cross-tab value evaluation problem

[mjmalloy]

CR v8.0
I have built a cross-tab report that shows rate changes for a group of parking garages. The cross-tab is broken down in the following rows and cols.


Rate Effective Date Rate Effective Date
Rate Schedule Rate Schedule

Rate Definition_1
Rate Definition_2 Rate Change null
Rate Definition_1
Rate Definition_2 null Rate Change
Rate Definition_2 Rate Change null


Each garage could have multiple Rate Schedules. Each Rate Definition_1 has several subclasses representing individual rates for different time breakdowns. Rate changes are made and are assigned an Rate Effective Date, a Rate Schedule, RateDefinition_1 and Rate_Definition_2. The database is only updated with changes made to individual rates. Individual rates are updated and others are left alone. Currently on the Cross-tab I only see rate changes, how could I populate the cross-tab with rates that have not changed in the columns along with rates that have changed ? Is there a way to test values of cells within a cross-tab for values or lack of value(null) ?
The many different Rate Effective Dates make this cross-tab expand vertically, ( This is also the reason I used a cross-tab) if there is a way to get values to expand vertically across a page then I could get rid of the Cross-tab all together.

Any help would be appreciated.
mjmalloy@hotmail.com

 

[kenhamady]

Cross-tabs are my favorite objects, but there are some limitations. One is that can't reference a specific cell to print a value in another cell. You also can't force it to print a row for a value that doesn't exist.

Otherwise I had a tough time following your case. In your current Cross-tab design window what are the:
Row field (s)
Columns Field (s)
Summarized field(s) Ken Hamady

http://www.kenhamady.com/

Crystal Reports Training and a
Quick Reference Guide to VB/Crystal

 

[mjmalloy]

my rows are two separate sets of rate definitions.
a normal report would have
example:
rows would be....
example - regular rates(rate definition_1) and
example - up to 1/2 hour(rate definition_2)
example - 1/2 to 1 hour (rate definition_2)
etc... there would be more rate definition_1's and rate definition_2's underneath each

column fields would be...
effective date (date the rate took effect) and
different rate schedules - rate schedule 1,2,3 that were affected.(the garages all keep several different sets of rates for different classes of customers)

rate changes could be associated with each intersection,
so a rate change would be made as of a certain effective date, for a specific rate schedule, for a particular rate defintion_1 and a particular rate definition_2.
rates are updated indivdually and not all rates are updated at the same time.

example.
i am going to update the rate for "up to 1/2 hour"(rate definition_1) for regular rates(rate definition_2). the effective date of the rate would be 2/1/00, and i am updating rate schedule 1.
the problem is that the database only stores the rate change that was entered, not all rates effective as of 2/1/00 with the 2/1/00 change record.
in the cross-tab the rate change is visible.
how could i get all the rates that did not change into the 2/1/00 column. these rates were effective through 2/1/00, but did not change on 2/1/00, they might have changed previously and are still effective.
it's a comparison report, so users can see what changed and what remained the same at each rate change date.
to get the values to appear i think i need the ability to evalute the contents of each cell.
if the cell is equal to zero, i would want crystal to go back to the last effective date where a rate was present and place this in the new 2/1/00 column along with the rates that were just changed.
sorry if this is too wordy, but i think the more i explain this to other people the more i understand the situation.
i think i might have to write a stored procedure to pull the data out instead of using CR???
thanks for your help.

 

[kenhamady]

Crystal can't carry a value forward in a cross-tab. Crystal needs a value in the results table to populate the crosstab.

You could create a pseudo cross-tab with conditional formulas, but only if you can hard code the columns values and calculate the dates of the rate changes. The vertical would simply be grouping levels in the report.

If you can build the results table with a SP so that there is a record for every combination, that will allow the Cross-tab to work. Ken Hamady

http://www.kenhamady.com/

Crystal Reports Training and a
Quick Reference Guide to VB/Crystal

 

[mjmalloy]

is there a way to get data to expand horizontally across a report without using a cross-tab?

 

[kenhamady]

Not that I know of. Ken Hamady

http://www.kenhamady.com/

Crystal Reports Training and a
Quick Reference Guide to VB/Crystal