Adding multiple run time variables

[Flybridge]

We are using Crystal Reports 9, but looking to upgrade to BO XI.

Our requirements have been fairly simple up to now, but we now have a requirement that is way beyond what we have done so far.

We have transactions in a few currencies and the accountants want to do a forecast based on current exchange rates. As the data comes from a data warehouse we cannot change the exchange rates in real time at source that easily. So we wondered if there was a way of allowing the user to set the current exchange rates at report run time.

Initially there seem to be 2 possibilities.

1) Get crystal to see which currencies are in the transaction table/subset of the transaction table to be reported (based on other prompts at run time) and ask for the exchange rate to be used for each. But how would we then associate these values with the transactions to which they relate?
2) In reality there are only about 5 currencies likely to be used. So we could add columns to the report definition to hold the exchange rate for each currency, but that is on the assumption we can define them as being populated by the data from a prompt at run time. Is that possible?

Are either of these options possible? If so, how? Is there a better solution than either of these? It is taxing our understanding of Crystal.

Hopefully, someone out there knows.

Thanks in advance,
Flybridge

40 million lemmings can't be wrong........can they?

 

[lupins46]

Within CR you can't examine the data first and then decide which parameters to ask for. But i don't see a problem in setting up parameters for each currency rate and supplying the rates at run-time. You can't then do the easy thing and use a relationship to lookup rates; you would have to use 'if' statements in formula fields to get the correct rates to apply.

You might be better thinking of a simple front-end program which allows users to set up the table of rates they wish to use and include this as a source for the report. But it's not out-of-the-question using parameters.