Report Builder 3.0 does not generate clickthrough links

Question

We are in the process of updating from the SSRS package in SQL 2005 to SQL 2012. SSRS seems to work fine, even with the original report model, but none of the reports we create have clickthrough functionality. Even if the entities are linked in the report model, the table simply doesn't have any clickthrough links. The older reports carried over from the SQL 2005 SSRS do still have the functionality however.

We are using the enterprise version of SQL, which claims to have the feature. Is there a manner in which I need to turn it on?

Answer 1

Clickthrough doesn't only matter on the underlying reporting server's capability which supplies the data, but also if the report designer application (in our case Report Builder 3.0) support it too.

@djangojazz is using SSDS (successor of BIDS) in his solution, and it also requires cubes. I think @ChargerIIC wanted to use Report Builder. It seems that Report Builder 3.0 is not a successor of Report Builder 1.0 in all respects. Particularly this clickthrough feature may be a difference.

See Report Builder 3.0 FAQ: http://download.microsoft.com/download/7/F/D/7FDAA75C-1273-4DFE-8EC6-D9699C3EE47F/SQL_Server_2008_R2_Report_Builder_3_0FAQs.docx

See the question: "What are the key differences between Report Builder 1.0 and Report Builder 3.0?". The last row in the answer table is crossed out, but it says that 1.0 support infinite click through, while 3.0 is manual.

"Q. Is this a replacement for Report Builder 1.0? A. Not for this release. It does replace Report Builder 2.0 but there is still some additional functionality from Report Builder 1.0 that did not make it into this release that has been prioritized for a future release."

Answer 2

To set up a drill through report for a master report you must have two reports. For the sake of simplicity I will keep my example super simple. Let's start with the drill through report as that is the lowest level. For both examples assumple you are using a Shared Data Source you make up. This is written with instructions for 2012 Business Intelligence Development Studio assuming you are in a Report Solution for SSRS and a working SSRS Project. You get to this with All Programs > Microsoft SQL Server 2012 > SQL Server Data Tools (Once you open it, it will be called Business Intelligence).

1. Create a new 'Item' for a blank report and call it 'SubReport'
2. Open up 'Report Data' and add your Shared Data Source
3. Right Click 'Parameters' and 'Add Parameter'. Add a simple text parameter and call it 'Prompt'.
4. Open the 'Toolbox' and drag a text box onto the surface.
5. Type in 'Hello from [@Prompt]'. You can test the report in 'Preview' mode and see that you can pass whatever text string you want to it to get a value.
6. Now for the master report, repeat steps 1 and 2 but call the report 'MasterReport'

7. Add a 'DataSet' by right clicking the 'DataSource' you just created and click 'Add DataSet'. For example I will just create a super simple set I call 'People'

   DECLARE @Person TABLE (person varchar(8)); INSERT INTO @Person
   VALUES     ('Brett'), ('Sean'), ('Chad'), ('Michael');
   SELECT TOP 100 *
   FROM @Person p
   

8. Now go to the 'Toolbox' and drag and drop a 'Table' element onto the report.

9. Click on the most left 'Data' cell of the 'Table' you just dropped and hover over it and select the little box that appears in the upper right and you should see a column named 'person' that matches my dataset above. Select that and the cell and header will now be populated.
10. Now for the real magic to actually happen.
    A. Right click the cell you just created and 'Text Box Properties'.
    B. Select 'Action' on the left pane.
    C. Choose the radio button 'Go to Report'. (More options now appear) D. Under 'Specify a report:' select the dropdown for the value 'SubReport' E. Under 'Use these parameters to run the report:' click 'Add' F. Under 'Name' you will see the parameter name 'Prompt' from the report we created in step 3 G. Under 'Value' select '[person]' which is from the dataset we created in this report in step 7.
11. Preview the report and now when you 'hover over' values in the table a pointer appears. When you click on a cell you DRILL THROUGH to the other report in a new screen.

I hope this helps, the important thing to keep in mind is that you can isolate your logic to seperate the two reports as distinct entitites that are loosely coupled by passing values from one to the other. You can make the parameters hidden, make more of them, you can nest the report inside of your cell if you like, etc.