Hide and Group Columns in SSRS Using a Parameter

Ever had users come to you and request another version of a report just to add another field and group data differently? Today, was such the day for me. I really don’t like have multiple versions of the same report out there. So, I got a little fancy with the current version of the report and added a parameter then used expressions to group the data differently and hide columns. For those new to SSRS I’ve embedded some links to MSDN to help you along the way.

Current Report

The report gives summarized counts by invoice date.  It currently has a ROW group using date_invoiced and the detail row is hidden from user.

New Version

To complete the user request to have Item Codes and Descriptions added to the report I need to find a way to group the data by Item and show Item columns without disturbing the current report that is currently used by many consumers.

To Do:

• Add Parameter
• Set Available Values
• Set Default Values
• Add New Columns
• Change Visibility
• Change Grouping to group data using parameter

Step 1: Add Parameter

 Step 2: Set Available Values

Step 3: Set Default Values – I want to make sure my current users get their version of the report simply, so I set it to No (N).

Step 4: Next Add Columns.  I was lucky that the fields (Item Code, Item Desc) the user requested to be add was already part of the dataset used, so no additional coding was needed on the stored procedure.

Step 5: Next change the Visibility attributes. You want to HIDE the column when the IncludeItemDetails parameter is NOT YES (Y). I did this for both item columns.

Step 6: Next I needed to change the grouping. The report is currently group by date_invoiced only. To make the data now total by Item I need to group it by Item only when the IncludeItemDetails parameter is Yes (Y). I did this using an IIF expression setting it to IF IncludeItemDetails=Y then group using field value else don’t (0). Again I did this for both fields.

You will see it’s relatively simple to do, and prevents a whole new report version from being created. For you beginners out there, it’s a very easy way to start to minimize the number of reports you have to maintain. Try it.