I guess we’ve all seen it before, VS/SSDT/BIDS automatically generates datasets for input parameters (which is fine to start with).

But for Date/Time parameters it always (by default) selects the ‘Text’-datatype (drop-down list), instead of the ‘Date/Time’-datatype (nice calendar).

What we want to achieve
So this is what we want to achieve (in red):

Start a clean slate
First step is to drop the generated date/time parameter(s) we’re not going to use and create a new one:

Make sure to select the ‘Date/Time’ as the datatype, which enables the nice calender-type input. Leave the ‘Available Values’-section unchanged/empty.

Hussle the Date-value in the correct format (YYYY-MM-DD)
A difference between both datatypes is that the ‘Date/Time’-datetype will return values formatted based on your local/regional settings (e.g. YYYY-M-D or in my case D-M-YYYY).
Where I need it to be YYYY-MM-DD (including 0’s), so something like:
2015-12-01

To achieve this, we need to cast/convert a little bit and include a ‘0’ when we need it:

=IIF(LEN(CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))) = 2,
CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value))),
"0"+CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))
)

Turn it into a MDX value
The final step is to get it into the desired value for MDX:
[Dim Creation Date].[Date].&[2015-12-05T00:00:00]

Here’s the full code expression which you can use as a parameter value (expression):

="[Dim Creation Date].[Date].&["
+CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Year,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))+"-"+
IIF(LEN(CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))) = 2,
CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value))),
"0"+CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Month,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))
)+"-"+
IIF(LEN(CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Day,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))) = 2,
CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Day,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value))),
"0"+CSTR(DATEPART(DateInterval.Day,CDate(Parameters!DateFrom.Value)))
)
+"T00:00:00]"

Use the expression as an input value for your dataset
The final step is to use the expression:

Done!
That’s it! Bye bye ugly drop-down list :)

Couple of weeks ago, I shared my SSRS dashboard with the community on LinkedIn:

Koos van Strien asked for the source (RDL) and restyled the dashboard with his ‘webdesign-look’. Pretty nice!

Koos discusses the changes he made to my dashboard on his blog:
http://www.msbiblog.com/2016/01/28/ssrs-non-ugly-5-the-nitty-griddy-details/#more-402

Here are both dashboards in full size:

By default in SQL Server 2012 (Enterprise) when you create a new data-driven subscription (DDS), you’re able to select ‘HTML4.0‘ as a rendering format. But when you create a normal subscription, the option isn’t available.

Here’s how you can enable the functionality of rendering in HTML4.0 format for a normal subscription. Please remove Visible=”false” for the HTML4.0 rendering extension in the RSreportserver.config file as follows:

<Extension Name="HTML4.0" Type="Microsoft.ReportingServices.Rendering.HtmlRenderer.Html40RenderingExtension,Microsoft.ReportingServices.HtmlRendering" Visible="false"/>


To get the HTML4.0 to be included in the body of the email rather than as an attachment, look for this element in the RSreportserver.config file:

< EmbeddedRenderFormats>

And add this as an extra entry within that element:

<RenderingExtension>HTML4.0</RenderingExtension>

In my own file the whole thing now looks like this:

< EmbeddedRenderFormats>
<RenderingExtension>MHTML</RenderingExtension>
<RenderingExtension>HTML4.0</RenderingExtension>
</EmbeddedRenderFormats>

This works fine for me using SQL 2008 R2 and up.

Also for SQL Server 2016, the option for HTML5 is also available (same principle as above). But in SQL 2016 with HTML5 it was still send as an attachment instead of embedded. So somehow the embed-config doesn’t work properly yet?