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Default settings that I always change in Crystal Reports:

Crystal Reports installs with several default settings that can cause confusion and technical problems.   I recommend that you make the following changes immediately upon installing the product.  The changes are made in the File Menu under Options.  Click on the following tabs to make the changes.   Once you make the changes, exit Crystal Reports and reload it.  This saves the setting changes to the registry.

Data Tab:
Shut off "Smart Linking".  Smart linking is a carryover from the days before ODBC.   It will automatically link any two fields that have the same name and data type.   Usually you get many more links than you need, and you have to delete them.   If you want to use "Smart Linking" it is always available in the Linking window on demand.   It just doesn't make sense as a global default.  For some reason versions 9 and later don't allow you to shut of the Smart Linking feature without going into the registry. 

Fields Tab:
Shut off "Field Clipping".  This is actually a hilarious setting.   Up through V6 users complained that any number too large for the report column would simply lose the extra digits with no warning.  This was a very dangerous behavior.   Every other program seemed to provide an overflow indicator.   Well the solution came with version 7.  But, rather than providing an automatic overflow indicator they simply renamed the behavior as a "feature" called Field Clipping.   You are allowed to shut this feature off, but only if you go two or three steps into the options menu.   I have yet to meet anyone who wanted this feature at all, let alone as the default behavior.  To turn off field clipping you must go into the Fields Tab - Number Button - Number Tab.  In version 7 there is a check mark at the bottom.  In versions 8 through 10 you must click the Customize button to see the check mark for "allow field clipping".   By all means take this checkmark out.  This is finally fixed in version XI where the default for field clipping is set to "OFF".

If your database has Currency fields in addition to Numeric fields, you should change this setting off for those as well.  The Currency Button is just below the Number Button. 

Reporting Tab:
Shut off "Save Data with Report".   Crystal Reports allows you to save data with any report.  This is a great feature, allowing you to preview a report without having a connection to the database.  However, this set to ON for every new report by default.   This means that every report you save will include the data that you retrieved last.  This makes the RPT files much bigger than they need to be.  It also makes the reports save and load slower.   Many people, even programmers, get confused by the old data when they reopen the report.  It is better to shut this off as a global setting, and activate it as needed on individual reports.