Chapter 2: Modifying a Report

Chapter 2 - Modifying a Report
Mastering Crystal Reports 9
by Cate McCoy and Gord Maric
Sybex 2003

Overview

In the last chapter, we used the Standard Report Creation Wizard to create a basic report, and this got us going very quickly. Much of your time as a report builder, however, will be spent modifying an existing report to meet additional requirements. One of the reasons for this is that iterative development keeps the users involved on a continual basis; you build something, show it to them, they critique it, and you change it. This is a nice way of saying that users don’t really know what they want until they see something they don’t want. Then, with something in front of them, they can tell you specific changes they’d like you to make. Report building is an ongoing cycle to perfection.

The skills you need in order to modify an existing report are very similar to the ones you use when you build a report from scratch. The Report Creation Wizard is a good starting point when you’re new to Crystal Reports, but very quickly you will find that you can do the layout yourself and make equally good time at it with better control.

Featured in this chapter:

• Opening and enhancing existing reports

• Working with database fields

• Managing groups

• Changing sort options

• Working with basic summary fields

• Getting help

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