value of the prompt if not entered anything

[kishor2010]

HI, I have a problem in report studio. please help me to figure this out..
i have a optional prompt, i want to check whether the value is selected or not.. Please help how to check..
if (?parameter? is null ) then ('1') else ('2')
or
if (ParamDisplayValue('parameter') is null ) then ('1') else ('2')
Both the above are not working..
Suppose if i select any value in the prompt then the else part works and i get the result as 2, if i wont select anything then i'm not getting the result as 1

[BigChris]

Have you tried switching "is null" for "is missing" ? You need to let us know what platform you're using etc.

[Robl]

You could also try a zero length string.
(?parameter? = '' )

Alternatively use a macro prompt where you can define the blank value.
#prompt('P_paramname','string','unselected')# = 'unselected'

You could set 'unselected' to be whatever you want.

I've also found that for optional prompts the prompt macros tend to run a little faster than having default values in screen based prompts; but I've not actually done any true speed tests.

[kishor2010]

Hi Chris,
"is missing" also not working..
I am working in cognos 10.2.2 report studio and the data base is db2..

[kishor2010]

Hi Robl
(?parameter? = '' ) and  #prompt('P_paramname','string','unselected')# = 'unselected' are also not wrking...  :( :( :( :(

[Robl]

Are you sure the prompt has nothing selected?
Have you entered a default value in the prompt on the prompt page?

Try adding a layout calculation on the report that shows the paramvalue and paramdisplayvalue.
You could also try conatenating a string on the front and back of it to see if it's returning spaces, null or zero length string or something else.

[keshavchhn]

Use "is not null" instead of "is null" in the expression.

You can also check on

http://cogxprt.blogspot.com

[kishor2010]

Hi Robl,
I tried as u said,
'a'+ParamDisplayValue('p_AggBand11')+'s'
If i select the prompt value then it will display as below
aCATHAY, CHEUNGKONG,s
if nothing is selected in the prompt then it will not display anything, not even 'a' and 's'

[Robl]

In which case it's NULL.

Try this
Make sure there is no filter on the report that does anything with the parameter.
Then make a data item with the following calculation; see what happens.
if (?param? is null ) then ('A') else ('B')

[kishor2010]

Hi Robl,

If i use the parameter(?param?) in the data item, then that parameter becomes required..
so i can't continue to report without entering the parameter value..

[Robl]

Good point.
I guess we're back to looking at using a prompt/parameter macro.

Although, looking back at the orginal question..
Add a layout calculation with;

if (ParamValue('param') is null ) then ('a') else ('b')

[kishor2010]

Robl,
All these works perfectly in "report expression" but it does not work in "filter expression"..