Business Views are new to Crystal Enterprise 10. Business Views enable the user to abstract the complexities of the data source by creating a layer on top of the data source layer that abstracts the complexities of the data joins and fields. The end user only sees a logical grouping of available, well-named fields for use and does not have to concern himself with the intricacies of database design.
You do not have to use the Business Views as your data source. You can still connect to the data source directly and create the joins inside Crystal Reports. Using Business Views is contingent on the requirements. For example, if you are building a data warehouse with complex joins and technical field names, Business Views might be the recommended approach. If the requirement is to report from an Access database and you know the data structures and the end users will simply be consuming static reports, the additional effort of building the Business View might not be justified.
NOTE
Although previous versions of Crystal Reports had functionality similar to this in the form of Dictionaries and Query files, Business Views require Crystal Reports 10 and will not function with earlier versions of Crystal Reports.
NOTE
At the time of this writing, Business Views were available for the Professional and Premium editions of Crystal Enterprise. Contact Business Objects for further licensing information.
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