Report Design FAQs and Resources

Undoubtedly one of the best resources for additional information on report design is the Technical Briefs section of the Crystal Decisions support Web site:

http://support.crystaldecisions.com/tycr/library/kbase.asp

One of the more useful briefs is a whitepaper (cr_sample_rpts_desc.pdf) that provides a listing of sample reports that demonstrate report design concepts. We encourage you to make use of all the various resources available on the Internet, including the Crystal Decisions Web site, to help you with your report design efforts.

As for the rest of this section, we've taken some common report design questions that we often get from novice to intermediate report developers and included them here. Some of the more common report design questions include

  • Q. How can I troubleshoot potential database driver connectivity issues between multiple PCs?

    A. Use a utility available from Crystal Decisions, called Modules, to troubleshoot database connectivity issues between multiple physical PCs.

  • Q. How do I change the page size of a Crystal Report to give myself more room for additional columns?

    A. Use a different printer driver, even if the physical printer for the driver isn't present. Crystal Reports allocates "space" in the report based on the printer driver specified. This is also important to keep in mind when you plan on distributing a report to other users because they will need this printer driver.

  • Q. Why do I lose formatting of things like maps when I save the report?

    A. More than likely, you aren't saving the report with Data, something you can specify by selecting the Save Data With Report option from the File menu.

  • Q. How do I specify the exact size of an object in a Crystal Report?

    A. Right-click an object in a Crystal Report and choose Object Size and Position.

  • Q. Why is the Select Distinct Records option sometimes unavailable?

    A. The Select Distinct Records command is unavailable when a report contains a memo field, an OLE object, or a hyperlinked object. Try placing these types of fields in a linked subreport, rather than the main report.

  • Q. Can Crystal Reports use Stored Procedures?

    A. Yes, this can be enabled by properly specifying the Report Options settings from the File menu.

  • Q. Can I group on the same field more than once in a Crystal report?

    A. Yes, but after you group on the actual field, try creating a formula off of the field. Then create the next group using the formula field.

  • Q. In older versions of Crystal Reports, I had trouble using memo fields longer than 254 characters. Is this still the case?

    A. Crystal Reports support for memo field has changed for the better in version 9, with support for memo field longer than 254 characters, which can also be used in formulas.

  • Q. Can Crystal Reports report off of data sources such as ADO recordsets?

    A. Yes, Crystal Reports can connect to active data produced by objects such as a .dll for reporting.

  • Q. When trying to convert a date, what do errors like "a date is required here" mean?

    A. This typically indicates that you are returning your date/time fields in the wrong format based on the formula you have written.

A number of FAQ resources are available on the Crystal Decisions Web site. Refer to the section on Resources for Additional Support found in this appendix for more details.



Sams Teach Yourself Crystal Reports 9 in 24 Hours
Sams Teach Yourself Crystal Reports 9 in 24 Hours
ISBN: B003D7JUVW
EAN: N/A
Year: 2005
Pages: 230

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