About report parameters
Report parameters collect information that determines the data to display in the report when the report runs. Typically, you use report parameters to prompt a report user to specify what data to display before BIRT generates the report. You can also use report parameters in more creative ways. For example, a web application can use a user’s login information to set the value of an account number report parameter programmatically. Then the web application can generate a report for that particular account.
Using report parameters, you can:
*Generate on-demand reports.
You can create a single report design that generates specialized reports, on demand, to meet the different needs of report users. For example, you can prompt users to select what sections of a report to generate.
*Design a report once, and use the same design to display different data that is based on specific criteria.
Report parameters are essential tools for time-sensitive reports. Consider a monthly sales report. When first creating the report, you build a query to retrieve sales data for the month of January only. Without report parameters, you must modify the query manually for every month. By creating a report parameter that prompts for the month for which to display sales information, you can create one report and run it each month to refresh its data.
*Manage large reports.
Report parameters are also useful for managing large reports. Consider a report design that generates a detailed report that displays all itemized sales orders for all customers in all cities in every country. The report includes more information than most users want. To limit the scope of the report, you can use report parameters that ask the user to specify a customer name, a city, or a country for which to display sales orders.
Enter Parameters, shown in Figure 16‑1, displays the report parameters when the user runs the report. The user chooses the parameter values, and BIRT generates a report according to those choices.
Figure 16-1 Enter ParametersFigure 16-1 Enter Parameters
Figure 16‑1 Enter Parameters