A customer recently asked me about setting up row-level security in CR Server.  Row-level security is when reports are automatically restricted to the data that the user is allowed to see (based on their user ID).  I had assumed that this required the full BO Enterprise or else one of the third-party tools that supports this feature.

I was pleasantly surprised that there is a way to accomplish this using CR server.  It involves using the Crystal function CurrentCEUserID or the function CurrentCEUserName.  It also requires that you set up a table that maps each user to the locations or departments that they are allowed to see in their reports.  You link this table’s location or department field to the corresponding Continue Reading »
Row Level Security in CR Server

Last fall I wrote about a problem I had with Crystal Reports 2008 Service Pack 3.  It was preventing me from re-saving customer reports that had saved data.  I could only save with data if I could refresh the report – which defeats the point of saving a customer’s report with data.  It has taken me a few months to notice a second related problem.  This SP had stopped all dynamic parameters from running their queries.  I tried different connection types and rebooting the system with no success.  As soon as I removed SP3 everything went back to normal.

I am on Windows 7, 64 bit.  Anyone else have this problem?

During 2010 I wrote six different articles that compared the features of different Crystal Reports utilities.  I started last January with server-based tools and continued every other month with a different product family.  Now that we are back to January I have decided to provide an annual update to each feature comparison to account for new products and upgrades to existing products.

So this month I have revisited the features of the server-based deployment options from January 2010.  I have listed any new features from last year’s products and have also included two new products.  If you are aware of any other products that should be included in this comparison, please drop me a line.

I have been working for about a month on writing two Crystal Reports tests (Intro and Advanced). They will mirror what is covered in my classes but I think they will also be useful in other areas. There are 20-25 questions in each test and in my next newsletter I am going to ask for volunteers to take the first draft so that I can calibrate the questions.

If anyone is interested in taking one or both tests, you can download them here.  Send in your answers to get your scores.

Most of the time when you drag a link between two tables you can leave the default join options alone (inner join/equal comparison).  But in class I am asked why there are options for things like Greater Than or Less Than and when they would be used.  The primary answer is “not often”.  But there is one scenario worth mentioning that requires the use of these approximate  joins.  It has to do with linking to a table with a value to another table that has a low and high value for matching.  Some examples would be matching an insurance claim with the effective and expiration dates of a policy, or finding the appropriate discount percentage based on the volume of a sale.  Lets take this last one as an example.

Say you want to offer discounts based on the quantity ordered.  Continue Reading »
Using approximate join types