Passing multiple integer values as parameter in SSRS

Question

Hello,
I am trying to pass a comma separated multiple integer value parameter in SSRS report and it errors out complaining that it is not able to convert the nvarchar value to datatype int. But it works fine when I pass a single value. Here is the code I am using
for the report and I am stuck at passing multiple values.
SELECT
id,count(*) as cnt
from table
and ID in (@id) group by id
eg: if I pass 10,20,30 then I would get error however if I pass 10 then it works fine
Is there a different method to pass multiple integer values?
Thanks for your help.

Answer 1

A comma is, of course, a textual character and not an integer, thus the error you are getting. Multi-value parameters can be used for this.
Select "Allow multiple values"and set data type to Integer. Multi-value parameters deliver the values as an array. The query interface is smart enough to convert them to the proper syntax (comma-delimited) automatically so a statement like:
WHERE Field IN (@id)
where the parameter has an array of values {1, 2, and 3} is interpreted as:
WHERE Field IN (1,2,3)
You do not need to manually convert it in a transact SQL query. That is not the case for displaying the value array in your report. If you wish to display the array (described above) in your report as "1, 2, 3", you will need to use a join expression:
=Join(@id, ", ")
As DJ described, the other part to a multivalue parameter is the Available values. These can be set explicitly but given your example, I think it would be best to create a new dataset that retrieves a distinct list of the IDs that can be retrieved, perhaps
something like:
SELECT DISTINCT GroupName, GroupID
FROM table
WHERE [criteria]
Set the available values to use this query with GroupName (or whatever user-friendly field you choose for your dataset) as the label and the id as the value. The label field should be something the the target report user can easily identify the correct group
using.
If you don't want to or can't use a multivalue parameter for some reason then you will need to manipulate your parameter value prior to consuming it in your query. When you add the parameter to the TSql query and save the dataset, SSRS adds it to the Parameters
property of the dataset. Open the dataset properties and select the parameters tab. You should see your parameter in the list. click the expression builder (fx) button next to the value and enter this expression:
=Split(@id,",")
Note that the second element of the expression is the delimiter. If your text input has comma-space as a delimiter (1, 2, 3 vs 1,2,3) then that element must include ", ". My example just has comma so if you use that with a string "1, 2, 3"then
the resulting array will still have 3 elements but the 2nd and 3rd elements of the array will have a preceding space which will cause your dataset to error with the same error. As long as there are no non-numeric characters in any of the elements, the split6
will create the text array, SSRS will dynamically generate the correct "IN"syntax (comma separated) and SQL will convert the elements from VARCHAR to INT on the fly.
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