Relative Date Item in Power Pivot GETPIVOT DATA excel function - date

I am using a GETPIVOTDATA function in Excel to source data from a pivot table generated by a Power BI query (everything was originally only in excel, the file got too large, so i stored the main tables in PBI but kept the reports in excel for mgmt's sake).
=GETPIVOTDATA("[Measures].["&$A$100&"]",'PIVOT Table_test'!$A$126,"[Master].[field1]","[Master].[field1].&["&C$26&"]","[Master].[AsofDate]","[Master].[AsofDate].&[2022-04-30T00:00:00]")
However, I want to make the GETPIVOTDATA function as dynamic as possible to prevent having too many hardcoded fields/items for each table that fields the charts we look at. However, when i reference the pivot table, the '[Asof]' field populates the static item as "...&[2022-04-30T00:00:00]")...
I have been trying to change that to reference a header row that contains a Short Date value (4/30/2022) like &["&$B&1"&"]")... but i keep getting #ref errors, every other field accepts the "&&" method, and when i leave the hardcoded timestamp in the formula, it populates.
So it has to be that reference but i do not understand what I am doing wrong. I have also tried changing the format of both the header row in Excel and the field within PBI but to no success.

Found the answer on another site. The solution in the item brackets is to write the following:
["&TEXT($A22,"yyyy-mm-dd""T00:00:00""")&"]

Related

Adding Signature Blobs to Crystal Report Form

New to Crystal Reports (2013) and learning by doing. I have a client agreement form that has five signature blob fields stored in a column in a separate table. I need to populate each of those five signatures into the correct spot on the form. I tried doing this with formula fields and I'm not having any luck. The field doesn't even show as an option under the SQL Expressions Fields options. If I try it as a regular formula field IF statement I get an error message that says blobs aren't allowed in formulas. If I just add the field to the report, it pulls in only the final signature as there's no conditional statements telling it which signature to grab. How do I go about creating a formula/field/object for each of the five signatures so I can place them on the form? In SQL I'd do a series of SELECT signature_blob WHERE signature_number = X but that doesn't seem to be an option that I'm finding.
Edit: so I think I've managed to do it like this by adding a new database command for each field, but is there a better way?
Create a database view that returns the 5 signatures as 5 columns and a single row + one column for the Agreement ID.
Add that View to the report and join (on Agreement ID).
You can do the same thing directly in the report without a View by adding the Signature table 5 times with different aliases and restrict each alias to a single signature. This would be the same logic as the database view but would be a bit slower.

In a data flow task, how do I restrict rows flowing using a value from another source?

I have an excel sheet with many tabs. Say one is called wsMain and the other is called wsDate.
In my data flow transformation I am able to successfully load the data from wsMain to my table.
Now I have to update this transformation where I have to fetch the maximum date from the worksheet wsDate and only load data from wsMain where the date is less than on equal to the maximum date in wsDate (that is the only column available).
So for I have figured out that I need to create a new Excel connection manager to read the data from wsDate and I have used the Aggregate transformatioin to get the maximum date.
Now the question is how do I use this date to restrict the rows coming from wsMain?
I understand from the link below that you can store the value in a variable but what do I do next?:
SSIS set result set from data flow to variable
I have tried using a merge join but not sure if I am doing it right.
Here is what it looks like now:
I could not achieve the above but would be interested to know if that is possible. As a work around I have created a separate dataflow where I have stored the valued in a variable and then used the variable in the conditional split to filter the required rows:
Here is a step by step guide I followed to write the variable:
https://www.proteanit.com/2008/12/11/ssis-writing-to-a-package-variable-in-a-dataflow/
You can obtain the maximum value of the wsDate column first, this use this as a filter to avoid introducing unnecessary records into the data flow which which would be discarded by the Conditional Split. An overview of this process is below. I'd also recommend confirming the data types for all columns involved.
Create an SSIS DateTime variable and name this something descriptive such as MaxDate.
Create a Data Flow Task before the current one with an Excel Source component. Use the SQL command option for the Data Access Mode and enter a SQL statement to return the max value of the wsDate column. In the following example ExcelSource is the name of the sheet that you're pulling from. I'd suggested confirming the query with the Preview button on the Excel Source as well.
Add a Script Component (not Task) after the Excel Source. Add the MaxDate variable in the ReadWriteVariables field on the main page of the Script Component. On the Inputs and Outputs pane add the output column from the Excel Source as an Input Column with the ReadOnly usage Type. Example C# code for this is below. Note that variables can only be written to in the PostExecute method. The Input0_ProcessInputRow method is called once for each row that passes through, however there will only be the single row in this case. On the following code MaxExcelDate is the name of the output column from the Excel Source.
On the Excel Source component in the Data Flow Task where the records are imported from Excel, change the Data Access Mode to SQL command and enter a SQL statement to return records that have a date less than or equal to the maximum wsDate value. This is the last example and the ? is a placeholder for the parameter. After entering this SQL, click the Parameters button and select Parameter0 for the Parameters field, the MaxDate variable for Variables field, and a direction of Input. The Conditional Split can then be removed since these records will now be filtered out.
Excel MAX wsDate SELECT:
SELECT MAX(wsDate) AS MaxExcelDate FROM ExcelSource
C# Script Component:
DateTime maxDate;
public override void PostExecute()
{
base.PostExecute();
Variables.MaxDate = maxDate;
}
public override void Input0_ProcessInputRow(Input0Buffer Row)
{
maxDate = Row.MaxExcelDate;
}
Excel Command with Date Filter:
SELECT
Column1,
Column2,
Column3
FROM ExcelSheet
WHERE DateColumn <= ?
Yes, it is possible. In the data flow, you will need to determine the max date, which you already have. Next, you will need to MERGE JOIN the two data flows on the date column. From there, you will feed it into a CONDITIONAL SPLIT and split where the date columns match [i.e., !ISNULL()] versus do not match [i.e., ISNULL()]. In your case, you only want the matches. The non-matches will be disregarded.
Note: if you use an INNER JOIN on the MERGE JOIN where there is only one date (i.e., MaxDate) to join on, then this will take care of the row filtering for you. You will not need a CONDITIONAL SPLIT.
Welcome to ETL.
Update
It is a real pain that SSIS's MERGE JOINs only perform joins on EQUAL operations as opposed to LESS THAN and GREATER THAN operations. You will need to separate the data flows.
Use a script component to scan the excel file for the MAX Date and assign that value to a package variable in SSIS. Alternatively, you can have a dates table in SQL Server and then use an Execute SQL Command in SSIS to retrieve the MAX Date from the table and assign that value to a package variable
Modify your existing data flow to remove the reading of the Excel date file completely. Then add a DERIVED COLUMN transformation and add a new column that is mapped to the package variable in SSIS that stores the MAX date. You can name the Derived Column Name 'MaxDate'
Add a conditional split transformation with the following CONDITION logic: [AsOfDt] <= [MaxDate]
Set the Output Name to Insert Records
Note: The CONDITIONAL SPLIT creates a new output data flow with restricted/filtered rows. It does not create a new column within the existing data flow. Think of this as a transposition of data flow output from column modification to row modification. Only those rows that match the condition will be sent to the output that you desire. I assume you only want to Insert these records, so I named it that. You can choose whatever naming convention you prefer
Note 2: Sorry for not making the Update my original answer - I haven't used the AGGREGATE transformation before so I was not aware that it restricts row output as opposed to reading a value in the data flow and then assigning it to a variable. That would be a terrific transformation for Microsoft to add to SSIS. It appears that the ROWCOUNT and SCRIPT COMPONENT transformations are the only ones that have the ability to set a package variable value within the data flow.

Jaspersoft Studio: Force input parameter of subreport to be entered manually

In my main report I get a (small) list of string values from the data base. I then want to use this list for selecting records in a subreport, along with other input parameters:
The user shall be able to select records based on a range of begin and end date -- this is easy using an input parameter of type java.util.Date with "Is For Prompting" set to true. Another criteria shall be one or more items from a list showing values from a data base field. I could define the list in the report template, but then I'd have hard-coded strings (filled from the data base, but at definition time only).
Now the dilemma is: If I define the input parameters in the main report, I cannot get the values for the list beforehand; if I define them in the subreport, I get no prompt at all, so there's no way to set any of them.
So the report requires values for start and end date, and a list of string values to select from (multiple itmes can be selected). This list shall be built from values from the data base. In the subreport all these values shall be joined into a filter for the records. A user shall be able to define the dates and select items from the list manually before executing the report.
Is there a way to achieve this?
After some more hours of trial & error, and some more research, of course, I found that the keyword is "Query-based Input Controls". This documentation describes their creation on the JasperReports Server. Such input controls can be edited in Jaspersoft Studio as well, however, they actually work on the server only. Anyway, this is the solution to my problem.

Displaying multiple records in Crystal report as comma separated value

I have a view that I am using to display some information in Crystal report file. In some cases, view is supposed to return more than 1 record.
By default, in these cases, Crystal report take the last record and display that one. So, if I have two records with id A and B, I will see only the details of B.
I want to have an option where both A and B are displayed separated by comma.
E.g. if EmployeeDepartment in Employee table has two records (CIS, FINANCE) for employee A, then I want to see #EmployeeDepartment return "CIS, FINANCE" instead of just "FINANCE".
I have been trying to find a way to do this. Till now, I have gotten this far:
Base formula
Shared Stringvar store;
store:=store+{TBL_MR_Header.MRHD_Customer_Ref_No}+ ", "
Display formula
Shared Stringvar store;
store
When I run the report, base formula returns "B," instead of "A,B". Display formula on the other hand displays nothing.
I am unsure what I am missing here.
Edit:
I have created a query that returns the two value comma separated, in both records. So, both records display "CIS, FINANCE" instead of "CIS" and "FINANCE" respectively. Now, I have simple problem, how do I put this query in crystal report file? Only option I can find is to use that datasource expert tool but that does not allow updating query.
Edit:
I actually decided to go different route there. I tried putting the base formula in header and display formula in detail section, but that didn't work either. Turns out, one of my colleague tried a trick to solve similar problem. He used the C# code to call a T-SQL query, got the value in CSV format, and passed it as a parameter. It requires an extra trip to database, but it made it easier.

Dynamic Table Of Contents - CR

I am currently using crystal reports to create a price list which MUST have a table of contents. The report is passed a dataset from a stored procedure, though I don't think anything I can do server-side will be able to achieve this.
What my question is really is, is there any way of finding what page a particular value in a group header is on, if I can do this I can obviously create an index page with dynamic page numbers easily.