Introducing Crystal Analysis

Crystal Analysis is another type of reporting tool provided by Business Objects that enables organizations to deliver action-based analysis to end users. More than the flattened views of OLAP and multidimensional data sources that Crystal Reports provides, it offers a rich, interactive interface that facilitates the discovery of business insights and helps decision-makers affect business performance at the speed of thought. The two primary groups of end users for such reports would be Power Users and General Information Consumers.

Power Users can create analytic reports (often called applications) based on OLAP data, using the powerful thick-client designer Crystal Analysis. These reports or applications (which will be called reports from here on) can contain many pages, each representative of a different predefined view of the underlying data source. Data can be presented in tables or through a wide range of charts, as shown in Figure 19.1.

Figure 19.1. Design an analytic report with Crystal Analysis Professional.

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General Information Consumers can also leverage the powerful multidimensional functionality of Crystal Analysis by taking advantage of the guided analytics provided in the product. These single-click analytic buttons used in combination with the other compelling presentation features (such as exception highlighting, sorting and filtering, and drop-down boxes) enable you to provide multidimensional analysis to less sophisticated users. Business managers can use the resulting analytic reports to inform the daily decisions they need to make with less technical skill required.

Analytic reports can be delivered to users in two ways: either through distribution of the Crystal Analysis file (.car extension) to users with the thick-client application installed, or, more popularly, through a Web browser by using Crystal Enterprise. The reports in Crystal Enterprise can be viewed using either Dynamic HTML (DHTML) (see Figure 19.2) or ActiveX. Both viewers are fully functional and provide all the analytic capabilities of the desktop tool in a Web browser.

Figure 19.2. An analytic report viewed using the DHTML Viewer of Crystal Enterprise.

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Crystal Analysis is suitable for a wide range of analytic business requirements, including sales and marketing analysis, financial reporting and analysis, key performance indicator reporting, supplier performance and billing analysis, click-stream analysis, and HR analysis. When combined with Crystal Enterprise in providing Web Analytic solutions, Crystal Analysis is also suitable for delivering analytic reports and applications to both employees inside an organization and to those outsidecustomers, suppliers, and business partners.

NOTE

Before using Crystal Analysis it is necessary to have OLAP cubes created. The OLAP cubes supported include

  • Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services SP2 and SQL Server 7 OLAP Services SP3
  • DB2 OLAP 8.1, 7.1.7, 7.1.6, 7.1.5, 7.1.4, 7.1.3, 7.1.1, 7.1.0, and 8.1
  • Essbase 6.5.x, 6.2.x, 6.1.4, 6.1.3a, 6.1.2, 6.0.3, 6.0.2, 6.0.1, and 6.0.0
  • SAP BW 3.x and 2.0B
  • Holos 8.x and 9.0


Part I. Crystal Reports Design

Creating and Designing Basic Reports

Selecting and Grouping Data

Filtering, Sorting, and Summarizing Data

Understanding and Implementing Formulas

Implementing Parameters for Dynamic Reporting

Part II. Formatting Crystal Reports

Fundamentals of Report Formatting

Working with Report Sections

Visualizing Your Data with Charts and Maps

Custom Formatting Techniques

Part III. Advanced Crystal Reports Design

Using Cross-Tabs for Summarized Reporting

Using Record Selections and Alerts for Interactive Reporting

Using Subreports and Multi-Pass Reporting

Using Formulas and Custom Functions

Designing Effective Report Templates

Additional Data Sources for Crystal Reports

Multidimensional Reporting Against OLAP Data with Crystal Reports

Part IV. Enterprise Report Design Analytic, Web-based, and Excel Report Design

Introduction to Crystal Repository

Crystal Reports Semantic Layer Business Views

Creating Crystal Analysis Reports

Advanced Crystal Analysis Report Design

Ad-Hoc Application and Excel Plug-in for Ad-Hoc and Analytic Reporting

Part V. Web Report Distribution Using Crystal Enterprise

Introduction to Crystal Enterprise

Using Crystal Enterprise with Web Desktop

Crystal Enterprise Architecture

Planning Considerations When Deploying Crystal Enterprise

Deploying Crystal Enterprise in a Complex Network Environment

Administering and Configuring Crystal Enterprise

Part VI. Customized Report Distribution Using Crystal Reports Components

Java Reporting Components

Crystal Reports .NET Components

COM Reporting Components

Part VII. Customized Report Distribution Using Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition

Introduction to Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition

Crystal Enterprise Viewing Reports

Crystal Enterprise Embedded Report Modification and Creation

Part VIII. Customized Report Distribution Using Crystal Enterprise Professional

Introduction to the Crystal Enterprise Professional Object Model

Creating Enterprise Reports Applications with Crystal Enterprise Part I

Creating Enterprise Reporting Applications with Crystal Enterprise Part II

Appendix A. Using Sql Queries In Crystal Reports

Creating Enterprise Reporting Applications with Crystal Enterprise Part II



Special Edition Using Crystal Reports 10
Special Edition Using Crystal Reports 10
ISBN: 0789731134
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2003
Pages: 341

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