Birt designer test vs production report execution problem

I have a  new report I wrote, using the Birt designer. and it works great in the designer.

I publish it as a template in RTC (3.0.1.1) and create a report.. then run it.

the DATA appears, but the birt control features (dataset filters, etc) that are implemented in
functions attached to data elements don't appear to work.. visibility functions as scripts

for example, one of the datasets uses the report parameter as a filter.
works fine in two different birt designer packages, fails on production server.
the Birt designer level is 3.2.21, build 2.5.2.V20100208.. (well before RTC 3.0.1.1 in Nov 2011)..

anyone have any idea how to debug this? I needed the report delivered yesterday..

Sam