Set parameter back to default value in SSRS - reporting-services

Is there a way that a parameter value can be reset to it's default once the 'view report' button has been pressed.
I have a report with a free text input parameter that inserts users comments into a sub report contained within this report. They add their notes then hit view report, this re runs the report with their notes visible. The only problem is that the parameter box still contains the note they added previously - I've set the parameter to have a default value of ' ' which works the first time it's loaded but not once any text has been added.
I've added a 'clear comment' text box with an action of 'go to report' which simply loads the same report and clears it, but I was hoping there was something I could do that was little bit smoother.
Thanks

A straight up answer to your question would be (AFAIK) that this isn't (easily) possible.
On a related note, I think you'll have a hard time smoothening your current setup, because reports aren't designed for this task; you seem to be trying to use the report as a web form and as a report at the same time.
I would suggest a different approach to your task. You don't mention how you currently deliver the report, but a setup with for example an asp.net web page containing some input fields, a custom "view report" button (that makes sure the input lands in the report, possibly via the database) and a ReportViewer control, may work a lot better.

Related

Keep parameter value when coming back from subreport

I have several multiple choice parametres that do not have default value. There is also link to other report. And parent report parametres are empty when coming back from drill through report. Is it possible to keep selected parameter values?
The parameter keeps selected values if it has default value initially. But I would like keep parametres empty on load
If you have an action to open a drill thru report, to get back to the parent report, you must use the 'Go back to parent report' button on the reports toolbar, NOT the browser back button.
This also means the parent report does not get re-rendered so it's instant.
This has been available since SSRS2008 as far as I know. Here's what it looked like back in 2012..
Note: this only works if you have used the "Go to Report" action
It won;t work if you used the go to URL option.
Alternative approach if using Go To URL
Basically you make sure you send all the parameters to the sub report even if they are not used. You could hide the unused ones.
Then add a button to your sub report that simply opens the parent report again and passes all the parameters back.
This is not ideal as the report will have to be rendered again, which is a pain if it's a slow report.
Another option is to open the sub report in a new tab (lots of examples on SO on doing this) so you can just close the tab.

SSRS: Consume input from user and pass it to subreport

I understand that this is not what SSRS is for, but I don't have the option of picking a tool. Ideally, nothing other than SSRS would be used.
We would like to implement commenting on our test reporting. What this means is that the user will click a button on a test, opening a comment subreport. I am trying to implement a subreport within this subreport with an input field, allowing the user to post a comment themselves.
From my understanding, SSRS only supports consuming user input through parameters, which I could use to populate a query that writes to the database. This is really less than ideal, since I would like the "submit" button to be inline. I'm really just looking to add an input and a submit button, which submits the input to our database. Trivial in html/javascript, seemingly impossible in SSRS.
Is it possible to extend an SSRS report to do this? What can I do to implement this requirement? Do I need to embed code / add a layer on top of the report to achieve this?
In other words, I require that the report be initially run, and then, optionally, for the user to be able to type in some text and hit "submit", which sends that text as a parameter to a subreport.

Is there a way for SSRS to remember my parameters when switching between Design and Preview mode?

When designing a report in SSRS, I put in my parameters and run the report.
If I see that there is a change in the Design that I need to make, I then have to flick back to the Design tab and make the change.
Once I go back to the Preview tab, I then have to again put in my parameters and wait for the report to run.
Is there a way to have SSRS remember the parameters that I had just entered and possibly keep the data in a cache so that when I flick back to the Preview tab, it just shows me the report rendered with my changes (but not new data etc)?
I'm pretty sure I can do this in Crystal Reports without having to re-enter parameters etc.
There is no way for SSRS to remember the parameters when flicking between the design/preview tabs - however you could select default values for the parameters so that when you flick to the preview page, the values will automatically appear in the preview tab.
To do this, right click the parameter > Go to "Default Values" tab > Select "Specify Values" and add the default values you would like to use

MS Access: Reports referencing other reports

I have several MS Access 2010 Reports that contain controls that reference other controls on other Reports. So, for example, if report1 has a text box called report1_textBox, and this text box gets its value from a text box on report0 called report0_textBox, then I set the Control Source property of report1_textBox to:
= [Reports]![report0]![report0_textBox]
I created a Form that the user can use to select Reports to open, and when the user selects a Report that depends on other Reports, my code opens those Reports before opening the selected Report. This works fine in some instances, but in other instances I get some strange behavior.
Going back to the example above, I encounter situations where even if I open report0, then open report1, the text box report1_textBox displays #Error as if report0 is closed or does not exist. But if I then just click on report0 and change its view then change it back, then go back to report1 and scroll a little, the text box report1_textBox "magically" changes from #Error to the proper value. I tried hitting the "Refresh All" button after opening the reports, and it does not update the text box.
Does anyone know of a way to fix this or at least work around it?
Thank you!
(Adding: Ideally, I do not want to open multiple reports like I'm doing now. If the user wants to view a report, I would like to only open that report, but from what I understand, if the selected report needs data from another report, that other report needs to be open. I can ultimately solve this by writing VBA code to execute queries, but I would like to avoid this, especially since I already have the data I need - it's just on another report. Does anyone know if it is possible to realize this ideal situation? Thanks!)
I would suggest going with VBA code for this.
Your question, actually, contains an answer (partial) - if you need data from another report that report must be opened first. However, the following code might help you somewhat.
You can open report(s) as hidden:
...
DoCmd.OpenReport "report0", acViewReport, , , acHidden
...
But again, I would recommend to write VBA code to pull the data using either existing queries from other reports or create new ones [queries].

SSRS - parameter value change is not running my report again

I have a report with two params that are datetime, #startdate and #enddate.
I have set them up under "advanced settings" to "Automatically determine when to refresh" (also tried "Always refresh") for both of the parameters.
I deployed my report and ran it. Changed the date and it appears the report fires a postback (screen flashes and browser indicates activity bottom left corner) but I end up with a blank screen (I still have my breadcrumb up top but everything below is blank). If I hit the "view report" button on the end of the header area it will run it again but my intention is to re-run the report when either parameter changes.
Not sure what I did wrong. I'm using SSRS 2008 and this was something I was able to do in the past versions of SSRS.
If you hard code a default parameter value, like 1/1/2000, it doesn’t think it needs to refresh all the way (it gives you a blank report though!). The solution is to point it to a query (dataset) that selects a date valued at 1/1/2000. And I think for multiple parameters, you have to set all default values this way. Pathetic for sure.
you need to deploy your report, once before you pass the parameters and once after you pass the parameters. that fixes the issue for me