Multidimensional arrays in Crystal

[peteriannetta]

Hi there,

I've been beating my head against a brick wall trying to figure out how to do multidimensional arrays in Crystal. It would seem you can't but can someone please verify if that's the case, and if there are any suggestions on how to work around that.

Ta,
Pete

 

[GJParker]

You can stop beating your head now, CR doesn't support multidimensional arrays.

If you explain in more details what it is you are trying to do then maybe we can help.

HTH


Gary Parker
MIS Data Analyst
Manchester, England

 

[peteriannetta]

Thanks Gary, my head was starting to hurt...!

I'm trying to create a matrix, rows and columns, to help me count the flow of calls in a multiple call centre environment.

For instance, the rows are the source groups, and the columns are the destination groups. The report has a formula that for each record, will compare the previous records "call answering group" with the current record's "call answering group".

So let's say that the previous group was represented in the matrix as row 5, and the current group was represented in the matrix as column 23, then in my MD array, I was hoping to simply say,

MDArray[5,23] := MDArray[5,23]+1

The end result of analysing 250,000+ call records was to have a matrix that I can use to understand the flow of calls (overflow calls and transfer calls) between the different call centre groups within the business.

I have considered using two separate SD arrays, however this doesn't really give me the direct link between groups. For instance, coding it as:

SDArray[5] := SDArray[5] + 1
SDArray[23] := SDArray[23] + 1

This only tells me the calls overflowed for both groups, but I don't know the direction of the flow or that the flow was specifically between group 5 and group 23.

To give you some background, I have successfully written such code (MD Arrays) using VBA in Microsoft Access, but it's a manual process to initiate the analysis in Access, and of course the reporting engine in Access is simply not Crystal Reports ;-)

So I'm trying to put it into Crystal Reports ultimately to be scheduled automatically via Crystal Enterprise.

I hope this is enough information. Any tips or advice Gary would be greatly appreciated. I'm probably missing something bloody obvious (I'm probably too bogged down on the way I think I should be able to do it rather than opening my mind to other options) - happy to be kicked up the rear for missing an obvious alternative.

Cheers,
Pete