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User Function Problem

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johnv asked on 13 Oct 2008, 07:10 PM

Hello,

I am using version 2.8.8.925 of the Telerik Reporting tools. I have a custom user function that I am using in two textboxes. the code is simple enough but I think I may be doing something wrong.

Class Function

    
            public static string DecodeHtml(string html)  
        
                    {  
        
                        string decodedText = HttpContext.Current.Server.HtmlDecode(html);  
        
                        return decodedText;  
        
                    }

Control 1

    
            =DecodeHtml(Fields.Description)

Control 2

    
            =DecodeHtml(Fields.ResolutionComment)

The report looks fine except that the first field works and the second field produces the following error.

    
            Describe the Problem:   
        
              Many aircraft's Work Unit Code (WUC) manuals have WUC's for wiring scattered throughout the manual. Also, there are few are or wire bundle specific WUC's. This all contributes to inaccurate data being entered into the maintenance data reporting system. Having WUC's scattered throughout the manual b aircraft system instead of   
        
            by aircraft location and/or wire bundle leads to inaccurate data submission and wasted time looking for the "best" WUC to use for a particular repair. Better use of WUC's will provide more detailed data submission which will enable better data extraction and better tracking of wiring problems. Wiring should be treated as a separate system and not as parts of several other aircraft systems. WUC's for wiring should be combined into a separate section in the WUC manual. WUC's for aircraft areas and/or wire bundles should be added. N.O.C. WUC's should be removed from the manuals. Also, more wire specific malfunction codes should be added. The E-2C aircraft community is currently working this issue. Recommend checking with them for ideas of what can be done.   
        
              Resolution:   
        
              #ERROR# The expression contains undefined function call DecodeHtml().

Not sure why this is the case, but I am also getting the same issue if I replace my function with the StripHtmlTags() function.

Any help would be fantastic! Thanks.

Very Respectully,

John

10 Answers, 1 is accepted

answered on 13 Oct 2008, 08:47 PM

It seems that if the field returns a null from the database query, then the function isn't constructed properly and error's out. This is also true for the default functions included with the reporting product. The simple answer is to use a case statement in your query so that when a field is null then it returns a non null value, else return the value as seen below:

    
            'ActionResults' = CASE   
        
                                    WHEN acs.ActionResults IS NULL THEN ''   
        
                                    ELSE acs.ActionResults   
        
                                  END,

In the end it is a satisfactory work around. I hope this helps anyone who is running into this error.

Very Respectfully,

John Valentine

answered on 28 Oct 2008, 01:37 PM

Telerik,

Yes, that is what I ended up figuring out (I used IsNull() to convert nulls to empty strings before passing to all User Functions.

I have a complaint:

Why oh why doesn't Telerik let users know about these known issues so that we don't waste time on them? In this particular case it was especially frustrating because I had originally tried to write my expression in the Expression Editor but it wasn't working. My expression checked for nulls in various Fields (using IIf()) and, if found, replaced them with System.String.Empty.

Well, that didn't work (I didn't know that I couldn't reference .NET types) so I sent in a ticket. The support person told me to implement the function with a User Function. OK. Thanks. But surely the support person should have warned me about this quirk/bug in Telerik Reported _especially_ since I had included my expression which clearly showed I was testing for null Fields in the ticket!

answered on 28 Oct 2008, 04:16 PM

Hi Eriksson,

I am not sure I have time to pour through emails regarding every bug in these controls. It could have a negative impact on the user base and some of these bugs may have proprietary information that Telerik doesn't want released. I think that it may behoove our community to have a simple sticky post in each forum where people can go to see threads similar to this one (the moderators can move/copy them in). The email will take care of itself, and we get a place where we can quickly reference issues that people have resolved in some way.

That's all I want. A place where I can see challenges faced by the community and how the community was able to overcome them.

Just my 2 cents.

-- John