How to get the data you want from Crystal Reports. Eric Drap

Transcription

1 How to get the data you want from Crystal Reports Eric Drap

2 Agenda Overview of Crystal Capabilities How to access Crystal from within MAS ERP ODBC and Joining General Performance Tips Crystal Report Examples

3 Crystal Capabilities Access and present any data Flexible and unconstrained database connectivity Automated wizards and reusable templates speed report production Universal integration view, print, export, and modify reports within or outside MAS

4 Crystal Capabilities From any data source On the desktop environment Rich report formatting For internal and external audiences Sophisticated charting and graphing Conditional highlights Interactive navigation for user exploration

5 Crystal Capabilities Embeddable reporting Any web application Control look and feel

6 Types of Reports Form or page layout reports Designed specifically with a particular layout and paper size suitable for printing

7 Summary reports Types of Reports Reports focused on the numbers (sums, variances, counts, YTD, etc.) Highly summarized and aggregated Usually for management decision-making

8 Listing reports Types of Reports Reports focused on detailed records May include grouping for sorting purposes May include group or grand total summaries(sums, counts, etc.)

9 Accessing MAS100 Reports Forms are can be accessed from the Designer button. The correct version of Crystal must be installed for this button to appear.

10 Accessing MAS100 Forms Reports can be accessed from the Save button drop down. Report Manager can also be used to access Forms and Reports Used to add new custom reports (The report file must end with Custom.rpt)

11 Accessing MAS500 Forms Can only be accessed from Set Up Business Forms in Common Information

12 Work Tables Forms and Report use Temp Tables Populated when printing/previewing Cleared out after printing/previewing Make processing faster

13 ODBC Driver Facts and Joining/Linking Tables ODBC Driver is Read only - No write-back capability except SQL ODBC Driver Do not use Auto Smart Linking feature in the Database Expert. Decide which table is Primary/Detail table and which is Lookup table Link from Primary/Detail table to Lookup tables Link from Line Detail tables to Header tables SO_SalesOrderDetail SO_SalesOrderHeader.M4T AR_InvoiceHistoryDetail AR_InvoiceHistoryHeader

14 ODBC Driver Facts and Joining/Linking Tables Link Fields by Primary Key whenever possible Link by as many key fields as possible Otherwise repeating or missing data may appear Many Join types in Visual Linking / Database Expert Use only Equal/Inner Join, Left Outer Join, Not Equal To Join When you need a 2nd LOJ, create a sub-report instead, as only one LOJ is allowed How to determine if you need Left Outer Join (LOJs) o Assess client s data to see if LOJ can be changed to Equal/Inner o Example Terms Code Description on Purchase Order form

15 ODBC Driver Facts and Joining/Linking Tables Rules for SQL Server ODBC Driver Supports multiple join types Support read-write access to MAS_XXX databases but don t use it to write back data into MAS ERP for SQL Importing into MAS ERP databases not supported except through importing tools

16 General Performance Tips Use as few tables as necessary Link Line Detail tables to Header tables Change Left Outer Joins to Equal / Inner joins if possible If possible, avoid grouping/sorting on fields from Lookup tables E.g. Invoice history report needs to be grouped by Customer Name, use CustomerNameSort field from AR_InvoiceHistory table instead of Name field from AR_Customer Consider using views may require 'Select Distinct' in Crystal

17 General Performance Tips Grouping/sorting time often reduced by using formulas instead of fields Don t grouping on database fields as data will be sorted/grouped over the network by the workstation Hanging and high CPU usage may occur at workstation Group on formula fields so that server will send data down to workstation unsorted, which then sorts the data locally MAJOR PERFORMANCE INCREASE! Perform Grouping on Server option works similarly but is for SQL databases only.

18 Add Company Logo Add a table Modify fields Arrange fields Bold fields Change fonts Add lines/boxes DEMO Forms

19 Creating a new report DEMO Reports Add your data connection(s) Add Tables Left Outer Joins Selection Expert