print two tent cards on one letter sized page

[kims212]

Hi

I'm trying to print tent cards - 8½" wide and 5 high - with printing on both sides which means the text on one side has to be rotated 180° from the text on the other side, but CR doesn't do 180°.

So, I'm using letter sized paper, with landscape orientation and two sub-reports beside each other, each with the dimensions of one tent card and on each sub-report the text on back of the card is rotated by 270° and the text on the front is rotated 90°.

this works fine, except for the first and second pages. the first page is blank and on the second page - the first tent card with actual data - the tent card is shifted to the left by about ¼".

at first it was printing ok with no blank page at the beginning but the tent cards themselves were too far to the right, so I had to change the page margins and the margins on the section size and position dimensions a few times until it looked fine on the design page and on all of the tent card pages except the first one.

also, of course the detail section prints the data for one record so that both labels on the page are for the same person; what do I have to do so that the left tent card has the data from one record and right tent card has the data for the next record?

thank you
kim

 

[Charliy]

Have you tried setting it up with a Details A and Details B section?

 

[Madawc]

Where have you put the subreports?

What Section Name is in the left of the first blank page?

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Crystal 2008 with SQL and Windows XP

 

[kims212]

Hi Charliy

thanks for your reply.

no, I haven't tried setting up a detail A and detail B section; how would that make the section B report on the next record? won't both sections still want to print for the contact in the current record, which is the problem I'm having now?

Hi Madawc

thanks for your reply also. the subreports are both in the details section - I have only one details section - so clearly they are both trying to report for the same (current) record.

I've been experimenting with trying to suppress each subreport based on the record number being odd or even but that doesn't work either; it suppresses the subreport so that I get only one tent card per registrant but it prints only one registrant per page; in fact, I just looked at it again and I see that it's always the left subreport that prints, never the right.

I tried generating a temporary table to include only odd-numbered record for the left report and even-numbered records for the right report creating one table for the left report and one for the right report but I can't seem to get the where clause to use a mod 2 criteria.

more experimenting today - after some overdue tasks.

thanks
kim

 

[kims212]

hi again

crystal reports xi, windows 7

I've figured out a possible way to print the tent cards two-up landscape using a stored procedure as my data source, but when I try to connect to my database, it shows the tables and the views, but the stored procedures are only the system ones and I can't see the ones that I've created.

I never noticed this before because I haven't tried to use a sp as a data source but now I really need it. I've looked @ the help and read the cr xi reference and tried everything but I just can't see them.

thanks
kim

 

[Madawc]

Just what have you done for your Stored Procedure? It ought to be SQL code that you add to your program.

Within DataBase Expert, choose the database.
Choose 'Add Command'. Open the worksheet.
Paste the code from 'Query'. This includes comments etc.
The command can also be edited.
Once added, the fields are just like any other table.

You can use the query with database tables, but this tends to be very slow, better to collect all you need.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Crystal 2008 with SQL and Windows XP

 

[kims212]

Hi Madawc

thank you for your prompt response.

yes, I've successfully used a sql query to retrieve data from my database but in the cr help and the cr xi complete reference - chapter 15 - it says that you can select a stored procedure itself as a datasource.

"Crystal Reports treats stored procedures almost identically to regular database tables. Stored Procedures appear in the Database Expert and are used in a report just like regular database tables" - and views.

if you select file -> options, under the database tab in the Data Explorer section, there will be an option 'Stored Procedures' the same as Tables, Views, System Tables and Synonyms, and when you check this option, Stored Procedures will be listed just like any db table or view as available for selecting as a datasource. this option is also available as a report option when you selet Database Expert under the Database tab.

I do see Stored Procedures as a datasource option along with tables and views but the only stored procedures that are listed are the system dbo. stored procedures and don't include the ones that I've developed. the Add command is listed above the database name where as Stored Procedures are listed beneath the database name. if the stored Procedure has any parameters, it will request values for the parameters but you can specify NULL and it will ask for the parameters when the report is run.

I think that this option has been avaiable quite a few versions ago.

Perhaps there is an option to include user-written stored procedures as well as system sps which I'm not seeing but I think that it's the only way that I can do what I need to do the print alternate contacts in the two subreports for the tent cards.

thanks
kim

 

[Madawc]

Can't advise you on that. Can anyone else help?

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Crystal 2008 with SQL and Windows XP

 

[kims212]

c'é la vie; thank you Madawc. If in my travels through forums and google, I learn anything more, I'll add it here just so others will know.

thanks
kim

 

[kims212]

Hi Madawc and Charliy

I thought I'd fill you in on the solution for printing the tent cards two per page with printing showing right side up on both sides - which was where I started.

having formatted the tent cards as described above - one ten card layout only - then changing the page layout to landscape - margins set to allow two tent cards per per page on an 8½ X 11 sheet, then:

in the section expert on the common tab of the details section, check Format with multiple columns and a new tab called layout will appear; on the layout tab under printing direction, select and on that tab, click the then click the layout tab, click the printing option select: Across then Down.

using two sub reports would have been much more complicated.

cheers
Kim