Special Edition Using® Crystal Reports® 10

Book description

Special Edition Using Crystal Reports 10 is a reference guide designed to provide hands-on experience with the latest release of the product suite. The latest version of the Crystal Reporting Suite, delivers vast enhancements that drive upgrades from licensees who'll seek a reference to help them migrate. As Crystal Decisions insiders, the authors bring unique and valuable real-world perspectives on implementations and use of the Crystal Reports product. The book includes content, tutorials and samples for reporting within the Microsoft Visual Studio.NET environment and on the SAP Business Information Warehouse. New content on report distribution, and integration into the secured managed reporting solution known as Crystal Enterprise, is also now included in this definitive user guide.

Table of contents

  1. Copyright
  2. Foreword
  3. About the Lead Author
  4. About the Contributing Authors
  5. Acknowledgments
  6. We Want to Hear from You!
  7. Introduction: Information Delivery with Crystal Products
  8. Crystal Reports Design
    1. Creating and Designing Basic Reports
      1. Introducing the Crystal Reports Designer
      2. Understanding Data and Data Sources
      3. Introduction to the Data Explorer
      4. Adding Database Objects to Your Report
      5. Joining Database Objects Together
      6. Understanding the Different Join Types
      7. Using the Report Creation Wizards
      8. Understanding the Crystal Reports Gallery
      9. Using the Standard Report Creation Wizard
      10. Creating a Report Without Wizards
      11. Troubleshooting
      12. Crystal Reports in the Real World—SQL Commands
    2. Selecting and Grouping Data
      1. Introduction
      2. Understanding Field Objects
      3. Working with Groups
      4. Understanding Drill-down Reports
      5. Troubleshooting
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Group on a Formula
    3. Filtering, Sorting, and Summarizing Data
      1. Introduction
      2. Filtering the Data in Your Report
      3. Learning to Sort Records
      4. Working with the Sort Expert
      5. Creating Effective Summaries
      6. Troubleshooting
      7. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Nesting Formulas
    4. Understanding and Implementing Formulas
      1. Introduction
      2. Using the Formula Workshop
      3. Using the Workshop Formula Editor
      4. Creating Formulas with the Formula Expert
      5. Using the Formula Extractor to Create Custom Functions
      6. The Multi-Pass Reporting Process of the Crystal Reports Engine
      7. Troubleshooting
      8. Crystal Reports in the Real World— Custom Functions
    5. Implementing Parameters for Dynamic Reporting
      1. Introduction
      2. Understanding the Value of Parameters
      3. Creating and Implementing Parameters Fields
      4. Using Parameters with Record Selections
      5. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Custom Filtering
  9. Formatting Crystal Reports
    1. Fundamentals of Report Formatting
      1. Introduction
      2. Positioning and Sizing Report Objects
      3. Modifying Object Properties for Formatting Purposes
      4. Exploring the Format Editor Dialog Common Options
      5. Combining and Layering Report Objects
      6. Configuring Report Page and Margin Properties
      7. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Referencing External Resources
    2. Working with Report Sections
      1. Introduction
      2. Formatting Report Sections
      3. Modifying Report Section Properties
      4. Using Multiple Report Sections
      5. Troubleshooting
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Formatting
    3. Visualizing Your Data with Charts and Maps
      1. Introduction to Charts and Maps
      2. Using the Chart Expert
      3. Using the Map Expert
      4. Modifying Chart and Map Properties
      5. Troubleshooting
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Complex Charts
    4. Custom Formatting Techniques
      1. Introduction
      2. Making Presentation-Quality Reports
      3. Common Formatting Features
      4. Conditional Formatting—Using Data to Drive the Look of a Report
      5. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Charting
  10. Advanced Crystal Reports Design
    1. Using Cross-Tabs for Summarized Reporting
      1. Introduction to Cross-Tabs
      2. Benefits of Cross-Tabs
      3. Using the Cross-Tab Wizard
      4. Using Top N with Cross-Tabs Reports
      5. Using Advanced Cross-Tab Features
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Advanced Cross-Tabs
    2. Using Record Selections and Alerts for Interactive Reporting
      1. Creating Advanced Record Selection Formulas
      2. Adding Alerting to Your Reports
      3. Performance Monitoring and Tuning
      4. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Web Report Alert Viewing
    3. Using Subreports and Multi-Pass Reporting
      1. Understanding Subreports
      2. Understanding Linked Versus Unlinked Subreports
      3. Considering Subreport Execution Time and Performance
      4. Using Variables to Pass Data Between Reports
      5. Emulating Nested Subreports
      6. Troubleshooting
      7. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Nesting Subreports
    4. Using Formulas and Custom Functions
      1. Becoming More Productive with Formulas
      2. Choosing a Formula Language: Crystal Versus Basic Syntax
      3. Using Brackets in Formulas
      4. Using Characters in Formulas
      5. Recent Improvements to Formulas
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Custom Functions
    5. Designing Effective Report Templates
      1. Understanding the Importance of Reuse in Reporting
      2. Understanding Report Templates
      3. Using Report Templates
      4. Using Existing Crystal Reports as Templates
      5. Understanding How Templates Work
      6. Creating Useful Report Templates
      7. Using Template Field Objects
      8. Using Report Templates to Reduce Report Creation Effort
      9. Applying Multiple Templates
      10. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Standardized Templates
    6. Additional Data Sources for Crystal Reports
      1. Understanding the Additional Crystal Reports Data Sources
      2. Connecting to COM-based Data Sources
      3. Connecting to Java-based Data Sources
      4. Understanding Solution Kits for Crystal Enterprise
      5. Troubleshooting
      6. Crystal Reports in the Real World—Leveraging XML as a Data Source
    7. Multidimensional Reporting Against OLAP Data with Crystal Reports
      1. Introduction to OLAP
      2. OLAP Concepts and OLAP Reporting
      3. Recently Added or Changed OLAP Features in Crystal Reports
      4. Using the OLAP Report Creation Wizard and OLAP Expert
      5. Advanced OLAP Reporting
      6. Introduction to Crystal Analysis
      7. Crystal Reports in the Real World—OLAP Summary Report with Drill-down
  11. Enterprise Report Design—Analytic, Web-based, and Excel Report Design
    1. Introduction to Crystal Repository
      1. What Is the Crystal Repository?
      2. Why Implement the Crystal Repository?
      3. Installing the Crystal Repository
      4. Adding Objects to and from the Repository
      5. Migration of the Crystal Enterprise Repository
      6. Troubleshooting
    2. Crystal Reports Semantic Layer—Business Views
      1. Introduction to Business Views
      2. Why Implement Business Views?
      3. Performance and Implementation Considerations
      4. Business Views Architecture and Implementation
      5. Troubleshooting
    3. Creating Crystal Analysis Reports
      1. Introduction
      2. Introducing Crystal Analysis
      3. Accessing OLAP Data with Crystal Analysis
      4. Designing Crystal Analysis Reports and Applications
      5. Adding Crystal Analysis Objects to a Report
      6. Troubleshooting
    4. Advanced Crystal Analysis Report Design
      1. Introduction
      2. Advanced Crystal Analysis Designer Tools
      3. Custom Calculations and Advanced Data Analysis
      4. Setting Report Options
      5. Troubleshooting
      6. Crystal Analysis in the Real World—MDX
    5. Ad-Hoc Application and Excel Plug-in for Ad-Hoc and Analytic Reporting
      1. Introducing Ad-Hoc Reporting Conceptually
      2. Introducing the Crystal Enterprise Ad-Hoc Reporting Application
      3. Crystal Reports Excel Plug-in
      4. Crystal Analysis Excel Plug-in
  12. Web Report Distribution—Using Crystal Enterprise
    1. Introduction to Crystal Enterprise
      1. What Is Crystal Enterprise?
      2. Why Implement a Crystal Enterprise Solution?
      3. Versions of Crystal Enterprise
      4. Understanding the Core Functions of Crystal Enterprise
    2. Using Crystal Enterprise with Web Desktop
      1. Introduction
      2. Crystal Enterprise User Launchpad
      3. Crystal Enterprise Web Desktop
      4. Customizing the Web Desktop and Report Viewers
      5. Publishing to the Web Desktop
      6. Customizing the Web Desktop
      7. Troubleshooting
    3. Crystal Enterprise Architecture
      1. Introduction
      2. Crystal Enterprise Architecture Overview
      3. The Client Tier
      4. The Application Tier
      5. The Server Tier: Introduction to the Crystal Enterprise Framework
      6. The Server Tier: Overview of the Crystal Enterprise Services
      7. The Data Tier
      8. The Crystal Enterprise Architecture in Action
      9. Taking Advantage of the Crystal Enterprise Distributed Architecture
      10. Extending Crystal Enterprise
    4. Planning Considerations When Deploying Crystal Enterprise
      1. Ensuring a Successful Crystal Enterprise Implementation
      2. Approaching the Project
      3. Identifying Business Pain
      4. Establishing Project Requirements
      5. Understanding Organizational Reporting Requirements
      6. Troubleshooting
    5. Deploying Crystal Enterprise in a Complex Network Environment
      1. Introduction
      2. Understanding Network Protocols
      3. Understanding Firewall Types
      4. Configuring the Crystal Enterprise Architecture for Your Network Environment
      5. Interaction Between the WCS and the WC
      6. Deploying Crystal Enterprise with an IP Packet Filtering Firewall
      7. Using Crystal Enterprise with NAT
      8. Exploring the NAT and Crystal Enterprise Relationship
      9. Crystal Enterprise and Proxy Servers
    6. Administering and Configuring Crystal Enterprise
      1. Introduction
      2. Using the Crystal Management Console
      3. Managing Accounts
      4. Managing Content
      5. Introducing Servers
      6. Managing Crystal Enterprise System Settings
      7. Using the Crystal Configuration Manager
  13. Customized Report Distribution—Using Crystal Reports Components
    1. Java Reporting Components
      1. Overview of the Crystal Reports Java Reporting Component
      2. Understanding the Java Reporting Components Architecture
      3. Differences with the Java Reporting Engine
      4. Configuring the Application Server
      5. Delivering Reports in Web Applications
      6. Using the Crystal Tag Libraries
      7. Exporting Reports to Other File Formats
      8. Printing Reports from the Browser
      9. Common Programming Tasks
      10. Developing with a Visual Development Environment
      11. Troubleshooting
    2. Crystal Reports .NET Components
      1. Understanding Microsoft's .NET Platform
      2. Understanding the Different Crystal .NET Components
      3. An Overview of the Crystal Reports 10 .NET Components
      4. The Report Designer
      5. The Report Engine Object Model
      6. Delivering Reports with the Windows Forms Viewer
      7. Delivering Reports with the Web Forms Viewer
      8. Database Credentials
      9. Setting Parameters
      10. Understanding the Report Application Server Bridge
      11. Troubleshooting
    3. COM Reporting Components
      1. Understanding the Report Designer Component
      2. Building Reports with the Visual Basic Report Designer
      3. Programming with the Report Engine Object Model
      4. Delivering Reports Using the Report Viewer
      5. Using the Object Model to Build Batch Reporting Applications
      6. Troubleshooting
  14. Customized Report Distribution—Using Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition
    1. Introduction to Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition
      1. Introduction to Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition
      2. Understanding Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition
      3. Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition Samples
      4. DHTML Report Design Wizard
      5. Leveraging the Open Source Nature of the Sample Applications
      6. Troubleshooting
    2. Crystal Enterprise—Viewing Reports
      1. Viewing Reports over the Web
      2. Introduction to the Crystal Report Viewers
      3. Understanding the Report Source
      4. Implementing the Page Viewer
      5. Implementing the Part Viewer
      6. Implementing the Interactive Viewer
      7. Implementing the Grid Viewer
      8. Using the Export Control to Deliver Reports in Other Formats
      9. Troubleshooting
    3. Crystal Enterprise Embedded—Report Modification and Creation
      1. Introduction
      2. Deploying RAS Environments
      3. Loading Report Files
      4. Locating RAS Components in a Network Architecture
      5. Installing the RAS SDK
      6. Best Practices in RAS Exception Handling
      7. The RAS SDK in Action
  15. Customized Report Distribution—Using Crystal Enterprise Professional
    1. Introduction to the Crystal Enterprise Professional Object Model
      1. Understanding the Crystal Enterprise Object Model
      2. Establishing a Crystal Enterprise Session
      3. Querying the Crystal Enterprise Repository
      4. Viewing Reports
      5. The Crystal Enterprise Java SDK
      6. Accessing the Java SDK
      7. Accessing the .NET SDK
      8. Troubleshooting
    2. Creating Enterprise Reporting Applications with Crystal Enterprise Part I
      1. Advanced Scenarios with the Crystal Enterprise Object Model
      2. Scheduling Reports
      3. Event-based Scheduling
      4. Scheduling to a Destination
      5. Using Crystal Enterprise Notifications
      6. Scheduling to a Server Group
      7. Scheduling to a Specific Format
      8. Setting Database Credentials
      9. Passing Parameters to the Report
      10. Troubleshooting
    3. Creating Enterprise Reporting Applications with Crystal Enterprise Part II
      1. Querying the Crystal Enterprise InfoStore
      2. Creating and Responding to Crystal Enterprise Alerts
      3. Creating Schedulable Program Objects
      4. Adding Crystal Analysis Reports to Your Application
      5. Troubleshooting
  16. Using SQL Queries in Crystal Reports
    1. Review of SQL Commands
    2. An Introduction to SQL
  17. Index

Product information

  • Title: Special Edition Using® Crystal Reports® 10
  • Author(s): Neil FitzGerald, Ryan Marples, Naisan Geula, Bob Coates, James Edkins, Michael Voloshko, Joe Estes, Kathryn Hunt, Steve Lucas, Roger Sanborn
  • Release date: July 2004
  • Publisher(s): Que
  • ISBN: 9780789731135