Maybe instead of printing “YES” and “NO” in a report column you want to print a check box symbol – with or without the check mark. All you need to do this is the WingDing font, which is on most PCs, and a formula like the following:

If {Order.Shipped} = “T”
then Chr(254)
else Chr(168)

Place this formula on your report and assign it the WingDing font. You will see a box for each record, with check marks only on the shipped records (or whatever your condition). You can also use other graphic fonts like Continue Reading »
Printing check marks and other symbols from formulas

I wrote 2 months ago about the BETA program for the ‘new’ Crystal Reports Viewer XI. Well it was officially released today and my opinion hasn’t changed. The primary complaint that just about everyone has is that it won’t refresh a report. It only works with reports that have saved data. Granted the BO viewer is free, but there are other free Crystal Reports viewers available and many nearly free viewers as well. All of the non-BO viewers have the ability to refresh a report. None of these non-BO viewers require that you own Crystal Reports to run or refresh reports. Some add some really nifty features. See the list of Crystal Reports viewers on my LINKS page.

I just purchased a new laptop that has Vista Home Basic on it. I had some concerns because I had read that some older versions of Crystal Reports have problems on Vista. The oldest version that I commonly use is v8.5 which can reach back to v8 and even save as v7. So I was pleasantly surprised that my v8.5 installed without a hitch. I created some simple reports with no apparent problems. As an initial test I wrote against the Xtreme sample data (MS Access ODBC), some DBF files and the local file system. I also installed v9 and have had no problems so far.

But, Business Objects is only willing to officially support Crystal Reports XI R2 on Vista. If you are having problems with Vista and a certain version of Crystal Reports let me know.

Business Objects has just announced a new Authorized Consulting Partner Program (ACP) so that consultants can “distinguish” themselves in the market. The following is a quote from an article in the IT News Online:

“Business Objects customers have come to expect a certain level of service quality when it comes to consulting engagements. However, in the wider marketplace, the skills of individuals and the approach to implementation can be highly variable.”

This is the same reasoning used when they initiated the program for authorized training two years ago. They “wanted to Continue Reading »
The new Authorized Consulting Partner (ACP) designation