Each
of the three Product Family selections gives us a results set filtered
for its members. The Marketing team has asked for a "consolidated view,"
where all products appear on a single report. Elimination of the parameter in
place will be a simple way to get to this first objective, and to pave the way
for the cascading parameters that we will construct next.
12.
Click the Layout
tab to return to the Layout view.
13.
Select Report
--> Parameters from the main menu atop the Report
Designer, as shown in Illustration 14.
Illustration 14: Select Report
--> Parameters from the Main Menu
The Report
Parameters dialog, where we define parameters for the report, appears, as
depicted in Illustration 15.
Illustration 15: The
Report Parameters Dialog
We
will get plenty of exposure to this dialog later in our session and throughout
the MSSQL
Server 2000 Reporting Services series in general. Our objective
at this point is to remove the existing parameter, and to consolidate the
product families thereby.
14.
In the Parameters
list, on the left side of the dialog, click the single entry, ProductFamily,
to select it.
15.
Click the Remove
button underneath the Parameters list.
The ProductFamily
parameter is removed from the list.
16.
Click OK to
accept our removal of the parameter.
The
now empty Report Parameters dialog closes, and we are returned to the Layout
view of the report. We now have only to delete a reference to the parameter
we have removed, which we can access via the Properties page of the
matrix.
17.
Click at some
point within the label textbox of the report (containing the label FoodMart
Sales), to make the row and column headers of the matrix data region
visible.
18.
Right-click
the upper left corner of the matrix. (If the headers disappear as you touch
them with the cursor, you should still see a faint outline of the matrix.)
19.
Select Properties
from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 16.
Illustration 16: Accessing
the Matrix Properties
The Matrix
Properties dialog opens, defaulted to the General tab.
20.
Click the Filters
tab.
21.
Click the Value
field of the single occupied row to select it.
22.
Click the Delete
button to delete the reference to the parameter, as indicated in Illustration
17.
Illustration 17: Select
and Delete the Parameter Reference
The remaining
reference to the now-deleted parameter is itself deleted. All that remains to
tailor the report template to the Marketing department's specifications is to
remove the Store Cost and Store Profit columns.
23.
Select the Store Cost
data textbox in the Matrix
Properties dialog, as shown in Illustration 18.
Illustration 18: Select
the Store Cost Data Textbox (Partial View)
24.
Press the DELETE key on
the PC to eliminate the Store Cost column and its contents.
25.
Perform the same deletion
process for the Store Profit data textbox, removing the corresponding
column.
26.
Grabbing the right side of the design
surface, adjust the bare portion to the right side of the now narrower
report form by dragging.
The Layout
view of the report now appears as depicted in Illustration 19.
Illustration 19: The Newly
"Narrowed" Report - "Layout" View
The
report is ready to execute, without any limiting filters, so we can examine its
new layout.
27.
Click the OK
button to close the Matrix Properties dialog.
28.
Click the Preview
tab again, to execute the report.
The
report executes, and returns the full list of products, as shown (zoom
reduction at 75%) in Illustration 20.
Illustration 20: The
Unfiltered, Consolidated View of Products (75% Zoom)
We
have produced the core view requested by the Marketing department, and we are
ready to build the cascading prompts that will meet their additional
specifications.
Add
Cascading Parameters
» 
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