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Parameters
A parameter is a variable whose value is specified at runtime. If a report contains a parameter, you will need to specify a value for the parameter when running the report. For example, if each time a report is run, the person requesting the report would like to have his/her name placed in the report. You can simply insert a parameter into the report, and then each time you run the report, the value of the requestor's name will be inserted. The runtime parameter dynamically controls your report result.
The most common usage of parameters is to provide filters to pass to your query. For example, you may want to specify an order date as an input parameter when running a report so that only orders from that date are displayed. In this way, parameters can be used as part of the query condition (filter criteria), so that only the records which satisfy the specified parameter values are retrieved.
Parameters can include prompting text to guide the end users on how to use them. By default if no prompting text is entered they will only see the parameter names. You can also include a default value or multiple values for the end users to select without binding with a database table. Parameters defined in a catalog can be used in multiple reports. They can also be edited at any time.
There are five types of parameters in Logi Report:
- Type-in Parameter: The user can type in value of the parameter at runtime. When the parameter is a date or time value it can be selected from a calendar widget.
- Bind with Single Column: The available list of values is returned based on a query to the database.
- Bind with Cascading Columns: The values shown to the user from the DBMS are filtered based on previously entered parameters.
- Bind with Single Column combined with Type-in: The user can select a value or type their own value, often used for wildcard selections.
- Multi-valued Parameter: Any of the above types can be set to allow the user to select more than one value.
The following topics provide more information about creating and using parameters: