Possible parameter issue

Question

Post Author: toml_74
CA Forum: Data Connectivity and SQL
I am not really sure if this would fall under parameters or if I am not linking my tables correctly but here goes. I have built a report for an alarm company that needs to feature two sections on the report. The first is the customer information i.e. name, address, account number etc...  which would go in the header. The second is signals generated for the alarm customer which I am using as details. The problem I have is that when I run a report on a customer that has no signals, it will not display either part, the customer information or the signals. It just leaves a blank space. If there are signals, everything comes in  correctly and is valid information.
I have 1 table that is a customer information table linked to a signal history table that uses that same field. For instance customer "Mike" may be account #1025 in the customer table and it is linked to the signal history table in the transmitter field which is also the customer number that shows up with each signal. I am using a one to many relationship. I know the parameters are working correctly since it does display data if there are signals.
It is not unusual for someone to not have signals so what I would like is to still be able to display the customer information in the heading even without the signals. I was able to use a formula to show a message in case of the null values for the signals and the customer info but that is not acceptable at this point. Any ideas?
Using CR XI Professional.

Answer 1

Post Author: GraemeG
CA Forum: Data Connectivity and SQL
Hi Tom
Try this:
1. Create the left outer join between the CUSTOMER and SIGNALS tables.2. Have NO selection criteria at all3. Create a FROM and a TO date parameter3. Group by CUSTOMER4. Put the CUSTOMER detail in the Group Header5. Add the SIGNAL details into the Detail section6. Create a Formula called 'SignalCount' with the following (sorry, I use basic syntax because I'm old!):       Shared SignalCountVariable as Number       if {SIGNAL.SIGNALDATE} >= {?FromDate} and {SIGNAL.SIGNALDATE} <= {?ToDate} then          SignalCountVariable = SignalCountVariable + 1      end if      formula = SignalCountVariable7. Put this variable into your Detail Section somewhere. It will just be a count of the signals for that customer.8. Create a Formula called 'ResetVariables' with the following (sorry, I use basic syntax):      Shared SignalCountVariable as Number      SignalCountVariable = 0      formula = ''9. Put this new variable in your group header. All it does it set the shared variable to zero for a new group.10. In your section expert for the Detail section, put a formula against 'Supress (No drilldown)': Shared SignalCountVariable as Number      if SignalCountVariable = 0 then          formula = true      else          formula = false      end if11. This will print the detail section if the signal is within the date range and suppress it if it isn't.12. Right-click the Group Footer and select 'Insert section below'. This will create a section called Group Footer #1b.13. Put any summary information into Group Footer #1a and your message 'No activity during this period' in Group Footer #1b.14. In your section expert against Group Footer #1a, put a formula against 'Supress (No drilldown)':     Shared SignalCountVariable as Number     if SignalCountVariable = 0 then         formula = true     else         formula = false     end if15. Group Footer #1a will now only print your summary info if there is any valid signal records.16. In your section expert against Group Footer #1a, put a formula against 'Supress (No drilldown)':     Shared SignalCountVariable as Number     if SignalCountVariable = 0 then         formula = true     else         formula = false     end if17. Group Footer #1b will now only print your message if there is no valid signal records.
This should do the trick - I tried it out on a customer/transaction relationship and it works okay. Let me know if it works for you!
Regards
Graeme