The Crystal Reports Underground News - Volume 2005.11 (Nov 2005)
an independent source for Crystal Reports Information by Ken Hamady
Contents for November, 2005:
** Course Books Available
** An Independent Crystal Instructor in Canada
** Crystal Reports for Eclipse
** Expert Crystal Reports Training
** Updates on the "Don't Pay Twice" campaign:
** BO Conference in November
** My Library of Crystal Reports Guides
** Data Link Viewer 5.1001 with print scheduling
** How to format a paragraph with a "hanging indent"
** Online Faxing solutions
Affordable Crystal Course Books Available to Instructors:
Several instructors have contacted me recently about using my course books in their classes, and so I have decided to make them available to qualified instructors. The increased interest is being driven in part by the new BO policy of charging for the right to use screenshots. This has caused "approved" publishers to raise their prices. The independent publishers are confident that BO fees are unnecessary and refuse to pay them.
I have a third approach, because I don't see screenshots as essential. I have taught Crystal to over 2,000 satisfied students, with consistently positive feedback, and I have never bothered to put screenshots in my books. Even my 'remote' students, who often use my materials in self study, provide positive feedback.
So how do you write a course book without screenshots? By focusing on concepts rather than clicks. Each of my lessons provides a clear explanation of a key reporting concept. Then there is an easy-to-follow written exercise (keystroke-by-keystroke) that makes that concept seem obvious. The exercises are intentionally written with enough detail to guide self-study students.
So, if you are a Crystal instructor and want to consider using an inexpensive lesson book, see the LIBRARY page of my web site for more information.
Independent Crystal Instructor in Canada:
Another fringe benefit of selling my books is that I am now in contact with other instructors.
For example, one of the instructors who is now using my materials is based in Southern Ontario. I have already been able to provide him with some initial referrals and will be monitoring the feedback to ensure that he provides solid instruction. So, if you need Crystal training in Southeast Canada and want to use someone local, drop me a line.
Next month you might hear more about another independent instructor in Ireland. And, if you are an independent Crystal instructor who can provide solid references you might want to drop me a line.
Crystal Reports for Eclipse:
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Last month I mentioned that BO was planning on integrating Crystal with the Eclipse framework. BO has now put out the official press release. They have even joined the Eclipse Foundation, and in doing this have provided the Eclipse IDE with a very valuable endorsement. The bad news is that the CR module for Eclipse is probably a year away. The best you can do now is to sign up for notification.
It appears that BO doesn't want the BIRT reporting module, put out by Actuate, to be the primary reporting option for Java developers. But the question is whether Eclipse users will find Crystal worth the extra licensing costs. There is no cost for BIRT.
For links to more information on reporting options for Eclipse see the LIBRARY page of my web site.
Expert On-site Training:
My specialty is teaching Crystal Reports at your office, with your data. And I charge by day, not by student. So, if you have 4 or more students you may find the cost of an on-site class less than the cost of sending the same students to a public class. Even if you have fewer students you might find the benefits of working with your own data worthwhile.
How good are my classes? I have personally taught over 2,000 satisfied students. Here are some comments from students in September:
"Excellent communication skills! Superb teacher!" - (Library of Congress)
"Great presentation of very complex information" - (IBM)
For more information you can call me at (540) 338-0194.
Updates on the "Don't Pay Twice" campaign:
BO's policy change on training has had an interesting unintended consequence on public training centers. Independent training providers have started offering "BYOL" classes (Bring Your Own License). The training vendor provides the room, books, an instructor and usually some PCs for the students to use. The students bring their own software license. You can bring your own laptop with the software already installed, or you can bring in the CD and install it on a classroom PC. In some cases you just bring your license key number.
I know of 3 vendors that are using this model for public classes. My own experiment with this approach resulted in nearly full classes so it doesn't seem to discourage many students. And BO has said that this approach is in compliance with the XI license. Of course we don't know what BO has planned for the next license, due out in 2006.
If you are a new reader or are not familiar with the new BO policy changes you can read about them at:
http://www.kenhamady.com/licensingissues.html
Business Objects conference in November:
Some of my Tek-Tips colleagues went to this years conference in Orlando. The consensus was that the Crystal Reports content, while up from last year, was still a disappointment. I also heard that the tech support station did not even have a Crystal Reports person to answer questions. So if you are primarily a Crystal user (as opposed to someone who uses the full Business Objects suite) you may not find the content worth the money, especially if you are going for technical content.
My complete Library of Crystal Reports Materials:
Have a specific area of Crystal explained to you by a master teacher. Modules include:
Expert's Guide to Formulas ($36)
Expert's Guide to Subreports, Parameters and Alerts ($28)
Expert's Guide to Totals ($24)
Expert Techniques Vol. I ($19)
Expert Techniques Vol. II ($19)
Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in Visual Basic ($16)
Quick Reference to Crystal Reports in .NET ($14)
http:/www.kenhamady.com/tools.html
Data Link Viewer 5.0:
If you ask Business Objects how to run a Crystal Report without installing the Crystal Reports designer, they will steer you to an expensive and/or complex web deployment. They will not mention the simple and inexpensive client based viewer programs that are available. These are programs that allow you to run, refresh, print and export any Crystal Report without needing a copy of the Crystal Reports program. They do not run through your browser but are installed locally on each PC. There are quite a few available.
Millet Software has just released version 5 of the Data Link Viewer, which is one of best viewers out there. Not only can it run, refresh, print and export RPT files, it has some additional features that allow you to:
Encrypt an RPT so that users can run it with DLV but can't open the in Crystal.
Create dynamic and cascading parameters, even in older versions or Crystal.
Select a DSN at runtime.
Run reports using Integrated Authentication.
Launch report from the command line (ie DOS batch files).
Schedule reports to print without previewing.
See the LINKS page of my site for more information on Data Link Viewer, or contact me if you would like to request a free copy for evaluation purposes.
Formatting a Paragraph with a Hanging Indent:
When you format any text field, particularly a multi-line text field, you have a tab for 'paragraph' formatting. The first 3 settings allow you to determine how far in the text block should be indented. Your options are "Left", "Right" and "First Line". But it is a bit counter intuitive because "Left" and "Right" are calculated relative to the left and right side of the object while "First Line" is calculated relative to the to the number entered in the "Left" indent.
Take this example: You want the first line to be indented 1.0 from left while all other lines in the block are .5 from left. You might try putting 1.0 in First Line and .5 in Left. But, that would indent 1.5 on the first line. If you put .5 in both the first line will be .5 + .5 or 1 inch.
And what if you want a 'hanging indent' where the first line is not indented but the rest of the paragraph is indented .5? Well you put .5 for the Left indent and -.5 for the first line. The negative number added to the positive nets to zero so that the first line has no indentation.
Online Faxing solutions:
This isn't strictly a Crystal topic, but something many of you may find useful. I have recently tried 2 services that allow me to receive faxes via Email:
EFAX.com:
I tried this one first because it is free for receiving faxes. You get a free personal fax number and can receive 20 pages a month at no charge. The software to read these faxes has banner advertising and you do get some marketing Email but not much. If you want to send faxes as well then you must upgrade to Efax Pro which is 12.95 per month. You must also upgrade if you want a local area code for your fax number.
TrustFax.com
I tried this one next because it allows you to both receive and send faxes via Email. While it isn't free it costs only $20 per year plus a per page cost of 10 cents. You get a toll-free number to receive your faxes for no added cost. And best of all you can Email a PDF with a phone number and it will get faxed automatically.
I don't do much faxing anymore but when I need to fax I now use TrustFax. I like it because it allows me to see my fax history within my Email client. I also no longer need to print things to paper before faxing. I can just print to PDF and Email it to TrustFax. When I have to fax a hard copy I scan it to PDF and then EMail that to TrusfFax.
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 2005 by Ken Hamady
All rights reserved - Republishing this material requires written permission