Next,
we will add a simple column heading, which we will insert atop the new subgroup
label, to make our layout a little more self-explanatory.
23.
Click the Sales
Reason textbox to select it.
24.
Right-click
the outline that appears, surrounding the box.
25.
Select Copy
from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 43.
Illustration 43: Copying the Sales Reason Textbox ...
26.
Click into the
open space to the right of the Sales Reason label, positioning the
cursor approximately as shown with the “X” in Illustration 44.
Illustration 44: Placing the Cursor for the Paste Operation ...
27.
Right-click
the canvas where the cursor rests, and select Paste from the context
menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 45.
Illustration 45: Pasting the Sales Reason Textbox ...
A
second copy of the Sales Reason textbox appears near the drop point.
28.
Align the
bottom left corner of the new Sales Reason textbox to rest at the upper
left corner of the second row group cell (containing our new input of “=Fields(Parameters!RowGroupBy.Value).Value”),
as shown in Illustration 46.
Illustration 46: Aligning the Copied Sales Reason Textbox as a Label for the Second Row Group
29.
Right-click
the new Sales Reason textbox copy.
30.
Select Expression
from the context menu that appears, as depicted in Illustration 47.
Illustration 47: Select Expression ... from the Context Menu ...
The Expression
Editor opens, once again.
31.
Replace the
expression within the upper pane (currently “Sales
Reason”) with the following:
=Parameters!RowGroupBy.Label
The Expression
Editor appears, with our substituted syntax, as shown in Illustration 48.
Illustration 48: The Expression Editor with Our Substituted Syntax
32.
Click OK
to accept our modification, and to dismiss the Expression Editor.
Let’s
preview the report at this juncture to confirm that we have taken the steps
needed to meet the requirements specified by our client colleagues.
33.
Click the Preview
tab, once again.
The two
new report parameters appear atop the report, as we noted earlier. This
time we will actually make parameter selections and then execute the report.
34.
Select Product
within the Group Rows By parameter picklist.
35.
Select Product
within the Sort Rows By parameter picklist.
Our
selection criteria appear in the parameter selectors as depicted in
Illustration 49.
Illustration 49: Our Test Selections Appear ...
36.
Click the View
Report button to execute the report.
The Report
is being generated message briefly appears, and then we see the report
display, similar to that partially shown in Illustration 50.
Illustration 50: The New Report (Partial View) Generates for the Chosen Parameter Selections
As we can
see, our Product group members appear, in ascending order, as
requested. Moreover, our new column label dynamically reflects the selected
group, as well. The client representatives express satisfaction with our
efforts, and state that, with a few cosmetic changes, the report will be ready
for deployment to the targeted information consumer group.
37.
Experiment
further with the report, if desired.
38.
When finished
with the report, click the Layout tab.
39.
Select File
-> Save DBJ_OLAP_Report.rdl As ... to save our work, up to this
point, to a location where it can be easily accessed for later reference.
40.
Select File
-> Exit to leave the design environment,
when ready.
Conclusion ...
In
this article, we explored a rudimentary approach to the parameterization
of grouping within an Analysis Services report containing a matrix
data region. Beginning with a discussion surrounding the general concepts
of parameterization, we continued into a practice session where we set
up a scenario within which we work with a basic OLAP report, to expose the
steps involved. In
examining the concepts underlying runtime grouping parameterization
(along with ad hoc sorting of the selected group’s members) we first described a stated
reporting need of our hypothetical client – a need that we would set out to
support in our practice session.
We
next prepared a copy of a sample report sourced from Analysis Services, making
structural modifications to the clone report, to meet peripheral client
requests, as well as to prepare for our practice exercise session with parameters
surrounding a matrix data region. We modified the existing dataset,
and added a new dataset, to support group and group member sorting
parameterization, and then made modifications to the report layout
to support the stated client reporting needs.
We next
added report parameters to support group and group member sorting
parameterization, and modified matrix settings to fully enable the newly
supported parameterization. We then modified the face of the report to
dynamically reflect group and group member sorting parameter selections
made at run time. Finally, we discussed the results obtained with the
development techniques that we exploited throughout our practice session.
»
See All Articles by Columnist William E. Pearson, III
Discuss this article in the MSSQL Server 2000 Reporting Services Forum.
» 