Here since your variable type is Integer you cannot return string value. *****variable expression : ($V{IndexCommodity_COUNT} != null && $V{IndexCommodity_COUNT}.intValue()==1) ? "" : null) just ignore the initial value expression. Leave it blank and run the report. If you still want the initial value of the variable as 1, Just set the variable expression as follows. variable expression : ($V{IndexCommodity_COUNT} != null && $V{IndexCommodity_COUNT}.intValue()==1) ? 0 : 1) Hope this helps Buddhi