SSRS Embedded Images Best Practices

Josh,

So you want to use some images in an SSRS report, keep these tips in mind to ensure they look great!

SSRS Display Zero for Nulls

Josh,

So you have a report where there are null values in some of the text boxes.  To display zero instead, use this handy expression.

SSRS Multi-Value Parameter Performance Issue

Josh,

So you've built a report off a query that uses a multi-value parameter and you've defaulted the parameter to use every option from a dataset.  This works fine for a few values, but when the multi-value parameter contains hundreds, the query is dreadfully slow!

The solution is to add a default value to ignore your parameter in the query...

SSRS Alternating Row Colors in Matrix

Josh,

So you've added a Matrix in SSRS and want to have alternating row colors.  You've found the RunningValue function useful, but when there isn't data in some of the columns, the alternating colors start getting wacky:

Here's what you did to get the row colors looking right...

SSRS Format Expression for Millions

Josh,

So you want to display a number in millions (i.e. $2,123,456 as $2.12) on an SSRS report, perhaps as a data label on a chart.

Here is the format expression to do so as well as for Thousands and Billions.

The SSRS Document Map

Josh,

So, you need to create a large report with multiple objects, tables, and graphs.  Most likely the business user will want this output to Excel, PDF, or Word.  It will be very annoying for the user to have to scroll to page x in order to see that certain graph or chart.  It would be nice to have a table of contents or some other type of bookmarks for a user to navigate to the section they desire.

Function to Only Display Last Word in SSRS

Josh,

So you have an MDX query that returns back months like "FY 2013 - 2014 January", but you only want to show "January" on the report.

Here is the function to accomplish this:

SSRS Lookup Function Solves MDX Issue

Josh,

So you have an MDX query that you are using in an SSRS report. You need to show subtotals and totals, but there are a couple of issues:

1. The totals and subtotals are on averages which are difficult to total
2. The objects being counted could span multiple groups so that a sum on the report would not accurately match what's coming from the cube

The SSRS Lookup function can help solve this issue!

Passing Multi-Valued Parameters to a Linked Report

Dear Josh,

This one has been bothering you for sometime and you finally figured it a couple weeks ago.  The scenario is you have a summary report, like a map, and a detail report.  You want to allow a user to filter certain things on the summary and be able to drill down into the detail of an element.

The issue is if there are parameters with multiple values selected, how do you pass all of the selected values to the linked report?