A parameter is a value that readers set before the pages are produced: a period, a list of regions, an order number. This page helps you choose how each parameter should get its value. The full list of properties, the SQL syntax and the viewer rules are in Datasets and Parameters.

In short

• Values from decides how readers fill a parameter: Manual (they type it), Dataset or Global (they pick from a drop-down), or User (they don't; it is the signed-in user).
• The Default is only the starting value. currentUser as a default fills in the reader's own name, and readers can change it.
• To limit rows to the signed-in user so that nobody can see someone else's, use Values from: User, not the currentUser default.

How a value is decided

Each time the report runs (in the viewer, an export, a distribution or a link), every parameter's value is decided in this order:

1. Enforced user value. A User parameter, and a hidden parameter whose default is currentUser, take the signed-in user's value. Anything passed in is ignored.
2. Supplied value. A value from the parameter panel, the URL (p_name=…), a drill-through or a distribution. A value the reader cleared counts as supplied and empty: it means "no filter", and the default is not filled back in.
3. Default. The report's default; for a Global parameter without one, the global parameter's default.
4. Required check. A required parameter that is still empty stops the report. An optional one filters nothing: model dataset filters on it are skipped, and in SQL you wrap its condition in [[ … ]].

Choose where values come from

Click a parameter in the Data tab and pick one of the four Values from options in the property panel. Switching clears the settings of the previous option.

Option	Readers see	Choose it for
Manual	A box to type in; a date picker for dates; All / Yes / No for yes/no.	Values with no fixed list, or a list too long to pick from.
Dataset	A drop-down filled from a field of a dataset in this report.	A list that belongs to this report: regions, product families, stores.
Global	A drop-down filled from a global parameter in Parameter Management.	A list many reports share and an administrator maintains in one place.
User	Nothing; the parameter is hidden.	Filtering by who the reader is: login name, department, roles.

Manual: let readers type

Manual is the right choice when a list of choices would be useless or impossible:

• Search text: part of a customer or product name, where customer_name like '%${keyword}%'.
• Codes: an order, contract or employee number. There are too many to list, and readers already know the one they need.
• Thresholds: a Number such as "amount over" or "top N", where amount > #{minAmount}.
• Dates: a Date parameter always gets a date picker, and its default can be a relative date.
• Switches: a Yes/No such as "include cancelled orders".
• Hidden values: parameters filled by a URL, a drill-through or a distribution, which readers never type.

If the value comes from a known, limited set (regions, departments, categories, years), do not use Manual: a typo gives an empty report. Use Dataset or Global so that readers pick it.

Dataset: pick from this report's data

Choose the Dataset, the Stored value field (the value that filters, such as a code) and optionally a Shown as field (what readers read, such as a name). The Default box then offers the same choices.

The fastest way to get here is to right-click a level in a model dataset's field tree and choose Filter by parameter: it creates a List parameter with the level's members as choices and the filter that reads it. For a country → city cascade, make the city choices read the country parameter and keep the country parameter above the city one in the list.

Global: share one list across reports

Pick a global parameter from Parameter Management (see Creating Parameters). The parameter takes its type, its choices are listed under the picker, and an empty Default uses the global default. Change the list once in Parameter Management and every report that uses it follows.

If the global parameter is later deleted or renamed, the panel says Not found in parameter management; has no effect when viewing.

User: filter by who is reading

Pick a system variable; system.username is chosen for you. The parameter always holds the reader's own value, is hidden in the viewer, and ignores values passed in a URL, a drill-through or a distribution. Distributions and background downloads use the value of the person who runs them.

select order_id, customer, amount
from orders
where salesperson = #{login_user}

Other useful variables are system.dept, system.company and system.business-roles-array; with Type set to List, a variable holding several values becomes a list, so where role in (#{my_roles}) works. All variables are listed in Creating Parameters.

Defaults

The Default is the value a parameter starts with in the viewer and the value used when nothing is supplied. It must fit the type; a default that does not is shown in red.

• Fixed values: a number, a text, a date such as 2026-01-31, or several values for a List.
• Relative dates for date parameters, such as firstDayOfMonth or yesterday, calculated on the day the report is opened or run. A pair firstDayOfLastMonth / lastDayOfLastMonth makes a monthly distribution always cover last month. All keywords are listed in Relative dates.
• currentUser for text and list parameters, described next.

currentUser is a starting value, not a filter

For a Text or List parameter, the Default drop-down offers currentUser, the reader's login name. It suits "show my own rows first, but let me look at others": a sales report opens on the reader's orders, and a manager types a team member's name to see theirs.

Because readers can replace it, currentUser protects nothing.

Restricting rows to the reader

When a visible parameter with the default currentUser feeds a dataset, the designer warns that readers can change it to another user. To make sure each reader sees only their own rows, set Values from to User (system.username). Row-level security on the model and permissions on the database remain the place to decide what each person may see at all.

Setup	Can readers change it?	Use it when
Manual, default currentUser	Yes	Own rows by default; looking at others is allowed.
User, system.username	No	Each reader must see only their own rows.
Manual, default currentUser, hidden	No	Older reports. It behaves like User; use User for new parameters.

In the viewer

Readers see every parameter that is not hidden, in the order of the designer's list, filled with the defaults. They change the values and click View.

An empty list shows All and does not filter. Put a {_filters} text block on the page (the designer adds one with your first parameter) so that printed and exported pages say what they were filtered by. How values behave in the viewer covers the 1,000-choice limit, cascading and values that are not among the choices.

Common setups

Readers should…	Type	Values from	Default
Search by part of a name	Text	Manual	empty
Look up one order or contract	Text	Manual	empty, Required
Set a threshold or "top N"	Number	Manual	a sensible number
Pick a period	Date, as a _from / _to pair	Manual	firstDayOfMonth and today
Pick one or more regions of this report	List	Dataset	empty (all)
Pick from a company-wide list	List or Text	Global	empty (the global default)
See their own orders, and only those	Text	User, system.username	—
Start on their own orders but look at others'	Text	Manual	currentUser
See their department's data	Text	User, system.dept	—

Related topics

• Datasets and Parameters
• Viewing, Pagination and Export
• Distribution
• Creating Parameters (global parameters and system variables)