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Impromptu vs Crystal Reports 3
- Thread starter KellyK
- Start date
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1
- #2
IMHO,
Impromptu is a little easier to learn than Crystal Reports, but offers much more flexibility. I understand that if you have experience in MS Access also, Crystal should be a breeze to pick up.
I am what I am based on the decisions I have made.
DoubleD![[bigcheeks]](/data/assets/smilies/bigcheeks.gif "[bigcheeks] [bigcheeks]")
Impromptu is a little easier to learn than Crystal Reports, but offers much more flexibility. I understand that if you have experience in MS Access also, Crystal should be a breeze to pick up.
I am what I am based on the decisions I have made.
DoubleD
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1
- #3
goofaholix
MIS
I've spent 2 years as a Crystal Reports Developer then moved onto 8 months as an Impromptu Developer.
I've found the move extremely frustrating. There are so many things you can do as a Developer in Crystal Reports that you can't or are difficult in Impromptu. Impromptu forces you into an environment which is configured better for User/Developers who don't fully understand the database (assuming the Catalog has been setup properly), rather than pure developers. Whereas Crystal has so many options that you'll never tap into all of them.
In Crystal you have full control of your database queries, in Impromptu you rely on the Catalog, and you can't bypass it. The Catalog does dumb things sometimes, and fixing it for one report can break another without you realising it.
I could go on....
The only good things I've found with Impromptu is you can do some really neat things with Cognoscript without having to have an Enterprise solution set up. And the default formatting of reports is a bit prettier.
Bruce
I've found the move extremely frustrating. There are so many things you can do as a Developer in Crystal Reports that you can't or are difficult in Impromptu. Impromptu forces you into an environment which is configured better for User/Developers who don't fully understand the database (assuming the Catalog has been setup properly), rather than pure developers. Whereas Crystal has so many options that you'll never tap into all of them.
In Crystal you have full control of your database queries, in Impromptu you rely on the Catalog, and you can't bypass it. The Catalog does dumb things sometimes, and fixing it for one report can break another without you realising it.
I could go on....
The only good things I've found with Impromptu is you can do some really neat things with Cognoscript without having to have an Enterprise solution set up. And the default formatting of reports is a bit prettier.
Bruce
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1
- #4
I've had the opposite path to Bruce - I've had a couple of years + on Impromptu and was asked to learn basic Crystal for some other applications. I found Crystal's approach to data access frustrating in comparison to crystal, but the control of formatting to be superior. I certainly agree that the existence of cognos script and the supplemental software makes automation better than Crystal, even with third party tools.
Note that, in my opinion, there is quite a change in the user experience between Crystal versions 8, 8.5, 9 and 10 (not seen 11). In comparison Imp 6 - Imp 7.3 is very similar; in effect just a few added features.
soi la, soi carré
Note that, in my opinion, there is quite a change in the user experience between Crystal versions 8, 8.5, 9 and 10 (not seen 11). In comparison Imp 6 - Imp 7.3 is very similar; in effect just a few added features.
soi la, soi carré
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