Creating snapshot reports when subreports require parameters? - reporting-services

My situation is this - I'm using SSRS to create a "cascading" report set. The top-level report pulls all of the data from a table that capture our deployment/release activity. This data includes the property that executed a release, the organization to which that property belongs, the scheduled and actual start and end times of the release (and its constituent deployments), etc., etc., etc., and in the report I aggregate the data by time windows (Fiscal Year, then Quarter, then Month). So, at the top level, the user sees a report that shows how many deployments and releases we executed, how long they were expected to take, and how long they actually took, over the last twelve months, grouped, again, by Fiscal Year, then Quarter, than Month.
Now, the next level of detail the user wants to see is for a given month. When he or she clicks on the link to run that particular sub-report, they now get the same information (number of deployment, number of releases, scheduled and actual durations, etc.) grouped by organization, for that particular month.
Here's my dilemma - the initial report takes a LONG time to render. I would like to create snapshot report to reduce this render time, but my sub-report uses the Month from the top-level report as a parameter. In other words, when I click on the link to the sub-report, the Action setting in SSRS says to use the Month that I clicked on as a parameter to generate the sub-report, and the query in the sub-report filters off of that parameter with the following query condition:
AND FiscalQuarter IN (#Quarter)
So, the reporting works fine, but I am wondering - is there some way that I can get ALL of the data, for ALL quarters, into the sub-report in a snapshot report, and then just generate that snapshot but filtered out for the quarter value that I pass from the top-level report as a parameter?

yes you can, by creating a snapshot for sub report for all values.
and the parameter defined on the subreport should be a dataset filter not a query parameter .
Now when you pass parameter from main report to subreport , it will filter it accordingly on the sub report snapshot without having to execute the costly sql

Alas, reporting services does not provide what you need. Caching reports will create a cached version of the report per distinct combination of parameter values, and a similar situation holds for cached datasets.
You have roughly two options left it seems:
Use a cached dataset, have the subreport use the cached dataset but only use the parameter to filter the data once it's retrieved (e.g. in a tablix)
Resort to a more database-oriented caching-like or performance enhancing strategy such as for example indexed views for your queries

Related

Combining multiple drill through reports into one

First time posting here so please be kind.
I've come from using PowerBI to achieve pretty much everything I need to with a couple of clicks to using SSRS 2008... and I'm having a hard time. Here's what I'm trying to do:
I have a main report that summarizes some data on how long it takes to close down help desk tickets. On that report I have a table with summary figures (ie 220 tickets were picked up after 5 working days, 18 tickets were reopened etc). I want to click the text-box that contains 220 and be taken to a drillthrough report that contain the same table with column headers and just different row sets in each case. There will be 8 drill through actions in total and I currently have 8 drill through reports. Only 2 of those are parameter based, the others just filter the dataset based on some conditions.
What I'm trying to work out is this: can my 8 drill-through reports be rolled into one, if they're just different views of the same dataset? I've created some calculated columns with values (Yes/No because boolean doesn't allow multiple values) which are easier to pass to parameters. I also have 8 parameters on my detail data set. I've set up actions (where parameter1 = yes for instance) to take me to my detail report and use the corresponding parameter each time. It should work... but it doesn't and I can't work out why. Currently its' complaining that I can't compare a boolean to an int16 - neither the value in my calculated column nor the default parameter value is boolean or int. So, am I trying to do something that just isn't possible? Has anyone else achieved this?
Edit: here's the parameter
The error I'm getting is
The calculated column that should be checked against the parameter is
=IIF(IsNothing(Fields!DatePickedUpByAgent.Value), "Yes", "No").
Here's how I defined the action to take me to the drill through report in this case
Here are the filters on the subreport dataset based on the parameters passed through from the main report. "NotYetPickedUpByAgent" is the example we've been discussing here. enter image description here
Could you please go through each of your parameters one by one.
I would suggest deleting all the filters and trying to run the report and subreport.
Then keep adding filter one by one.
I think issue can be any of the filter and not the one you think.

Ssrs tablix filtering

I have filtering implemented at tablix level in an ssrs report.
The tablix is using a dataset which is getting lots of records from database using a stored procedure.
The report has parameters whose values are used to filter the tablix data.
First time when the report executes it gets all the data from stored procedure and bind it to tablix with all the details as parameters default value is set to select all.
I want to know when user enters parameter values and click on view report , does the report executes the procedure again , get the entire set of data and then filter based on input parameters?
Or the ssrs report is smart enough to know that already the data which was fetched the first time will be used to filter the data in the tablix
First let's talk about the difference between query parameters and report filters. Parameters are passed into the query so that it can run faster and return targeted results. Filters are applied after the fact so the full query has to run and then the report has to go through the records and check criteria row-by-row.
In addition to those options, SSRS offers caching. This allows you to save the query results so that the query is only re-run when needed. This is configured on the report server, not in the report properties.
The best optimization will vary by report. As a general rule it's best to pass parameters into the query/procedure and just get the data you need. If that is too slow, let the query get all the data, cache it, and just use filters at the report level.

Selecting multiple parameters for a report, how to create multiple pages per item in parameter list?

I have a report that is a form per order number selected prior to running report. I want to make it so that you can select multiple order_nos from a list (populated by a query that runs first). Right now, it throws an error saying ANY or ALL must be used. I think it is trying to use both order_nos as the parameter for the report. I want it to create the report using just one of the order_nos at a time, and just replicate the report several times. Is this possible?
The attached photo shows what I tried to do and the error thrown.
Error
If you want to create completely separate outputs then you will need to do this by creating a data driven subscription for your report.
The subscription will execute your report iteratively for each record produced in a preset master query that you create.
Each record in your master query should return all the order no's you wish to execute the report for.
However, if the report needs to remain interactive, and the order no's is only decided at runtime. Then i suggest you keep your report as is. Put a grouping on your tablix based on order no then apply a page break per group instance.
This will produce a single report output with each order no appearing on a different page.
As said above if you want a completely separate output (multiple excel/pdf file outputs) then you will need to use a data driven subscription.
If you need detailed steps on how to do either of the above then just let me know here and i can include steps.

Access - Modular reusable subreport

I would like to create a report which I can use as a sub-report multiple times on the same parent report. However, each occurrence of the subreport should have different values.
For instance, there is a table called DailyReport.
Records in this table contain:
Date, member, team, description
The sub reports should be for each team within a certain date range. However, the date range per subreport/team will not be the same.
So, if the date range for all teams was consistent, then I could create a single subreport, and do some Ordering on the resulting records to separate things out into teams.
However, with inconsistent date ranges, I can't utilize a single query, so the most straight forward solution I see is to create separate subreports and queries for each range of each team.
The problem with this solution is that if I decide to change the format of the subreports I must do so in each specific subreport--a lot of duplicate work.
I would like to create a generic query and subreport. The query and sub report would call VB functions which would return the relevant value.
This means my parent report has the same generic report on it multiple times. As each subreport is rendered, I would like to increment a value behind the scenes so that the functions which the generic query and subreport call know to return a different value.
However, it seems that's not how things work in Access. The subreports on a report are not rendered linearly. A subreport is created, and then "stamped" onto a report where ever required. This means that all of my generic subreports have the same data.
How can I define a generic report and query? Then plug in different values into the report and query while the report is being reused multiple times on the same parent report.
You need to look into the LinkMasterFields and LinkChildFields property of reports. They are designed for exactly this purpose -- to filter a subreport based on current data in the main report, without needing any code or even queries.
You are correct that LMF/LCF do not work on date ranges, only values. So use LMF/LCF for the team filter.
For the date range filtering, you can use an unbound form that launches the report as two parameters defined in the base query. Create frmLaunch, and add two text boxes minDate and maxDate. Set their Format property to Short Date so Access with interpret them correctly and provide the date pickers. Now modify the base query, adding two Date/Time parameters [Forms]![frmLaunch]![minDate] and [Forms]![frmLaunch]![maxDate]. Now, find your date field and set its criterion to Between [Forms]![frmLaunch]![minDate] and [Forms]![frmLaunch]![maxDate]. Add a button to frmLaunch that runs the code DoCmd.OpenReport "YourReportName", acViewPreview.
So, the goal was to make it possible to re-use the same sub-report multiple times on the same parent report, with full flexibility on how the subreport retrieves data.
I placed multiple instances of the same subreport on a parent report. On the subreports Open event I placed a line like
Me.Report.RecordSource = "SELECT * FROM someTable WHERE " & getCriteria()
nextCriteria()
Maybe its possible to pass a value that identifies which instance of the subreport is opening to the getCriteria function. Probably like a getCriteria(Me.Report.Name). But in this case I kept track of how many subreports had been produced in vb.
Unfortunately, if your subreport has controls which have a data source which is a vb function, all reports will show the same value for that control. To get around this I added something like getSomeValue() & "As [Some Value]" into the SELECT of the SQL statement above. Don't forget to add single quotes or hashes around getSomeValue() if you are passing a String or date.
That's basically it, it's a pain. But I couldn't find a more elegant way to do it.
Edit:
One major caveat I experience with doing this, is that although the print preview works correctly, when actually printing or exporting to PDF, some subreports would not be included. Maybe there is something else causing this...

SSRS - filter existing dataset

I have a report that uses parameters. The default parameters are defaulted to contain all available values, so by default the report the contains all possible data.
I want the user to then be able to deselect some of the values in the parameters, and to refresh the charts in the report, so they can drill down to the data that interests them.
But each time the report is refreshed, it runs the query again, slowing down the process.
Is there a way to allow the user to filter the data in the charts, without re-running the query?
I did find this, but it seems that he also didn't get a solution, or I didn't understand how the solution would work.
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/0f905bdb-b8f2-4d9d-ac5b-e85d2f94f0cf/textbox-action-to-filter-existing-dataset-rather-than-rerun-query
To keep the query from running again, two high level steps must happen:
1) Make sure that your filters(parameters) are not included in the query. The query needs to be identical, no matter what the user has selected for a filter. This is done by moving the filters into the report. You can set them up as the filter on the tablix or on the row groups that are displaying the data.
2) Set up caching for the dataset. The easiest way to do this is by pulling the data set out of the report and create a "Shared Dataset." when you upload that to SSRS, define the dataset caching: maybe set it to last an hour. Connect the report to the shared dataset as well.
The full details of this can fill an article, such as http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/1919/how-to-enable-caching-in-sql-server-reporting-services-ssrs/ (for an old version of SSRS, but these concepts haven't changed much.)