Passing NULL in a ReportParameter Object to ReportService.asmx

Came across a need to pass NULL to a paremeter in a Reporting Services report through the ReportService web service.  Turns out (thanks Teo Lachev) that if this is what you need, omit the parameter altogether from the parameter collection that is passed into the web service.  Teo mentioned that he figured this out by doing a server trace.  Very clever.  He remembered that Reporting Services is using the ReportService.asmx to render the reports itself and so all he had to do was render the report using the null checkbox in the parameter box and see what it was doing.  Well done.

Mark

Google Code Upgrade

Google Code project hosting has been upgraded!  I just noticed that there is a location for storing downloads and a new Wiki tab as well.  This was my only complaint about google code up to this point and it is now fixed.

I have placed the latest executable in the download section for each of the two projects that I’m hosting.

So now you don’t have to download the source (although you are welcome to) and have to comple it to use the application.

(This goes for both NDataUnit and BuildDB)

Mark

Merge Join Task Sort Order Weirdness Workaround

In an earlier post (Merge Join Task Complete Cop Out) I lamented about how if you changed the sort order in the data flow earlier in the data flow that a merge join task completely flipped out and would even lock down to where you could not edit it.

I stand by my statement that the dialog box that is presented is a complete cop-out – but now I have found a way to keep it from happening.

I figured out that what it was complaining about whs the output of the Merge Join Task.  When you change the sort order and double clicked on the task, it would ask you if it should change to use the new sort order.  All well and good.  You click ok and get out and it still had a red X on it.  You double click and it would then tell you it couldn’t be edited any more because of the limitations of the dialog box.  Well – when you change the sort order, the automatic process that fixes the join key and such doesn’t fix the sort order of the Merge Join Task Output.

If you will delete the output to the Merge Join before you start the process, you are presented with the same set of dialogs, except you can then join the output of the Merge Join to the next task thereby resetting its metadata and all is cool.

Mark