subreport opinion

[bordway]

Hi,

>subreport should generally be avoided
I was looking thru some old posts saw the statement above.
I was reminded that I use subreports all the time but have a nagging feeling about them.

Just curious if anybody has any insight into subreports they can share.

Thanks

BTW, I'm not often connecting to a database when I use Crystal.
Instead the datasources are xml files that I have little control over.

Bruce O

 

[Madawc]

A subreport is an independent report that you run at the same time as the main report. It independently requests data from the server. So if you put it at detail-line level, that is a separate data request for each detail line.

Most subreports are placed in the report header or footer, which means just one extra data request, not so bad. It would still be better to use a Crosstab, where possible, because the Crosstab uses data that has already been collected.

With hardware getting faster all the time, it matters less and less. Sometimes it is more cost-effective to save programmer time and make the machine do more work.

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

 

[bordway]

Hi Madawc,

>It would still be better to use a Crosstab
I've tried using Crosstabs a couple of times in Crystal XI.
The layout presented problems I didn't know how to get around at the time. The grid seemed pretty rigid.

I'll give it a fresh look next time this comes up.

Thanks



Bruce O

 

[Madawc]

Fine. Note that Crosstable can be formatted quite a bit in the higher Crystal versions.

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