Error using Filter with SQL Expression

Question

Hey all -
New to Oracle BI, and getting a problem with Filters that use SQL Expressions.
The column I'm filtering on is a 4 digit year, expressed as a VARCHAR2(4 byte) in the physical database. My SQL Expression in the filter is:
Column: CAL YEAR 4 DIGIT
Operator: Is equal to/in
SQL Expression: TO_CHAR(ADD_MONTHS(SYSDATE, -24), 'YYYY'))
when I click on the "Results" Tab I get the following error message:
Error Codes: YQCO4T56:OPR4ONWY:U9IM8TAC:OI2DL65P
Odbc driver returned an error (SQLExecDirectW).
State: HY000. Code: 10058. [NQODBC] [SQL_STATE: HY000] [nQSError: 10058] A general error has occurred. [nQSError: 27002] Near <(>: Syntax error [nQSError: 26012] . (HY000)
I've isolated the issue to the expression above. If I put in a literal value and supply a four digit year like below it works:
Column: CAL YEAR 4 DIGIT
Operator: Is equal to/in
SQL Expression: *2008*
Any ideas on what's causing my problem?
Thanks!
Mac

Answer 1

macearl wrote:
SQL View does not display unless data is returned by the query. Is that normal?
Also, none of these options shows the literal result of the expression we built, i.e.:
expression: CAST(YEAR(TIMESTAMPADD(SQL_TSI_MONTH, -24, CURRENT_DATE)) as CHAR)
result: *2008*
Having the ability to test expressions and see their results would be very helpful in debugging. If anyone knows how to do that please share!
Thanks!
MacOk, Probably shoud have figured this out before, but in response to my own question, the way to view the result of an expression is to add the expression as a column and include it in the Table Presentation.
- Mac (he can be taught)