Saved Groups?

[agray123]

IS there any way to save a group in specified order so that I don't have to continually arrange DEPT ID's in their (specified) divison order?
i.e. 2120,2330, 2440 are all part oof ADMINSTRATION
3421,3425,3300 are part of Financial Managment

I am growing tired of the data entry invovled in doing this process for nearly every report I have been running lately.

 

[BradB]

Create a group.
Change Group Options
The default for Change Group Options is Ascending. Change it to Specified, and then you can set the order there.

BradB

 

[agray123]

I guess I wasn;t verbose or clear enough....but I already can create the group in specified order. I just am sick and tired of doing it each and every time Iset up a report. I was wondering if there was a way to "save" the specified order of DEPT ID. Perhaps this is something that Crytal does not offer. I would like to set this order up and be able to "import" it

 

[BradB]

I see now! Besides saving a report as a template, and keep reusing it, I don't an easy way to import/export to a specified order.

On a side note, I've been wondering if it's possible to modify a report without Crystal Reports. Have you ever selected File, Print, Export, Report Definition? Crystal pulls all the information from your report. Report forumlas, grouping, etc. I've always wondered how that report was generated. If you could some how reverse engineer it, you could feasibly import just about anything even a Specified Order List. Just thinking out loud.

Sorry I couldn't be much help.

 

[agray123]

Good idea. I checked it out and perhaps will be able to come up with something. I would use the "template" but if I am always changing databases/queries wouldn't the group just "blank out" when it tried to pull from a query/table that wasnt there. UNLESS I build the template off of the DPET ID table and include that table in all queries. I will try. (I too, think out loud)

 

[kenhamady]

That is one of the down sides of specified order, but there is another option. Creata an If-Then formula:

If {Dept} in [1234,2345,3456] then "Admin" else
If {Dept} in [1234,2345,3456] then "Finanial" else ....

Then use this as your gruop field. This formula can then be copied from report to report as an object. Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Guide to using Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

tek@kenhamady.com

 

[Nuffsaid]

Ken,

You're the man!!!

I use a similar formula to handle accounting periods.

if {date_applied} In (start_date} to {end_date} then "Period 1" else "whatever".

Then I just copy this formula from one report to another.

Works great!

Nuffsaid

 

[kenhamady]

Also, if you want the formula groups to be in a specific order (not sorted naturally) like:

Assets
Liabilities
Equity

as opposed to sorted alpha

Assets
Equity
Liabilities

Then you can use the formula in the specified order feature. This will be less work than using the specified order to do the collapsing of the groups. Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Guide to using Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

tek@kenhamady.com

 

[agray123]

Thanks Ken...you came to the rescue again. Now I can copy and paste the formula from one reprot to another.