# Report - Parameter Tab

**URL:** <https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967>\
**Category:** Ignition\
**Created:** [May 19, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967 "2023-05-19T18:51:19Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 6\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![ukamani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@ukamani](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ukamani)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 6:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/1 "2023-05-19T18:51:19Z")

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Hi all,  
I'm trying to generate a report on the first and 16th of the month, 12:05 AM. I have 2 parameters, startDate and endDate. On the 1st of a month, I would like it to report data from the 16th - last day of previous month. On the 16th of a month, I would like it to report data from the 1st - 15th of the same month. Using a midnight-to-midnight timeframe here.

Here's the approach I want to take:  
Approach 1

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/2/c/2c6e920a129926f9b025a284bdebd138d5b06142.png)

But apparently the reporting module doesn't accept endDate as a parameter inside the startDate expression and gives me a warning similar to the following:

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/7/a/7a2b65704fa1f778c3e63dcaa681b4e2b618ff15.png)

So I'm taking a longer approach which works for me:  
Approach 2

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/1/0/10df21dfed949bcac04b2c91c315b846a7afe779.png)

Approach 2 above feels redundant in nature and confusing to understand on the first look. Hence, I prefer approach 1.

Can anyone guide me if I'm doing something wrong? Or is this the limitation of the reporting module? Maybe there's a better approach?

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![josborn](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/j/4bbf92/32.png) [@josborn](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/josborn)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 9:26pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/2 "2023-05-19T21:26:58Z")

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I wouldnt expect you would be able to reference a different parameter in a parameter, but couldnt you simplify with something like this?

 ![image](https://us1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/original/3X/6/f/6fbdc45e506efb48a34bc1d22a9278fb143b9bf8.png)

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pturmel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/pturmel/32/3295_2.png) [@pturmel](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/pturmel)\
**Post date:** [May 19, 2023, 9:33pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/3 "2023-05-19T21:33:21Z")

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Report parameters are initialized/evaluated in the order defined. If enddate is below startdate in the list, startdate cannot use enddate.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ukamani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@ukamani](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ukamani)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 1:51pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/4 "2023-05-22T13:51:20Z")

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I agree. In my case, endDate is above startDate in the list, which means that it should evaluate first, but its still not working

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![ukamani](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/u/d9b06d/32.png) [@ukamani](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/ukamani)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 1:54pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/5 "2023-05-22T13:54:25Z")

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I'm trying to have report evaluate the startDate based on the endDate. If I were to use your suggested method I would have to make a new schedule and hard code it for each date and time.

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<div class="post-metadata">

**Author:** ![pturmel](https://sea1.discourse-cdn.com/inductiveautomation/user_avatar/forum.inductiveautomation.com/pturmel/32/3295_2.png) [@pturmel](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/u/pturmel)\
**Post date:** [May 22, 2023, 1:55pm UTC](https://forum.inductiveautomation.com/t/report-parameter-tab/73967/6 "2023-05-22T13:55:21Z")

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Hmm. Not sure what's going wrong. Consider using a script data source to set the start date.