SSRS Tip: Using invisible parameters in contracts – Dynamics AX 2012

There can be cases where you wanted a contract in the attribute but do not want the UI builder to expose it to the user. The reporting framework in AX provides a very easy way to incorporate this.

Open the parm method in the contract that you don’t want to expose. Add the attribute shown here along with other attributes. This attribute when found in the parm method will automatically prevent the UI builder from adding this to the dialog.

[DataMemberAttribute, SysOperationControlVisibilityAttribute(false)]
public LogisticsAddressing parmAddress(LogisticsAddressing _address = companyAddress)
{
companyAddress = _address;
return companyAddress;
}

This feature comes as a part of the BOF, see here http://j.mp/185ufd2

Update: Apologize for the wrong statement here. The only way to make a parameter visible when using the contract with reporting framework is to specify it in the design. This is because the contract class \Classes\SrsReportRdpDataContractInfo\buildMemberAndNestedObjectMap – 29 ignores this attribute and reads the design RDL (created using your VS) to decide if a parameter must be visible in the contract. So to hide your parameter open the parameters node in Visual studio and then set the visibility property to hidden.Also a point to understand is that the VS design overrides any specifications at the contract level for properties like  LableHelp, Visibility, grouping, HelpText, value type (multivalue) etc. (Ref: \Classes\SrsReportRdpDataContractInfo\fillReportDesignProperties). Thanks to a AXForum member who pointed this out.

For more tips and learning about SSRS – AX 2012 order the book Dynamics AX 2012 Reporting Cookbook authored by me.

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