- For Name, type a name for the parameter. If you do not specify a value for Prompt text (the next property), the report user sees the Name value as the parameter prompt.
- For Type, select a data type for the parameter.
The data type you select does not have to match the data type of the field in the data source. Values in an orderID field, for example, could be stored as integers in the database but the report parameter associated with this field can be of decimal or string type. The data type you select for the report parameter determines the formatting options available should you choose to provide a default value or a list of values for the report parameter.
For date fields, you can select either Date Time or String. Specifying string data type provides more flexibility for the user to specify dates in a variety of formats. The user can enter, for example, 02/04/2004, 2/4/04, or Feb 4, 2004. The trade-off is that you cannot use date and time formats to change how dates are displayed should you choose to provide the user with a list of date values.
- Choose OK.
The parameter appears under Report Parameters in Data Explorer.