Sory by Month - Year in Advanced Layout Charts

[paulmaric]

My question is similar to thread149-691246 "How to sort Group by Month". I have multiple metrics/values to show in a stacked bar chart by month. The chart x-axis needs to show months in the format 'Mon-YY' instead of 'M/YYYY' as is the default for CR when it groups a date field 'for each month'. So for example I need to show Jan-04, Feb-04, Mar-04 instead of 1/2004, 2/2004, 3/2004.

Because it's multivalued, I need an advanced chart, and can't use the solution that would work for a normal grouped chart, which would be to insert a summary for a field that sorts the months correctly (e.g. YYYYMM), then use the group sort expert to sort on this field. If I try this in the chart advanced layout 'On change of' field, Top N button, the YYYYMM field would need to be included on the chart as a metric, which throws everything off.

If I try grouping in a specified order, I would need to have a group instance for each month in my data warehouse, which could span many years, and would need to be updated regularly. Plus I would need to do this specification for every report with this type of chart, which could be dozens.

Any ideas how to sort by Mon-YY on an advanced, stacked bar chart?

 

[Madawc]

You could adjust the text, as a) Jan-04 followed by b) Feb-04 etc. Long-winded but it should work.

It helps to give your Crystal version, since newer versions have extra options, and some extra problems. I use Crystal 8.5.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK)