SSRS report formatting for excel - reporting-services

Question

I am writing an SSRS report in which my client wants the report header to contain the criteria on which the report is based (actually, this is the report variables, such as date).
I tried to do this with textboxes, but can't seem to position the textboxes in such a way that upon export to excel there aren't crazy cell merges.
I also tried to do this with a table in the report body, but got the variable added to each line of the report.
I don't see a position property, as if I was working in just a web form, but am at a loss as to what to do. Any suggestions? Thanks!

Answer 1

Cell merges are a fact of life when exporting to Excel unfortunately, that's how the report rendering engine tries to maintain fidelity with the original report design. The best way to minimise this is to ensure the edges of the report elements align with each other as much as possible, so that the renderer can align the report without having to merge cells.
What you are doing by putting textboxes in the report header to display the value of selected report parameters is a good approach that is commonly used, so keep experimenting with the layout to get it to align correctly.
If you can describe what is happening when you export the report in a bit more detail I might be able to offer some more advice.

Answer 2

In my reports, I add an additional table at the end of the report and assign a page break before the tablix. In the large, single-cell table, I write sentences using quoted text, built-in fields, and parameter values to list all of the parameter information. I label the Name of the Tablix "Parameters" so when the report is downloaded, all of the parameter data goes with it in a nice, non-invasive format. When troubleshooting reports this has proved very valuable.
Here's an example:
=Globals!ReportName + " run by " + User!UserID + " on " + FormatDateTime(Globals!ExecutionTime, DateFormat.ShortDate) + ". "
+ vbcrlf +
"Parameters: " + "Program ("+Parameters!BusinessEntityID.Label+ "), Deliverable Status Code (" + Join(Parameters!DeliverableStatusCode.Label, ", ") +
"), Science Area (" + Parameters!ScienceAreaID.Label + "), Thrust Area (" + Parameters!ThrustAreaID.Label + "), Center (" + Parameters!CenterID.Label + ") "
+ IIF(Parameters!TaskActiveFrom.Value is Nothing, "", ", Tasks Active between "+ FormatDateTime(Parameters!TaskActiveFrom.Label, DateFormat.ShortDate)
+ " and " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!TaskActiveTo.Label, DateFormat.ShortDate))
+IIF(Parameters!TaskStartFrom.Value is Nothing, "", ", Tasks Started between " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!TaskStartFrom.Label, DateFormat.ShortDate)
+ " and " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!TaskStartTo.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate))
+ IIF(Parameters!DeliverablePlannedFrom.Value is NOTHING, "", ", Deliverable Due Date between " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!DeliverablePlannedFrom.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate)
+ " and " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!DeliverablePlannedTo.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate))
+ IIF(Parameters!DeliverableExtendedFrom.Value is Nothing, "", ", Deliverable Revised Due Date between " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!DeliverableExtendedFrom.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate)
+ " and " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!DeliverableExtendedTo.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate))
+ IIF(Parameters!PublicationReceivedDateFrom.Value is NOTHING, "", ", Publication Received Date between " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!PublicationReceivedDateFrom.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate)
+ " and " + FormatDateTime(Parameters!PublicationReceivedDateFrom.Label, Dateformat.ShortDate))