Hi,
I saw that there were MSDN chats about CR, though I missed all of them. I decided it would be fun to start a thread about what features I think should be added to the CR report editor in VS 2005, so I could point someone to it who's actually going to work on it, even though it's probably too late maybe these features can go in the next version. Please add any features you'd like to see or comment on mine. By the way , I've chosen the tried and true form of angry rant to give my comments.
Format PaintBrush:
This has got to be one of the biggest problems I've found with the VS 2003 editor. Sure, you can set the formats of multiple objects at the same time, but you'd better want all thier formats to be exactely the same. A feature that allows you to "paint" BOLD format on a field without affecting the rest of the format, or select multiple fields and change them to BOLD without changing the rest of thier format info is direly needed.
I think the best way to have this would be the paintBrush with which you could "paint" on as much or as little of the format that you want by choosing it form a GUI.
Like: SIZE = "null" or "leave alone" ALIGNMENT = "null" or "leave alone"
8 left
10 right
Also the "sample taking" tool could go along with this to pull the info from a field into our paintbrush, and that would also be sweet.
ToolTips:
I don't like having tooltips on my reports, all the necessary info is already there. I'm sure some people want them, but I'm sure nobody wants "(CustID)String" showing up on thier report when a client moves the mouse over a field. Default them to blank, make it easy to supress them, and easy to paint them with the format paintbrush!
Layers:
This would be the sweetest. Basically the problem I'm looking to solve here is that sometimes a report gets so croweded with junk, like a textField with a couple formulas in it, or behind it, that you can't even select your fields anymore. A Tab through function that allows you to Tab through the fields would help, but layers would be awesome. At least 2 layers with the ability to view all layers, view under layer, or view upper layer. Ok, at least make the TAB through function.
ADO.NET support:
I use datasets to "PUSH" data into the reports instead of the usual "PULL" method from a database that most people seem to use, and I have a lot to say about how this can be improved.
Make it fast! I heard the performance for this was going to be improved for the CR bundled with VS2005, and it better be. It's the "recommended" way according to some Microsoft propaganda I read, so it better not frustrate my users with 2-5 second load times for each report(like it does now).
Make the way the xsd is used more transparent. Although it's nice how it can work like Magic, sometimes it dosen't work like Magic, and we're screwed. Make the error messages better. The "Query Engine Error" that comes when there is an error with the schema or in the linking can be very frustrating. What information exactely is being used by Crystal when you use an xsd to define it's schema. Tables names, Fields Names and Field types. Anything else? If not, maybe a editor like the editor for xsds could be added to VS2005 to edit CR ADO.NET schemas? Either way, spell it out for us better so we actally know what is going on!!!
Also, make it easier to update a schema without having to re-create a report. This can be a real pain, especially with tiny changes to several reports.
In summary, please make the CR editor imbedded in VS 2005 feel less like a "beta". That means, let me scroll the Visual linking expert with my mouse roller. It means, make the "Name the formula" form that comes when generating a new formula look less ghetto. And please do everyting I already talked about.
Thank you,
Darren Grafton
I saw that there were MSDN chats about CR, though I missed all of them. I decided it would be fun to start a thread about what features I think should be added to the CR report editor in VS 2005, so I could point someone to it who's actually going to work on it, even though it's probably too late maybe these features can go in the next version. Please add any features you'd like to see or comment on mine. By the way , I've chosen the tried and true form of angry rant to give my comments.
Format PaintBrush:
This has got to be one of the biggest problems I've found with the VS 2003 editor. Sure, you can set the formats of multiple objects at the same time, but you'd better want all thier formats to be exactely the same. A feature that allows you to "paint" BOLD format on a field without affecting the rest of the format, or select multiple fields and change them to BOLD without changing the rest of thier format info is direly needed.
I think the best way to have this would be the paintBrush with which you could "paint" on as much or as little of the format that you want by choosing it form a GUI.
Like: SIZE = "null" or "leave alone" ALIGNMENT = "null" or "leave alone"
8 left
10 right
Also the "sample taking" tool could go along with this to pull the info from a field into our paintbrush, and that would also be sweet.
ToolTips:
I don't like having tooltips on my reports, all the necessary info is already there. I'm sure some people want them, but I'm sure nobody wants "(CustID)String" showing up on thier report when a client moves the mouse over a field. Default them to blank, make it easy to supress them, and easy to paint them with the format paintbrush!
Layers:
This would be the sweetest. Basically the problem I'm looking to solve here is that sometimes a report gets so croweded with junk, like a textField with a couple formulas in it, or behind it, that you can't even select your fields anymore. A Tab through function that allows you to Tab through the fields would help, but layers would be awesome. At least 2 layers with the ability to view all layers, view under layer, or view upper layer. Ok, at least make the TAB through function.
ADO.NET support:
I use datasets to "PUSH" data into the reports instead of the usual "PULL" method from a database that most people seem to use, and I have a lot to say about how this can be improved.
Make it fast! I heard the performance for this was going to be improved for the CR bundled with VS2005, and it better be. It's the "recommended" way according to some Microsoft propaganda I read, so it better not frustrate my users with 2-5 second load times for each report(like it does now).
Make the way the xsd is used more transparent. Although it's nice how it can work like Magic, sometimes it dosen't work like Magic, and we're screwed. Make the error messages better. The "Query Engine Error" that comes when there is an error with the schema or in the linking can be very frustrating. What information exactely is being used by Crystal when you use an xsd to define it's schema. Tables names, Fields Names and Field types. Anything else? If not, maybe a editor like the editor for xsds could be added to VS2005 to edit CR ADO.NET schemas? Either way, spell it out for us better so we actally know what is going on!!!
Also, make it easier to update a schema without having to re-create a report. This can be a real pain, especially with tiny changes to several reports.
In summary, please make the CR editor imbedded in VS 2005 feel less like a "beta". That means, let me scroll the Visual linking expert with my mouse roller. It means, make the "Name the formula" form that comes when generating a new formula look less ghetto. And please do everyting I already talked about.
Thank you,
Darren Grafton
