Crystal Reports compare excel data against another database.

[PabloCa]

Basically I want to take Actual Sales Month to Date (live data that I have no problem accessing) and compare it to what our salemanger has as a goal(Which is not in our database - it is just a figure on a sheet of paper.)I can use excel or access or any other means to set up the goal figures(they are differnt for each month). The end goal is to publish this automatically without any user intervention using ReCrystallize Pro.
"It is easier to be forgiven than to get permission." Norm the (Memphis) salesman.

 

[dgillz]

Well, I would put it into another database, and use that data in the report.

The other option is to assign the values to variables within a crystal formula, then use it in another formula to calculate the variance Software Support for Sage Mas90, Macola, Crystal Reports, Goldmine and MS Office

 

[Ngolem]

you can use use Excel but I found it a nuisance defining the field.

You can use a flat text file (*.txt) and an ODBC text driver
such as MS Text driver check in :

Control Panel|Administration Tools|Data Sources(ODBC)

to see if you have it available...then instal it pointing to a directory where the .txt file could be found

Crystal now treats the text file as a data base as long as the text file is formatted properly

the FIRST line shows the "field names" and must always be present...then follow the reset of the records associated with these field names

eg. construct a file SalesGoals.txt

"Year","Month","Saleszone","SalesVolume","SalesDollars"
"2002","01","North America",1000,10000
"2002","02","North America",2000,20000
.
.
.

you get the idea...
note: 1.double quotes in the data refer to string data and no double quotes means nummbers
2.you cannot use a comma to separate 1000's as a comma is a field delimiter...also you cannot have " in a string as this designates string values

This file is easily updated and requires no other maintenance as far as Crystal is concerned

now just make a subreport referencing this file as a data base and link it to the main reportin the normal fashion.

You have to choose your subdirectory wisely if this is to be distributed and maintenance may be a problem...but these problems exist if the database was Excel or Access too

I just find this method very easy to maintain and no hassles

Hope this helps....jim

 

[Guest_imported]

Thanks Jim and DGillz,
I will try each ...

 

[chelseatech]

I've got a text file lookup function I'm developing. Contact me via my web site and I'll send you a demo of the beta version. The formal demo will be available by the end of February. Editor and Publisher of Crystal Clear

http://www.chelseatech.co.nz/pubs.htm