Hour 11. Visualizing Your Data with Charts and Maps

Hour 6, "Selecting and Grouping Data," and Hour 7, "Filtering, Sorting, and Summarizing Data," introduced the importance of grouping and summarization in report generation. When grouping and summarizing data in a report for business users, it is also often effective to present this information using various visualization techniques. The charting and mapping features in Crystal Reports provide a very effective way to communicate relevant information using powerful visualization techniques.

Charts and maps with Crystal Reports provide an extensive array of data visualization options to report designers. In addition to potentially familiar chart types including bar charts, pie charts, scatter charts, line charts, and bubble charts, new chart types in version 9 include

• Gantt charts

• Speedometer type Gauges

• Numeric Axis charts

Geographic Mapping with color coding and integrated charting options provides yet another effective method of conveying macro-level information to report consumers.

This hour provides an introduction to various charting and mapping techniques, including

• Enhancing the sample reports from previous Hours with charts and maps

• A review of the Crystal Reports charting expert

• An introduction to the new chart types Gantt, Gauge, and Numeric Axis charts

• A review of the Crystal Reports mapping expert

• Manual chart and map formatting

A good place to begin with adding visualizations to your reports is with the chart expert.