Crystal Reports Tips

7/26/2019 Crystal Reports Tips

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The University of Iowa Foundation

Crystal Reports

Presented by:Lori Lasansky




Agenda

- Crystal Report Uses at UIF

- Crystal Report Tips




Crystal Reports Versions In Use

- Server – Crystal 7

- Desktop – Crystal 8.5 and 9

(Developers Version)




Crystal Report Uses at the University of IowaFoundation

- Intranet Reporting

- Ad Hoc Reporting

- Summit Events

- Help Desk Software




UIF Intranet

Link to on-line reports




Online Reports

Summit EventsCrystal Reports




Crystal Event Reports

Summit Events

Crystal Reports




Report Selection - Activities Per Attendee

Programming was done to provide the drop downchoices. The Event tables are accessed to providedynamic choices. For example, the Event Code dropdown uses the Summit Event table.




Sample Report - Activities Per Attendee

Generate report runs the Crystal report.

Summit Event Reports




How it Works

The report name, password and other parametersare passed to the Crystal Viewer via the URL.




URL Contents

http://lcua8.uifoundation.org/crystal/W_ActivitiesPerAttendee.rpt?init=actx&promptOnRefresh=1&user0=summit&password0=usmmtia&[email protected]=summit&[email protected]=usmmtia&prompt0=FBD4A

Parameters:

Report location and name (W_ActivitiesPerAttendee.rpt)Setup parameters

Profile and passwordSubreport (footer.rpt)Report selection parameter (Event code = FBD4A).




Report Selection – Attendees List

Summit table provide values for the dropdowns.




Sample Report – Attendees List




Report Selection – Attendees List Up to 17 Activities




Sample Report – Attendees Up to 17 Activities




Report Selection – Special Needs




Sample Report – Special Needs




Sample Report – E-mail Click-Throughs




Sample Report – E-mail Click-Throughs

You can provide selection in report

format as shown here. In this report, theappeal code is selected and then thedetailed reports are provided as On-demand subreports.




Sample Report – On-Demand Subreport

Here is the report design in Crystal 8.5




Sample Report – E-mail Click-Through Counts




Sample Report – E-mail Click-Throughs Top 10 URLS




Adding Reports to Summit Events

You can add your own custom Crystalreports to the list provided with SummitEvents.




Crystal 8 Add-in Compiler

• With Crystal 8 or 8.5, you have to downloadan Add-in compiler in order to compile andadd your reports to Summit Events.

• The download includes a Crystal reportsdistribution setup program (setup.exe) thatmust be run on each user’s computer.




Crystal Add-in Compiler

Compiler and Report DistributionExpert Add-ins AfterInstallation




Summit ODBC Data Source

Modify the ODBC Connection:

1. Select the Summit System DSN andConfigure.

2. Select the Server tab.3. Change the default libraries to Summit,Uhelp, Proddata2, Proddata, Modflib,Sharedata and any other librariescontaining files that will be used in yourcustom reports. Click OK.




Summit ODBC Data Source

4. From the System tab (Step 1), selectConfigure.

5. From the General tab, select ConnectionOptions.

6. Set the Default user ID to Use theOperations Navigator default.

7. Set Security to Use same security asOperations Navigator connection.8. These changes must be made for each

user.




Create Your Crystal Report




Selecting Tables for Your Report




Access Summit and Ascend Data Tables

1. From Crystal, select Database/Add

database to report.2. Choose ODBC and your SummitConnection.

3. Click the plus to the left of ‘Summit’to view and select the tables youwish to use in your report.




Access Summit and Ascend Data Tables

Link your tables.




Compile Your Report




Adding Reports to Summit Events

Compiled Crystal Reports are stored on a

shared network drive and added to theSummit.ini file. This file must reside oneach Summit user’s computer.




Summit Events

Custom Reports (preceded with ‘UI’)




Crystal Tips




Linking Tables

Linking tables can becomplex.

S i m p l e

C O M P LE X




Linking Tables

Understanding your database is the key to

correctly linking tables. You need to

understand:

- Which table to use

- What data is stored in the table

- How the table is related to other tables in

your database




Keep Linking Simple

Creating a reporting table. The reporting

table could be created by a program or

produced with a query tool such as

SelectPlus.




Reporting Table of Event Attendee Information

We created an Eventprocedure that runs everytwo hours to refresh acomposite event reportingtable. This table contains

attendee and spouse name,address, degrees, guests,special needs, up to 99activities and attendeeinformation for each

activity.

CompositeEvent Table




Sample Report - Activities Per Attendee

This report uses the Event Composite table. Noother tables are needed.

Summit Event Reports




Ad Hoc Crystal Report

Sample Crystal report producedusing the SelectPlus Mail MergeOutput.

Fields selected:Entity ID (Name and Address)Mailing name... (Name andAddress)City/st/zip formatted... (Name

and Address)Constituent area... (Gifts)Constituent area desc... (Gifts)Recog credit amount... (Gifts)




Keep Linking Simple

Build a template Crystal report that ties all

necessary tables together. Then, copy this

report for new reports.




Sample Database Dictionary (Crystal Version 9)

This template report wasprovided with our HelpDesk software. It links all

the database tables andmakes it easy to createcustom reports. We caneither copy this report tocreate new reports, or use

it as a database dictionary.






Left Outer Join Example

Attendees Table Special Needs Table




Use a Left Outer Join to report on all

attendees and list any special needs they

have.

If you do not specify a Left Outer Join your

report will include only attendees with

special needs (Inner Join).

Left Outer Join

Example




Identify Your Reports

Include report identifiers so that you can

easily trace a report or answer questions.

R t Id tifi




Report IdentifiersData date and time identifies the date and time the

data was imported into the report.

Include the report file name in the page footer. You maywant to include the path name as well if your reportsare stored in multiple locations.




Document

Track report modification history and

comments. This will make it easier to modify

the report in the future.

Document




Document

In Crystal 8.5, File/Summary Info.. displays thedocument (report) properties. This is a good place tonote the report author, title and report history.

Document




Document

The Record or Group Selection Formula Editor is anothergood place to store report comments.

Report Identifiers




Report Identifiers

Comments will save you time when you need to modifyor explain your report. Comment lines are preceded bytwo slashes //




Create Working Copies

Create standards for modifying existing

production reports.




Create Working Copies

- Create folders for working copies of reports

- Save old report copies for a period of time

‘Work In Progress’ folder holds reports being worked on

‘Old Reports’ folder holds the previous copy of a report

Suppressing Blank




Suppressing Blank

Sections

To suppress blank sections of your report,

use separate report sections.

Suppressing Blank




Suppressing Blank

Sections

These detail sections are setup separately because anyone could be blank if this information does not exist.

Use Sections for




Use Sections for

Debugging

You can create report sections for debugging

by adding values you wish to view. When

you are done, you can suppress these

sections.

Use Sections for




Use Sections for

Debugging

This section was used for debugging and is now

suppressed.




Crystal Reports

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Crystal Reports Tips

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