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RS Parameters limitation…

Hello all first time poster <img src=’/community/emoticons/emotion-1.gif’ alt=’:)‘ /><br /><br />I’ve recently downloaded and installed RS then I also installed SP1 for it.<br />I’m trying to create some reports based on an old Access 2000 database application.<br />I need to replicate the old "Access Form" but have come across some limitations with the parameters.<br /><br />I realized that when inserting parameters, they insert themselves from left to right and only two per row, When adding more then two, it places them underneath, creating a second row. This is problematic to me since I want the flexibility to place, where I want, certain parameters to respect the old "Acces Form"<br /><br />An example of such a form would be this:<br />———————————————<br />FirstName:[dropdown]<br />LastName:[drowpdown]<br />Gender: Male[radio1] Female[radio2]<br />**If Male is selected then**<br />[checkbox] Night<br />[checkbox] Day<br />**If Female is selected then**<br />[checkbox] Blue<br />[checkbox] Red<br />[checkbox] Yellow<br />———————————————<br /><br />So the first limitation I have with RS is that I cannot tell the LastName parameter to be underneath FirstName, it has to be placed on the right side.<br /><br />The second limitation I have found, is that I cannot use checkboxes when the user generating the report might choose more then one option<br /><br />The third thing is that I cannot conditionally show/hide parameter controls based on the user’s selection…<br /><br />So because of those limitation I’m faced with two decision…<br />1) Using Crystal Report and create my own parameters interface<br />OR <br />2) Create my own parameter interface inside an .ASPX file<br /><br />I personnaly do not want to use Crystal and prefer the second approach.<br /><br />So my question to you Pro’s out there is how can I create my own user interface for parameters and pass the resulting query to Reporting Services…<br /><br />Is that even possible ?<br /><br />Any help on this and/or links to article would be great!<br /><br />Sincerely<br />Vlince
Well…if anyone cares to know…after more searching and digging, I finally came up with a solution! Since RS has too many limitations as far as "report parameters" and its flexibility I had no choice but to use my own .aspx file to create my filters(report parameters) The idea is simple…I’m now going to use the Reporting Services *Web Service* I create an .aspx file then create my parameters(I even have more flexibility such has onclick of a checkbox, display or not a combobox for example…). Then I add a [VIEW REPORT] button that invokes the RS Web service, passing along the parameters I’ve selected… Now this approach is nice, but it also has its limitations…because I need to create the report parameters inside the report itself… So I will be looking into simply passing a *datasource* to the RS Web service I haven’t done any testing yet but its there… This way, regardless of how many fields/logic I have inside my .aspx file, when clicking the [VIEW REPORT] button, I’ll obtain a dataset then pass it to the RS Web Service and voilà! Anyway…it should be fun!
Sincerely Vince
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