differences between BO and CR 3

[PAULCALLAGHAN]

I'm about to start using Business Objects 5.0 for the first time.

I am an old user of Crystal Reports 6.0, 8.5 and some familiarity with XI.

What are the basic differences here in learning BO ver 5.0?Is there similar functionality, like sub-reports?

Are there some obvious things I can't do in BO ver 5.0 that I could in Crystal Reports?

Any general help would be greatly appreciated.

 

[hilfy]

The original BO reports as well as the current version WebI and DeskI are share very little with what you're used to in Crystal.

As I've heard the folks at BO say, their reports are designed for data analysis, slicing and dicing data, etc. and Crystal is designed for "picture perfect" output where the layout, fonts, etc. must be exact.

AFAIK, you can't do subreports in ver 5.0 reports, but you can do some bursting and other things that you can't do in Crystal.

BO reports work off of a "universe" which is a meta-data layer that hides the complexity of the data from the users. Users don't have to know anything about the underlying tables, fields, joins, etc. They just have to drag and drop objects (dimensions and measures) with plain English (or whatever language you're working in) names onto reports.

Crystal XI r2 can also work off of universes, but it can also connect to data in it's usual way.

-Dell

I'm coming from a Crystal background and just starting to get into universe design and WebI, so I don't have much in the way of details beyond that.

A computer only does what you actually told it to do - not what you thought you told it to do.

 

[blom0344]

When BO took over Crystal Reports the officials mentioned the classic situation of a 'best of both worlds'.
BO as the premium package for advanced reporting and analysis and crystal reports as the 'down-to-earth' querytool. There are quite a few companies that can get along without the pricey BO licences and only require a basic approach. (I sure would one day like to work with Crystal too)

Ties Blom

 

[skrandel]

Ties, you actually have it backwards.

They tout Crystal as the tool for report authoring. It's the tool for creating those pixel-perfect reports that are also interactive.

WebI becomes the end-user ad-hoc query and analysis tool.

The BO client is never discussed as they refuse to recognize that this is still the best tool the company has to offer.

Steve Krandel
Symantec

 

[blom0344]

Well, I am just recalling the way BO introduced the fusion here in the Netherlands. WebI is almost non-existant overhere. Quite possibly cause we seem to appreciate the power of the full-client over the more 'sexy' (read: limited) image of a web-based application.
So, from a Overseas standpoint I may have it backwards, buth then again, this is BO we are dealing with...

Ties Blom

 

[skrandel]

What they said, and what reality is may be very different. The BO client is a dead product. It will not be enhanced. I think there is likely 1 more release and then it goes away forever.

Clearly they are trying to retire it. They won't even audit the activity of a client-created report if refreshed in InfoView.



Steve Krandel
Symantec

 

[MJRBIM]

The BO client is a dead product. It will not be enhanced." - SK

I thought "Desktop Intelligence" for XI was the replacement for BO client classic....?

 

[skrandel]

DeskI is the BO client. BO has been very clear that this product is not going to be enhanced and will likely be retired after the next release. DeskI doesn't even show up when you talk to them about their product offerings.



Steve Krandel
Symantec

 

[hilfy]

However, IIRC comments heard at the last two user conferences, they are suppose to be updating WebI to have most, if not all, of the functionality of BO Client/DeskI. They seem to understand that many clients won't upgrade unless they have the rich functionality they're used to in the full client apps.

-Dell

A computer only does what you actually told it to do - not what you thought you told it to do.

 

[skrandel]

Fair enough. But they still aren't there. It could be 2 more releases before they get there. In the meantime, they should continue to support it in all ways included audit.

Steve Krandel
Symantec