handling Column binding has referred to a data set column which does not exist. err

I know why I'm getting this error, it's due to an empty result set returned from an MDX query. The result set is empty because the user is able to add filter conditions to the query which makes it very easy for them to enter a filter that causes no data to be returned.

My problem is how to handle this. (Birt 2-3-2)

What I don't want is an exception splattered in my report. Ideally I'd like to display a pretty message if no rows are returned. Is there a way to handle this gracefully? The exception handling which causes the splatter to be added to the html seems to be at too low a level for me to do anything about.

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mwilliams

Hi jsherriff,

Are you not declaring this column in your dataSet? I've not seen an issue where an empty dataSet causes a binding issue, just usually causes an empty table to show. Can you recreate this issue with the sample database?

jsherriff

Michael,
I've got it declared in the result set and in the cachedMetaData result set. Not sure how I can replicate this with the sample database - my gut says it's very much particular to mdx and our oda driver for mondrian. I'll see if I can get more info. Doesn't look like there's any way to control the exception handling to avoid the html error.

Thanks. Joel

gyuksel

Hello,

I have the same problem (BIRT 4.2.2)

When a data set is empty same error occurs for the very first column binding in the table. Hiding table works (means "No Data" warning is displayed over the error) only for the preview in Eclipse. When same report is opened in BIRT Report Viewer or in the browser, it shows only the error message in a small window(see attached screen-shots). So a user will never know this is because his/her parameter/filter selections. Because s/he does not see any warning like "No Data".

In my case report parameters are sent to run-time for filtering so the data set might be null/empty( not sure?). As the report uses SOA Driver to grab the data, unfortunately I can not provide you a sample report.

I just want that users see "No Data" warning in the browser as well.
Can I handle this error in the report scripts? Any suggestions? Regards

mwilliams

You could connect to your dataSet using the design engine API and check for returned values with your query. If nothing is there, you could drop all elements in the report except a label that says "No Data". You could also connect to your db without the data engine if you wanted. <a data-ipb='nomediaparse' href='http://www.birt-exchange.org/devshare/_/designing-birt-reports/1542-data-engine-api-to-check-data-set-values'>http://www.birt-exchange.org/devshare/_/designing-birt-reports/1542-data-engine-api-to-check-data-set-values</a>

ramyaswamin

Did someone resolve this issue? I'm seeing the same issue now and any suggestions to resolve this would help.
 
Thanks,
RS

mwilliams

Can you explain your setup and the what's happening for you? What is your BIRT version? Are you able to reproduce this in a way that I can run it to see it myself? Thanks.