Crystal Reports Training by Ken Hamady, MS, Reporting and Training Nationwide
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