SSRS 2008 - Dealing with division by zero scenarios

Question

We\'re running into a problem with one of our reports. In one of our tablixes a textbox has the following expression:

=Iif(Fields!SomeField.Value = 0, 0, Fie         


        

Answer 1

IIf will always evaluate both results before deciding which one to actually return.

Try

=IIf(Fields!SomeField.Value = 0, 0, Fields!SomeOtherField.Value / IIf(Fields!SomeField.Value = 0, 1, Fields!SomeField.Value))

This will use 1 as the divisor if SomeOtherField.Value = 0, which does not generate an error. The parent IIf will return the correct 0 for the overall expression.

Answer 2

An easy clean way to prevent a divide by zero error is using the report code area.

In the Menu, go to Report > Report Properties > Code and paste the code below

Public Function Quotient(ByVal numerator As Decimal, denominator As Decimal) As Decimal
        If denominator = 0 Then
            Return 0
        Else
            Return numerator / denominator
        End If
    End Function

To call the function go to the the Textbox expression and type:

 =Code.Quotient(SUM(fields!FieldName.Value),SUM(Fields!FieldName2.Value))

In this case I am putting the formula at the Group level so I am using sum. Otherwise it would be:

 =Code.Quotient(fields!FieldName.Value,Fields!FieldName2.Value)

From: http://williameduardo.com/development/ssrs/ssrs-divide-by-zero-error/

Answer 3

IIF evaluates both expression even thought the value of Fields!SomeField.Value is 0. Use IF instead of IIF will fix the problem.

Answer 4

On reflection, I feel best idea is to multiply by value to power -1, which is a divide:

=IIf
  (
      Fields!SomeField.Value = 0
    , 0
    , Fields!SomeOtherField.Value * Fields!SomeField.Value ^ -1
  )

This doesn't fire pre-render checks as val * 0 ^ -1 results in Infinity, not error