SSRS 2008 - Dynamic parameter works in Visual Studio, but has no available values on the Report Server

Question

The short version: My report has a param that sets the default of another param (both are dropdown, non-multiple-valued) using a dataset. This works as expected in Visual Studio, but on the Report Server the second param is blank (doesn't have any available values).

---

The long version: I wrote a report that has two parameters:

• @run_type: A drop down (single select) with hard-coded available values:
  • Most Recent 365
  • None
  • Fiscal Year to Date
• @Run: A drop down (single select) with available values from the GetRuns dataset

The two applicable datasets are:

• GetRuns: Returns a list of "runs" to populate the available values for the @Run parameter. This is also a shared dataset, but the other report that use it are working fine.
• get_run_type: Uses the values selected in the @run_type parameter to return the default value for the @Run parameter.

So basically the report is supposed to automatically run as soon as it opens because the...

1. The GetRuns dataset sets the @Run parameter's available values
2. @run_type's default is set to "Most Recent 365"
3. which tells the get_run_type dataset to return the most recent run of that type, to set it as
4. @Run parameter's default value

The Problem/Question: The @Run parameter has no available values. Why would it work perfectly in Visual Studio but not on the server?

Answer 1

Sometimes parameters are not updated when publishing reports (this would include available value references). If you had published the report before adding the available values reference to the parameter, it would continue to show up blank.

Delete the report from the server and publish it again.

Answer 2

So I just realized that I actually did make a change to the shared dataset that was populating the available values for the @Run parameter. Stupid mistake. I fixed that and it works fine now.