Crystal Reports® 2008 For Dummies®

Chapter 16. Adding Geographic Detail with Maps

In This Chapter

• Discovering different map layouts and map types

• Creating group, cross-tab, and OLAP layout maps

• Troubleshooting maps problems

Many reports contain geographic information, which is easier to comprehend when you add maps that show how the information relates to relevant geographic locations. For example, the Xtreme database (the sample database used throughout this book) contains information on customers located in various cities, regions, and countries around the world. A sales manager might want to know which localities have a concentration or lack of customers, or a high or low sales volume.

All the reasons why charts are a valuable addition to a report apply to maps as well. For data that has a geographical connection, maps are even more valuable. If you can identify a fact (such as a sales total) with a particular city, state, or country, you lock that fact into the reader's mind much more securely than you would if you displayed only a table of numbers.

Crystal Reports has a built-in feature for adding maps to reports, with several different layouts and map types. The various choices enable you to create a map that does the best job of communicating important parts of your report.

Choosing the Right Crystal Reports Map

Before you can create a map with Crystal Reports, you must have a data source with one or more geographical fields (such as City, Region, or Country). Depending on the specific data you have (and on how you ...