Tutorial: Introducing Expressions

  • Article

Expressions help you create powerful and flexible reports. This tutorial teaches you to create and implement expressions that use common functions and operators. You will use the Expression dialog box to write expressions that concatenate name values, look up values in a separate dataset, display different pictures based on field values, and so on.

The report is a barred report with alternating row colors in white and a color. The report includes a parameter for selecting the color of the non-white rows.

The following illustration shows a report similar to the one you will create.

rs_ExpressionsTutorial

What You Will Learn

In this tutorial you will learn how to do the following:

  1. Create a Table Report and Dataset from the Table or Matrix Wizard

  2. Update Default Names of the Data Source and Dataset

  3. Display First Name, Initial, and Last Name

  4. Use Images to Display Gender

  5. Look Up CountryRegion Name

  6. Count Days Since Last Purchase

  7. Use an Indicator to Show Sales Comparison

  8. Make the Report a “Green Bar” Report

Other Optional Steps

  • Format Date Column

  • Add a Report Title

  • Save the Report

Estimated time to complete this tutorial: 30 minutes.

Requirements

For information about requirements, see Prerequisites for Tutorials (Report Builder).

1. Create a Table Report and Dataset from the Table or Matrix Wizard

Create a table report, a data source, and a dataset. When you lay out the table, you will include only a few fields. After you complete the wizard you will manually add columns. The wizard makes it easy for you to lay out the table and apply a style.

Note

In this tutorial, the query contains the data values, so that it does not need an external data source. This makes the query quite long. In a business environment, a query would not contain the data. This is for learning purposes only.

Note

In this tutorial, the steps for the wizard are consolidated into one procedure. For step-by-step instructions about how to browse to a report server, choose a data source, and create a dataset, see the first tutorial in this series: Tutorial: Creating a Basic Table Report (Report Builder).

To create a new table report

  1. Click Start, point to Programs, click Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Report Builder, and then click Report Builder.

    The Getting Started dialog box appears.

    Note

    If the Getting Started dialog box does not appear, from the Report Builder button, click New.

    Note

    If you prefer using the ClickOnce version of Report Builder, open Report Manager and click Report Builder, or go to a SharePoint site on which Reporting Services content types such as reports are enabled and click Report Builder Report on the New Document menu on the Documents tab of a shared documents library.

  2. In the left pane, verify that New Report is selected.

  3. In the right pane, click Table or Matrix Wizard.

  4. On the Choose a dataset page, click Create a dataset.

  5. Click Next.

  6. On the Choose a connection to a data source page, select a data source that is type SQL Server. Select a data source from the list or browse to the report server to select one.

  7. Click Next.

  8. On the Design a query page, click Edit as Text.

  9. Paste the following query into the query pane:

    SELECT 'Lauren' AS FirstName,'Johnson' AS LastName, 'American Samoa' AS StateProvince, 1 AS CountryRegionID,'Unknown' AS Gender, CAST(9996.60 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-6-10' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT'Warren' AS FirstName, 'Pal' AS LastName, 'New South Wales' AS StateProvince, 2 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(5747.25 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-7-3' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Fernando' AS FirstName, 'Ross' AS LastName, 'Alberta' AS StateProvince, 3 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(9248.15 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-10-17' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Rob' AS FirstName, 'Caron' AS LastName, 'Northwest Territories' AS StateProvince, 3 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(742.50 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-4-29' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'James' AS FirstName, 'Bailey' AS LastName, 'British Columbia' AS StateProvince, 3 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(1147.50 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-6-15' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT  'Bridget' AS FirstName, 'She' AS LastName, 'Hamburg' AS StateProvince, 4 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(7497.30 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-5-10' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Alexander' AS FirstName, 'Martin' AS LastName, 'Saxony' AS StateProvince, 4 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(2997.60 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-11-19' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Yolanda' AS FirstName, 'Sharma' AS LastName ,'Micronesia' AS StateProvince, 5 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(3247.95 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-8-23' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Marc' AS FirstName, 'Zimmerman' AS LastName, 'Moselle' AS StateProvince, 6 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(1200.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-11-16' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Katherine' AS FirstName, 'Abel' AS LastName, 'Moselle' AS StateProvince, 6 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(2025.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-12-1' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Nicolas' as FirstName, 'Anand' AS LastName, 'Seine (Paris)' AS StateProvince, 6 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(1425.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-12-11' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'James' AS FirstName, 'Peters' AS LastName, 'England' AS StateProvince, 12 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(887.50 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-8-15' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Alison' AS FirstName, 'Nath' AS LastName, 'Alaska' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(607.50 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-10-13' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Grace' AS FirstName, 'Patterson' AS LastName, 'Kansas' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(1215.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-10-18' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Bobby' AS FirstName, 'Sanchez' AS LastName, 'North Dakota' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(6191.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-9-17' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Charles' AS FirstName, 'Reed' AS LastName, 'Nebraska' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(8772.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-8-27' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Orlando' AS FirstName, 'Romeo' AS LastName, 'Texas' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(8578.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-7-29' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Cynthia' AS FirstName, 'Randall' AS LastName, 'Utah' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(7218.10 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-1-11' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Rebecca' AS FirstName, 'Roberts' AS LastName, 'Washington' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(8357.80 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-10-28' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Cristian' AS FirstName, 'Petulescu' AS LastName, 'Wisconsin' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(3470.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-11-30' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Cynthia' AS FirstName, 'Randall' AS LastName, 'Utah' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(7218.10 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-1-11' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Rebecca' AS FirstName, 'Roberts' AS LastName, 'Washington' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Female' AS Gender, CAST(8357.80 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-10-28' AS date) AS LastPurchase
UNION SELECT 'Cristian' AS FirstName, 'Petulescu' AS LastName, 'Wisconsin' AS StateProvince, 7 AS CountryRegionID, 'Male' AS Gender, CAST(3470.00 AS money) AS YTDPurchase, CAST('2010-11-30' AS date) AS LastPurchase

    The query specifies column names that include a birth date, first name, last name, state or province, country/region identifier, gender, and year-to-date purchases.

  10. On the query designer toolbar, click Run (!). The result set displays 20 rows of data and includes the following columns: FirstName, LastName, StateProvince, CountryRegionID, Gender, YTDPurchase, and LastPurchase.

  11. Click Next.

  12. On the Arrange fields page, drag the following fields, in the specified order, from the Available Fields list to the Values list.

    • StateProvince

    • CountryRegionID

    • LastPurchase

    • YTDPurchase

    Because the CountryRegionID and YTDPurchase contain numeric data, the SUM aggregate is applied to them by default.

    Note

    The FirstName and LastName fields are not included. You will add them in a later step.

  13. In the Values list, right-click CountryRegionID and click the Sum option.

    Sum is no longer applied to CountryRegionID.

  14. In the Values list, right-click YTDPurchase and click the Sum option.

    Sum is no longer applied to YTDPurchase.

  15. Click Next.

  16. On the Choose the layout page, click Next.

  17. On the Choose a style page, click Slate, and then click Finish.

2. Update Default Names of the Data Source and Dataset

To update the default name of the data source

  1. In the Report Data pane, expand Data Sources.

  2. Right-click DataSource1 and click Data Source Properties.

  3. In the Name box, type ExpressionsDataSource

  4. Click OK.

To update the default name of the dataset

  1. In the Report Data pane, expand Datasets.

  2. Right-click DataSet1 and click Dataset Properties.

  3. In the Name box, type Expressions

  4. Click OK.

3. Display First Name, Initial, and Last Name

Use the Left function and the Concatenate (&) operator in an expression that evaluates to a name that includes an initial and a last name. You can build the expression step by step or skip ahead in the procedure and copy/paste the expression from the tutorial into the Expression dialog box.

To add the Name column

  1. Right-click the StateProvince column, point to Insert Column, and then click Left.

    A new column is added to the left of the StateProvince column.

  2. Click the title of the new column and type Name

  3. Right-click the data cell for the Name column and click Expression.

  4. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions, and then click Text.

  5. In the Item list, double-click Left.

    The Left function is added to the expression.

  6. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  7. In the Values list, double-click FirstName.

  8. Type , 1)

    This expression extracts one character from the FirstName value, counting from the left.

  9. Type &" "&

  10. In the Values list, double-click LastName.

    The completed expression: =Left(Fields!FirstName.Value, 1) &" "& Fields!LastName.Value

  11. Click OK.

  12. Click Run to preview the report.

4. Use Images to Display Gender

Use images to show the gender of a person, and identify unknown gender values by using a third image. You will add to the report three hidden images and a new column to display the images, and then determine the image that appears in the column based on the value of the Gender field.

To apply a color to the table cell that contains the image when you make the report a barred report, you will add a rectangle and then add the image to the rectangle. You need to use a rectangle because you can apply a background color to a rectangle, but not to an image.

The tutorial uses images that are installed with Windows, but you can use any images available to you. You will use embedded images, and they do not need to be installed on your local computer or the report server.

To add images to the report body

  1. Click Design to return to design view.

  2. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Image and then click in the report body, below the table.

    The Image Properties dialog box opens.

  3. Click Import and navigate to C:\Users\Public\Public Pictures\Sample Pictures.

  4. Click Penguins.JPG and click Open.

    In the Image Properties dialog box, click Visibility and then click the Hide option.

  5. Click OK.

  6. Repeat steps 2 through 5, but choose Koala.JPG.

  7. Repeat steps 2 through 5, but choose Tulips.JPG.

To add the Gender column

  1. Right-click the Name column, point to Insert Column, and then click Right.

    A new column is added to the right of the Name column.

  2. Click the title of the new column and type Gender

To add a rectangle

  • On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Rectangle and then click in the data cell of the Gender column.

    A rectangle is added to the cell.

To add an image to the rectangle

  1. Right-click in the rectangle, point to Insert, and then click Image.

  2. In the Image Properties dialog box, click the down arrow beside Use this image, and select one of the images you added, for example, Penguins.JPG.

  3. Click OK.

To use images to show gender

  1. Right-click the image in the data cell in the Gender column and click Image Properties.

  2. In the Image Properties dialog box, click the expression fx button next to the Use this image text box.

  3. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions and click Program Flow.

  4. In the Item list, double-click Switch.

  5. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  6. In the Values list, double-click Gender.

  7. Type ="Male", "Koala",

  8. In the Values list, double-click Gender.

  9. Type ="Female", "Penguins",

  10. In the Values list, double-click Gender.

  11. Type ="Unknown", "Tulips")

    The completed expression: =Switch(Fields!Gender.Value ="Male", "Koala",Fields!Gender.Value ="Female","Penguins",Fields!Gender.Value ="Unknown","Tulips")

  12. Click OK.

  13. Click OK again to close the Image Properties dialog box.

  14. Click Run to preview the report.

5. Look Up CountryRegion Name

Create the CountryRegion dataset and use the Lookup function to display the name of a country/region instead of the identifier of the country/region.

To create the CountryRegion dataset

  1. Click Design to return to design view.

  2. In the Report Data pane, click New and then click Dataset.

  3. Click Use a dataset embedded in my report.

  4. In the Data source list, select ExpressionsDataSource.

  5. In the Name box, type CountryRegion

  6. Verify that the Text query type is selected and click Query Designer.

  7. Click Edit as Text.

  8. Copy and paste the following query into the query pane:

    SELECT 1 AS ID, 'American Samoa' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 2 AS CountryRegionID, 'Australia' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 3 AS ID, 'Canada' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 4 AS ID, 'Germany' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 5 AS ID, 'Micronesia' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 6 AS ID, 'France' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 7 AS ID, 'United States' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 8 AS ID, 'Brazil' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 9 AS ID, 'Mexico' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 10 AS ID, 'Japan' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 10 AS ID, 'Australia' AS CountryRegion
UNION SELECT 12 AS ID, 'United Kingdom' AS CountryRegion

  9. Click Run (!) to run the query.

    The query results are the country/region identifiers and names.

  10. Click OK.

  11. Click OK again to close the Dataset Properties dialog box.

To look up values in the CountryRegion dataset

  1. Click the Country Region ID column title and delete the text: ID.

  2. Right-click the data cell for the Country Region column and click Expression.

  3. Delete the expression except the initial equal (=) sign.

    The remaining expression is: =

  4. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions and click Miscellaneous.

  5. In the Item list, double-click Lookup.

  6. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  7. In the Values list, double-click CountryRegionID.

  8. If the cursor is not already immediately after CountryRegionID.Value, place it there.

  9. Delete the right parenthesis and then type ,Fields!ID.value, Fields!CountryRegion.value, "CountryRegion")

    The completed expression: =Lookup(Fields!CountryRegionID.Value,Fields!ID.value, Fields!CountryRegion.value, "CountryRegion")

    The syntax of the Lookup function specifies a lookup between CountryRegionID and ID in the CountryRegion dataset that returns the CountryRegion value, which is also in the CountryRegion dataset.

  10. Click OK.

  11. Click Run to preview the report.

6. Count Days Since Last Purchase

Add a column and then use the Now function or the ExecutionTime built-in global variable to calculate the number of days from today since a person’s last purchases.

To add the Days Ago column

  1. Click Design to return to design view.

  2. Right-click the Last Purchase column, point to Insert Column, and then click Right.

    A new column is added to the right of the Last Purchase column.

  3. In the column header, type Days Ago

  4. Right-click the data cell for the Days Ago column and click Expression.

  5. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions, and then click Date & Time.

  6. In the Item list, double-click DateDiff.

  7. If the cursor is not already immediately after DateDiff(, place it there.

  8. Type "d",

  9. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  10. In the Values list, double-click LastPurchase.

  11. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!LastPurchase.Value, place it there.

  12. Type ,

  13. In the Category list, click Date & Time again.

  14. In the Item list, double-click Now.

    Warning

    In production reports you should not use the Now function in expressions that are evaluated multiple times as the report renders (for example, in the detail rows of a report). The value of Now changes from row to row and the different values affect the evaluation results of expressions, which leads to results that are subtly inconsistent. Instead, you should use the ExecutionTime global variable that Reporting Services provides.

  15. If the cursor is not already immediately after Now(, place it there.

  16. Delete the left parenthesis and then type )

    The completed expression: =DateDiff("d", Fields!LastPurchase.Value, Now)

  17. Click OK.

7. Use an Indicator to Show Sales Comparison

Add a new column and use an indicator to show whether a person’s year-to-date (YTD) purchases are above or below the average YTD purchases. The Round function removes decimals from values.

The configuration of the indicator and its states requires many steps. If you want to, in the “To configure the indicator” procedure, you can skip ahead and copy/paste the completed expressions from this tutorial into the Expression dialog box.

To add the + or - AVG Sales column

  1. Right-click the YTD Purchase column, point to Insert Column, and then click Right.

    A new column is added to the right of the YTD Purchase column.

  2. Click the title of the column and type + or - AVG Sales

To add an indicator

  1. On the Insert tab of the ribbon, click Indicator, and then click the data cell for the + or - AVG Sales column.

    The Select Indicator Type dialog box opens.

  2. In the Directional group of icon sets, click the set of three gray arrows.

  3. Click OK.

To configure the indicator

  1. Right-click the indicator, click Indicator Properties, and then click Value and States.

  2. Click the expression fx button next to the Value text box.

  3. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions, and then click Math.

  4. In the Item list, double-click Round.

  5. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  6. In the Values list, double-click YTDPurchase.

  7. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, place it there.

  8. Type -

  9. Expand Common Functions again and click Aggregate.

  10. In the Item list, double-click Avg.

  11. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  12. In the Values list, double-click YTDPurchase.

  13. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, place it there.

  14. Type , "Expressions"))

    The completed expression: =Round(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value - Avg(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, "Expressions"))

  15. Click OK.

  16. In the States Measurement Unit box, select Numeric.

  17. In the row with the down-pointing arrow, click the fx button to the right of the text box for the Start value.

  18. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions, and then click Math.

  19. In the Item list, double-click Round.

  20. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  21. In the Values list, double-click YTDPurchase.

  22. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, place it there.

  23. Type -

  24. Expand Common Functions again and click Aggregate.

  25. In the Item list, double-click Avg.

  26. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  27. In the Values list, double-click YTDPurchase.

  28. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, place it there.

  29. Type , "Expressions")) < 0

    The completed expression: =Round(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value - Avg(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, "Expressions")) < 0

  30. Click OK.

  31. In the text box for the End value, type 0

  32. Click the row with the horizontal-pointing arrow and click Delete.

  33. In the row with the up-pointing arrow, in the Start box, type 0

  34. Click the fx button to the right of the text box for the End value.

  35. In the Expression dialog box, create the expression: =Round(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value - Avg(Fields!YTDPurchase.Value, "Expressions")) >0

  36. Click OK.

  37. Click OK again to close the Indicator properties dialog box.

  38. Click Run to preview the report.

8. Make the Report a “Green Bar” Report

Use a parameter to specify the color to apply to alternating rows in the report, making it a barred report.

To add a parameter

  1. Click Design to return to design view.

  2. In the Report Data pane, right-click Parameters and click Add Parameter.

    The Report Parameter Properties dialog box opens.

  3. In Prompt, type Choose color

  4. In Name, type RowColor

  5. In the left pane, click Available Values.

  6. Click Specify values.

  7. Click Add.

  8. In the Label box, type: Yellow

  9. In the Value box, type Yellow

  10. Click Add.

  11. In the Label box, type Green

  12. In the Value box, type PaleGreen

  13. Click Add.

  14. In the Label box, type Blue

  15. In the Value box, type LightBlue

  16. Click Add.

  17. In the Label box, type Pink

  18. In the Value box, type Pink

  19. Click OK.

To apply alternating colors to detail rows

  1. Click the View tab on the ribbon and verify that Properties is selected.

  2. Click the data cell for the Name column and press the Shift key.

  3. One by one, click the other cells in the row.

  4. In the Properties pane, click BackgroundColor.

    If your Properties pane lists properties by category, you will find the BackgroundColor under the Fill category.

  5. Click the down arrow and then click Expression.

  6. In the Expression dialog box, expand Common Functions, and then click Program Flow.

  7. In the Item list, double-click IIf.

  8. Expand Common Functions and click Aggregate.

  9. In the Item list, double-click RunningValue.

  10. In the Category list, click Fields (Expressions).

  11. In the Values list, double-click FirstName.

  12. If the cursor is not already immediately after Fields!FirstName.Value, place it there and type ,

  13. Expand Common Functions and click Aggregate.

  14. In the Item list, double-click Count.

  15. If the cursor is not already immediately after Count(, place it there.

  16. Delete the left parenthesis and then type ,“Expressions”)

    Note

    Expressions is the name of the dataset in which to count data rows.

  17. Expand Operators and click Arithmetic.

  18. In the Item list, double-click Mod.

  19. If the cursor is not already immediately after Mod, place it there.

  20. Type 2 =0,

    Important

    Be sure you include a space before you type the number 2.

  21. Click Parameters and in the Values list, double-click RowColor.

  22. If the cursor is not already immediately after Parameters!RowColor.Value, place it there.

  23. Type , “White”)

    The completed expression: =IIf(RunningValue(Fields!FirstName.Value,Count, "Expressions") Mod 2 =0, Parameters!RowColor.Value, "White")

  24. Click OK.

Run the Report

  1. If not on the Home tab, click Home to return to design view.

  2. Click Run.

  3. In the Choose color drop-down list, select the color of the non-white bars on the report.

  4. Click View Report.

    The report renders and alternating rows have the background that you chose.

(optional) Format Date Column

Format the Last Purchase column, which contains dates.

To format date column

  1. Click Design to return to design view.

  2. Right-click the data cell for the Last Purchase column and click Text Box Properties.

  3. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, click Number, click Date, and then click the type *1/31/2000.

  4. Click OK.

(optional) Add a Report Title

Add a title to the report.

To add a report title

  1. On the design surface, click Click to add title.

  2. Type Sales Comparison Summary, and then click outside the text box.

  3. Right-click the text box that contains Sales Comparison Summary and click Text Box Properties.

  4. In the Text Box Properties dialog box, click Font.

  5. In the Size list, select 18pt.

  6. In the Color list, select Gray.

  7. Select Bold and Italic.

  8. Click OK.

(optional) Save the Report

You can save reports to a report server, SharePoint library, or your computer. For more information, see Saving Reports (Report Builder).

In this tutorial, save the report to a report server. If you do not have access to a report server, save the report to your computer.

To save the report to a report server

  1. From the Report Builder button, click Save As.

  2. Click Recent Sites and Servers.

  3. Select or type the name of the report server where you have permission to save reports.

    The message "Connecting to report server" appears. When the connection is complete, you will see the contents of the report folder that the report server administrator specified as the default report location.

  4. In Name, replace the default name with Sales Comparison Summary.

  5. Click Save.

The report is saved to the report server. The name of report server that you are connected to appears in the status bar at the bottom of the window.

To save the report to your computer

  1. From the Report Builder button, click Save As.

  2. Click Desktop, My Documents, or My computer, and then browse to the folder where you want to save the report.

  3. In Name, replace the default name with Sales Comparison Summary.

  4. Click Save.

See Also

Reference

Expression Examples (Report Builder and SSRS)

Concepts

Expressions (Report Builder and SSRS)

Indicators (Report Builder and SSRS)

Images, Text Boxes, Rectangles, and Lines (Report Builder and SSRS)

Tables (Report Builder and SSRS)

Add Data to a Report (Report Builder and SSRS)