The Crystal Reports
Underground News - Volume 2003.04 (April 2003)
an independent source for Crystal Reports Information by Ken
Hamady
Contents for April, 2003:
** Crystal Broadcast License now $100,000
** Crystal Broadcast scenarios
** Finally, Credit Cards without PayPa1
** Expert Training in Leesburg, Philadelphia and now Frederick, MD
** Preventing Unwanted Drill-Down
** Section Background Color that fades gradually.
** Expert On-site Training and Consulting
** Third Party Product Updates
** The Expert's Guide to Crystal Reports Formulas
** A New 3rd Party Report Distribution System
** My Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic
** Read back issues at http://www.kenhamady.com/news.html
Crystal Broadcast License now costs $100,000:
The Crystal
Broadcast License (CBL) is starting to remind me of a buried
landmine. The road looks clear, but...
I just found out this past month that the CBL price went from
$35,000 to $100,000. If you would rather pay an annual license fee
the cost is "only" $25,000 per year.
With prices this high, you might expect clear criteria for invoking
this license. But the wording of the v8.5 license, when taken
literally, covers a broad area of fairly common activities. The
wording is so broad that Crystal has had to post a clarification on
their site. Without this clarification, exporting a weekly report
to a web site requires a CBL, and therefore a fee of $100,000. I
explained this to Crystal Decisions 2 years ago, and received
several clarifications. You can read this dialogue at:
http://www.kenhamady.com/license.html
So when v9 was released last year, I expected clearer wording. To
my surprise the scope is now boader. I wrote an article to
highlight the problem - quoting the license and highlighting what it
actually said. I took the words literally, which is how you should
approach a legal document. In response, the management at CD
contacted me to say they were "disappointed" in my article and
hinted that it included "incorrect or unclear information". They
suggested a conference call to clarify the CBL. I agreed on the
condition that the clarification would be sent to me in writing, so
that I could confidently publish the clarification.
During our call Crystal Management told me that the license was "not
as clear as it could be". I was also told that CD intended only
fully automated "processes" to require a CBL. I asked them to
clarify that this "process" included both the "generation and
distribution" of the report.
After the call, as promised, one of the managers at CD sent me a
clear written response which summarized the call. I used the
wording from that response to explain the CBL in my newsletter and
on my web site. I was told that CD would post a similar
clarification on the CD web-site. I thought the issue was settled.
In March 2003, I asked the same manager to compare a specific user's
distribution method to the wording she sent me after our call.
Within a few days, this same manager informed me that I should no
longer use the wording she had used, because it was not correct.
Maybe I am old fashioned, but I think customers have a right to rely
on written statements provided by the management of Crystal
Decisions. This is especially important when a customer makes a
business decision based on that information. To back up my
position, I have posted all of the relevant correspondence on this
topic since September 2002:
http://www.kenhamady.com/cbl9.html
Let me know if you share my concern, or if you have another
opinion. I am currently working on a dozen or so distribution
scenarios that I plan to submit to CD for their review. I want to
see exactly how they intend to (re)define compliance with the CBL.
I will let you know if I think the line is being moved
significantly.
Crystal Broadcast scenarios:
I recently
was asked by a user to review a report distribution scenario. A CD
Representative had told him he would need a CBL, but it didn't look
that way to me. So, I sent it to the Product Manager who had
clarified the CBL for me. She initially agreed that it didn't look
like a CBL case, but she did some follow-up. I don't know the
internal process, but eventually the CD legal team ruled it to be a
CBL scenario, which called into question the written clarification
that I had received. If you are curious, you can read a description
of the actual scenario in my Email dialogue:
http://www.kenhamady.com/cbl9.html
This was exactly what I have been trying to avoid - someone making a
significant investment and THEN they are told that they need a CBL.
So, I am putting together some hypothetical distribution scenarios
for CD to review. My goal is to define specific criteria for CBL
violation. If you have a scenario that you would like to share with
me (actual, potential or theoretical) I will consider including it
in the list. Email or call if you have questions.
Finally, Credit Cards without PayPa1:
I finally
took the plunge and setup a merchant account. So, if you need to
pay for a class or buy some consulting time, you can now pay by
Credit Card without the extra steps required for PayPa1. You can
use Visa, MasterCard or Discover today. I add AMEX in about a week.
I have also updated my site to allow for Credit Card payments via
secure server. I learned some nifty little PERL script in the
process. So, if anyone wants a crash course in the basics of PERL
scripting or setting up merchant accounts - call me soon. I will
probably forget it all in a few weeks.
New Classroom Location in Frederick, MD:
I am going
to try an experiment and hold my Baltimore classes in Frederick,
MD. The locations are now:
Leesburg, VA
Frederick, MD
Philadelphia, PA
Each 2-day class is $675 per student, and includes email and phone
support after the class. Dates, 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.
Preventing unwanted Drill-Downs:
Drill-Down
is a wonderful feature, but it can confuse those who don't expect
it. Even with suppressed sections, users can drill-down to an empty
screen and not realize what they have done. Or they will
accidentally drill down when the details are not hidden, launching
an unwanted window.
When this came up in Tek-Tips, Brian Reed from ICTI shared a great
solution. Take each field in the Group Header or Group Footer, and
drop it into an empty text object. Crystal won't allow drill-down
from a text object, even if there are fields embedded in the text.
Background Color that fades Gradually:
The formulas
below were inspired by Naith, another Tek-Tips member, who posted a
technique for getting the background color of a section to fade
slowly as you go down the page. I have modified it so that each
group fades at a different rate, depending on how many details there
are in the group.
1) Add a summary field that counts the records in the group.
2) Place the following formula in the background color property for
the details section:
WhilePrintingRecords;
NumberVar Counter;
NumberVar Inc := Truncate (255 / Count ( {Field} , {GroupField} ) )
; // Your summary field goes in this line
If Counter + Inc >= 255
Then Counter := 255
Else Counter := Counter + Inc;
Color( Counter, 255, Counter )
3) Put the following formula in the Group header:
WhilePrintingRecords;
NumberVar Counter:= 0
What you will see is a green background that starts darker, and then
fades evenly to the end of the group. Longer groups will fade
slower than shorter groups. If you prefer other colors you can use
Color( 255, counter, counter ) for Red
Color( 255, 255, counter ) for Yellow
Color( counter, counter, 255 ) for Blue
With some experimenting, other colors are possible.
Expert On-Site Training or Consulting:
I have
personally taught 1500 satisfied students in more than 30 states.
Training with your 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 23,000 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.
Third Party Product Updates:
One of my
readers, Thomas Biernat, pointed me to the new version of the
ChristionSteven application. This report manager is now called
Crystal Reports Distributor 3.0, and allows you to schedule a batch
or "package" of reports to run at once. They have also added fax
distribution capabilities.
Another reader, John Kirkman, pointed out that rptViewer has been
released in beta for Version 9. You can download the beta version
for free with no time limits.
The Data Link Viewer has also been recently updated to make it
easier to do fax distribution.
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 download it
immediately with most Credit Cards. For more details, visit my
website at:
http://www.kenhamady.com/form00.html
A Brand New Report Manager Application:
Ariel
Corporation has released an application called Ariel Alerts. This
is an enterprise level viewing/distribution system that can launch
reports based on scheduled times or system events, like the end of a
database update. It can also monitor the reports that are run, and
generate alerts to user or to a designated Email address whenever
conditions in the report meet predetermined criteria. It is
compatible with both v8.5 and v9 and costs $5,500. Check out the
on-line demo on their web site.
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
Removal
instructions:
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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