Test and troubleshoot reports

 

Applies To: Dynamics 365 (online), Dynamics 365 (on-premises), Dynamics CRM 2016, Dynamics CRM Online

After you have created a report, test it to see if it produces the results that you want.

Test a report

  1. Test the report in Microsoft Visual Studio within the Preview tab.

  2. If any errors are reported, correct the cause of the errors, and then run the test again.

  3. When the report works correctly, publish the report to the report server. To do this, in Microsoft Dynamics 365, go to Sales > Reports. Click New, and then fill out the requested information.

  4. Run the published report from Microsoft Dynamics 365 to verify the report's operation.

Suggestions for testing a report

The following list of suggestions is provided as a guide for testing your reports:

  • SQL-based reports only: Verify that your reports access Microsoft Dynamics 365 data through filtered views to follow Dynamics 365 security restrictions.

  • SQL-based reports only: Check the number of SQL table joins. Reports might not run if there are too many table joins. After you upload a report, open the pre-filter section of your report and add some related entities, for example, accounts that have associated opportunities. Run the report with the related entities. If a max SQL joins error occurs, you may want to either simplify the report or remove some Advanced Find filterable entities.

  • Verify that report filters are specified for the correct entities. After uploading the report, open it and check whether any entities designated for Advanced Find filtering should be exposed for report pre-filtering.

  • If the report queries a custom entity, make sure that the entity can be correctly filtered. and that the report returns data based on user roles with user-level security on entities, custom security roles, and other roles.

  • Some reports are context sensitive and can be run against selected records in a list. For those types of reports, verify that the report can be run against system views, custom system views, user queries, and selected records.

  • Verify that you can take snapshots of the report through the Scheduling Wizard in Dynamics 365.

  • Verify that you can save the report as a PDF file. Reports frequently print better with PDF formatting.

  • Verify that detailed sub-reports are hidden when you publish the report, so they’re not run directly by users.

Report drill-through fails in Visual Studio Report Viewer

Some parameters in the reports that are generated by the Report Wizard are marked internal (read-only). Therefore, when you upload the reports into Visual Studio, and try to drill through, the Visual Studio Report Viewer doesn’t display the reports. To correct this, use Visual Studio Report Designer to change the parameters from internal to hidden. Clear the Internal check box, and make sure that the Hidden check box is selected for each of the following parameters:

  • CRM_Drillthrough

  • CRM_DrillthroughFilterBy

  • CRM_FilterText

  • CRM_URL

The parameters that are prefixed with CRM_Filtered, such as CRM_FilteredAccount or CRM_FilteredContact, also have to be marked as hidden and not internal.

Note

Your report may not contain all the parameters listed here.

See Also

Report & Analytics with Dynamics 365
Publish reports
Use parameters in reports
Create a new report using SQL Server Data Tools

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