Crystal Reports® 2008 For Dummies®

Chapter 14. Using Cross-Tab Reports to Mine Your Data

In This Chapter

• Defining a cross-tab object

• Creating a cross-tab report

• Using a cross-tab report to summarize

• Formatting a cross-tab object

For some people, a summarization of one sort or another is far more valuable than reams of detailed data. However, reports with summaries in a Group Footer or the Report Footer don't always display summaries in a form that is good for comprehension and decision making. In some of these cases, a cross-tab object can present the data in a form that's both easy to understand and capable of conveying the significance of the data.

The main advantage of using a cross-tab is that it can put multiple summaries together in a compact form. You can draw inferences from a single cross-tab on a single page, which displays separate summaries that are nonetheless related.

Creating a Cross-Tab Object to Summarize All Report Data

Suppose that the Sales Manager at Xtreme Mountain Bikes would like to see how the various product categories are contributing to total sales volume in Canada. A cross-tab report is ideal for presenting that information in a way that can be easily viewed and comprehended. Follow these steps.

1. From the Crystal Reports Start Page, select Cross-tab Report Wizard.

   The Cross-Tab Report Creation Wizard appears, showing available data sources.

2. Select the Customer, Orders, Orders Detail, Product, and Product Type tables from the xtreme.mdb database.

3. Move the tables to the Selected Tables pane.

4. Click Next ...