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 Introduction to Crystal Reports

• Allows you to produce the report you want from

virtually any data source.
• Designed to help analyze and interpret important
information.
• Used to produce simple, complex or specialized
reports

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 Competency of Crystal Reports

• Create any report you can imagine

• Can be used for windows as well as web based
applications
• Runtime Customization (Reports generated
dynamically based on parameters/formulas)

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 Benefits of Crystal Reports XI R2

• Improved usability
• Expanded Application Development Capabilities
• Integration with Business Objects Enterprise XI R2

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 Phases of Report Design

There are five phases of report design.

• Define the concept
• Sourcing the data
• Creating the design
• Developing and testing the design
• Deploying and operating the report

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 Defining the concept

• Beginning with the end in mind

• Have some idea to the final report to look like(i.e a
Prototype)
• Prototype can be a simple Crystal Report or Excel
sheet or Word Document

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 Sourcing the data

• Determine where the data for your report resides

(a database, file etc)
• Determine relations between data
• A common problem here is that the data you want to
include does not exist or relation do not exist

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 Creating the Design

• The best report is one that is completed on paper and

is then recreated using Crystal Reports
• Revisit your prototype and decide which of the fields
in the report are
– Directly from database
– Calculated from database fields
– Formula fields

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 Developing and Testing the Design

• Input your data and test the report on different

platforms
• Any performance issues, revisit your report design
– Check relations/constraints (for any cartesian)
– Check query for performance improvement
– Put option of Grouping on Server
– Eliminate Unused Formulas

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 Deploying and operating the report

• The last step in this process is to consider how your report is

going to be used
• Will it be exported ? If yes, where ?
– Excel (.xls)
– Word (.doc)
– Acrobat (.pdf)
– Rich Text Format (.RTF)
– XML
– Text
– Separated Values (.CSV)
• Will the generated report be mailed/stored in centralized
location/web-based ?

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 Creating a Report

• Connect to a data source

• Connect to database
• Adding tables & Linking Tables
• Defining the design environment
• Inserting objects on a report
• Positioning and sizing objects
• Formatting objects
• Previewing and saving the report

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 Opening Crystal Reports
• In windows click start, go to programs then select
Crystal Reports
• Click ‘Standard Report Wizard’ or ‘Blank Report’

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 Selecting Data
Standard Report creation wizard opens.

Click

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 Selecting Data (Continued)
Standard Report creation wizard has five sections.
• Current connections
List of currently connected data sources
• Favorites
List of commonly used data sources, maintained
in favorites
• History
List of the five recently used data sources

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 Selecting Data (Continued)
• Create New connection
Shows sub folders for various data sources you
can connect to.
• Repository
Contents of your repository through the Crystal
Enterprise explorer

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 Selecting Data (Continued)

Select Tables

Click

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 Selecting Data (Continued)

Selected Table

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 Design Area

Click
Field
Explorer

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 Design Area (Continued)
• Click Field Explorer on the Standard toolbar.
The Field Explorer dialog box appears

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Field Explorer

Table Name

Column
Names

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 Design Tab
• Design Tab is the place where you do most of the
initial work when creating the report
• It designates and labels the various part of the report
• It has the structure and instruction for creating the
final report

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 Design Tab Areas
Crystal Reports automatically creates five sections in the design
tab when you begin creating the report

• Report Header
Used for Report title and other information which you want to appear at the
beginning of the report
• Page Header
Information what you want to appear at the top of each page
• Details
Body of the Report
• Report Footer
Information appear only once at the end of the report
• Page Footer
Page number and other information you want to appear on the bottom of each
page.

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Design Tab Areas (Continued)

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 Design Tab Areas (Continued)
Two additional sections
• Group Header
 Holds the Group name field
 Printed once at the beginning of the group
• Group Footer
 Holds the summary value
 Printed once at the end of the group

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 Inserting Field

• Expand the Database field node

• Expand a table
• Click the field which you want to display in the report
• Drag into Details section of the report

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 Inserting Field (Continued)

Object Frame
appears when
you drag a field
into the Report

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 Inserting Field (Continued)
View of Design Area

Inserted field

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 Resizing Field

• Click the field which you want to resize

• Move the cursor over the resizing handle until the
cursor turns into a resizing cursor
• Resize the field

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 Resizing Field

Resizing
Handle

Resizing
Cursor

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 Review the work
Click print preview on the toolbar to activate preview tab

Click

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 Review the work(Continued)
Preview of the Design should look similar to this

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 Adding Summary Info
Used to find information related to the report quickly

Enter the
Information

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 Adding a title

• Click the design tab

• Go to field explorer
• Expand Special fields
• Choose Report Title
• Drag the cursor over the report
• Place the Title in the Report Header

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Adding a title (Continued)

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 Adding a title (Continued)

Title

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 Formatting Object
• Select the object which you want to format
• Right click and select format field from the drop
down menu
• Format Editor will open
• You can change the format for the object
- You can add borders, colors and shading to a field
- You can add hyperlinks to the objects

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Formatting Object (Continued)

Selected Object

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Formatting Object (Continued)

Formatted
Object

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 Formatting Object (Continued)
• Use the Format Painter to copy absolute or
conditional formatting properties from one report
object to one or more target objects.
• Select a source object or field in your report and click
Format Painter.
• Click the target object or field you want to apply the
formatting to.

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 Record Selection
• Used to restrict the records
in the report
• It is like a filter applied in
report
• Click Select Expert on the
Expert Tools toolbar
• Select the field to which
you wish to restrict the data
(Eg.Cutomer.Country)

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Record Selection (Continued)

Select the
condition

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 Record Selection (Continued)

Select the name of the country

This selection will return only those records for which the
country is equal to England

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 Deleting a Field

Select the Field

Press Delete Key

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 Sorting Records
• Click Sort Record Expert

• Select the field on which

you want to apply sort Select
the field

• Select sort direction

Click
Select the sort order

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 Sorting Records (Continued)
Sorted Output

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 Grouping the Report
• It provides flexibility for
customizing the report
• While on the Design
tab,Click insert group

Select the field for

grouping

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Grouping the Report (Continued)

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 Adding image file to the report

Click insert
picture

Browse and Select

Image file

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 Adding image file to the report (Continued)
Final Report looks like this:

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 1
• Create a report using Blank Report
• Select Employee Table
• Select Employee ID,First name,Position,Salary
• Add Summary info for the report
• Give Title to the report
• Group the report by Employee position
• Apply sort on Employee Name
• Insert image to the report
• View the report

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 Report Creation Using Report wizard
• There are four report creation wizards
Standard
Cross-Tab
Mail Label
OLAP
• Click any one on the start page as per your requirement
• Then it asks you to select the data

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Select
Database

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Select Required
Fields

Click

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Select the field on

which you want to
Group the Data

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Select the field to

apply Summary
Info in the Report

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)
Apply Group
sorting If You
need

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Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Apply Filter
Condition, If
required

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 Report Creation Using Standard Report Wizard
(Continued)

Select a
Template

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 Locking an Object size and position

• Used to lock the position of the selected report

object
• Select the object whose size and position you want
to lock
• Click lock size/position button in the Formatting
Toolbar

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Making a Report Read-only (Continued)

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 Making a Object Read-only (Continued)
Right Click object you want to make read-only

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 Adding Lines to Report

• Click Insert Line on the insert Toolbar

• Use the pencil cursor to draw the line where required

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Editing Lines on a Report
Right click the Line you want to format

Make

Desire

Changes

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 Adding Boxes to Report
• Click Insert Box
• Use the pencil cursor to draw the box where required

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 Adding Shapes to Report

• You can insert shapes such as circles,elipses and

boxes with rounded corners
• To add shapes to your report, you need to add a box
• Right click the box, then click Format Box
• In Format Editor Click the Rounding Tab

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 Adding Shapes to Report (Continued)
Select a number or move the slider to the right to increase the curvature
of the box corners until you obtain appropriate shape.

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 2

• Create a Report using Report wizard

• Use the Employee table
• Add Shapes to Report
• Make this report as read only

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 Charts

• You can insert charts for the following:

Summary and Subtotal fields
Detail, formula and Running Total fields
Cross-Tab Summaries
OLAP Data

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 Chart Layouts

• Advanced
• Group
• Cross-Tab
• OLAP

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Types of Charts in Crystal Reports

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 Hiding Report Sections

• Hide (Drill-Down OK)

Hides the section when you run the report
• Suppress (No Drill Down)
Condition is applied by formulas
• Suppress Blank section
Hides a section whenever nothing is in it

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 SubReports

• A subreport is a report within a report

• Subreports are used to
– To combine unrelated reports into a single report
– To coordinate data that cannot otherwise be linked
– To present different views of the same data within
a single report.

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Difference b/w Primary Report and SubReport

SubReport
• Is inserted as an object into a primary report
• Can be placed in any report section
• Cannot contain another subreport.
• Does not have Page Header or Page Footer sections.

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 Inserting SubReports
• On the insert menu Click Subreport

Insert Sub Report

Name

Click Report Wizard to

create Sub Report

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 3

• Create a report
• Create Subreport in the primary report
• Create on-demand Subreport in the primary report
• Identify the difference

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 Summary Functions
• The Summary functions are all used to summarize field
data
• Examples:
 Sum
 Average
 Minimum
 Maximum
 Count
 Distinct count etc.

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 Summary Functions(Continued)
Click ‘Insert Summary’ on the Insert Menu

Select the Summary

function

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 Linking Tables

• When you add multiple database tables to your

report, you need to link the tables on a common field
so that records from one table match related records
from another

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 Linking Tables (Continued)

Primary
Table

Lookup Table

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 Linking Tables (Continued)

• Auto Link
Automatically chooses links for your tables based on
common fields in tables or indexed fields (if your
database supports indexed fields).
• Link Processing Order
Specify the link processing order using Order Links
option in the Database Expert.

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Linking Tables (Continued)

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 Cross-tab Table
• On File menu click
New

• Select a Cross-tab
Report from the drop
down menu

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)
Locate the data source and select the table you want to use

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)
Check the Linking between the tables

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)
Add fields to the Rows, Column and Summary field
areas

Select the
Summary
operation

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)
If you want chart in the Report, Select the type of chart

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)
Select the fields on which you want to apply filter conditions

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 Cross-tab Table (Continued)

Select a
Grid Style

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Cross-tab Table (Continued)
Typical Cross-tab Report

Product Name Region

Sum of Product Amount in Abu Dhabi

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 4

• Create a Cross-Tab Report from the available

data source

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 Parameter Fields

• Used to Prompt the user to enter the information

• Information entered by the user determines what
appears in the report
• Parameter fields support the following data types
Boolean
Currency
Date
Date Time
Number
String
Time

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 Creating Parameter Fields
• Make sure your report
is in Design Tab

• Click ‘Field Explorer’

on the Standard
Toolbar

• Select Parameters
fields and click New

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 Creating Parameter Fields (Continued)
Enter Parameter
Name

Select a field

Click Actions,
Select Append
All Database
values

Enter Prompt
Text

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 Using Parameter Fields
Select ‘Selection Expert’ on
the Expert Tools menu

In the ‘Choose Field’ box

select the field

Apply the condition on the

field and select the

parameter as the value

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 Running Total

• Running totals are totals that can be displayed on a

record by record basis
• It totals all records up to and including the current
record.

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 Creating Running Total Field
• Select Running Total Fields in Field Explorer and Click
New

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 5

• Create a report using Customer and Order Tables

• Include the fields Customer Name, Order ID,Order
Amount
• Create a Running total for Order Amount on the
change of Order ID
• Add Running total field in to design Area.
• View the Report

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 Creating Report Alerts
Select Alerts on the Report Menu then Click Create or Modify Alert

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 Creating Report Alerts (Continued)

•Name the alert.

•Create the message you want
to appear when the alert is
triggered (optional).
•Define the condition that
triggers the alert.

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HANDS ON WORKSHOP

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 Exercise 6

• Create a Report using Customer Table

• Include Country, Last Year’s sales, City
• Create a Alerter to indicate the countries with last
year’s sales greater than $15000

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 Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
• Prompt values can be populated from values in
Database
• Prompts can be arranged in a cascade, where one
value in the prompt constraints values in subsequent
pick lists
• Report designers no longer maintain static prompt
lists in individual reports. A single prompt definition
can be stored in the repository and shared among
multiple reports, improving both runtime scalability
and design-time productivity

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
Open the sample report called Group.rpt

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
(Continued)

Click Field
Explorer

Select parameter
Fields and then
Click New

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
(Continued)

es, select

elect country

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
(Continued)

Click the blank field under

country and select
region

Click the blank field under

region and select city

In the parameter binding

area, click country
and Region to clear
the binding (only the
field associated with
the City value should
be bound).

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
(Continued)

pert

hoose expert box

and select the

om the values list

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 Creating Dynamic and Cascading Prompts
(Continued)
Select the values for the Prompt and then Click OK

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 RTF Export Format
• This is optimized for ease of editing the files that it
generates

In the File Menu Select ‘Export’ and click on ‘Export

Report’

e (RTF) from the drop

n to store the report

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RTF Export Format (Continued)

Select the Options as you need

Select the location

where you want to
save

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 Parameterized Sorting

• Group sort order can now have their sort values

driven by formula
• This feature allows you to use parameters to control
sort order

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 Creating Parameterized Sorting

• Create a simple report with the country, Region and

City field from the Customer Table in the Xtreme
sample Database 11

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 Creating Parameterized Sorting (Continued)
• Create a parameter called Sort Order that has two
values: Ascending and Descending

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 Creating Parameterized Sorting (Continued)

• On the insert Menu Click Group and select the field

that you want to group on( Ex: Country)
• Select Use a formula as Group Sort Order

Click the
Conditional
formula button

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 Creating Parameterized Sorting (Continued)
• In the Formula Workshop enter your conditional
formula text

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 Creating Parameterized Sorting (Continued)
• When you prompted to select a Sort Order,
select the Option that you want , and click OK.

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Creating Parameterized Sorting (Continued)
• Now the Report appears with groups for the field that
you selected in the Insert Group Dialog box and
sorted in the order that you selected in your parameter
prompt.

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 HTML Preview

• Crystal reports can now be previewed in HTML

format thus showing how reports will look when
published to the web
• In Crystal Reports design environment an additional
VIEW tab is added to support this functionality
• The advantage of this feature is time saved in iterative
task of publishing reports to the web as they are
designed

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 Updated Repository Explorer

• The new repository Explorer makes it easier to

navigate within the Business Objects Enterprise
system
• Better able to share reporting components with other
users through the repository

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Updated Repository Explorer (Continued)

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 Updated Repository Explorer (Continued)

Give User Name and Password Credentials

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 Workbench

• Lets you keep Projects organized and allows you to

group reports in folders according to your preference

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 Business Objects Universes

• Crystal reports based on Business Objects Universes

can now support Universe run-time security and
union queries
• These enhancements allow for most overloads
defined in the Universe to be supported in Crystal
reports

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Creating Reports from Business Objects Universes

• Go to Standard Report wizard

• Create New Connection
• Universes  Make New Connection  Double
Click

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 Creating Reports from Business Objects Universes
(Continued)

• Select the objects whatever you want in to the Result Objects Pane
and Query Filters then say OK

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Creating Reports from Business Objects Universes
(Continued)
• Select the Query in to the Selected Tables

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Creating Reports from Business Objects Universes
(Continued)
• Your Report will looks like in the below Screenshot

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Advanced Reporting
Report Processing Strategy

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 Multi-Pass Reporting Process of the
Crystal Reports Engine

The model determines the order in which data is

accessed and manipulated during Report generation.

• Crystal reports uses “Three Pass” Reporting Methodology to

generate reports.

• Understanding Report Processing Model facilitates, effective

report design and faster debugging.

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 What is a “Pass”?

A pass is a process that Crystal Reports uses each

time the data is read or manipulated.

• Depending on the complexity of the report, Crystal Reports

may make 1, 2, or 3 passes over the data.

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 Report Processing

Crystal Reports Processing Engine – Pre-Pass # 1:

• Evaluation Time – “Before Reading Records”

• Constant Formulas

Crystal Reports Processing Engine – Pass # 1:

• Evaluation Time – “While Reading Records”

• Database connection and Record retrieval
• Recurring formulas
• Local Record Selection
• Sorting, Grouping & Summarizing
• Saved data storage

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 Report Processing

• Process Flow : Pass # 1

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 Report Processing

Crystal Reports Processing Engine – Pre-Pass # 2:

• Group Sorting Top/Bottom N

• Hierarchical Grouping

Crystal Reports Processing Engine – Pass # 2:

• Evaluation Time – “While Printing Records”

• Print-time formulas
• Running total Calculations
• Charts, maps, Cross-tabs & OLAP grids
• Subreports

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 Report Processing

• Process Flow : Pass # 2

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 Report Processing

Crystal Reports Processing Engine –Pass # 3:

• Total Page Count

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Multi-Pass Report Engine Flow

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Thank You

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