Introduction


Overview

One of the first things I look for when I get a beta release of the latest Crystal Reports version is a New Features document. Perusing this document for the first time gives me an immediate idea of what lies ahead for me in the writing process. If you ve already installed Crystal Reports 10, you ve probably found, as I did, that this New Features document is lighter than in the past. In particular, when comparing to the vast set of enhancements in Crystal Reports 9, you may feel that this version is not worthy of a full version number increment.

This presented an immediate challenge to me as the author of an entirely new edition of this book. Until I can find a way to upgrade a book (I ll bet Tolstoy was never asked, Can I get a version 10 upgrade for War and Peace ? ), you will find some duplicate material here from previous editions. But, wherever a new version 10 feature is even remotely significant, it receives full coverage in this edition. Also, I looked for every possible way to provide additional material that will help Crystal Reports designers make the best possible use of version 10.

The valuable features that are new or changed in Crystal Reports 10 are thoroughly covered (one of the very minor changes is a Windows XP look and feel ”minor, until I determined this necessitated reshooting virtually every screen shot in the book). What you will also find here is extensive coverage on extended and expanded features in related Crystal products. What did change significantly in version 10 was Crystal Reports web-based companion, Crystal Enterprise. To add value to this book, expanded coverage of Crystal Enterprise can be found in Part II, as well as in Chapters 7 and 17 in Part I.

Also, Business Objects has added some additional and expanded developer options for those wishing to integrate Crystal Reports in their Web, Java, and Windows applications. Parts II and III cover these new features, including an entirely new chapter on the Java Reporting Component, and expanded coverage on Visual Studio .NET integration options.

If you ve read previous editions of this title, you ll recognize a layout here similar to those editions. If this is your first purchase of Crystal Reports: The Complete Reference , you ll find the book broken down into three major sections. Part I covers report design techniques that will apply to virtually everybody who uses the tool. Even if your primary needs are integration with web or Windows applications, you ll benefit from knowing different report functions, sections, and design procedures. You ll find in-depth discussions of report design techniques: from your very first simple report using a Report Wizard, to complex reports containing multiple sections, complex formulas with variables , subreports, charts , maps, and much more. Part I will also discuss creative ways to make the most of industry-standard SQL databases with Crystal Reports, as well as exporting your finished reports to various file formats. And, the new Business Views product that can greatly simplify report design with complex databases is covered extensively in Part I.

Part II is completely dedicated to getting Crystal Reports on the Web. From a basic perspective, you ll learn how to simply export your reports to static HTML. For more robust and customizable web integration, material on using the Report Designer Component with Microsoft Active Server Pages is covered, along with much-expanded coverage of integrating Crystal Reports with Visual Studio .NET web applications. And, the second release of the Crystal Enterprise introductory version (now called Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition) is covered for custom report integration. The new version 10 Java Reporting Component gets its own chapter this time around. Now, Java developers can benefit from integration techniques enjoyed by VB developers for some time. Also, Part II offers all-new material on Crystal Enterprise 10. You ll find extensive new material on both using the out-of-the-box Web Desktop, and administering the major upgrade of this web-based report automation and distribution tool.

Part III is for the Visual Basic or Visual Studio .NET developer who is charged with integrating a Crystal 10 report into a Windows application. In this section, you ll see the now tried-and-true Report Designer Component for use with Visual Basic. You ll find very detailed information and examples on working with the most common report properties at run time within your VB applications. And, much-expanded coverage of Crystal Reports integration with Microsoft s latest development environment, Visual Studio .NET, is provided.

As with previous book editions, lots of sample reports, supplementary chapters, and sample developer applications can be found online. Look for most of the sample reports illustrated in Part I; the sample RDC, CE Embedded, and Visual Studio .NET web applications from Part II; and the Visual Basic and .NET Windows applications covered in Part III on this book s companion web site, www.CrystalBook.com.

And, after lots of feedback, I ve added a complete Formula Language Reference to the book as an appendix that can be found online at www.CrystalBook.com (we literally ran out of room for the extra printed pages in this particular edition ”we re planning on additional page capacity to include this reference in the next edition). This appendix covers all functions in the formula language, along with my own personal descriptions and examples that I hope best illustrate each function and operator.




Crystal Reports 10
Crystal Reports 10: The Complete Reference
ISBN: B005DI80VA
EAN: N/A
Year: 2004
Pages: 223
Authors: George Peck

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