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Report Builder
Deployment Guide


Incorporating Parameters in the Report Definition

The RUNTIME-PARAMETER() function takes a parameter name as its argument and returns the value of the parameter as a string. This means that user-defined parameters provide only character values (text strings) to Report Engine. If you want to access a numeric, date, or logical value, you must perform the conversion from character to the desired data type within the report definition.

To convert to numeric, date, or logical values, use the functions shown in the following table in a calculated field in the report definition:

To convert to . . .
Use . . .
Numeric data
NUMERIC (parameter)
Dates
DATE (parameter)
Logical data
IIF (parameter = "Yes", Yes, No)

You can also use the RUNTIME-PARAMETER( ) function to get the value of predefined parameters whose arguments are character strings.

For example, to print the database connection information on the title band line, follow these steps:

  1. In Report Builder, create a calculated field named Connect-String with the following expression:
  2. RUNTIME-PARAMETER("RB-DB-CONNECTION") 
    

  3. Place Connect-String in the title band line.

When Report Engine prints the report, it displays the database connection information specified by the RB-DB-CONNECTION parameter in the report title area.


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