The Crystal Reports Underground News - November 2002
an independent source for Crystal Reports Information
by Ken Hamady, MS
Contents for November:
** First Hot Fix for v9
** Stripping all punctuation from a string
** Expert on-site training or consulting
** Useful PDF files from Crystal Decisions
** New Third-Party Products
** Public Classes in Leesburg, Baltimore and Philadelphia
** Missing License Information
** Displaying Range Parameters with "No Lower/Upper Bound".
** My Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic
** Read back issues at http://www.kenhamady.com/news.html
Hot Fixes starting for v9:
Crystal has released the first Hot Fix for Version 9. A Hot Fix is a patch. Crystal releases these each month, with significant disclaimers, to fix minor (or not so minor) bugs as they crop up. They are only available for versions 8 and 9 of Crystal Reports. Each Hot Fix comes with a PDF that describes the problems it is supposed to fix. The new one for v9 only has a handful of items and these seem to relate primarily to DB2, SQL expression fields and exporting. To find the latest Hot Fix for your version of Crystal you can use the link below. In the search screen, select your version of Crystal and the file type "Hot Fix".
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/updates/default.asp
Stripping all punctuation from a string:
This challenge came up in Tek-Tips recently, and Paul Birch from Maginus Software Solutions (maginus.com) took the time to create a UFL that he shared with the rest of us. I have tested it with v8.5 and v9, and it works like a charm. It will read any string value and remove any character that is not a letter, a digit, or a space. It even works with memo fields in v9, but it will only output a maximum of 254 characters. You can download and install this function (for free) from the links page of my web site.
Expert On-Site Training or Consulting:
I have personally taught over 1400 satisfied students in more than 30 states. Training with the customer's data 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 21,000 members:
http://www.tek-tips.com/gthreadminder.cfm/lev2/4/lev3/100/pid/149
Can I teach? Many students have said 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.
Useful PDF files from Crystal Decisions:
There is a wealth of technical information on Crystal Decisions web site. Here are two new items that you might find helpful:
Features Comparison by Version:
Are you considering an upgrade to another version of CR? If you want to know which features are available in each version, you should download the latest Feature Comparison PDF. This is a 5-page grid that shows which features are supported in all versions of Crystal Reports from v4.5 through v9. It even shows the differences between the various editions (Standard, Professional, Developer and Advanced). The PDF can be downloaded from the links page of my web site.
Export Features/Limitations:
Exporting gets better with every version of Crystal Reports. If you need to know which features are supported in each export format, you can download the Export Features/Limitations table. There is one available for every version of Crystal. I have added links to the v8 and v9 versions of this file on my Links page. To download another version, go to the technical briefs page in the Crystal Reports Support area, and search for that version using the category "Export".
New Third-Party Products:
Here are the new items that I have uncovered this month. I try to list every product that I can find, but I haven't even tried all of them so I can't endorse them all. If you try one, let me know what you think. All are on the links page of my web site:
Jeff-Net's Report Runner Batch ($995)
This is a scheduler that allows automated printing or distribution by Email or by posting on the web.
Note that when you use any scheduler, you may need a Crystal Broadcast License (or CBL). For example, if you regularly Email reports to more than 50 people, or regularly post reports on the web where more than 50 people are likely to access them, you need to pay for a CBL license. Last I checked the CBL for v8.5 was priced at $10K+ per year. The v9 license is a one-time $35K fee. I have been told that these numbers will be changing again soon, so stay tuned.
Jeff-Net's Crystal Clear Reports Documentor ($495)
I have found 6 different programs that provide documentation of your RPT files, and this is the latest one. This one has a database that (I think) can be read with Crystal Reports.
Report Viewer by Connect Distribution (roughly $500 for 5 users)
This viewer seems to be sold primarily in Europe.
Christian Steven Software Scheduler ($0 - $780)
Schedule your reports to export or to Email. It can run the report multiple times with different parameter values, to burst the report into pieces for distribution. The price is based on the number of scheduled items. The first 5 are free and the price goes up in steps to a max of $780 for unlimited scheduled items.
rptInspector
The final release of rptInspector is now available for purchase or download. This little gem is the only product I have found that allows you to make batch changes to a group of reports.
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.
Missing License information:
If you go into help menu of v9, and select the option "Additional Help Files" you will see a list files and what each contains. Scroll down to "license.chm" and read what it is supposed to contain:
License Manager
Royalty-Free Runtime Licensing
Royalty-Required Runtime Licensing
Server Software Licensing
Enterprise Broadcast License
But if you actually open the license.chm you will not find these topics. All that it contains is a very brief description of the License Manager. You are referred to the web site for for all other topics.
The RAS documentation says the same thing, that you should go to the web site for license 'details'. But, the licensing information on the web site is very general. There are very few specifics - nothing that comes close to the detail of the v8.5 license.hlp file.
On a related note, I wrote last month that Crystal was going to post a Broadcast License clarification on their website. Their first try at a clarification makes it even MORE confusing. You can still read this wording on the license pages, but only if you click on the words "BroadCast License" to open up the small description window. The second draft of the clarification, which hasn't been posted yet, is not much better. Luckily I received a very clear explanation from them, in writing, which was the basis of the article in my last newsletter. For some reason they don't want to use the same wording on their website. I think the legal team found it to be too clear.
Free Version of Crystal Reports in Visual Basic 6 or Visual Studio 6:
There is a free copy of Crystal Reports v4.6 tucked into every copy of Visual Basic 6 or Visual Studio 6, except the learning editions. Programmers often don't notice this copy, because Crystal Reports isn't listed in the installation options. You have to find it on the CD to install it.
So, why would you want this very old version of Crystal?
1) It may be old, but it works pretty well, and in most cases it is easier than coding the reports
2) It can save you several hundred dollars if you buy a later version of Crystal Reports. That is because this version of Crystal Reports qualifies for upgrade pricing. You can upgrade the VB version to ANY version of Crystal Reports.
To find and install your copy of Crystal, read the following article:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/library/kbase/articles/c2001897.asp
Printing "No Lower Bound" in range parameters:
If you have a range parameter (like a date range) you need to use a
formula to display the user's selections on the report. The formula to do this is on the formulas page on my web site. I have just updated it to show how to take into account when a user checks the "No Lower Bound" or "No Upper Bound" options. The date formula could be:
if Minimum ( {?Date Range} ) = Date (0,0,0)
then "All Dates through " + ToText ( Maximum ( {?Date Range} ) )
else
if Maximum ( {?Date Range} )= Date (0,0,0)
then "From " + ToText ( Minimum ( {?Date Range} ) ) + " Forward"
else
"From: " +
ToText ( Minimum ( {?Date Range} ) ) +
" To: " +
ToText ( Maximum ( {?Date Range} ) )
If your parameter is String or Numeric, you can use similar logic. For Strings the value would be "" and for Numerics the value would be zero.
One thing that we can't take into account is when the user takes out the checkmark for 'include value'. Unfortunately, this option cannot be determined by the formula.
VB Quick Reference Guide:
If you need to incorporate 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 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