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Crystal Reports® 2008 For Dummies®

Name: Crystal Reports® 2008 For Dummies®
Author: Allen G. Taylor
ISBN: 9780470290774

by Allen G. Taylor

June 2008

Beginner to intermediate

396 pages

8h 38m

English

For Dummies

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Copyright
About the Author
Author's Acknowledgments
Introduction
About This BookConventions Used in This BookWhat You're Not to ReadFoolish AssumptionsHow This Book Is OrganizedPart I: Reporting BasicsPart II: Moving Up to Professional-Quality ReportsPart III: Advanced Report Types and FeaturesPart IV: Crystal Reports in the EnterprisePart V: Publishing Your ReportsPart VI: The Part of TensIcons Used in This BookWhere to Go from Here
I. Reporting Basics
1. Transforming Raw Data into Meaningful Information
1.1. Major Features of Crystal Reports 20081.1.1. Formatting a report1.1.2. Generating barcodes1.1.3. Enhancing a report with formulas and custom functions1.1.4. Getting visual with charts and maps1.1.5. Xcelsius integration1.1.6. Adobe Flash integration1.1.7. Displaying a report1.1.8. Distributing a report1.1.9. Supplying Crystal Reports with data1.2. The Lone Edition of Crystal Reports 20081.3. Viewing a Report1.3.1. Reading a printed report1.3.2. Viewing a report with Crystal Reports1.3.3. Viewing a report on a LAN or on the Web
2. Create a Simple Report Right Now!
2.1. First Things First: Finding the Sample Database2.2. Starting Crystal Reports 20082.3. Creating a Report with the Blank Report Option2.3.1. Allocating more space to the layout2.3.2. Introducing your report2.3.2.1. Adding a company logo to a report header2.3.2.2. Adding a report title to your report header2.3.3. Choosing the fields that appear in your report2.3.4. Improving the readability of page headers2.3.5. Previewing the report2.3.6. Page footers carry useful information2.3.7. Wrapping things up with a report footer2.4. Recording helpful information about your report2.5. Printing a Report2.6. Where to Go from Here
3. Report Design Guidelines
3.1. Defining an Effective Report Design3.2. Defining Your Audience3.3. Defining the Report's Purpose3.4. Choosing Content for Your Report3.5. Choosing the Report Appearance3.5.1. Making a good first impression3.5.2. Deciding how best to present the information3.5.3. Choosing graphic elements for your report3.5.4. Style communicates meaning, too3.5.4.1. Choose readable, appropriate fonts3.5.4.2. Pay attention to layout3.5.5. Making sure your report conveys your message
4. Starting Your Report
4.1. Using the Report Creation Wizard4.2. Creating a report with the Standard Report Creation Wizard4.2.1. Using other report-creation wizards4.3. Starting with a Blank Report4.4. Connecting Your Report to Its Data Source4.4.1. Accessing database files directly4.4.2. Retrieving data with SQL4.4.3. Reporting on data in OLE DB data sources4.4.4. Which interface should you use?

II. Moving Up to Professional-Quality Reports
5. Pulling Specific Data from a Database
5.1. Get Data Quickly with Select Expert5.2. Using Formulas to Retrieve Data5.3. Using Parameter Fields to Retrieve Data at Runtime5.3.1. Step 1: Creating a report that shows everything5.3.2. Step 2: Giving the user the power to decide what to show5.3.3. Speed retrievals with indexes5.3.4. Changing parameter values to change the report5.4. Troubleshooting Tips When Retrieving Data
6. Sorting, Grouping, and Totaling Report Data
6.1. Sorting Report Data6.1.1. Sorting based on multiple fields6.1.2. Sorting and performance6.2. Adding Sort Controls to a Report6.3. Grouping Related Items6.4. Calculating Percentages6.5. Drilling Down for Detail6.6. Keeping Track of Things with Running Totals6.7. Troubleshooting Sorting, Grouping, and Totaling Problems6.7.1. Sorting problems and how to solve them6.7.2. Unusual grouping options6.7.3. Getting the right totals
7. Mastering Report Sections
7.1. Changing the Size of a Section7.2. Formatting with the Section Formatting Menu7.3. Using Section Expert for Easy Section Formatting7.3.1. Common tab, Section Expert7.3.2. Paging tab, Section Expert7.3.3. Color tab, Section Expert7.3.4. Using different colors for different sections7.3.4.1. Giving reports a classic banded look7.4. Placing Groups Where You Want Them7.4.1. Starting each group at the top of its own page7.4.2. Printing totals at the bottom of a page7.4.3. Restarting page numbering at the beginning of each group7.5. Hiding Details with Summary and Drill-Down Reports7.6. Generating Barcodes7.7. Creating Mailing Labels7.8. Saving Money on Postage with a ZIP Sort
8. Enhancing Your Report's Appearance
8.1. Absolute Formatting8.1.1. Setting the fonts and their formatting for emphasis8.1.2. Adding graphical elements for emphasis8.2. Conditional Formatting Using the Format Editor8.3. Creating Emphasis with Highlighting Expert8.4. Adding Pictures to Your Report8.5. Aligning Preprinted Forms8.6. Adding Text from a File8.7. Formatting Options8.8. Special Fields Contain Report Metadata8.9. Raising a Red Flag with Report Alerts8.10. Using Report Templates to Save Time and Effort8.10.1. Applying a template to a report8.10.2. Applying a template to an existing report8.10.3. Applying a template to a report you're creating
III. Advanced Report Types and Features
9. Displaying Your Top Ten (Or Top N) with Group Sort
9.1. Sorting Groups Based on Performance9.1.1. Starting a Top N Report9.1.2. Displaying a group total9.1.3. Hiding the details9.1.4. Removing page breaks9.2. Going with the Percentages9.2.1. What if you want the top 17 instead of the top 5?9.3. A Choice of Group Sorts9.4. Troubleshooting Group Sort Problems
10. Adding Formulas to Reports
10.1. Formula Overview and Syntax10.2. Lessening the Workload with Functions10.3. Creating a Custom Function in Formula Workshop10.3.1. Formula Editor10.3.2. Formula Expert10.3.3. SQL Expression Editor10.3.4. Selection formulas10.3.4.1. Group selection10.3.4.2. Record selection10.3.5. Formatting formulas10.4. Changing and Deleting Formulas10.5. Data Types10.5.1. Simple data types10.5.1.1. Number10.5.1.2. Currency10.5.1.3. String10.5.1.4. Date, time, and datetime10.5.1.5. Boolean10.5.2. Range data types10.5.3. Array data types10.6. Variables in Formulas10.6.1. Declaring a variable10.6.2. Assigning a value to a variable10.7. Control Structures10.7.1. If-Then-Else10.7.2. Select Case10.7.3. For loop10.7.4. Do While loop
11. Creating Reports within a Report
11.1. Combining Unrelated Reports11.1.1. Underlay formatting for side-by-side location of subreport11.1.2. Drilling down in a subreport11.1.2.1. Subreport drill-down versus report drill-down11.1.2.2. Handling tab overflow11.2. Linking a Subreport to a Primary Report11.3. On-Demand Subreports Boost Efficiency11.4. Passing Data between Reports11.5. Troubleshooting Subreport Problems
12. Combining Report Elements with OLE
12.1. Overview of OLE12.2. Static OLE Objects12.2.1. Inserting a static OLE object into a report12.2.2. Making a static OLE object editable12.3. Embedded OLE Objects12.3.1. Embedding an OLE object into a report12.4. Linked OLE Objects12.5. Embedding or Linking an Object Taken from a File12.6. Integrating Shockwave Flash Objects into Your Reports
13. Creating and Updating OLAP Reports
13.1. What's OLAP, and Why Might You Need It?13.1.1. Who uses OLAP?13.1.2. Creating multidimensional views13.1.3. Connecting to an OLAP data source13.2. OLAP Reporting with Crystal Reports13.2.1. Operating on OLAP grid objects13.2.2. Creating a three-dimensional report13.2.2.1. Specifying a data source13.2.2.2. Defining a grid structure13.2.2.3. Setting sliced dimensions and adding pages13.2.2.4. Applying a predefined style13.2.2.5. Generating a chart13.2.2.6. Finishing your report13.2.2.7. Adjusting column widths13.2.2.8. Digging deep for details13.3. Updating an OLAP Report13.4. Formatting Data in an OLAP Report13.4.1. Changing a dimension's background color13.4.2. Creating an alias for a dimension13.4.3. Formatting grid lines13.4.4. Labeling dimensions13.5. Changing Data Appearance in an OLAP Report13.5.1. Showing and hiding dimensions13.5.2. Adding totals to an OLAP grid13.5.3. Pivoting an OLAP grid13.5.4. Reordering fields13.5.5. Sorting data13.5.6. Filtering data13.5.7. Making calculations
14. Using Cross-Tab Reports to Mine Your Data
14.1. Creating a Cross-Tab Object to Summarize All Report Data14.2. Summarizing the Contents of a Group with a Cross-Tab14.2.1. Making Calculations within a Cross-Tab Row or Column14.3. Enhancing the Appearance and Readability of a Cross-Tab Object14.3.1. Changing the width and height of cross-tab cells14.3.2. Formatting entire rows and columns14.3.3. Formatting individual fields14.3.4. Suppressing selected cross-tab data14.3.5. Printing cross-tabs that span multiple pages
15. Enhancing Reports with Charts
15.1. Using Chart Expert15.1.1. Type tab15.1.2. Data tab15.1.3. Axes tab15.1.4. Options tab15.1.5. Color Highlight tab15.1.6. Text tab15.2. Creating a Chart15.2.1. Drilling down from a chart15.2.2. Changing a chart15.3. Choosing the Best Chart Type for Your Data15.3.1. Side-by-side bar chart15.3.2. Percent bar chart15.3.3. Line chart15.3.4. Area chart15.3.5. Pie chart15.3.6. Doughnut chart15.3.7. 3-D riser chart15.3.8. 3-D surface chart15.3.9. XY scatter chart15.3.10. Radar chart15.3.11. Bubble chart15.3.12. Stock chart15.3.13. Numeric axis chart15.3.14. Gauge chart15.3.15. Gantt chart15.3.16. Funnel chart15.3.17. Histogram15.4. Different Chart Layouts for Different Data Types15.5. Seeing How Chart Placement Affects the Data It Represents15.6. Troubleshooting Chart Problems15.6.1. Selecting data to make a chart readable and meaningful15.6.2. The placement of chart elements matters
16. Adding Geographic Detail with Maps
16.1. Choosing the Right Crystal Reports Map16.1.1. Map layouts16.1.2. Map types16.1.2.1. Dot density type16.1.2.2. Graduated type16.1.2.3. Pie chart type16.1.2.4. Bar chart type16.1.3. Map placement16.2. Creating a Map Step by Step16.2.1. Creating an advanced layout map16.2.2. Creating a Group layout map16.2.3. Creating a Cross-Tab layout map16.2.4. Creating an OLAP layout map16.2.5. Including maps in subreports16.2.6. Changing maps16.3. Troubleshooting Map Problems
17. Interactivity Features
17.1. Crystal Xcelsius Overview17.2. Adding Xcelsius Capability to a Report17.2.1. Creating an SWF file with Crystal Xcelsius17.2.2. Embedding your Crystal Xcelsius model in a Crystal report17.3. Enhancing a Report with the Tasteful Use of Flash17.3.1. Viewing Flash visualizations17.3.2. Dynamic interaction with a report using a Parameter panel
IV. Crystal Reports in the Enterprise
18. Crystal Reports Server
18.1. Connecting to Data Sources18.1.1. Connecting directly or indirectly18.1.2. Using Business Views to simplify connectivity18.2. Formatting Reports with Crystal Reports Developer18.3. Providing Platform Services18.3.1. Publishing and distributing reports18.3.2. Providing security18.3.3. Managing the system18.4. Useful Management Tools18.5. Application Services18.6. Web Services18.7. Viewing and Interacting with Reports
19. BusinessObjects Enterprise Repository
19.1. Adding Folders to Your Repository19.2. Storing Your Valuables in BusinessObjects Enterprise Repository19.2.1. Adding text and bitmapped objects to the Repository19.2.2. Adding custom functions to the Repository19.2.3. Adding SQL commands to the Repository19.3. Using Repository Objects in a Report19.3.1. Adding text objects and images19.3.2. Adding custom functions19.3.3. Adding SQL commands19.4. Modifying a Repository Object19.5. Deciding Whether to Update Reports Automatically19.6. Deleting Objects from the Repository
20. Navigating with Report Parts
20.1. Understanding Report Parts Navigation20.2. Using Report Parts to Navigate a Report20.2.1. Using the Report Parts Drill-down method20.2.1.1. Defining Initial Report Part settings20.2.1.2. Creating a Report Part Drill-down hyperlink20.2.1.3. Publishing a Report Parts Drill-down report20.2.2. Using the Another Report Object method
V. Publishing Your Reports
21. Sending Your Reports Out into the World
21.1. Printing Your Report21.2. Faxing a Report21.3. Exporting a Report21.3.1. Export format types21.3.1.1. Adobe Acrobat (PDF)21.3.1.2. Crystal Reports (RPT)21.3.1.3. HTML 3.2 and HTML 4.021.3.1.4. Microsoft Excel (97-2003)21.3.1.5. Microsoft Excel (97-2003) Data-only21.3.1.6. Microsoft Word (97-2003)21.3.1.7. Microsoft Word (97-2003) Editable21.3.1.8. ODBC21.3.1.9. Record Style – Columns with Spaces21.3.1.10. Record Style – Columns without Spaces21.3.1.11. Rich Text Format (RTF)21.3.1.12. Separated Values (CSV)21.3.1.13. Tab Separated Text (TTX)21.3.1.14. Text21.3.1.15. XML21.3.2. Export destinations21.3.2.1. Exporting to an application21.3.2.2. Exporting to a disk file21.3.2.3. Exporting to a Microsoft Exchange folder21.3.2.4. Exporting to Lotus Domino21.3.2.5. Exporting to Lotus Domino Mail21.3.2.6. Exporting to MAPI (Microsoft Mail)21.3.2.7. Exporting to HTML21.3.2.8. Exporting to an ODBC data source21.3.2.9. Exporting to an XML file21.4. Troubleshooting Output Problems
22. Displaying Reports Online
22.1. Exporting to a Static HTML Page22.2. Adding a Hyperlink to a Report22.3. Distributing Reports via crystalreports.com22.4. Integrating with salesforce.com22.5. Publishing to crystalreports.com with Crystal Reports Desktop Publisher22.6. Interactive Report Viewing with Crystal Reports Viewer22.6.1. Opening a report in Crystal Reports Viewer22.6.2. Navigating a report22.6.2.1. Paging through a report22.6.2.2. Moving directly to a specific section22.6.2.3. Moving to a hidden section22.6.2.4. Isolating report extracts22.6.2.5. Resizing the report to fit the Viewer22.6.3. Printing a report22.6.4. E-mailing reports to your friends and co-workers22.6.5. Sharing reports in a variety of formats22.6.6. Searching a haystack for that elusive needle22.6.7. Accessing reports on crystalreports.com
23. SQL Expression Fields
23.1. Creating an SQL Statement23.2. Modifying an SQL Statement
VI. The Part of Tens
24. Ten Things to Do Before You Create a Report
24.1. Identify the Users24.2. Interview the Users24.3. Get Agreement on the Report's Appearance24.4. Arbitrate Conflicting Demands24.5. Nail Down the Project Scope24.6. Nail Down the Project Schedule24.7. Verify That the Necessary Data Is in the Database24.8. Determine How the Report Will Be Viewed24.9. Determine the Best Report Type for the Users' Needs24.10. Decide Whether to Include Charts or Maps
25. Ten Ways to Give Your Reports More Pizzazz
25.1. Use the Correct Fonts25.2. Use Color Tastefully25.3. Enclose Text in Boxes25.4. Emphasize Boxes with Drop Shadows25.5. Produce a Consistent Appearance with Templates25.6. Add an Image25.7. Add a Chart25.8. Add a Map25.9. Combine Two Objects with an Underlay25.10. Separate the Summary from the Details with Drill Down

Overview

A report is only useful if those who receive it understand what it means. Knowing how to use Crystal Reports gives you the edge in producing reports from your database that really are crystal clear.

Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies is a quick and easy guide to get you going with the latest version of this bestselling report-writing software. In fact, it’s so popular that previous editions have made it a bestseller too. Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies gives you just what you should know to produce the reports you’ll need most often, including how to:

Pull specific information from your database, sort and group it, and find the details you need
Use dynamic or cascading prompts
Troubleshoot and print reports and save time with templates
View reports on your LAN
Write formulas to retrieve specific information
Create and update OLAP reports
Format reports, control page breaks, and even add graphics or Flash files
Enhance your reports with charts and maps
Use Crystal Reports in the enterprise

There’s also a companion Web site with sample reports from the book and links to sites with more related information. With Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies by your side, you’ll soon be able to create reports from simple to spectacular, whenever the need arises.

Become an O’Reilly member and get unlimited access to this title plus top books and audiobooks from O’Reilly and nearly 200 top publishers, thousands of courses curated by job role, 150+ live events each month,
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