Form Letter Report | Mastering Business Analysis with Crystal Reports 9 (Wordware Applications Library)

See the companion files for an example of this report. Create this report starting as a blank report with the xtreme.mdb database.

Table(s)	Fields
Employee	Employee Name

Once in the Report Design area, perform the following steps:

From the menu bar, select Insert, Picture.
Select the xtreme.bmp graphic from the following location: C:\Program Files\Crystal Decisions\Crystal Reports 9\Samples\En\Databases.
Place the xtreme.bmp graphic at the 0" mark in the Page Header section.
Right-click on the Report Header section.

An options menu displays.
Select Suppress (No Drill-Down) from the menu.

Your screen should look like Figure P1-5.

Figure P1-5: Adding a graphic to a report
From the menu bar, select Insert, Text Object.

Place this text object in the Details section, at the 0" mark.
With this text object selected, type in the following: Dear.

Shrink down this text object.
From the Field Explorer, expand the Database Fields node.

The Employee table displays.
Expand the Employee table node. Add the First Name field after the Dear text object.
Add the First Name field to the Details section. Delete the First Name header in the Page Header section.

Your screen should look like Figure P1-6.

Figure P1-6: Adding a first name greeting to your report
Right-click in the Details section.

An options menu displays.
From the options menu, select the Section Expert option.

The Section Expert dialog box displays.
In the Section Expert, check the New Page After check box.

This creates a separate page for each employee record. Your screen should look like P1-7.

Figure P1-7: Defining each record to display as a separate page with the Section Expert
Press the OK button in the Section Expert dialog box.

You're returned to the Report Design area.
Select the Design tab.
Right-click in the Details section.

An options menu displays.
From the options menu, select the Insert Section Below option.

A Details b section is created and the original Details section is now named Details a. Stretch the Details b section to make room.
From the menu bar, select Insert, Text Object.

Place this object within the Details b section. You can place this object at the 0" mark. Stretch the object to the 5.5" mark. Also, increase the height of this object.
Type the letter's text into the text object.

Select the Preview tab. The final result of your work should look like Figure P1-8.

Figure P1-8: A form letter report