SSRS & asp.net - passing parameters from .net to ssrs in report viewer

Question

Hello all.

I am about to embark in using a report viewer in my .net page. I have a page that will search for a catgory, upon a button click, the category chosen will pass into the parameter of report viewer.

Now, given that I am a newbie to both SSRS and .net, I'd just like a bit of advice on how to tackle this.

Should I make the report in SSRS first and include the parameters in this report or can I make the report without the parameters specified, then programmatically enter this in the codebehind?

Basically, I know what I would like to do but not sure the best approach to take.

If anyone can offer advice, I would be most grateful.

Answer 1

Welcome to the world of ASP.NET reporting! SSRS has a bit of a learning curve, but once you get the hang of it, I'm sure you'll enjoy working with it.

I recommend creating the report first and including your parameters.

You can then set the parameter values in your code-behind like this:

Private Sub SetReportParameters(ByVal viewer As ReportViewer)
    ''# use parameters to pass info to report
    Dim myStartDate As New ReportParameter("StartDate", Request.QueryString("startDt"))
    Dim myEndDate As New ReportParameter("EndDate", Request.QueryString("endDt"))
    Dim myRegion As New ReportParameter("Region", region)
    Try
        ''# add parameters to the report
        viewer.LocalReport.SetParameters( _
            New ReportParameter() {myStartDate, myEndDate, myRegion})
    Catch ex As Exception
        ErrorLabel.Text = DATABASE_ERROR_MSG
    End Try
End Sub

Hope this helps! --Dubs