When you insert the Crystal Reports 9 CD into the CD-ROM drive of the workstation, the autostart program should present the Crystal Reports splash screen, as shown in Figure 2.2. From the lower-right corner of the splash screen, select the Install Crystal Reports option. You should now see the Crystal Reports Setup Wizard and the Welcome screen, as shown in Figure 2.3. Figure 2.2. The Crystal Reports 9 splash screen presented via the auto-start program on the CD-ROM.Figure 2.3. The Welcome dialog screen within the Crystal Reports Setup Wizard.
New for Crystal Reports 9 is the use of an install-on-demand technology for some of the application's components. Install on demand means that certain Crystal Reports components are only installed when needed. As a result, there might be a short delay for the install-on-demand features to load upon the first use of a respective component after the installation. However, this delay will only occur once for each of the features for new installations of the software. Typical Installation TypeRegardless of which installation type (Typical, or Custom) you want to perform, the initial default installation process leads to the Setup Installation Type Options screen (see Figure 2.4). From the Welcome screen, follow these brief steps:
Figure 2.4. Two Installation Types are available: Typical and Custom.At this point, the Select Installation Type screen appears. The Typical installation type is most appropriate for the majority of users installing Crystal Reports. The Typical installation option will install the most commonly used components of Crystal Reports, such as
Within this screen, you can also specify the desired installation directory path for the application's program files to be installed on the local workstation. However, it is strongly recommended that you accept the default directory structure C:\Program Files\Crystal Decisions\Crystal Reports 9\.
If you have selected to perform the Typical installation type, you will then be presented with the Start Installation screen. Selecting Next at this screen will begin the actual installation of Crystal Reports. After the installation of Crystal Reports is complete, you will be asked to register the product. By following the wizard to register your installation, the entire installation process of Crystal Reports is complete. You have now successfully installed Crystal Reports 9.
For further information on the specific application component options, refer to the later section on the Custom installation type. If you have now completed your installation and you are not interested in reviewing the Custom installation options, you can skip ahead to the section "Preparing to Access Your Data."
Custom Installation TypeThe Custom installation type is most suitable for individuals who want to explicitly ensure which application components will be installed on their personal workstation, such as report designers who might have specific data access requirements, or if you would like to quickly install all the available application components. For example, the Crystal Reports 9 Installation Wizard does not install the Geographic Mapping and Custom Charting components as part of the Typical installation option, and you might want to add these components to support particular reporting needs. From the Crystal Reports Welcome screen, follow the same steps as outlined earlier for the Typical installation type:
At the Select Installation Type screen (see Figure 2.4), select the Custom option from the installation type list. By choosing to perform a Custom installation, you will be identifying which specific product components you want to install on your local workstation. A list of the Crystal Reports product components is presented in the Select Features dialog screen, shown in Figure 2.5. Figure 2.5. The Select Features screen provides a list of available product components.You can further specify the manner in which each of the listed components will be installed on to your local PC by selecting from up to six installation alternatives. These alternatives include
As Figure 2.5 displays, by selecting the Sample Reports item from the component list you will then be presented with a fly-out list of installation alternatives for this component. For example, if you want to make use of the entire collection of Crystal Reports sample report files but do not want to occupy additional hard drive space on your local PC, click on Sample Reports within the feature list and select the Entire Feature Will Be Installed to Run from CD option. In doing so, you will need the Crystal Reports CD-ROM available to access the entire sample report collection when it is required. The fifth of the six preceding options, "Feature will be installed when required," is convenient when you want to avoid the unnecessary consumption of hard drive space; yet it provides for the component to be available when it is required for use by Crystal Reports, while simultaneously eliminating the need to use the CD-ROM to access the material. An icon consisting of a small yellow number 1 denotes this option.
After you are satisfied with the chosen application component options, select Next to proceed to the Start Installation screen. By selecting Next from the Start Installation screen, you will then begin the actual installation of the application files on to your local workstation. Preparing to Access Your DataNow that you have successfully installed Crystal Reports, it can be used to access data for report creation. A major challenge that many organizations face when attempting to access and retrieve data from corporate data sources is selecting the best connectivity option for each particular source among a collection of disparate data sources. Crystal Reports provides a wide variety of data connectivity options designed to provide you with the best mechanisms that support the retrieval of data from an array of distinct data sources. You still need to determine the most efficient way to access your specific data sources for each report that you will be creating. Establishing a strategy for connecting to your data and evaluating your connectivity options for each report is of paramount importance, and both can have a significant impact on the performance of your reports. Crystal Reports provides an array of connectivity options that support virtually any data source environment, including relational, flat-file, and multi-dimensional (that is, OLAP Online Analytical Processing) data sources. Crystal Reports also supports the use of database-specific client software, such as Oracle's SQL Client application, that are designed to be used when accessing the respective vendors' database environment. Additional data access information is covered in Hour 3.
When designing reports, you will be presented with data connectivity options at the start of the report design process. Selecting the connectivity option that best meets the business and technical requirements for your reports is an important consideration. Locating the Crystal Reports ApplicationAfter Crystal Reports is installed, you can locate the installed programs by navigating to the Start, Programs, Crystal Reports 9 Tools listing. Depending on what options were selected during the installation process, this program listing might vary. Regardless of the exact selections, the Crystal Reports designer application will be accessible from this listing. The specific applications available under the Crystal Reports 9 Tools listing will depend on what application components you choose to install during the installation process. These could include the Crystal Registration Wizard, Crystal Reports License, Crystal Dictionary, and Crystal SQL Designer applications. The Crystal Reports License application is a very simple program used solely for managing Crystal Reports licenses. The Crystal Dictionary and the Crystal SQL Designer are no longer included as part of the product installation with Crystal Reports 9. However, these components can be installed separately from the Crystal Reports 9 CD.
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