Crystal Reports Training by Ken Hamady, MS, Reporting and Training Nationwide
The
Crystal Reports Underground News - May 2002
an independent source for
Crystal Reports Information
by Ken Hamady, MS
Contents for May:
** A new report viewer for
only $35
** A new "Hot Fix" for Crystal v8.5
** Crystal presents evidence in lawsuit against Actuate
** Expert on-site training or consulting
** Using PeachTree UFL functions for Crystal Reports
** Public classes in Leesburg, Baltimore and Philadelphia
** Formula for adding a specific number of business days to a date
** Formula for finding the last Friday (or any day) of month
** My Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic
** Read back issues at http://www.kenhamady.com/news.html
A Special Deal on a New Report Viewer - CRW Reporting:
In past issues I have discussed
several
viewers which let you run reports without installing Crystal. In
April,
Tatum Consulting released a new viewer called CRW Reporting, and they
are
giving my readers an exclusive price of $35, at least 30% below the
other
viewers I have written about. The CRW Reporting viewer is simple
to
use and allows you to run, print and export your Crystal Reports
without
having the Crystal Reports program installed. Try it out with a
free
download using the first link below. When you are ready to
purchase
it, use the second link to get our exclusive price.
http://www.tatumconsulting.com/crw_download.htm
(download free trial versions)
http://www.tatumconsulting.com/crw_order_link1.htm (buy it at
our exclusive price)
CRW Reporting comes in two versions: Standard and
Professional. Standard is as simple as it gets. You
browse to the report and preview, print or export it. If your
reports require a user name and password, the viewer will allow you to
enter them once, and will retain them for your entire reporting
session. The Standard version is only $35 if you use the link
above.
The professional version adds an administrative database which allows
you to control access to groups of reports by defining users and
passwords. For $65 you can install it on three machines, and for
$300 you can install it on 10 machines. The Professional version
requires a bit of initial configuration (users, folders, etc) but once
configured it works like a champ.
A new "Hot Fix" for Crystal v8.5:
In my December newsletter I
mentioned
a "Hot Fix" that you could use to solve some isolated problems. I
listed
the more common problems that were solved, and gave a link to the
file.
Now there is a newer "Hot Fix" that solves additional problems,
including one problem created by a previous patch. A sampling of
the fixes is listed below. If you have experienced any of these
issues you should consider testing the new "Hot Fix". Just make
sure that you read the warnings and disclaimers first. The zip
file that you download contains a full description of the items fixed.
Partial list of items fixed:
Charts of running totals give incorrect information
Running totals and variables are reset by "zero depth" sections
"Total Page Count" is incorrect when placed in a text object that "Can
Grow"
Multi-column reports extend beyond the bottom of the page
RTF Text interpretation truncates data or has formatting errors
System errors occur when a report containing a subreport is changed to
landscape
"Use Indexes for Speed" causes application errors
Page size errors occur when "Suppress Blank Section" is used in a
subreport
System errors occur when you change the line height in a "Free Form"
section
Memory full errors occur with certain variable formulas or during page
changes
DHTML exporting and the DHTML viewer generate various errors
Cross-tabs exported to Excel lose column headings
Suppressed columns/rows in a Crosstab reappear in Excel Export
Very wide reports get distorted when exported to Excel
RTF and PDF export images are of poor quality
The "Hot Fix" and full list of issues can be downloaded at the link
below:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/communityCS/FilesAndUpdates/cr85main.zip.asp
Crystal Presents Evidence in Lawsuit Against Actuate:
Some of you know that Crystal
Decisions
has filed a false advertising lawsuit against Actuate. I
mentioned
this in my March Newsletter. In Early April, Crystal Decisions
presented
their evidence in the case, and it is now in the hands of the
judge.
If you are interested, you can read the following document that gives a
description
of the case made by Crystal Decisions.
http://intelligence.crystaldecisions.com/downloads/actuate_legal_april02.doc
Expert On-Site Training or Consulting:
I have personally taught over
1300
satisfied students in more than 30 states. Training on location
is
my specialty, and I charge about half of the "List Price" for Crystal
Training.
Do I know my stuff? Check out the Crystal Reports Forum at
Tek-Tips.com and you will find me listed as the top Crystal Reports
expert out of over
23,000 members:
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/100/pid/149
Can I teach? Many students say that my classes are among the best
technical classes they have taken. Ask to speak to a recent
customer as a reference. Call for more information at (540)
338-0194.
PeachTree UFL functions for Crystal Reports
There are 2 custom Crystal
functions
that come with PeachTree Accounting and these cause quite a bit of
confusion
for Crystal users. The functions are contained in a file that
comes
with PeachTree called u2lPeach.dll and they are:
GetPeachCustomFieldHeading()
GetPeachRowAmount().
First muddle - how do you get the functions?
PeachTree sells an OEM version of CR called "Crystal Reports for
PeachTree" (CR4PT). The PeachTree help file states that CR4PT is
"designed to
work with Peachtree", but I found nothing in CR4PT that was in any way
different from off the shelf Crystal Reports, except the name.
There is no mention of PeachTree anywhere in the program files or in
the documentation. The PeachTree functions I mentioned above, and
the minimal help for creating reports from PeachTree data, are not in
CR4PT, but are part of PeachTree
Accounting itself. I could find no reason to buy CR4PT if you
already
own a copy of Crystal Reports. If you don't have CR, the cost of
CR4PT
is lower than regular Crystal Reports, but CR4PT is an OEM
license.
This means that you are only licensed to use CR4PT to read PeachTree
data
files. If you use it to read other data, and nothing in the
program
actually prevents this, you are technically in violation of the OEM
license.
Second muddle -what do you do with these functions?
Even within PeachTree help, there is only a brief explanation of what
these special functions do, and nothing that clearly explains how you
would
use them. I am an expert in CR, and have a degree in accounting,
and
I couldn't make sense of how these functions were supposed to be
used.
It took a call to PeachTree tech support to get a clear explanation of
these
functions. The free tech support doesn't cover Crystal Reports,
so I
was expected to pay for getting this answer. Here is what each
function
does.
Using GetPeachCustomFieldHeading()
Peachtree allows you to define 25 custom fields, 5 each in 5 different
modules (AR, AP, PR, Inventory, Jobs). You not only can store
your
specified data in these fields, but you can also store your own
'heading'
or field name. Now, the heading that you store doesn't actually
change
the field name, so when you create a Crystal Report you won't see your
custom
name. If you design reports for multiple companies, you would
have to
change the report to reflect each company's custom headings. By
using
the GetPeachCustomFieldHeading() function in a formula, you can have
the
report print the custom heading for each field.
To use this function you create a formula for each custom heading you
want to display. You add the function to the formula, and change only
the
two numeric arguments at the end of the the function. To specify
your
module you put the module number into the first numeric argument (AR=1
AP=2
PR=3 Inventory=6 Jobs=7). To specify which of the 5 custom
headings
you want from that module, you give the second numeric argument a
number
from 0 to 4 (0 represents heading 1, etc). So to get the FIRST
custom
field heading from the PAYROLL module, you would use the following
formula:
GetPeachCustomFieldHeading ({Company.CompanySpecial1a},
{Company.CompanySpecial1b},
{Company.CompanySpecial1c}, {Company.CompanySpecial1d}, 3, 0 )
Using GetPeachRowAmount():
This function is used when you need an accurate Inventory Cost or COGS
for a JrnlRow record. This function looks very complicated, but
you
never change any of the arguments. You simply double click the
function
and it puts in all of the correct information. As long as your
report
includes the tables named Company and JrnlRow, the formula will give
you
the correct inventory cost for each JrnlRow record. I can't tell
you
exactly how it works, but it appears to take into account your
inventory
cost method, the date of the order, and if your company uses cash
or
accrual accounting. The example below is from PTv9 (2002).
Prior
versions used a different AMOUNT argument, and using the wrong version
can
cause your program to crash.
GetPeachRowAmount ({Company.CompanySpecial1a},
{Company.CompanySpecial1b}, {Company.CompanySpecial1c},
{Company.CompanySpecial1d}, {JrnlRow.RowType}, {JrnlRow.Amount},
{JrnlRow.Journal}, {JrnlRow.PostOrder}, {JrnlRow.RowNumber},
{JrnlRow.RowDate}, {JrnlRow.ItemRecordNumber}, {Company.IsCashBasis})
Don't just take a class, learn from a Crystal Expert:
Click the "Public Classes" link
above
for Dates.
Each class is $675 per student.
Or, call for more information at (540) 338-0194.
New formulas added to my web site this month:
I have added two new formulas
this
past month that you might find helpful. The links below provide
the
formula and instructions for putting the formula into your report.
Adding a specific number of Business days to a date:
http://www.kenhamady.com/form17.html
Finding the last Friday (or any day) of a month:
http://www.kenhamady.com/form19.html
VB Quick Reference Guide:
If you plan on incorporating
Crystal Reports into a VB application, you should get my Quick
Reference
Guide. It gives an overview of the integration methods, with
syntax
examples for the most important commands. It comes with some
source
code examples, including a sample report viewer. It is only $16
and can be Emailed to you within 24 hours. Follow the link below
for more details:
http://www.kenhamady.com/vbref.html
Contact Information:
Ken Hamady, MS
525K East Market St. PMB 299
Leesburg, VA 20176
(540) 338-0194
ken@kenhamady.com
http://www.kenhamady.com
Copyright 2002 by Ken Hamady
All rights reserved - Republishing this material requires written
permission