Drop down lists: Customize label

After creating a simple list in Report Studio you may want to create a drop down parametrized filter for it. First thing you'll notice when run the report is that the default selected text on the drop down is always set to the first field name of the list. I had requests to make this a little more representative, to something like 'Select field...' or 'Choose something...' which would give the user an indication that there were more choices available in the drop down.

To solve this issue, I found 2 techniques:

First is to create a static choice with the right correct display value for this prompt and set the default value to this static choice's value. Obviously this won't prevent the user from seeing the first line when he opens the drop down list.

The second technique would harness the following Javascript code. Drag a new html item into the report and include the following:

<script language="javascript">

var x = document.getElementsByTagName('select');

var RN_SelectClass = "clsSelectControl pv";

var is_Required;

for (var i=0;i 1) {
switch (x[i].options[0].text) {
case 'parameter1': x[i].options[0].text = 'NewLabel1'; break;
case 'parameter2': x[i].options[0].text = 'NewLabel2'; break;
default: x[i].options[0].text;
}
}
}
</script>


Next, change the parameter and NewLabel in the above syntax to suit your required label name conventions.