Crystal 10 / Oracle 9 User Defined Fields Question

[DataDog]

CR10
CE10
Oracle 9
Let me start off by saying that I'm an experienced Crystal Report writer writing my first series of reports against an Oracle 9 "FileNet" database. The quotes are there because, to me, they are just words that our Systems Oracle DBAs are telling me - they have little/no meaning to me.
Most of the fields that I need in my reports are "User Defined" (start with "U"). Whenever Systems does a "drop table" and "recreate" the table, some user defined fields names change. (i.e U5D_Facility becomes U5A_Facility). This causes the Crystal Enterprise Report to crash, forcing me to go into the Crystal Report and re-map the fields that changed.
I contend that there has to be some way for and Oracle DBA to FORCE user defined field names to remain constant. Is this true?

DataDog
"Failure Is Not An Option'

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
I have never seen such an odd ( not to say bad, maybe there is a business reason for this ) structure or process -With these changes to the metadata , any report using the 'older' version of the tables/views will need to be updated and it cannot, as far as I know, be automated..


The DBA could create views for you to use that he can recompile/rewrite when he allows the table structure to change..the views would always have the same field names so the reports would work..

It is a choice as to who has the task of working with this data..you (by updating all your reports) or the DBA ( by updating the views you use)..





To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[DataDog]

I understand that data changes, but Field Names? I wouldn't know how to do that in DB2 or MS SQL, what's so different about Oracle? How can Field Names "have a mind of their own"?

DataDog
"Failure Is Not An Option'