The Crystal Reports Underground News - Volume 2007.05 (May 2007)
an independent source for Crystal Reports Information by Ken Hamady
Contents for May 2007:
** User Group takeover attempt in the Detroit area
** Launching reports from MS Access (VBA)
** BO settles with Michigan former partner
** My Library of Crystal Reports Guides
** $99 XI Upgrade offer extended
** Independent Cognos instructor available
** Stop struggling with your reports, let me help
** Recent BLOG articles
Creating a Bill of Materials with Crystal Reports
Installing Crystal 7 on Vista
Creating VERY wide Crystal Reports
Help Beta test 2 new Crystal Reports utilities
New features of Visual Cut
** Using table inflation to generate multiple labels
** Read back issues at http://www.kenhamady.com/news.html
User Group takeover attempt in the Detroit area
The current BO partner in Michigan is challenging the former BO partner in Michigan for control of the regional user group. The former partner, CTTS, has a history of sponsoring 3 or 4 very popular full-day meetings each year. According to CTTS, these meetings are well attended and have multiple technical sessions to choose from. I have posted the agenda from their March meeting on my Blog. More than 75 people braved a snowstorm to attend this meeting. BO provided no promotion, no financial support and no speakers. Their next meeting is scheduled for June 29th and I have also posted that agenda on my Blog.
The official partner for Michigan, DataSpace, isn't participating in the existing meetings. They have decided to use the BO web site and Email system to create (or recreate) a separate group. They have scheduled a separate meeting with a half day, single track, format. My Blog has a link to their agenda.
The DataSpace posting seems to imply that users are unhappy with the current UG management and are looking for changes. However, according to CTTS, DataSpace scheduled a similar meeting a year ago. That meeting was canceled, apparently due to lack of interest. They are trying again, using the same format and even the same primary presentation.
I don't see any evidence that the desire for change is coming from the users. But, I would love to hear from anyone in SE Michigan. Tell me what you think of the current UG. Are you looking for a change or are you happy with the situation? I have also asked DataSpace to respond.
Launching reports from MS Access (VBA)
Many of you have purchased my Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in VB. This small guide includes all of the essential commands for launching and manipulating a Crystal Report from within a VB application. Some of you have asked about deploying Crystal Reports from MS Access (VBA), which is very similar. Some have even used my guide to help do this and found that most of the commands are the same. VBA uses the same RDC object model.
One snag for me has always been auto resizing a VBA form. The VB commands are available in Access but I could never get them to work. I assumed I was doing something wrong and put it on my list of problems to solve someday. This week, one of my customers faced the same problem and did some research to find the reason why. The commands that work in VB are only for reports in VBA. They are not available for forms. He then found a FormInfo class that can be used to get a VBA form to resize the way VB forms do.
I have now added an addendum to my VB Guide with some basic VBA information. If you have purchased my VB guide in the past and are interested in the additional VBA information, please let me know.
BO settles with Michigan former partner
Michael Ward of CTTS in Michigan has settled his lawsuit with Business Objects. If you haven't already, you can read my original Blog article on this suit. This story is also written up in CRN (Linked from my Blog). While the financial settlement is 'substantial', I found that the big news is in the concession BO made regarding training. They have essentially exempted CTTS from the license restrictions regarding training and agreed not to interfere with their current or future training business. That is a huge win for CTTS and is likely why you won't be reading about this in a BO press release.
My complete Library of Crystal Reports Materials:
Let a master teacher help you understand these Crystal Topics. Each guide comes with clear explanations and sample files to illustrate each concept.
Expert's Guide to Formulas ($36)
Expert's Guide to Subreports, Parameters and Alerts ($28)
Expert's Guide to Totals ($24)
Expert's Guide to Cross-Tabs ($22)
Expert Techniques Vol. I ($19)
Expert Techniques Vol. II ($19)
Expert Techniques Vol. III($19)
Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic ($16)
Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in .NET ($14)
http:/www.kenhamady.com/tools.html
Upgrade to Crystal Reports XI for only $99 -offer extended
BO has apparently extended their $99 upgrade offer until 9/28/07. I went to the BO online store and confirmed that the upgrade price for Crystal Reports XI (Developer or Professional) still shows $99 - but only if you select the "Americas" option. If you select "International" then the Upgrade is the normal price.
However, I have a blog entry with a link for International users to get the same special price. The link was supposed to expire with the original offer in March but the page is still available. If someone tries it and finds that it doesn't allow the sale to complete, please let me know.
Independent Cognos instructor available
I have built a team of experienced, independent, Crystal Reports instructors who can provide on-site training at very competitive prices. Recently I discovered that one of my instructors is also experienced in the Cognos product line. His repertoire includes:
Impromptu
Transformer
PowerPlay
ReportNet Report Studio
ReportNet Query Studio
ReportNet Framework Manager
Cognos8 Report Studio
Cognos8 Query Studio
Cognos8 Framework Manager
So if your team needs Cognos training it would be worth your while to give me a call. Or, if you have significant training or consulting experience in another related specialty, please let me know.
Stop struggling with your reports, let me help:
You need information to run your business, so stop struggling with Crystal Reports and learn how to use it. Come join one of my small classes (3-5 students) and learn how to make Crystal work for you. My Intro class makes sure you know all of the basics, including cross-tabs, charts and even some formulas. The Advanced class shows you how to solve several common reporting problems as well as when to use advanced features like running totals, subreports, parameters and commands. Users of any version are welcome. Classes are held in Frederick, MD and the next round is in mid-June. See my web site for more details or call me at (540) 338-0194.
So what makes my class different? How many instructors teach you from a book that they wrote? How many have taught more than 2,000 students? How many give you a toll-free number so you can call them after class with questions?
If you want to schedule a class at your office, using your data, let me know. That is my specialty. I have even found several top-notch instructors around the US and Canada that can deliver my class at your location for a very competitive price. See my web site for more details.
Blog Highlights:
See my BLOG articles for more on these topics:
Creating a Bill of Materials:
Why you can't use Hierarchical Grouping.
What to do instead.
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Installing Crystal 7 on Vista:
One users surprise success
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Creating VERY wide Crystal Reports:
How to extend the width when you don't need to print the report?
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Help Beta test 2 new Crystal Reports utilities:
One for Spell checking Crystal Reports
The other to "Verify Database" on a batch of reports.
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New features of Visual Cut:
Import multi-page TIFF files into your PDF Exports
Design fillable PDF forms in CR and distribute them with Visual Cut
Using table inflation to generate multiple labels/forms:
I am working on a project where I have to print multiple packing slips for each record. The number of packing slips needed is determined by the quantity field in each record. One way is to do this is to create a fixed number of separate subsections, each holding one copy of the packing slip. You could then conditionally suppress some of the copies based on the quantity needed. This technique works well in some environments but has 2 weaknesses:
1) If the quantity can be very large, you may have to create MANY different sections.
2) The repeating information has to print in the same place as the original.
In SQL environments there is an alternative technique that solves both of these problems. It requires that you have the ability to create a simple table in your database, a table that contains one numeric field with the numbers from 1 to 99 (or a higher number if you think you might need it). You add this table to the report and link it from the Quantity field to the new numeric field. You then change the join type to be "Less Than or Equal to". If a record has the quantity of 6 it will link to 6 records in the new table, records 1 through 6, causing the source record to repeat 6 times.
Usually, we work hard to ELIMINATE this type of duplication, but this is an example that allows you to use it to your advantage. There are several variations on this process. For instance:
What do you do if your quantity is a calculation and can't be used as a linking field?
What if your database doesn't support this join type?
If you need help implementing this method in your reports, please give me a call.
Contact Information:
Ken Hamady
525K East Market St.
PMB 299
Leesburg, VA 20176
(540) 338-0194
ken@kenhamady.com
http://www.kenhamady.com
Copyright 2006 by Ken Hamady
All rights reserved - Republishing this material requires written permission