Lookup Function (Report Builder and SSRS)

Article
06/13/2017

Returns the first matching value for the specified name from a dataset that contains name/value pairs.

Note

You can create and modify report definitions (.rdl) in Report Builder and in Report Designer in SQL Server Data Tools. Each authoring environment provides different ways to create, open, and save reports and related items. For more information, see Designing Reports in Report Designer and Report Builder (SSRS) on the Web at microsoft.com.

Syntax

  
Lookup(source_expression, destination_expression, result_expression, dataset)

Parameters

source_expression
(Variant) An expression that is evaluated in the current scope and that specifies the name or key to look up. For example, =Fields!ProdID.Value.

destination_expression
(Variant) An expression that is evaluated for each row in a dataset and that specifies the name or key to match on. For example, =Fields!ProductID.Value.

result_expression
(Variant) An expression that is evaluated for the row in the dataset where source_expression = destination_expression, and that specifies the value to retrieve. For example, =Fields!ProductName.Value.

dataset
A constant that specifies the name of a dataset in the report. For example, "Products".

Return

Returns a Variant, or Nothing if there is no match.

Remarks

Use Lookup to retrieve the value from the specified dataset for a name/value pair where there is a 1-to-1 relationship. For example, for an ID field in a table, you can use Lookup to retrieve the corresponding Name field from a dataset that is not bound to the data region.

Lookup does the following:

Evaluates the source expression in the current scope.
Evaluates the destination expression for each row of the specified dataset after filters have been applied, based on the collation of the specified dataset.
On the first match of source expression and destination expression, evaluates the result expression for that row in the dataset.
Returns the result expression value.

To retrieve multiple values for a single name or key field where there is a 1-to-many relationship, use LookupSet Function (Report Builder and SSRS). To call Lookup for a set of values, use Multilookup Function (Report Builder and SSRS).

The following restrictions apply:

Lookup is evaluated after all filter expressions are applied.
Only one level of lookup is supported. A source, destination, or result expression cannot include a reference to a lookup function.
Source and destination expressions must evaluate to the same data type. The return type is the same as the data type of the evaluated result expression.
Source, destination, and result expressions cannot include references to report or group variables.
Lookup cannot be used as an expression for the following report items:
- Dynamic connection strings for a data source.
- Calculated fields in a dataset.
- Query parameters in a dataset.
- Filters in a dataset.
- Report parameters.
- The Report.Language property.

For more information, see Aggregate Functions Reference (Report Builder and SSRS) and Expression Scope for Totals, Aggregates, and Built-in Collections (Report Builder and SSRS).

Example

In the following example, assume that a table is bound to a dataset that includes a field for the product identifier ProductID. A separate dataset called "Product" contains the corresponding product identifier ID and the product name Name.

In the following expression, Lookup compares the value of ProductID to ID in each row of the dataset called "Product" and, when a match is found, returns the value of the Name field for that row.

=Lookup(Fields!ProductID.Value, Fields!ID.Value, Fields!Name.Value, "Product")

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