CR XI observations and tips 4

[synapsevampire]

Downloaded it this morning and the first thing I tried was the new dynamic parameters (wild applause!!!!). Here are my observations:

At first glance the gui looks quite different, for the better, and the addition of dynamic parameters are a huge plus, my biggest complaint for years.

The downside appears to be that you cannot add a value to the dynamic list (understandable I suppose), so you cannot key off of "All" values unless you select them all, and when I attempted to do so against an Access database with about 290 dynamic values it returned an error stating that the query was too complex. Right, I don't usually use Access, and this may be a driver issue, more testing is required.

You can still build the base values by "Append"ing in existing values or importing them from a text file, as in previous versions, so the old methods are still fine.

There are also new hotkeys available, check out the help for Formula Editor Key Controls.

Also some of the icons have changed, such as eliminating the lightning bolt refresh, now each window has an undo/redo type (over and under arrows) of icon which does the refresh.

Interested to read of other's discoveries.

-k

 

[synapsevampire]

It also appears to do a better job of creating subqueries and group by clauses in the database->show sql query when the report is properly configured.

Note that if you build a report off of the access customer table using the standard report expert, and select multiple fields, and then group by customer id, with some aggregate functions, you'll get a conventional sql because you've selected fields that are not aggregated.

However if you suppress the details and turn on the perform grouping on server, it will build optimized sql, as in:

SELECT `Customer`.`Country`, SUM(`Customer`.`Customer ID`), SUM(`Customer`.`Customer Credit ID`), SUM(`Customer`.`Last Year's Sales`)
FROM `Customer` `Customer`
WHERE `Customer`.`Country`='Mexico'
GROUP BY `Customer`.`Country`
ORDER BY `Customer`.`Country`

Big improvement. I used to have to start from a blank report to get it to generate and pass sql, now one can use the experts and still accomplish sql pass through.

-k

 

[MJRBIM]

The "Dynamic Parameter" tool has a nice interface, but appears to lacking some BASIC functionality.

1- The ALL function (as mentioned above), or the ability to make the parameter optional (eg. Pick Country, Region, but leave CITY optional).

2 - The ability to cascade to a different source field depending upon the higher response...

EXAMPLE :
=========
Parameter #1 - Lanuage (EN or FR)
Parameter #2 - If P1 = "EN" Then TABLE.CUSTOMER_TYPE_EN else TABLE.CUSTOMER_TYPE_FR

We use the function above a lot because we run a billingual environment - with EN/FR data that resides in paralell fields in the same table.

In the APOS DP tool (we've held back on purchasing until we saw BO's options), you can create a RPT to act as the source of your parameter values which resolves both the issues above....BUT the user interface is brutally ugly.

Give me the APOS functionality with the BOXI interface, and I'd be a happy camper.

 

[vidru]

From a developer standpoint after a first quick test drive w/VB6:

1) If you design the report within the IDE, you cannot create dynamic parameters.
2) The parameter window is better, but it's HUGE, and off-hand doesn't look like you can control its size.
3) The method of entering date/time values is in the parameter window is ridiculous. Is there a way to turn that off and use a DatePicker instead?

-dave

 

[dgillz]

Can you "save as" to a prior version of crystal? If so how far back?

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Exact Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.srhconsulting.com

 

[synapsevampire]

Pressing enter is generally a dicey proposition in terms of focus, but try using the Report->Record Selection->Record and manually entering the record selection, you'll find a good deal more flexibility and control anyway.

Youc can d/l a 30 day trial version now:

http://www.businessobjects.com/products/reporting/crystalreports/evalxi/deveval_download.asp

-k

 

[IdoMillet]

To answer dgillz's question, you can run Crystal 11 rpt files in Crystal 9 (and 10 of course). Of course, you get a warning that new functionality is not supported.

Cheers,
- Ido

CUT, Visual CUT, and DataLink Viewer:
view, e-mail, export, burst, distribute, and schedule Crystal Reports.

http://www.MilletSoftware.com

 

[MJRBIM]

FROM OUR BO TECH REP -

"Crystal Reports 10 can open a report written by XI. But you do get a warning message stating that you are opening a report from version which is later that the one you are using.

It will also cause unknown results if the report written with XI has any of the new features such as Dynamic prompts and dynamic image locations. So it is not recommended."

 

[nitroedge]

Hi,

Blair here from Business Objects. I am on the CR product management team.

To answer some of the questions...

It is possible to create the desired 'ALL' functionality by using a command object to create your cascading prompt, and then use conditional logic in the record selection formula to generate a different record selection formula depending on whether or not the magic 'ALL' value is set. Check out the prompting.rpt sample report (in the feature examples directory) for an example of this behavior.

For the parallel language tables, I'd suggest using Business Views as a data source for your dynamic prompts. You could assign your English users to an English rights group, and French users to a French rights group. Each rights group would have a separate filter on the union of the English and French tables. Then a user in each group would see the values from the proper table. Some initial setup would be required to do this within BVM to get it right, but it would cover off this use case. It would only have to be configured once within Business Views Manager and then reused within CR, so the setup overhead would occur once, not per report.

Casting of datetimes to dates will be considered for a future enhancement.

The VB6 designer cannot author dynamic cascading prompts, however the VS2003 designer (when CR XI is installed) can.

In general we do not add the ability to save back to previous versions. Instead we ensure that each new version is backwards compatible with the prior 6 versions, and is forwards compatible with the prior 2 versions. This means that we support CR XI opening CR 6 files, and we support (despite what the tech support guy says) CR 9 and CR 10 opening CR XI files. Of course there will be missing functionality where new XI features are used, but this use case is tested for and is supported and it should not crash CR9 or CR10.

I hope this helps.

Cheers, Blair

 

[kenhamady]

Here are a couple more new features I have found:

1) An image can now be read from a file path string and change from record to record. This path string can either be read from a field or it can be calculated.

2) Groups can now be set to Ascending or Descending based on a calculated condition. But for some reason they didn't do Sorting.

3) The N in the TopN feature can be calculated from a condition button.

(I have had workarounds for 2 and 3 but it is nice to have a direct condition).

4) They now allow us to disable AutoLinking without going into the registry.

5) They have FINALLY made the "Field Clipping" default be OFF instead of ON.

Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Expert's Guide to Formulas / Tips and Tricks / Guide to Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

- TEK2(AT)kenhamady.com

 

[nitroedge]

We listened to you Ken!

My favorite obscure feature: Saving export options in the rpt... choose file > export > report export options and set your export options to be saved with the rpt. These options are then used when exporting through the viewers (which don't expose all the export option detail). This is cool because you don't have to educate your viewer users on how to properly set export options. The report designer can just set it once and have it propagate through the stack.

Blair

 

[MJRBIM]

nitroedge -

Nice to see BO monitor these boards.

Thanks for the input about the ALL prompt...I will look at the sample. Is there any whitepaper on this - or is it covered in the User Guide?

Unfortunately, your BusinessView option won't meet our needs - as all users need to be able to run it in the language of choice (EN or FR) at any time, even if their primary language is ENGLISH.

TIA!

 

[nitroedge]

MJRBIM

I don't believe that specific technique is covered in the users guide. The sample is a reasonable demonstration of it however. The key parts to look at are the command object and the record selection formula. That would be a good topic for an upcoming whitepaper though.

The users guide is pretty good (I wrote much of the content myself). I made sure it goes beyond the inane 'to do this click here' crap that is sadly still prevalent in parts of our product to actually describe _why_ you would want to do things a certain way.

Thanks for the feedback on the BV option. We'll consider your use case when looking at prompting for future releases.

Blair

 

[kenhamady]

Blair,

I am glad that you fixed the Field Clipping feature but that does cost me one of my favorite classroom jokes...that Enron failed because they used Field clipping on their financial reports and didn't realize how big the numbers were getting.

While your listening, maybe you can have someone fix the cross tab bug that locks group sorting of rows (on or off) whenever you specify the order of the columns. To change the group sort of the cross-tab rows you have to turn off the specified order of the columns.

Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Expert's Guide to Formulas / Tips and Tricks / Guide to Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

- TEK2(AT)kenhamady.com

 

[vidru]

... and please get rid of that buggy date parameter IE window. Reminds me of some of my first forays into Delphi programming: "Cannot focus disabled or hidden control".

-dave

 

[TheBlondOne]

It would have been nice if they had given you the option to conditionally suppress a line/box, whats the point in just being able to suppress a line/box without a condition, if I didn't want a line there I wouldn't put it in!!. Also there's still no option to align lines to top, centre, left etc..

Anyone know if the export to PDF has been improved? I don't know if you've experienced it but I had a right game trying to get the lines lined up when it was exported into PDF, it was perfect in Crystal but not in Acrobat. It seems that you cannot have a line touching another line, you have to leave a little gap from each line because when you exported it into PDF the rendering went all to pot.

But in general I like the look of it, and the dynamic parameters are pretty cool, can see those being really useful.

 

[synapsevampire]

Thanks for the input, Blair.

However I instruct developers to avoid all proprietary data layers, such as the now defunct SQL Designer, and the newer Business Views.

Since they're proprietary, they won't lend themselves to other products, and I believe the wrong place to implement security.

I can see how they may be useful, but I also see that one will likely suffer higher maintenance and lessened reusability.

Perhaps BO has plans to make business views available to all tools?

-k

 

[synapsevampire]

Thanks for the input, Blair.

However I instruct developers to avoid all proprietary data layers, such as the now defunct SQL Designer, and the newer Business Views.

Since they're proprietary, they won't lend themselves to other products, and I believe the wrong place to implement security.

I can see how they may be useful, but I also see that one will likely suffer higher maintenance and lessened reusability.

Perhaps BO has plans to make business views available to all tools?

-k

 

[Lochbel]

This is CE question...is there a parallel forum?
Is there any improvement in Bursting and distribution?
Would really like to schedule/run a report and email groups to separate entities.





Lochbel

 

[GJParker]

Where has the Oracle native connection gone ?

I tried Create New Connection | More Data Sources, but couldn't find Oracle anywhere.

I had done a 'Typical' installation of CRXI, but I went back to the Select Features | Data Access in the CRXI setup process; it appears that Oracle has been installed.

I saw a similar question on another Crystal forum and couldn't find the connection myself, anyone got any ideas.






Gary Parker
MIS Data Analyst
Manchester, England