Upgrade
the New Report to Reporting Services 2005 and Finalize Preparation
Upgrading
a Reporting Services 2000 report to the new version is as simple as
opening the reports, and then indicating our willingness to perform the
upgrade, as we shall see. Let's open the new RS022_MULTI_VAL_PARAM report,
to verify its operation, as well as to make a few observations on its existing Report
Parameter. We will then prepare the report to take advantage of the new multiple
value parameter capabilities offered within Reporting Services 2005.
1.
Right-click RS022_MULTI_VAL_PARAM.rdl
in the Solution Explorer.
2.
Select Open
from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 12.
Illustration 12: Opening
the New Report ...
A
message box appears, warning us that the report file must be converted to the current
report definition format, and that, by making the conversion, we will
sacrifice the file's backward compatibility with previous versions of Reporting
Services. The message box appears as depicted in Illustration 13.
3.
Click Yes to
convert the report file to Reporting Services 2005.
RS022_MULTI_VAL_PARAM opens in Layout view.
4.
Click the Preview
tab to execute the report.
RS022_MULTI_VAL_PARAM executes, and appears on the Preview
tab, where we can see the operational Report Parameter picklist when we
click on the selector button. In this parameter, created within the more
limited capabilities of Reporting Services 2000, we can select a single Product
Family, as shown
in Illustration 14.
Illustration 14: We Can
Only Select a Single Picklist Value ...
As we
have discussed, the information consumers with whom we are working have asked
that we endow the report with a parameter that supports the selection of multiple
values in the picklist. Because this is supported in the current version of
Reporting Services, we have only to make adjustments in two places in
the Layout view. To illustrate the procedure "from scratch,"
for the benefit of those who are seeking guidance in creating such a report
parameter for the first time, we will eliminate the existing parameter and
an associated filter reference, and create the parameter anew in our
sample report.
5.
Click the Layout
tab to return to the Layout view.
6.
Select Report
--> Report Parameters from the main menu atop the Report
Designer, as depicted in Illustration 15.
Illustration 15: Select
Report --> Report Parameters from the Main Menu
The Report
Parameters dialog, where we define parameters for the report, appears, as
shown in Illustration 16.
Illustration 16: The
Report Parameters Dialog
(For the
sake of easy comparison, I include the dialog - for the same parameter - from
the Reporting Services 2000 environment in Illustration 17.)
Illustration 17: The Report
Parameters Dialog for the Previous Version
7.
In the Parameters
list, on the left side of the dialog, click the single entry, ProductFamily,
to select it.
8.
Click the Remove
button underneath the Parameters list.
The ProductFamily
parameter is removed from the list.
9.
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.
Having
removed the sole Report Parameter, we now must delete a remaining reference to it,
which we can access via the Properties dialog for the matrix.
10.
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.
11.
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.)
12.
Select Properties
from the context menu that appears, as shown in Illustration 18.
Illustration 18:
Accessing the Matrix Properties
The Matrix
Properties dialog opens, defaulted to the General tab.
13.
Click the Filters
tab.
We
note that, within the top row of the Filter list, we have the expression
detailed in Table 1.
|
Expression
|
Operator
|
Value
|
|
=Fields!Product_Family.Value
|
=
|
=Parameters!ProductFamily.Value
|
Table 1: Filter
Expression for Parameter with Single Value Input
14.
Click the Value
field of the single occupied row to select it.
15.
Click the Delete
button to delete the reference to the parameter, as indicated in Illustration
19.
Illustration 19: Select
and Delete the Parameter Reference
The remaining
reference to the now-deleted parameter is itself deleted.
16.
Click OK to
accept our changes and to close the Matrix Properties dialog.
Having
completed the preparation phase of our practice session, we are now ready to
undertake creation of a Report Parameter that meets the needs specified
by the information consumers for multiple value input.
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