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Specifying Parameter Values

Specifying multiple values for a parameter

Setting values for Date/Time/DateTime parameters

Customizing the default parameter values

Saving parameter values for reuse

When running or scheduling reports with parameters, you need to specify values for the parameters. The way to specify a parameter value varies according to the type and properties of the parameter. Here are several ways you can use to specify parameter values:

• In the parameter value combo box, input the value manually or select the required one from the drop-down list.
• Select or unselect the checkbox to specify a Yes/No value.
• Click the button to specify multiple values if the parameter allows for multiple values.
• Click the calendar button to specify a date and time value.

Specifying multiple values for a parameter

For a parameter that allows for multiple values (the parameter's Allow Multiple Values property is true), you can specify one or more values to it.

1. Click next to the value text box of the parameter. The Enter Values dialog appears.

   

2. If the parameter's Enable the "All" Option property is true, the All checkbox is available and by default it is selected. It means to apply the "All" value to the parameter. When the parameter is inserted as a field into a report and All is selected as the value, the field will show the string "All". If you do not want to apply the "All" value to the parameter, deselect the All checkbox and then specify the desired values as shown in the following steps.
3. Select the required values in the Available Values box and click to add them to the Selected Values box; to add all the available values, click . You can make use of the Search text box to search for the required values among the available values: type in the keyword and the available values that contain the keyword will be listed with the keyword highlighted in the values.

   If some added values are not wanted, select them in the Selected Values box and click to remove them; to remove all added values, click .

4. When the parameter's Allow Type-in of Value property is true, the Search text box will be replaced by the Enter Values text box. You can type in a value manually and click next to add it to the Selected Values box. When the parameter is bound with a column, but the display column is different from the bound column, make sure the value you enter is that of the bound column. If the parameter is of the Date, Time or DateTime type, you can also click the calendar button to specify a date and time value.

   

5. Click OK to select the specified values for the parameter.

Setting values for Date/Time/DateTime parameters

When specifying value for a parameter of the Date, Time or DateTime type which allows for type-in values (the parameter's Allow Type-in of Value property is true), you can make use of the calendar to select a date and time as the value, or customize a dynamic date and time value by creating an expression using JReport's built-in Date/Time functions. For example you might want the start date to always be 7 days ago and the end date to be today, you can then customize the value for the start date parameter as dateadd('d', -7, today()) and today() for the end date parameter. The expression has higher priority than the value specified using the calendar.

To select a date and time value from the calendar:

1. Click the calendar button next to the value text box of the parameter. The following dialog appears.

   

2. In the calendar specify the month, year and day accordingly.

3. To make the calendar always shows the current date when it is accessed, check the Use Today as Default option. When this option is unchecked, the default is the same as the value shown in the parameter's value box.
4. If the parameter is of DateTime type, the time setting is available. From the Display Time Format drop-down list, specify in which format to display the time, 12 hour or 24 hour (each time when the calendar is accessed, the default selected format is always 12 hour), then select the hour, minute and second time from the corresponding drop-down lists and choose whether it is AM or PM.

   

5. Click OK to add the value.

To customize a dynamic date and time value by creating an expression:

1. Click the calendar button next to the value text box of the parameter. The following dialog appears (if the right section of the dialog is not displayed, click >> on the bottom left corner to expand it).

   

2. The Template drop-down list provides some predefined expressions for you to use. You can customize your own expression either based on an existing template or by directly editing the contents in the Expression text box.
3. You can make use of JReport's built-in Date/Time functions in the expression. First put the cursor where you want to insert the function in the Expression text box, click next to the Template drop-down list to access the function list, and then click the required function to insert it in the Expression text box.
4. The Preview box calculates the result of the current expression. Each time you modify the expression, you can click in the box to refresh the result. The date/time in the calendar on the right can be synchronized with the date/time calculated by a valid expression. If it is an invalid expression, an error message will be shown in the box and no change will be made to the calendar and the currently selected date/time will be remained in the calendar.
5. Click OK to add the value.

After you use an expression to specify the value, when you hover the mouse pointer over this value, a tip will appear showing its expression. Click on the value, the expression will be displayed in the value text box. You can edit the expression in the text box directly if you want. After editing, when you click elsewhere outside of the value text box:

• If the edited expression is correct, a new value calculated by the expression will be displayed in the parameter value text box.
• If the edited expression is wrong, no value will be created and the expression itself will be displayed and highlighted in red in the value text box. Correct the expression, or click the calendar button to specify a value.

When running reports via URLs, you can also use expressions to specify date and time parameter values. The format is Parameter_Name={"exp":"Complete_Expression_String", "SelectedDate":"'MM/dd/yyyy"}. If the expression does not contain the function SelectedDate(), there is no need to add this part - "SelectedDate":"'MM/dd/yyyy" and the format is Parameter_Name={"exp":"Complete_Expression_String"}. For example, to specify p_EndDate=today(), write it as p_EndDate={"exp":"today()"}. The following is an example:

http://localhost:8888/jinfonet/runReport.jsp?jrs.cmd=jrs.web_vw&jrs.catalog=%2fSampleReports%2fSampleReports.cat&jrs.report=%2fSampleReports%2fABC.cls&jrs.param$P_StartDate=01/01/2016&jrs.param$p_EndDate={"exp":"today()"}&jrs.result_type=8

Customizing the default parameter values

JReport Server allows you to pre-customize the default parameter values for a report before running it.

1. Browse to the target report, then do one of the following:
   • Put the mouse pointer over the report row and click the Parameter Settings button on the floating toolbar.
   • Select the report row, right-click in the row and select Parameter Settings from the shortcut menu.
   • Select the row the report is in, then on the task bar of the Resources page, click Tools > Parameter Settings.

   The Parameter Settings dialog is then displayed.

   

2. All the parameters of the report are listed. Specify the value for each parameter as required.
3. Check Save as default to save the specified values as the default values for the parameters (this option is not available when Enable Setting Default Parameter Values For the corresponding report type is unchecked in the server profile).

   The Save as default option is an action and takes effect after the task is submitted. Its initial status is always unchecked.

4. Check Re-enable Parameter Screen to show the Enter Parameter Values dialog again after it has been hidden if required. When this option is unchecked, the next time the report runs via operation in the JReport Server console, the Enter Parameter Values dialog will not be prompted, instead JReport Server will apply the default values of the parameters in the parameters' definition or the last-time saved default values for the parameters on JReport Server to run the report directly. However, if the last-time saved default values cannot completely match the report parameters, the Enter Parameter Values dialog will still be displayed.
5. To reset the parameters, use the Reset button, which varies on different situations:
   • When Save as default is available in the dialog, the Reset button contains a text part and a triangle icon. You can choose to reset the values to either of the following by clicking the triangle. If you click the text part of the button directly, the values will be reset to the original default values.
     • Original Default Values
       The default values defined in the parameters' definition.
     • User Defined Default Values
       Your last-time saved default values.
       
   • When Save as default is unavailable in the dialog, the Reset button contains only the text part. Clicking it will reset the values to the original default values.
6. Click OK to apply the parameter values for the report.

The Save as default and Re-enable Parameter Screen options in the dialog are user-report level settings, that is to say, they take effect when both the same user and report are matched. This also applies to admin users, and therefore admin users cannot customize the settings for all users.

Saving parameter values for reuse

When specifying parameter values for reports, you may want to save the specified parameter values for reuse next time. JReport provides two ways of saving. One is users decide when and which parameter values to save, the other is JReport saves each applied or submitted parameter values automatically. When the saved number in either way reaches the maximum, the oldest record will be removed. The number is calculated on a user-report basis. Take a report with two parameters for an example, supposing the maximum number is set to 3. Each user can save at most three groups of parameter values for the report, with each group containing the values of the two parameters.

To switch on the function of saving parameter values, you need to configure the server profile: check the Yes checkbox for the option Enable Saving Parameter Values, select a way to do the saving: Manually or Automatically, and then specify a maximum number to limit the saved value groups via the option Maximum Number of Auto Complete Parameters List for each user-report pair.

Manually saving parameter values

When you have chosen to manually save parameter values, the Use Saved Values button will be available at the upper right corner of the parameter page. By clicking this button, you will get the following:

• Value list
  The value list contains all the parameter value groups you have saved for the report. Select a group to apply all the values in the group to the corresponding parameters. You can also remove any of the unwanted value group by selecting it from the list and then clicking next to the value list.
• Save Values
  Saves the current displayed parameter values as a group for reuse afterwards. To do this, type a name for the group in the text box which shows "Save current values into list" and then click . The saved group will then be added into the value list.

Using automatically saved parameter values

When you have chosen to automatically save parameter values, each time a user submits a group of parameter values to a report, the group is saved by JReport automatically. The next time the same user runs the report, the auto saved parameter values will be available in the parameters' value lists for selection.

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