Dynamic Color Coding in SSRS Charts

In this article, I will explain how to change the color of a chart dynamically. In other words, how to provide custom color palette feature at run time.

Lets start off with an example including step by step operations.

Step1. Open or create new Report Server Project. I am creating a new Report Server Project using SQL Server 2012 and saved it with LearnSSRS2012 name.

Step2. Add new Shared Data Source by right click on "Shared Data Sources" folder.

 

 Now give any name to Share Data Source (Local, in my case) and click on Edit button to define Server Name and Database Name. In this example, I will use static data sources so I am using "." (you can also use "(local)") as ServerName. I am not defining any Database name so I will keep it blank (default will be msater). You can define any database, if you want. Now click on OK.

Step3. Now create a new report by clicking on Reports --> Add --> New Item --> Report --> Add. I don't like default report name like Report1, Report2, Report3 so I have renamed it to ChartColorCode.rdl.

Step4. Create Data Source for ChartColorCode report. To create a new Data Source, right click on "Data Sources" followed by "Add Data Sources" under Report Data as shown below:














We will use Shared Data Source we created above. So click on "Use shared data source reference" and select Local data source created at step 2. Give any name to this report level data source. I will assign "Local" again. Click OK to proceed.

Step5. Now lets create couple of datasets. To create a new dataset, right click on "Datastes" followed by "Add Datastes" under Report Data as shown below:














I will use two data sources in this example, one for Color Palette and another for Chart.

To create new Dataset for ColorPalette, Right click on DataSets --> Add Dataset... and type "ColorPalette" in Name textbox. Select "Use a dataset embedded in my report" option and select Local as Data Source.

Select Text option in "Query Type" and type following query in Query window:

SELECT 'Red' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'DarkOrange' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Green' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Blue' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Olive' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'SeaGreen' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Brown' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Gray' AS ColorName UNION
SELECT 'Tomato' AS ColorName

Click OK to proceed.


Create one more dataset using following query and name it Chart.ds:

SELECT 2010 AS [Year], 12000 Amount UNION
SELECT 2011 AS [Year], 15000 Amount UNION
SELECT 2012 AS [Year], 13000 Amount


Step6. Drag and drop "3D Cylinder"  bar chart from toolbox. Drag and drop Amount field from Chart.ds to value field (Y axis) and Year field to Category Groups as shown below.

To make the chart more meaningful and dainty, do following formatting:
1. Replace Chart Title with "Year vs Amount".
2. Replace Y Axis Title with Amount.
3. Repalce X Axis Title with Year.
4. Remove the Chart Legend.
5. Change the font size and color as you wish.
6. Right click on the bar and select "Show Data Labels". Select Times New Roman in data labels font because numbers are better visible in this font.

After incorporating all the above changes, click on Preview tab to view the report. My report looks like one shown below:

Step7. Now I will explain how to change the chart color at run-time.
First of all, I will create a report parameter for dynamic color. Click on Parameters folders in Report Data and then click on Add Parameter... Define pColor as report parameter Name and Color as Prompt. Select parameter visibility Hidden. You can keep it as Visible if you wish to do so.

Click on Available Values under Report Parameter Properties window. Select "Get values from a query" option under "Select from one of the following options". Select ColorPalette in Dataset box, ColorName in "Value field", and ColorName in "Label field".

Click on Default Values under Report Parameter Properties window. Select "Get values from a query" option under "Select from one of the following options". Select ColorPalette in Dataset box, and ColorName in "Value field". Click OK to proceed.


Step8. Drag and drop Table control from toolbox.
Do set following properties for table control.
a) Table control will have three default columns. Delete one column.
b) Merge Table Header and write "Color Palette" in the textbox.
c) Write following expression in the second column of Table Details.
=IIF(Parameters!pColor.Value=Fields!ColorName.Value, "◄","")
 and write following expression in background property of same text box:
=Fields!ColorName.Value

d) Select Table Details and then right click --> select "Row Group" --> select "Group properties"

e) In "Group Properties" window, click on expression button under "Group on" box and write following expression =Fields!ColorName.Value.

f) Select first text box of Table Details and then right click to select "Test Box Properties" as highlighted below:

g) in "Text Box Properties" dialogue box, click on Action and select "Go to report" under "Enable as an action" and "ChartColorCode" in "Specify a report" box. Also select report parameter pColor in Name and [ColorName] in Value as shown below:

Step9. Now we are at the final step where we need to change the properties of bar chart to change the color at run time. Right click on bar chart and select "Series Properties".

In "Series Properties" window, click on Fill. and then click on expression button to open Expression window. Double click on pColor under parameter or write following expression  manually as shown below:
=Parameters!pColor.Value

Step10. Its time to run the report and see the results.

First Preview:

Second Preview: Following report will be displayed once we click on Red color under:

Third Preview: Following report will be displayed once we click on DarkOrange color under:

I hope you like this article!

 

Conditional Formatting in SSRS 2008

Alternate Background Color in Tabular Report:
Alternate background color of rows in a table make it easier to read horizontally. Also it makes report look and feel better. This is very common but simple task to achieve in SSRS report using expression.

Select the detail row of the data table in the layout tab.

Go to property window and select expression of BackgroundColor and enter below expression:
=IIF(RowNumber(Nothing) Mod 2 = 0,"Transparent","#cdfcbe")

Now click and Preview the report:

Format Phone number using REGEX function:
Suppose you want to display Phone no in (ddd) ddd-dddd format instead of ddd-ddd-dddd. To do this, Right click on the required textbox --> click expression... and enter below expression:

=System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(Fields!Phone.Value, "(\d{3})[ -.]*(\d{3})[ -.]*(\d{4})", "($1) $2-$3")


Now click on Preview and see the report:

 
Changing Font Color dynamically:
Sometime we need to format data based on the their values. Below is an example for Base rate color selection:

Base Rate	Color
<= 15	Green
> 15 AND <=25	Blue
> 25 AND <=40	Black
> 40	Red

To do this, Enter C (Currency format) in Format and below expression in Color property of BaseRate field:
=SWITCH(Fields!BaseRate.Value <= 15,"Green",

Fields!BaseRate.Value <= 25,"Blue",
Fields!BaseRate.Value <= 40,"Black",
Fields!BaseRate.Value > 40,"Red")

Now click on Preview and see the report:

Swapping Font Color and BackgroundColor:
Suppose you want to swap Font Color and BackgroundColor of Gender field. Use below expressions in BackgroundColor and Color properties respectively:

=IIF(Fields!Gender.Value = "M","Tomato","Teal")

=IIF(Fields!Gender.Value <> "M","Tomato","Teal")

Now click on Preview and see the report:

SSRS Expressions

Reporting Services Expressions
In Reporting Services, Expressions are used frequently in reports to control content and report appearance. Expressions are used throughout the report definition to specify or calculate values for parameters, queries, filters, report item properties, group and sort definitions, text box properties, bookmarks, document maps, dynamic page header and footer content, images, and dynamic data source definitions.

Expressions begin with an equal (=) and are written in Visual Basic. Expressions can include a combination of constants, operators, and references to built-in values (fields, collections, and functions), and to external or custom code. Expressions can be one of the following two types:

• Simple - An expression that is a single reference to an item in a built-in collection, such as, a dataset field, a parameter, or a built-in field. Simple expressions appear on the design surface and in dialog boxes in brackets, such as [FieldName], which represents the underlying expression =Fields!FieldName.Value. You can type simple expressions directly into a text box on the design surface and the corresponding expression text is set as the value of a placeholder inside the text box.
• Complex - An expression that includes more than a simple reference. Complex expressions appear on the design surface as <>. You can create complex expressions in the Expression dialog box or type them directly into the Property pane.

Examples of SSRS Expression

Using Built-in Fields

Display  Report Execution Time in a textbox:

="Report Execution Time: " & Globals!ExecutionTime

Display Page No in a textbox:
="Page " & Globals!PageNumber & " of " & Globals!TotalPages

Similar way you can use other built-in Fields in expressions e.g. Report Folder, Report Name, ReportServerUrl, UserID, Language etc. as shown below:

Date & Time Functions

The Today() function provides the current date. The expression  =Today() can be used in a text box to display the date on the report, or in a parameter to filter data based on the current date. This function will return date in M/d/yyyy 12:00:00 AM format. You can use Format function to display required format. Some of the popular date formats are given below:

Expression	Output
=FORMAT(Today(),"M/d/yy")	8/23/10
=FORMAT(Today(),"MM-dd-yyyy")	08-23-2010
=FORMAT(Today(),"MMM-dd-yyyy")	Aug-23-2010
=FORMAT(Today(),"MMMM dd, yyyy")	August 23, 2010
=FORMAT(DateField,"MMM dd, yyyy hh:mm:ss")	Aug 23, 2010 01:43:33
=FORMAT(DateField,"MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss")	Aug 23, 2010 13:43:33
=FORMAT(DateField,"MMM dd, yyyy HH:mm:ss.fff")	Aug 23, 2010 13:43:33.587
=FORMAT(DateField,"MMM dd, yyyy hh:mm:ss tt")	Aug 23, 2010 01:43:33 PM

Note: FormatDateTime function can also be used to format the date field e.g. =FormatDateTime(Fields!BirthDate.Value, DateFormat.ShortDate)

DateAdd - Returns a Date value containing a date and time value to which a specified time interval has been added. this function can be used in an expression to add/substract time(day, month, year, sec etc.) from given date field:
=DateAdd(DateInterval.Month, 6, Parameters!StartDate.Value)

DateDiff - Returns a Long value specifying the number of time intervals between two Date values.
=DateDiff("yyyy",Fields!BirthDate.Value,Today())

DatePart - Returns an Integer value containing the specified component of a given Date value.
=DatePart("q",Fields!BirthDate.Value,0,0)

=DatePart(DateInterval.Quarter,Fields!BirthDate.Value, FirstDayOfWeek.System, FirstWeekOfYear.System)

There are many other Date &Time functions which can be used expression:

String Functions

• Combine more than one field by using concatenation operators and Visual Basic constants. The following expression returns two fields, each on a separate line in the same text box:

=Fields!FirstName.Value & vbCrLf & Fields!LastName.Value

•Format dates and numbers in a string with the Format function.

=Format(Parameters!StartDate.Value, "M/D") & " through " & Format(Parameters!EndDate.Value, "M/D")

•The Right, Len, and InStr functions are useful for returning a substring, for example, trimming DOMAIN\username to just the user name. The following expression returns the part of the string to the right of a backslash (\) character from a parameter named User:

=Right(Parameters!User.Value, Len(Parameters!User.Value) - InStr(Parameters!User.Value, "\"))

The following expression results in the same value as the previous one, using members of the .NET Framework System.String class instead of Visual Basic functions:
=User!UserID.Substring(User!UserID.IndexOf("\")+1, User!UserID.Length-User!UserID.IndexOf("\")-1)

• Join - Display the selected values from a multivalue parameter
=Join(Parameters!MyParameter.Value,",")

•The Regex functions from the .NET Framework System.Text.RegularExpressions are useful for changing the format of existing strings, for example, formatting a telephone number. The following expression uses the Replace function to change the format of a ten-digit telephone number in a field from "nnn-nnn-nnnn" to "(nnn) nnn-nnnn":
=System.Text.RegularExpressions.Regex.Replace(Fields!Phone.Value, "(\d{3})[ -.]*(\d{3})[ -.]*(\d{4})", "($1) $2-$3")

There are many other function which can be used in expression as shown below:

Conversion Functions

You can use Visual Basic functions to convert a field from the one data type to a different data type.

• 
  
  The following expression converts the constant 100 to type Decimal in order to compare it to a Transact-SQL money data type in the Value field for a filter expression: =CDec(100)

• The following expression displays the number of values selected for the multivalue parameter MyParameter: =CStr(Parameters!MyParameter.Count) 

Decision Functions

The IIF function returns one of two values depending on whether the expression is true or false. The following expression uses the iif function to return a Boolean value of True if the value of Total exceeds 100. Otherwise it returns False:

=IIF(Fields!Total.Value > 100, True, False)

Use multiple IIF functions (nested IIFs) to return one of three values depending on the value of PercentComplete. The following expression can be placed in the fill color of a text box to change the background color depending on the value in the text box.

=IIF(Fields!PercentComplete.Value >= 10, "Green", IIF(Fields!PercentComplete.Value >= 1, "Blue", "Red"))

A different way to get the same functionality uses the Switch function. The Switch function is useful when you have three or more conditions to test. The Switch function returns the value associated with the first expression in a series that evaluates to true:

=Switch(Fields!PercentComplete.Value >= 10, "Green", Fields!PercentComplete.Value > 1, "Blue", Fields!PercentComplete.Value = 1, "Yellow", Fields!PercentComplete.Value <= 0, "Red",)

A third way to get the same functionality uses the Choose function. The Choose function uses the first parameter as an index to one of the remaining function parameters. The first parameter must be an integer. If the background color of a text box in a table is set to this expression, the value of MyIndex controls the color.

=Choose(Fields!MyIndex.Value,"Red","Green","Yellow")

Check the value of the PurchaseDate field and return "Red" if it is more than a week old, and "Blue" otherwise. This expression can be used to control the Color property of a text box in a report item:

=IIF(DateDiff("d",Fields!PurchaseDate.Value, Now())>7,"Red","Blue")