system, we'd like to know something about what data was being looked for and what it would have looked like.
Instead, based off how to keep the structure of the Tablix when there is no data to show, you can do the following:
Insert New Header Row, outside the group and above the details record.
Right click on the side of the new row and Set Row Visibility
Set Visibility to the following expression which will count the rows inside the current Tablix and only set Visibility to True if there is no data.
=CountRows() > 0
Optionally, merge the cells and add your own message or just display an empty row
Here's a comparison of how the various options will render: (pick whichever look you think best fits your data and use case)
Right-click on whatever databound element(s) you are using in the report and there should be a property NoDataMessage There are a host of options there but the Caption is the first element I would look at.

How do I display 'No data available.' when there are no rows to show on the report?

I am building an SSRS 2005 report using BIDS. My report filters on date. When the selected date returns no data rows the report is blank, just the title is displayed, no table or column heading.
How can I change this to display a message like No data available. or Report is empty.?
You could set the property NoRowsMessage available on the report's table control like this:
Select the Tablix control and press F4 to view the Properties pane.
Find the NoRowsMessage property and set the value to whatever message you'd like.
You can also to format the message using the Font and TextAlign properties.
Here are some examples of what the report will look like under various settings:
Further Reading: Here is a Technet article on how to Set a No Data Message for a Data Region
Avoid NoRowsMessage and build your own conditional empty row
One problem (or feature if that's what you want) with NoRowsMessage is that it'll literally replace the entire table with just a plain old message string.
Which provides a relatively counter-intuitive end user experience in my opinion. Normally when no data is found by a system, we'd like to know something about what data was being looked for and what it would have looked like.
Instead, based off how to keep the structure of the Tablix when there is no data to show, you can do the following:
Insert New Header Row, outside the group and above the details record.
Right click on the side of the new row and Set Row Visibility
Set Visibility to the following expression which will count the rows inside the current Tablix and only set Visibility to True if there is no data.
=CountRows() > 0
Optionally, merge the cells and add your own message or just display an empty row
Here's a comparison of how the various options will render: (pick whichever look you think best fits your data and use case)
Right-click on whatever databound element(s) you are using in the report and there should be a property NoDataMessage There are a host of options there but the Caption is the first element I would look at.