The Crystal Reports Underground News - Volume 2003.01 (January 2003)
an independent source for Crystal Reports Information by Ken Hamady
Contents for January, 2003:
** User Group meetings in DC and Central Virginia
** Test your self with my Crystal Reports Skills Test
** New Service Pack for Crystal Reports v8.5
** Public classes in Leesburg, Baltimore and Philadelphia
** Report directly from COBOL data files, without ODBC drivers
** Expert on-site training or consulting
** Choose an Ascending or Descending sort with a parameter
** The Expert's Guide to Crystal Reports Formulas
** CRv8.5 Help files don't install on PCs with IEv6
** Bug in the Reimport Subreport feature
** My Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic
** Read back issues at http://www.kenhamady.com/news.html
User Group meetings in DC and Central Virginia:
Join me and dozens of other Crystal users on January 28th for the DC Area User's Group meeting, to be held at the Library of Congress in DC. The board has set aside one hour of the meeting for "Tips and Tricks" presentations, and I am allowed half of that time to show off some of my favorite techniques. I look forward to meeting some you there, so don't be shy.
Reservations are required for the DC area meetings. If you aren't already on the invitation mailing list, drop me a line and I will tell you how to get connected.
If you are further south in Virginia, there is another user group meeting the following week for Central Virginia Users. Their meeting will be held near Richmond on February 5th. I haven't seen the agenda for that meeting yet, but if you want more information, drop me a line.
Try my Crystal Reports Skills Test:
How well do you know Crystal Reports?
Are you ready to take the advanced class?
Hundreds of you have taken my original tests, but if you haven't taken it recently, you will find it expanded and a bit more challenging. I have just rewritten the questions and would welcome any feedback. The questions are at the link below and there is an Email button that sends you back the answers, automatically.
http://www.kenhamady.com/quiz.html
New Service Pack for v8.5:
In December, Crystal Decisions released Service Packs for 3 products. These are the first Service Packs for Crystal Reports v8.5, Crystal Enterprise v8 and Seagate Info v7.5. The Service Packs combine the Monthly "Hot Fix" files that had been released up through May, 2002. Any "Hot fix" files released after May will still need to be applied individually.
The Service Packs have been tested as a group for stability, but there is still a disclaimer on the download page. I recommend that you only apply a Service Pack if you have a specific problem that has been listed as corrected. You can download a PDF that lists all of the problems corrected by each Service Pack. To download the actual Service Packs you need to fill out an 18 field form. See the "Links" page of my web site for download info.
Don't just take a class, learn from a Crystal Expert:
Baltimore, MD
Introductory class January 29-30
Advanced class February 25-26
Philadelphia area, PA
Introductory class January 27-28
Advanced class February 27-28
Leesburg, VA
Introductory class February 6-7
Advanced class January 13-14
Each class is $675 per student.
Course outlines and registration info are on my website at:
http://www.kenhamady.com/public.html
Or, call for more information at (540) 338-0194.
Read Cobol data files directly without ODBC:
There are several ODBC drivers available for Cobol data files, which makes the data available to tools like Crystal Reports. But, if you would like to be able to read the data files directly, without ODBC, then I have found the tool for you. In doing my research for this newsletter I found a company in Herndon, VA called Siber Systems. They sell a comprehensive toolkit for Cobol data files, including a tool called Data2CR. This allows you to read Cobol data files directly from Crystal, without the ODBC layer. The Cobol file indices are available to CR, so joins are even possible between tables.
I am not a COBOL programmer, so I can't test the product, but Siber seems pretty serious about COBOL. You can buy the Data2CR module by itself for $495, although this isn't mentioned on their web site. Or, you can buy Data2CR as part of the comprehensive suite of Cobol tools called the Data Viewer, for $1,795. The Data Viewer Suite can convert Cobol data files into CSV, DBF or any ODBC format. It even includes a feature which can figure out the layout of a COBOL data file when you don't have the source code.
If you are using it, or if you try it out, let me know how it goes.
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 22,000 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.
Choose an Ascending or Descending Sort with a Parameter:
Many of you have taken my advanced class. You know that you can create a parameter field that allows the user to select the Sort or Group field of the report. This requires two items:
1) A parameter field for the user to enter their choice.
2) An IF-THEN formula field that uses the choice to create a column of values that can be used for sorting.
But what if the user wants to choose between ascending and descending? This can be done, but it requires different techniques based on the data type of the sort field. First you must create a parameter that has two words as default values; "Ascending" and "Descending".
Then you create a formula. When your sort field is a numeric or a date, you can set the sort to ascending and then use a subtraction to create a negative value that sorts in the opposite direction:
//For a numeric field
If {?Direction} = "Ascending"
then {Number.Field}
else 0 - {Number.Field} //you don't really need the zero
//For a date field
If {?Direction} = "Ascending"
then {Orders.Order Date} - Date(1,1,1)
else Date(1,1,1) - {Orders.Order Date}
This won't work for strings because there are no negative strings. Instead I create two formula fields that I use as two consecutive sort fields. I sort one of them in Ascending order and the other in Descending order. The two formulas would look like this:
//Primary Sort Field set to Ascending Order
If {?Direction} = "Ascending"
then {String.Field}
else ""
//Secondary Sort Field set to Descending Order
If {?Direction} = "Descending"
then {String.Field}
else ""
Only one of these fields will sort on the actual value, and the other will sort on an empty string, which has no effect on the sort. If you have other sort fields above or below these two, those fields will not be affected by the choice of Ascending or Descending.
The Expert's Guide to Crystal Reports Formulas:
Learn to write and understand formulas like a Pro, with "The Expert's Guide to Crystal Reports Formulas". I take you from the basics all the way through variables, arrays and looping logic. I explain HOW, WHY and WHEN to use these techniques and provide tips and tricks that are rarely taught in classes.
The guide includes 28 annotated reports and 45 no-nonsense pages of detailed explanations. The cost is only $36 and you can usually have it within an hour. For more details, visit my website at:
http://www.kenhamady.com/form00.html
CRv8.5 Help Files Don't Install on PCs with IEv6:
I recently installed CRv8.5 on a new PC and noticed that the help feature did not install. I thought that I had somehow done the install incorrectly. Just this week, I found out that there is a bug in the v8.5 install routine that can prevent the Crystal help files from installing correctly on certain newer PCs. The problem seems to be related to Internet Explorer v6. To get the help files to install you have to use the "Add/Remove" programs feature. The Knowledge Base articles that describe this are c2009572 and c2010291.
Bug in the Reimport Subreport Feature:
Ever since CR introduced the "Reimport Subreport" feature, I have recommended to my students that they not use it. My main complaint was that Subreports that come with existing parameters will lose them when the reimport occurs. I assumed that this was the intended behavior, and noticed that it didn't change when v9 was released. About 2 weeks ago, this was recognized as a bug, and the hot fix files for v8.5 and v9 contain the correction. See Knowledge Base article c2012371 for more on this.
VB Quick Reference Guide, updated for v9:
If you use Crystal Reports in VB applications, you should get my Quick Reference Guide. It gives an overview of the different integration methods, syntax examples for the most common commands and troubleshooting tips. It also comes with source code examples including a simple report viewer. It is only $16 and you can usually have it within an hour. Follow the link below for more details:
http://www.kenhamady.com/vbref.html
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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 2003 by Ken Hamady
All rights reserved - Republishing this material requires written permission