Additional Command-Line Parameters
The Reporting Module's additional command-line parameters are used to set parameters for a specific report. Most, if not all, standard reports require some kind of parameters: start and end date, grouping, sorting, etc.
If names of the parameters required for a Microsoft Report Builder report differ from their labels (that are prompted on report execution from the Report List of the Desktop App), you are able to know them by saving the report as the .rdl file and then opening it either in Microsoft Report Builder 3.0 or in Microsoft Visual Studio 2008 (or later) with the Business Intelligence Projects plug-in.
NOTE: You can download Microsoft SQL Server 2016 Report Builder at https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=53613.
Parameter names of Microsoft Report Builder reports begin with a letter and contain letters, numbers, underscores ("_"), and no spaces. In Microsoft Report Builder, parameters of the opened report are typically listed within the Parameters node of the Report Data pane, which is by default displayed on the left side of the Microsoft Report Builder window.
To find out what parameters a particular report requires:
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In Alloy Navigator Desktop App, click Reports on the menu bar.
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Right-click a report in the list and choose Save As. Specify the location for saving the report.
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Go to the location you saved the report to and double-click the report. The Microsoft Report Builder window opens.
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To see the list of the report's parameters, expand the Parameters node under the Report Data pane.
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To view the list of possible values for this parameter, double-click the parameter and then click Available Values.
Specifying discrete parameters
NOTE: Microsoft Report Builder reports do not support ranged parameters.
Discrete parameters accept single, discrete values. They are specified for the ReportCmd.exe in the form /paramname=value for each parameter. However, if you want to pass multiple values of the parameter when generating a report, you can do it by separating each value with a semicolon: /paramname="value1;value2;valueN".If the name or value of a parameter contains more than one word, it should be quoted (for example, /"Group By"="Due Date").
The following types of discrete parameters are supported: boolean, string, numeric, currency, date, datetime, time. The formats for specifying values of different types are summarized in the following table:
| Type | Description | Example |
|---|---|---|
|
boolean |
Can be specified in one of the following ways:
|
/"Show Hardware Section"="True" /"Show Software Section"=0 |
|
string |
If the string contains one or more spaces, it should be quoted. |
/"Interval Code"=Weekly /"Grouping Type"="Operating System" |
|
numeric |
Use the decimal separator set in the Windows Regional Options (the period for default English (United States) Regional Options). Thousand separators are not allowed. |
/"Minimal Lifespan"=1.5 |
|
currency |
As a numeric value, without currency symbols. The kind of currency is chosen according to the Windows Regional Options. |
/"Minimal Unit Cost"=100 |
|
date |
" |
/"Start of Range"=2007-01-02" |
|
datetime |
" If the time part is omitted, then the date part is set to 00:00:00. If the date part is omitted, the date is set to 1899-12-30. |
/"End of Range"="2008-12-31 00:00:00" |
|
time |
" If seconds are omitted, they are set to 00. |
/Time=16:37:00 |
A series of macros for specifying date and datetime values is available; for details, see Macros for time range bounds.