Crystal Reports 2008 Official Guide

Contents......Page 5
Introduction......Page 20
Introduction to Information Delivery......Page 21
Custom Information Delivery Applications......Page 22
Enterprise BI Initiatives......Page 23
Spectrum of BI Tool Users......Page 24
Information Consumers......Page 26
What Is in This Book......Page 27
Part II: Formatting Crystal Reports......Page 28
Intended Audience......Page 29
Conventions Used in This Book......Page 30
I: Crystal Report Design......Page 32
1 Creating and Designing Basic Reports......Page 34
Introducing the Crystal Reports Designer......Page 35
Understanding Data and Data Sources......Page 42
Introducing the Database Expert......Page 44
Adding Database Objects to Your Report......Page 46
Joining Database Objects......Page 50
Understanding the Different Join Types......Page 51
Using the Report Creation Wizards......Page 52
Getting Started with the Report Wizards......Page 53
Using the Standard Report Creation Wizard......Page 54
Creating a Report Without Wizards......Page 63
Troubleshooting......Page 67
Crystal Reports in the Real World—SQL Commands......Page 68
2 Selecting and Grouping Data......Page 70
Understanding Field Objects......Page 71
Working with Groups......Page 82
Understanding Drill-Down Reports......Page 90
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Group on a Formula......Page 93
3 Filtering, Sorting, and Summarizing Data......Page 96
Filtering the Data in Your Report......Page 97
Working with the Sort Expert......Page 103
Creating Effective Summaries......Page 105
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Nesting Formulas......Page 111
4 Understanding and Implementing Formulas......Page 114
Using the Formula Workshop......Page 115
Using the Workshop Formula Editor......Page 120
Creating Formulas with the Formula Expert......Page 139
Using the Formula Extractor to Create Custom Functions......Page 140
The Multipass Reporting Process of the Crystal Reports Engine......Page 143
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Custom Functions......Page 145
5 Implementing Parameters for Dynamic Reporting......Page 150
Understanding the Value of Parameters......Page 151
Creating and Implementing Parameters Fields......Page 153
Using Parameters with Record Selections......Page 162
Using Parameters with Top/Bottom N Group Selections......Page 165
Creating and Implementing Dynamic and Cascading Parameters......Page 166
Troubleshooting......Page 169
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Custom Filtering......Page 170
II: Formatting Crystal Reports......Page 172
6 Fundamentals of Report Formatting......Page 174
Positioning and Sizing Report Objects......Page 175
Modifying Object Properties for Formatting Purposes......Page 181
Exploring the Format Editor Dialog Common Options......Page 185
Combining and Layering Report Objects......Page 189
Configuring Report Page and Margin Properties......Page 193
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Referencing External Resources......Page 195
7 Working with Report Sections......Page 198
Formatting Report Sections......Page 199
Modifying Report Section Properties......Page 203
Using Multiple Report Sections......Page 212
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Formatting......Page 218
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Formatting on Drill-Down Reports......Page 220
8 Visualizing Your Data with Charts and Maps......Page 222
Using the Chart Expert......Page 223
Using the Map Expert......Page 233
Modifying Chart and Map Properties......Page 239
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Complex Charts......Page 247
9 Custom Formatting Techniques......Page 252
Common Formatting Features......Page 253
Working with ToolTips......Page 254
Lines and Boxes......Page 255
Creating a Vertical Text Watermark......Page 257
Conditional Formatting—Using Data to Drive the Look of a Report......Page 259
Report-to-Report Linking and the Hyperlink Wizard......Page 261
Find in Field Explorer......Page 263
Barcode Support......Page 264
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Charting......Page 266
III: Advanced Crystal Report Design......Page 270
10 Using Cross-Tabs for Summarized Reporting......Page 272
Benefits of Cross-Tabs......Page 273
Using the Cross-Tab Wizard......Page 275
Using Top N with Cross-Tabs Reports......Page 277
Using Advanced Cross-Tab Features......Page 279
What’s New in Cross-Tabs......Page 286
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Cross-Tabs......Page 290
11 Using Record Selections, Sort Controls, and Alerts for Interactive Reporting......Page 294
Creating Advanced Record Selection Formulas......Page 295
Adding Alerting to Your Reports......Page 302
Performance Monitoring and Tuning......Page 305
Dynamic Cascading Prompts......Page 308
Sort Controls......Page 311
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Web Report Alert Viewing......Page 313
Troubleshooting......Page 317
12 Using Subreports for Advanced Reports......Page 318
Introduction to Subreports......Page 319
Understanding Linked Versus Unlinked Subreports......Page 323
Considering Subreport Execution Time and Performance......Page 326
Using Variables to Pass Data Between Reports......Page 328
Troubleshooting......Page 331
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Multiple Subreports......Page 332
13 Using Formulas and Custom Functions......Page 336
Choosing a Formula Language: Crystal Versus Basic Syntax......Page 337
Using Brackets in Formulas......Page 338
Recent Improvements to Formulas......Page 339
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Custom Functions......Page 346
14 Designing Effective Report Templates......Page 350
Using Report Templates......Page 351
Using Existing Crystal Reports as Templates......Page 352
Understanding How Templates Work......Page 354
Creating Useful Report Templates......Page 355
Using Template Field Objects......Page 357
Using Report Templates to Reduce Report Creation Effort......Page 363
Exporting Capabilities in Crystal Reports......Page 364
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Standardized Templates......Page 366
Troubleshooting......Page 368
15 Additional Data Sources in Crystal Reports......Page 370
Connecting to COM or .NET Data Sources......Page 371
Connecting to Java-Based Data Sources......Page 375
Connecting to XML Data Sources......Page 377
Introduction to the Integration Kits......Page 378
SAP Integration Kit......Page 380
PeopleSoft Integration Kit......Page 384
Troubleshooting......Page 385
Crystal Reports in the Real World—Leveraging XML as a Data Source......Page 386
16 Formatting Multidimensional Reporting Against OLAP Data......Page 388
OLAP Concepts and OLAP Reporting......Page 389
Recently Added or Changed OLAP Features in Crystal Reports......Page 390
Using the OLAP Report Creation Wizard and OLAP Expert......Page 391
Advanced OLAP Reporting......Page 404
Crystal Reports in the Real World–OLAP Summary Report with Drill-Down......Page 408
IV: Report Distribution and Advanced Report Design with Crystal Xcelcius......Page 412
17 Introduction to Crystal Reports Server, Crystalreports.com, and the Crystal Reports Viewer......Page 414
What Is Crystal Reports Server?......Page 415
Crystal Reports Server Architecture......Page 416
Crystal Reports Server Applications......Page 420
What Is Crystalreports.com?......Page 425
Offline Viewing with the Crystal Reports Viewer......Page 428
Troubleshooting......Page 429
18 Crystal Reports Java Components......Page 430
Overview of the Crystal Reports Java Reporting Component......Page 431
Understanding the Java Reporting Components Architecture......Page 432
Differences with the Java Reporting Engine......Page 434
Configuring the Application Server......Page 437
Delivering Reports in Web Applications......Page 438
Using the Crystal Tag Libraries......Page 441
Exporting Reports to Other File Formats......Page 442
Printing Reports from the Browser......Page 446
Common Programming Tasks......Page 447
Developing with a Visual Development Environment......Page 449
19 Crystal Reports Microsoft .NET Components......Page 452
Understanding Microsoft’s .NET Platform......Page 453
Understanding the Different Crystal .NET Components......Page 454
The Report Designer......Page 455
The Report Engine Object Model......Page 458
Delivering Reports with the Windows Forms Viewer......Page 463
Delivering Reports with the Web Forms Viewer......Page 466
Database Credentials......Page 468
Setting Parameters......Page 470
Creating a Crystal Reports Web Service......Page 472
Troubleshooting......Page 474
20 Basic Xcelsius Development......Page 476
Introduction to Dashboards with Xcelsius......Page 477
Xcelsius Integrated Development Environment......Page 479
Basic Component Categories......Page 484
Alerts......Page 495
Dashboard Design Enhancements......Page 498
Publishing and Deployment......Page 502
Troubleshooting......Page 505
21 Advanced Xcelsius Visualization and Connectivity......Page 506
Dynamic Visibility......Page 507
Advanced Functionality with Excel Logic......Page 517
Advanced Connectivity and Integration......Page 524
A......Page 542
B......Page 543
C......Page 544
D......Page 548
E......Page 550
F......Page 551
G......Page 554
H......Page 555
J......Page 556
K - L......Page 557
M......Page 558
O......Page 559
P......Page 560
Q - R......Page 562
S......Page 565
T......Page 568
U - V......Page 569
W......Page 570
X......Page 571
Y - Z......Page 572