Crystal Reports® 2008 For Dummies®

Chapter 4. Starting Your Report

In This Chapter

• Using the report creation wizards

• Getting your report data

You can start a report in any of several ways. Chapter 2, for example, shows how to create a report from scratch, starting with a blank report file. Another way is to use an existing report as a template; the new report has different content but is structurally similar to the existing report. Generally the quickest way is to use the Report Creation Wizard, which does much of the work for you but makes some assumptions that limit your options.

This chapter follows the speediest approach: I walk you step by step through building a report with the Report Creation Wizard. If you take this route, you do give up some freedom and flexibility (compared with the from-scratch approach), but you spend less time because the wizard does much of the work for you — fast.

Using the Report Creation Wizard

Using the Report Creation Wizard is often the best way to create a report that's conceptually simple and doesn't require unusual formatting or a custom appearance. The wizard is easy to access and offers a few standard layouts.

Note

If you produce a report that's close to one of the templates used by Standard Report Creation Wizard, it's usually quicker and easier than designing a report from scratch.

When you first launch Crystal Reports, it displays the Start Page. Several wizards are listed. For example, select the plain-vanilla one named Report Wizard. The wizard goes into action and displays the ...