In SAS Web Report Studio, if you hide a data item that is being used in the expression for another data item in the query, then you might see one of the errors described in this SAS note. For example, you might see one of the errors if you have a data item with the following expression and you hide Aitem or Bitem in the table.

CATX('-',<<TABLE.DataItemA>>,<<TABLE.DataItemB>>)

The expression could also be as simple as this one.

<<TABLE.DataItemA>> + <<TABLE.DataItemB>>

These errors might occur at any one of these times:

• immediately after you hide the data item.
• only after you save, close, and then re-open the report after hiding the data item.
• after you have promoted the report with the hidden data item to a new release of SAS Web Report Studio.

Note: Using the data item in a group break also hides the data item.

Following are examples of the errors that you might see. The errors occur only when the query cache is enabled.

Example 1

This error is mostly likely to occur if you are using 4.3, 4.31, or 4.31_M1.

An error occurred in processing the report element. Refresh the page to try again. 
Contact your administrator if this problem persists. [a13140368340590.8576004065033498_0_0] 
Error Rendering the Report 
 
Root Cause:   java.lang.NullPointerException
	at com.sas.report.render.optimizer.util.ExpressionResolverUtil.resolveQualifiedColumn
(ExpressionResolverUtil.java:519)
	at com.sas.report.render.optimizer.util.ExpressionResolverUtil.resolveExpression
(ExpressionResolverUtil.java:145)
	at com.sas.report.render.optimizer.util.ExpressionResolverUtil.resolveBusinessModelResource
(ExpressionResolverUtil.java:430)
	at com.sas.report.render.optimizer.util.ExpressionResolverUtil.resolveResourceAwareStringExpression
(ExpressionResolverUtil.java:404)
 
...

Example 2

The following error occurs only when the data item is hidden in a crosstabulation table. The error references the hidden data item or data items. In this example, the hidden data item is DIR_7. Typically, this error occurs only in 4.31_M2 and later.

ERROR: The following columns were not found in the contributing tables: DIR_7. ]  ]  ]  ]  ] 
	at com.sas.apps.citation.model.report.ContentProvider.getViewElementContent(ContentProvider.java:801)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.model.report.RenderedReportModel.getRenderedViewElement(RenderedReportModel.java:488)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.model.report.WebReportRenderer.renderViewElement(WebReportRenderer.java:1556)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.controller.action.report.ReportControllerAction._processDrawElementCommand(ReportControllerAction.java:869)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.controller.action.report.ReportControllerAction.doPerform(ReportControllerAction.java:387)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.controller.action.CitationAction._execute(CitationAction.java:188)
	at com.sas.apps.citation.controller.action.CitationAction.execute(CitationAction.java:164)
	at org.apache.struts.action.RequestProcessor.processActionPerform(RequestProcessor.java:425)
	[ 84 lines suppressed ]

Hot fixes and workarounds

Beginning with release 4.31_M2, one cause of this issue has been fixed. There is also a hot fix available for releases 4.3 and 4.31_M1. So, the first step is to apply the hot fix or upgrade your software.

If applying the hot fix or upgrading to the latest release does not resolve the issue, you might be encountering a variation of the issue that is not fixed. The first step is to open the Select Data dialog box, remove the hidden data item from the list of selected items, and then immediately add it back. If this does not resolve the issue, then you must use one of these workarounds:

• If the data item that you have hidden in the table is not needed for display in other objects in the report, then you can remove it from the section query. The data item used in the calculation does not need to be part of the section query in order for the calculated data item to work.

• If you need to display the data item in other report objects, then use SAS^® Information Map Studio to create another copy of the data item. Then, use the copy in the report instead of the data item that is used in the expression. Because the copy is not used in the expression, you can hide the copy without causing the error. So, from the previous example, make copies of <<TABLE.DataItemA>> and <<TABLE.DataItemB>> in the information map. You might call them DataItemA2 and DataItemB2. Use DataItemA2 and DataItemB2 in the report instead of DataItemA and DataItemB.

• You can disable the query cache. To disable the query cache, navigate to the following component in SAS^® Management Console: Application Management ► Configuration Manager ► BI Rep Svc Wkspace Config. Right-click and select Properties. On the Settings tab, select false in the Query cache enabled field. Restart your web application server.

Operating System and Release Information

A fix for this issue for SAS Web Report Studio 4.3 is available at:

A fix for this issue for SAS Web Report Viewer 4.3 is available at:

A fix for this issue for SAS Web Report Studio 4.31_M1 is available at:

A fix for this issue for SAS Web Report Viewer 4.31_M1 is available at: