Use Report Parameters

• Apr 12, 2020
• 2 minutes to read

Report parameters pass data to a report before it is generated in Preview. You can let users specify parameter values or specify their values in code.

The topics in this section describe how to create report parameters of differnet types and specify their values:

• Create a Report Parameter
• Report Parameters with Predefined Static Values
• Report Parameters with Predefined Dynamic Values
• Multi-Value Report Parameters
• Cascading Report Parameters
• Date Range Report Parameters
• Report Parameters of Custom Types

Use report parameters in the following cases:

• In Filter Strings

  Report parameters can be referenced in a filter string.

  

  TIP

  Data can be filtered:

  • On the report level. All data is loaded from the data source before a filter is applied
  • On the data sosurce level. Only the filtered data is loaded. See Filter Data for more information.

• In Expressions

  You can create a report parameter and use it in expressions. For instance, you can do the following:

  • Specify a calculated field's value.
  • Bind a control to data.
  • Conditionally change a band's visibility or a control's appearance.

  

• In Mail Merge

  You can use a report parameter in a control's text.

  

• As a Value Source for Control Parameters

  The following controls have internal collections of parameters. You can bind these internal parameters to report parameters.

  • XRCrossTab

    Use cross-tab parameters to filter data or change control appearance.

  • XRChart

    Filter chart data by parameters.

  • XRSubreport

    Use the control's parameters collection to specify parameter values in the report that the XRSubreport control references.

• As a Value Source for Data Source Parameters

  The following data sources have internal collections of parameters. You can bind these internal parameters to report parameters to make them dependent on an external value.

  • SqlDataSource

    Use query parameters to filter data on the database level or pass values to a stored procedure. See Specify Query Parameters.

  • JsonDataSource

    Use path parameters, query parameters, and header parameters to configure HTTP requests to the web service endpoint.

  • ObjectDataSource

    Use object data source parameters to pass variables to the method that fetches data.

  • EFDataSource

    Use EF data source parameters to pass variables to the method that fetches data.

• Display a Report Parameter Value in a Report Explicitly

  

Wherever you specify a parameter name, prefix it with the question mark character.