Below are the links for (some) other countries to take advantage of the XI upgrade. Not sure how strict BO will be about the deadline since this was something that just came out:

Buy on CD

Buy as a Download

I am often asked about how to create a Crystal Report that generates a “Bill of Materials” or BOM. A Bill of Materials is the list of parts required for a job or order. The challenge comes when the some of the parts are actually assemblies or ‘kits’, which are made up of other parts but sold under a single part number.

When a BOM includes an assembly item, it should show all of the components needed to make that assembly. In some cases the assembly is made up of individual components but it is also possible that an assembly is made up of another smaller assembly – which may also be made up of another even smaller assembly. Customer describe their BOM requirements as having to go down 5, 10 or even more levels to get to the individual parts. The question is how do you do this in Crystal?

Some people think they can solve this with the “hierarchical grouping” (HG) feature of Crystal Reports. Continue Reading »
Can Hierarchical Grouping create a Bill of Materials (BOM)?

I have decided to give “Social Networking” a try. If you are already in LinkedIn you will now find me there. I will be adding more information about LinkedIn as I learn more about the service.

One of my colleagues is developing a new report viewer that he plans on distributing as freeware. He would like some volunteers to help Beta test the viewer in different environments and against different databases. (This viewer is now completed. See my LINKS page for more info.)

Those of you who have considered switching from Crystal Reports to SQL Server Reporting Services may have been cowed by the thought of recreating all of your existing Crystal Reports RPT files in SSRS XML format. If so you should check out a new tool published by KTL Solutions in Frederick, MD. Continue Reading »
Crystal Converter converts RPT files into SSRS XML files

Many of you have purchased one or both volumes in my Expert Techniques series. These contain my favorite tips and tricks in Crystal Reports, accumulated over the years. I have just put together Volume III with another 30 articles. Each is illustrated with an annotated report that demonstrates how to use the technique. Here are some examples:

Adjusting a server time to match the NEW Daylight Savings Time
Calculating Fiscal YTD and Fiscal Quarters
Two ways to do “Rolling Month” reports
How to create reports using spreadsheet data
How to be prompted to choose the reports ODBC connection (DSN) at runtime

Check out the full list of articles on my web site. Even if the article titles don’t seem to apply to your reports, I am confident that you will learn some tricks that you will find useful down the road. The price is only $19 per volume, which is a bargain even if only one article helps you solve a problem.

Oracle steps directly into the BI marketplace buy purchasing one of BO’s primary competitors, as discussed in a CNET article. The market likes the news as indicated by a rise in the stock price of both Oracle and Hyperion after the announcement. The article makes some interesting points, like the fact that this gives Oracle a lever to pry away some SAP customers, many of which currently use Hyperion to analyze SAP data. The deal closes in April.