This topic lists the most common problems encountered when authoring report templates, with their causes and fixes.
Symptom: the preview shows the expression itself — e.g. =Count([Model Number]) — instead of a value.
Cause: the expression begins with an equal sign. That style is used by some other reporting tools, but here a leading = is treated as literal text.
Fix: write the expression in curly braces instead: {Count([Model Number])}. See Expressions for the full syntax.
Symptom: the preview fails with one or more Invalid DataSetName: '' messages, or renders nothing at all.
Cause: the report contains a data region (Table, List, Tablix etc.) whose Data Set Name has not been set. This is often a stray, empty data region added by accident — it may be zero-sized or hidden behind another control, so you cannot see it on the design surface.
Fix: open the Explorer panel from the toolbox menu and look through the report's controls for a data region you do not recognize. Select it in the Explorer and delete it — or, if it is intentional, set its Data Set Name in the Properties panel (Data section).
Check the following, in order:
The Products dataset's fields are gathered from the default product attributes defined in Tools | Personalization | Product Attributes, with Cost Price and Sale Price coming from the product attribute spreadsheet. If an attribute is not defined there, it will not appear as a field. See Datasets.
Symptom: dragging a field into a table footer (or group footer) cell produces an expression such as {Count([Model Number])} rather than the field value.
Cause: this is by design — footer cells assume you want a summary of the rows above, so an aggregate is applied automatically.
Fix: edit the cell (double-click, or use the Value property) and change the expression to the aggregate you actually want, e.g. {Sum([Cost Price])}.
The Group Editor panel applies exclusively to the Tablix data region. For a Table or List, edit groups through the Groups widget that appears beside the control, the Report Explorer, or the Edit Group context-menu command — see Groups.
The Properties panel hides less-used properties by default. Choose Show Advanced Properties from the panel's ⋮ menu to reveal the full set.
Cause: the Report Viewer converts every drawing to SVG before generating a report — even for reports that display no drawings, such as cable schedules — and overly complex User Defined Product symbols (typically imported from DWG artwork, with polylines containing tens of thousands of control points) can exhaust memory during this pre-render.
Diagnosis: check the project file size — a normal project with several drawings should be under 1 MB. If it is several megabytes, a complex UDP symbol is the likely culprit.
Fix: open the suspect UDP in the Symbol Editor and check the shape count; if it runs to thousands, simplify the imported geometry — replace complex polylines with native Line and Arc objects. As a temporary measure, reduce the number of drawings in the project, or switch off all layers except Front High Detail and Parts before generating the report.
Isolate the drawing (or drawings) causing the problem by removing them from the project one at a time, attempting to generate the report after each removal. Once the culprit is identified, contact techsupport@stardraw.com and share the project file so the cause can be investigated.
Both are correct: the inline Filters editor displays field references in a bracketed shorthand with a leading equal sign, e.g. =[Room]. This is only a display convention — it is equivalent to the {Room} expression form. See the note in Filters.