Why Can't I Delete This Formula?

[dbielenda]

I have a formula that will not go away! I am deleting it from the Field Explorer under Formula Fields by right clicking on it. I even deleted the formula in it and Crystal still gives me an error saying, "The field could not be deleted. To delete this field, you must remove all references to it in the report." I did that...

Has anyone ever had this issue?

Thank you s-)

 

[Hattusas]

There MUST be something you might have forgotten.For example you might use it in report section options.(New page before,new page after etc.)
But maybe one way to distinguish the result is renaming your formula.After renaming the formula, the module that is supposed to use your formula will shout loudly "Hey!where is my formula?" ;-)

 

[dgillz]

Check all of the following:

Other formulas fields, record and group selection formulas, conditional formatting formulas, summary operations and the report itself. It is in there -- somewhere.

I've always thought crystal should have some way of searching all formula code in a report to find (and optionally, replace) a given string. This would make this type of problem, and a lot of others problems, way easier to deal with.


Software Support for Sage Mas90, Macola, Crystal Reports, Goldmine and MS Office

 

[dbielenda]

Thank you both for your input. And dgillz, I TOTALLY agree with you.. I guess I have some searching to do.. s-)

 

[IdoMillet]

I went through a similar hunt trying to help someone on this discussion list who had the same problem.

I was sure I would find the problem but I ended up concluding that it was a bug in Crystal.

I'm not suggesting this is the case with your report;
you may well find the reference to this formula
as suggested above. However, I'm convinced that
at least in some situations, Crystal is at fault.

Cheers,
- Ido


ixm7@psu.edu

 

[kenhamady]

One technique I have used is to change the data type of the problem formula. (ie if it is currently a numeric, change it to "X&quot Then, if the formula is used in another formula or in a condition, it will very likely pop up with an error when you run the report. 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

 

[Ngolem]

I like that idea Ken...

Another place to look is in the Record Selection formula and Sorting...I also seem to recall vaguely you saying that you can get a listing of all formulas and their usage from Crystal somehow....and then using a "Find" to locate all instances...

Forget how that is done at the moment ...

Jim

 

[dgillz]

Ngolem-

Yes, now you're making me think for a change, even though it is early.

You can export the report as a file definition, and it creates a .txt file which shows all formulas fields, record and group selection criteria, grouping and sorting options -- you name it.

Then use notepad or any text editor to "find" what you are looking for, and go back to CR to make the necessary changes.

Software Support for Sage Mas90, Macola, Crystal Reports, Goldmine and MS Office

 

[kenhamady]

Report definition files are a good place to start, but they don't always show all uses of a formula. 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