Problems with SQL, using parameters with multiple values in report builder - sql

Question

have a query relating to MS SQL Server.
I'm going to have to be vague with details and change or remove certain parts as i can't say whether the info is confidential or not, but I've written a query that searches for students with their training units spanning across semesters using report builder 2.0:
DS_spanning: (Main dataset)
SET DATEFORMAT dmy
SELECT
FIRST_NAME AS FirstName
,LAST_NAME AS LastName
,START_DATE AS StartDate
,END_DATE AS EndDate
,UNIT_TYPE AS UnitType
,TP_FULLNAME AS TrainingPost
,SEMESTER_YEAR AS SemesterYear
FROM AA_GPR_TU
WHERE TU_START_DATE < #checkdate //Checkdate returns the end date of the
AND TU_END_DATE > #checkdate // selected semester
ORDER BY TU_START_DATE
PM_checkdate: (Dataset that #checkdate is linked to)
SET DATEFORMAT dmy
SELECT
new_semesterenddate
,new_semesterstartdate
,new_semesternumber
,new_semesteryear
,new_name
FROM
FilteredNew_rtpsemester
WHERE new_semesteryear >= 2004
ORDER BY new_semesterenddate DESC
Now, this works fine and does the job i want it to, however i can only select one semester at a time. When i try to tick the 'Allow Multiple Values' box under the Report Parameter Properties for #checkdate, running the report with more than one semester selected gives me this error:
Incorrect syntax near ','.
Query execution failed for dataset 'DS_spanning'.
An error has occurred during report processing.
An error occurred during local report processing.**
(The problem with a ',' is because when i select multiple values for the report, it supplies them to #checkdate as data1, data2, data3... etc.)
Is there something wrong with the way my parameter has been written, or do i need to change my query to accomodate multiple values?
Easiest way i could think of doing this would be using an IN statement in the section
WHERE TU_START_DATE < #checkdate AND TU_END_DATE > #checkdate
but i'm not sure how to use an IN statement in conjunction with and operands.
Any ideas folks?

Answer 1

i have had select multiple value problem so many times and after searching the internet for numerous hours i found this and it works a treat.
First of all create this function call split into the database you are running your queries from.
USE [DatabaseName]
GO
/****** Object: UserDefinedFunction [dbo].[split] Script Date: 07/19/2013 10:49:08 ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[split](
#delimited NVARCHAR(MAX),
#delimiter NVARCHAR(100)
) RETURNS #t TABLE (id INT IDENTITY(1,1), val NVARCHAR(MAX))
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE #xml XML
SET #xml = N'<t>' + REPLACE(#delimited,#delimiter,'</t><t>') + '</t>'
INSERT INTO #t(val)
SELECT r.value('.','varchar(MAX)') as item
FROM #xml.nodes('/t') as records(r)
RETURN
END
the way you then use this in a WHERE clause is by using this line of code be sure to change the word column and parameter leave the word val as this is needed for the function
WHERE [COLUMN] IN (SELECT val FROM dbo.split(#Parameter, ','))

Answer 2

There will be no restrictions on using the same dataset for more than one paramater.
You should use 2 paramaters for this report, say #checkdate1 and #checkdate2, as this enables more control over what is used and where.