SSRS error adding shared dataset

Question

When I add the following code into my report stored procedure, I cannot add the shared dataset to my SSRS report, and it gives me this error:

Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'as'.

The code I have added (to a previously working procedure) is:

set @sqlstring = Concat(N'INSERT INTO #TEXT_SEARCH_RESULT',
        N'(Result_Name,Count_of_tickets,HT,Created_Group)',
        N' SELECT ',@TimeDefinition,' as RESULT_NAME',
        N' ,sum(COUNT_OF_TICKETS) as COUNT_OF_TICKETS',
        N' ,sum(HT) as HT',
        N' ,''Group'' as CREATED_GROUP',
        N' from #TEXT_SEARCH_MAIN ct',
        N' where (1=1) ')
--other items that append to the string, but have no bearing on the question
set @sqlstring=concat(@sqlstring,N' group by ',@TimeDefinition)

The sql statement appends data to an temporary table with data already in it from the previous statement.
@TimeDefinition is declared as NVARCHAR(100)
Replacing @TimeDefinition with the text that is in the variable (example cast(CREATEDDATE as date ) allows the report to be added
if I remove the AS from the concatenated string, then the error simply changes to Incorrect syntax near the keyword 'by' .
Running the query in SSMS does not give an error

Answer 1

The problem here is that SSRS wasn't able to determine the columns of the query without a parameter being supplied. When using dynamic SQL, sometimes the dynamic SQL won't have a value if no value is supplied for one (or more) parameters; thus the column values can't be determined. Take a simple example like:

DECLARE @SQL nvarchar(MAX);

SET @SQL = N'SELECT ' + QUOTENAME(@Col1) + N' AS Result1,' + NCHAR(10) + 
           N'       ' + QUOTENAME(@Col2) + N' AS Result2' + NCHAR(10) + 
           N'FROM MyTable;';
PRINT @SQL;
EXEC sp_executesql @SQL;

Unless values for @Col1 and @Col2 are supplied, then the value of @SQL will result in NULL .

When using queries such as these, SSRS will therefore present you with a dialogue window. This'll look something like the below (taken from SSDT 2017)

You'll need to enter some values into this dialogue (in the second column, which is named Parameter Value ) so that SSRS can correctly determine the column definitions. Once you've done that, SSRS will create the dataset correctly.

On a related note, I suggest against the use of 1=1 . This just adds time to the processing (as the data engine still needs to check if 1=1 ) and can cause the query analyser to make poor choices. It actually can be considered quite bad practice to put things like that in your query's WHERE clause.