"How to get distinct values of sharepoint column using SSRS"

Question

Hi,
    I have integrated sharepoint list data to SQL Server reporting services. I am using the below to query sharepoint list data using sql reporting services.
<Query>
   <SoapAction>http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/GetListItems</SoapAction>
   <Method Namespace="http://schemas.microsoft.com/sharepoint/soap/" Name="GetListItems">
      <Parameters>
         <Parameter Name="listName">
            <DefaultValue>{GUID of list}</DefaultValue>
         </Parameter>
         <Parameter Name="viewName">
            <DefaultValue>{GUID of listview}</DefaultValue>
         </Parameter>
         <Parameter Name="rowLimit">
            <DefaultValue>9999</DefaultValue>
         </Parameter>           
      </Parameters>
   </Method>  
<ElementPath IgnoreNamespaces="True">*</ElementPath>
</Query>
By using this query, I am getting a dataset which includes all the columns of sharepoint list. Among these columns, I wanted to display only 2 columns (i.e Region and Sales type) using chart. I have created a Region parameter but when I click preview, the drop down box is giving me all the repeatative values of region like RG1,RG1,RG1,RG2,RG2,RG2,RG2,RG3.......... I wanted to display only distinct values of Region parameter so that whenever end user select region from the parameter drop down, it will display the respective value of Sales type column.
Also when I select only RG1 parameter, it is giving me a chart including the sales type of all the Regions. (it should display me only the sales type of RG1) How can I link these 2 columns so that they will display the values respectively.
          I would really appreciate if anyone can help me out with this.
Thanks,
Sam.

Answer 1

Hi Sam,
By code, the CAML language doesn’t have any reserved word (or tag) to set this particular filter to remove duplicate results.
In this case, we could use the custom code to get distinct records.
Here are the detailed steps:
1.         Create a hidden parameter that gets all the records in one field.
Note: Please create another dataset that is same of the main dataset. This dataset is used for the parameter.
2.         Create a function that used to remove the duplicate records.
Here is the code:
Public Shared Function RemoveDups(ByVal items As String) As String
Dim noDups As New System.Collections.ArrayList()
Dim SpStr
SpStr = Split(items ,",")
For i As Integer=0 To Ubound(Spstr)
If Not noDups.Contains(SpStr(i).Trim()) Then
noDups.Add(SpStr(i).Trim())
End If
Next
Dim uniqueItems As String() = New String(noDups.Count-1){}
noDups.CopyTo(uniqueItems)
Return String.Join(",", uniqueItems)
End Function
3.         Create another parameter that will be used for filtering the maindata.
Please set the available value to be =Split(Code.RemoveDups(JOIN(Parameters!ISSUE_STATUS_TEMP.Value, ",")), ",")
And the default value to be the value you what such as the first value:
=Split(Code.RemoveDups(JOIN(Parameters!ISSUE_STATUS_TEMP.Value, ",")), ",").(0)
4.         Go to the main dataset. Open the property window of this dataset.
5.         In the “Filters” tab, set the filter to be:
Expression: <The field to be filter>
Operator: =
Value: =Parameters!Region.Value
The parameter “Region” should be the parameter we created in the step3.
Now, we should get distinct values of SharePoint columns.
If there is anything unclear, please feel free to ask.
Thanks,
Jin
Jin Chen - MSFT