What's in This Book? The book is logically separated into six parts that cover broad topics. Part I: "Introduction to Crystal Reports 9.0" Part I is intended for you to become familiar with Crystal Reports, as well as for you to be up and running as quickly as possible. It is critical for someone who is new to Crystal Reports. It provides an introduction and an overview of how to quickly install and begin using the product. Even if you think you know what Crystal Reports is all about, you'll want to read this section because version 9 of Crystal Reports is a major update. Part I includes Hour 1, "The Value of Crystal Reports 9" This is where you'll find out what Crystal Reports is all about and what features you can expect to find in version 9. Even if you haven't decided that Crystal Reports is the product for you, this hour provides the information you'll need to make an informed decision. Hour 2, "Getting Started With Crystal Reports 9" This hour covers how to prepare your system to install Crystal Reports, the actual installation, and some housekeeping functions you'll need to be aware of to navigate the application. Hour 3, "Accessing Your Data" This hour is arguably the most important in the book. Although Crystal Reports is a great product, understanding the types of data you will access, how you are going to access it, and what Crystal Reports can do with it are the basis for success. A number of Crystal Reports features will help you in your data access efforts, and they are introduced here as well. Hour 4, "Using the Default Report Wizards" Although Crystal Reports is used for a vast array of reporting solutions, many of the features available are used in almost every report. Those features are encapsulated in a set of easy to use Report Wizards. The Report Wizards will have you accessing your data and creating interactive Web reports in a flash. Part II: "Fundamentals of the Crystal Report Design Environment" Part II answers the most common question that anyone new to Crystal Reports asks: "How do I create a report from scratch?" This section answers this question and includes some fundamental report design concepts, which you'll use for the rest of your Crystal Reports career. Part II includes Hour 5, "Creating and Designing Basic Reports" This hour introduces you to the process of creating a new Crystal Report from scratch. The key word for this hour is process because planning a report before actually developing it will ensure success each and every time you need to create a report. Effective planning will also reduce the amount of time you invest in a report because not every report you develop will be like the examples in this book. Hour 6, "Selecting and Grouping Data" Understanding the various objects that reports might contain, as well as how to organize those objects, are introduced in this hour. Two fundamental, yet major, concepts, selecting and grouping, are introduced here. This hour reviews how to refine data queries using selections as well as how to organize it in the most understandable fashion through grouping. If you've heard the buzzword Drill-Down report and want to find out what this means, this is the hour for you. Hour 7, "Filtering, Sorting, and Summarizing Data" Three additional core reporting concepts are introduced in this hour, as indicated by the title. This hour reviews concepts that will help you further refine and organize you reports. Each of these topics will help you make the reports you create more relevant to business end users. Part III: "Formatting Reports" Part II focused on some of the mechanics of report design, such as data organization and filtering. Part III covers what is often missed in report design: effective formatting. Without proper formatting, reports can be hard to understand and often times rendered useless. Part III includes Hour 8, "Fundamentals of Report Formatting" Some of the obvious report formatting techniques, such as field and object sizing and positioning, have many subtle tips and tricks that we cover here. All the basics of formatting, such as fonts, colors, highlighting, and page properties can be found here as well. Hour 9, "Working with Report Sections" Report Sections are one of the most fundamental concepts to report design, and mastering them will make you a proficient report developer. Any given Crystal Report will include numerous Report Sections that segment a report in to logical sections that can behave independently based on certain triggers and settings. This hour covers some of the finer aspects of working with reports sections, such as how to suppress or hide sections based on certain criteria. Hour 10, "Understanding and Implementing Formulas" Formulas can be a very powerful feature in your reports. They enable you calculate fields and summaries, as well as determine outcomes of what a report will look or act like based on almost anything. This hour introduces the concept of what a formula is and how to leverage them in almost any Crystal Reports you create. This hour also reviews some of the updates to the formula editor that you'll find with Crystal Reports version 9 because the formula editor has received a significant face-lift from previous versions. Hour 11, "Visualizing Your Data with Charts and Maps" Very few reports make it out the door without some type of visual representation of the data in the report itself. Crystal Reports contains a number of charting and geographic mapping features, which separate it from any other reporting tool on the market. This hour reviews how to use the various types of charts and maps available, as well as how to customize them to your organizational needs. Hour 12, "Implementing Parameters for Dynamic Reporting" Seldom does one report meet all the needs of a given group of users. Parameters provide a way to make reports dynamic whereby the outcome of what the report looks like or what type of data it contains is driven by a user-specified parameter before the report is processed. You'll learn how to create parameters and integrate them within the reports you create. Part IV: "Enhancing Crystal Reports" Part IV takes the concepts you have learned from the prior parts of the book and extends them even further. Topics such as additional formatting techniques and analytic report design are discussed. Intermediate report design features, such as subreports and the Report Component Repository, are reviewed here as well. Part IV includes Hour 13, "Custom Formatting Techniques" This hour covers many formatting techniques that you will use in almost any report. Beyond the standard formatting you'll learn prior to this, such as fonts and colors, this hour introduces topics such as conditional formatting and ToolTips. Hour 14, "Using Cross-Tabs for Summarized Reporting" A cross-tab report is a highly formatted report set in a grid object. This type of report is very similar to a Microsoft Excel worksheet. This hour reviews the various uses for cross-tab reports, how to use the Cross-Tab Wizard, and what's new in Crystal Reports 9 that's related to cross-tab reports. Hour 15, "Using Record Selections and Alerts for Interactive Reporting" Although most reports you create will provide a wealth of information for the end user, requirements will undoubtedly arise for reports that draw attention to certain informational elements. Hour 15 covers two common ways to narrow down the amount of data presented to a user through record selections and alerting. Hour 16, "Using Subreports" Subreports allow existing reports to be embedded inside other reports. This opens up a wide variety of solutions using Crystal Reports, such as aggregating data from multiple sources into one "container" report. Hour 16 introduces the concept of subreports, how they can benefit you as a report developer, and how to use them. Hour 17, "Using Formulas and Custom Functions to Implement Complex Business Logic" One of the most useful features of Crystal Reports is the ability to build your business rules and logic into reports themselves through the use of formulas and custom functions. Both features have been introduced in prior hours, but not explored to their full potential. Hour 18, "Working with the Report Component Repository" The Report Component Repository, a central store for various components of a report, is arguably the most significant new feature of Crystal Reports version 9. Although the repository was used in prior hours, because it is now a core feature of Crystal Reports, this hour reviews it in detail and explains its significance in any report you will create. The hour demonstrates how to use the repository to control objects, such as report header images, that are commonly used in all reports you create. Hour 19, "Designing Effective Report Templates" Crystal Reports version 9 introduces a powerful new feature in which existing reports can be used as templates for other reports. This hour explores how this dramatically reduces the amount of time required to format reports to a specific corporate look and feel. You'll find out how to use any of your reports as templates and what the most effective methods are to do so. Part V: "Advanced Report Design Concepts" Part V introduces a host of advanced report design concepts, which revolve around different types of data access and methods. For most Crystal Reports developers, these topics are not the traditional data access methods you'll use, such as ODBC. By reading the hours in this part, we hope to open your eyes to a world of possibilities with Crystal Reports and extend your report design knowledge even further. Part V includes Hour 20, "Multidimensional Reporting Against OLAP Data" Multidimensional reporting, commonly referred to as OLAP (Online Analytical Processing), is gaining wide acceptance as an effective way to stage data for optimum reporting and analysis performance. For organizations that are using OLAP data sources, such as Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services and Hyperion Essbase, Crystal Reports provides an effective means to capture and deliver valuable information to business users. Hour 20 reviews basic OLAP concepts as well as how Crystal Reports retrieves data from an OLAP data source. This hour also provides an introduction into creating Crystal Reports from OLAP data sources. Hour 21, "Additional Data Sources for Crystal Reports" Crystal Reports version 9 introduces a host of powerful new data access mechanisms, including JavaBean connectivity and updated XML and COM provider (.dll) connectivity. This hour introduces you to how Crystal Reports can connect to a dynamic data source, such as a .dll, and read data. This hour also introduces you to a variety of specialized connectivity for third-party products such as SAP, BAAN, and Seibel. Hour 22, "Optimizing SQL Queries in Crystal Reports" As you will figure out by this hour, Crystal Reports is actually writing SQL (Structured Query Language) for you when you create a report. As this hour discusses, a good understanding of SQL is a must for the advanced Crystal Reports developer. This hour reviews what SQL is, how to understand the SQL that Crystal Reports generates, as well as introduces some optimization techniques to keep in mind when developing reports. Part VI: "Sharing And Distributing Crystal Reports" Part VI covers the topic that will seem most important to you after you've actually created your reports: sharing them. This part explores a variety of options for sharing your reports with others, from solutions provided by Crystal Decisions to programmatic solutions that any savvy developer can achieve. Part VI includes Hour 23, "Distributing Crystal Reports" This hour covers the laundry list of options available for distributing Crystal Reports. This includes common methods, such as email, to developer specific solutions such as Active Server Pages. A major topic, Crystal Enterprise is also introduced in this hour. Crystal Enterprise is a powerful solution from Crystal Decisions for sharing Crystal Reports in a secure, manageable fashion. This hour reviews every option available and provides a number of examples. Hour 24, "Crystal Reports in Applications A Developer's Perspective" This hour provides a discussion on how to use the Software Developers Kits (SDKs) available for Crystal Reports. Crystal Reports functionality is often embedded in custom-built applications using technologies such as Microsoft Visual Basic or Java. In this hour, you'll learn about the developer tools available to you in Crystal Reports 9 and how to get started developing applications that incorporate Crystal Reports. Part VII: "Supplemental Crystal Reports Technologies" Part VII introduces some technologies that might be useful to you in your reporting efforts. Part VII includes Appendix A, "Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET" Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET is a .NET developer-focused edition of Crystal Reports and provides a comprehensive reporting solution for Visual Studio .NET developers. This edition of Crystal Reports is seamlessly integrated with both the Visual Studio .NET development environment (IDE) and the .NET Framework. This appendix overviews Crystal Report's unique functionality and features in Visual Studio .NET and is targeted at developers working within the Visual Studio .NET application development environment, as well as readers interested in obtaining an introduction to this custom version of Crystal Reports. Appendix B, "Common Crystal Reports FAQ's and Tips" This Appendix acts as a reference for some of the common questions we get from report designers and developers, both novice and advanced. It includes various tips on how to better use the Crystal technologies and additional resources available to you from Crystal Decisions. The appendixes will provide you with supplemental material not required reading. Also, we encourage you to look at Crystal Enterprise for your report distribution and sharing needs because it is the most powerful and popular option for doing so. Crystal Enterprise is a scalable server platform for managing and sharing Crystal Reports over the Web. It is a leading standard for enterprise reporting and business intelligence, and you can use Crystal Enterprise to publish reports to an Internet/intranet site without programming to securely share reports with large groups of users. |
