Crystal Reports 10: The Complete Reference

What s New in Crystal Reports 10

The core Crystal Reports 10 designer has received fewer updates than in some releases (which is somewhat understandable, considering what a major release version 9 was). A short description of most of these additions and changes follows , with chapter number references (although, those new features that can be considered very minor may be mentioned only here and not covered extensively in the rest of the book). Crystal Enterprise 10 new features are discussed in Chapter 24.

• The Format Painter From a general report design perspective, this may be the most significant feature in Crystal Reports 10. Having been requested for years , this feature allows you to select a specific already-formatted object and copy all the object s formatting properties to one or more similar objects with a few mouse clicks. The Format Painter is discussed in Chapter 9.

• Repository changes The repository, introduced in version 9, has changed in version 10. While the version 9 repository could be stored in your own SQL database, the version 10 repository must be stored in an associated Crystal Enterprise system. This requires you to have an installed and running Crystal Enterprise system to make any use of the repository in version 10. While a spirited argument can be made between increased flexibility from the Crystal Enterprise security model and Business Objects attempt to bolster Crystal Enterprise license revenue, this does introduce a new wrinkle for organizations that relied heavily on the SQL-based version 9 repository. The repository is covered in Chapter 7.

• Business Views Crystal Reports 8. x and earlier included a bundled tool called Crystal Dictionaries that could be used to create a middle, meta, or semantic layer between report designers and the complex database structure they needed to design reports against. This concept has been redrawn from the ground up in version 10 with Business Views. Part of Crystal Enterprise 10, Business Views provides a very flexible, robust way to design an easy-to-understand core set of database items that can be used to insulate complex database organizations from report designers. However, as with the version 10 repository, Business Views requires the use of Crystal Enterprise, and the associated licensing issues and expense. An entire new chapter appears with extensive Business Views coverage. Look at Chapter 17.

• Funnel Chart type An additional chart type, a Funnel Chart, has been added to the Chart Expert. The Funnel Chart may be helpful when visualization of sales forecasts is required within a report. The Chart Expert is covered in Chapter 12.

• Enhanced cross-tab and OLAP grid virtual pages Both virtual page features and a new Horizontal Page Number special field can be combined to make reports containing cross-tabs and OLAP grids much more palatable when viewed online, exported, or printed. These new features are covered in Chapters 11 and 19.

• Enforced table joins The Database Expert s Links tab now includes the capability to include table references in SQL join expressions even if some tables included in the joins are not used on the report. This new feature is highlighted in Chapter 16.

• Two additional report options Two additional check boxes on the File Options and File Report Options dialog boxes allow you avoid blank pages that may appear if a Keep Group Together option is chosen on a large group, as well as retain the original color depth for high-quality imported bitmap images. As these are simple additional options, they are not covered elsewhere in the book.

• Updated developer options The Java Reporting Component provides a richer development environment for web-based Java developers. And, enhanced Visual Studio .NET capabilities are enjoyed when you install Crystal Reports 10 Developer or Advanced Developer edition. Developer topics are discussed in Parts II and III of the book.

And, finally, some mention must be made of the future direction of the Crystal products and franchise, considering the acquisition of the entire product line by Business Objects in December 2003. First indications are that Crystal users will be the winners in this marriage of two former competitors . The product roadmap being circulated as of this writing indicates that the core report-design tool for the new combined Business Objects product line will be Crystal Reports. This isn t surprising, considering what an incredible market penetration and foothold this core tool already has in the industry. As a Business Objects employee said at a user conference just before the acquisition, Why would we kill the golden goose?

”George Peck