When you set up Windows you get to select a Regional Format for things like dates and times. For instance, English(US) format will show today’s date as 7/21/2021 while English (UK) will show today’s date as 21/7/2021. In Crystal, certain date objects can be assigned to use these formats, so that they automatically change from one format to another based on the regional format setting of the PC running the report. This is handy if you have users in different countries. To use this feature, right-click on the date field, choose “Format Field” and on the “Date” tab select the “System Default Long/Short Format”.

However, I just had a user complain to me that he couldn’t get CR 2016 date fields to respond to the regional setting. So, I did a quick test in my own environment and found that changing my regional Format from English (United States) to English (United Kingdom) had no effect on date format in CR 2016. I closed Crystal and reopened it, created a brand new simple report and put the print date in the Page Header – and it still showed in US Format. To make sure I was using the right setting I tried the same test in CRv10 and the print date came up in UK format. I repeated the test in CRv8.5 and it also came up in UK format – but not in CR 2016.

I did an online search and found an SAP thread where someone else had the same issue when they upgraded to CR 2016. SAP’s response focused on the database client (?), but the issue didn’t appear to have been resolved.

I wonder if Crystal is somehow pulling the regional format correctly when it is installed, but then isn’t updating the region if it is changed after the install. If anyone is seeing different behavior or has insight to share, please let me know.

In April I made my Intro course materials available for free.  I mentioned this in my blog and newsletter and so far several hundred users have downloaded the material. This month I am going to make my Advanced course materials available in the same way.

Just like the Intro material, you are welcome to download the materials and use them. Share them with your friends. Please do not modify them or try to sell them.

Note that as a consultant, people often pay me to help them use or learn Crystal. You can, too. So if you have questions about Crystal Reports I am happy to schedule a short consult for you. This is explained further on these links:

https://kenhamady.com/faq.shtml
https://kenhamady.com/support/default.html

I have written before about using the ExtractString function. This function is found in the “Additional Functions” of Crystal because it comes from a UFL. But this UFL has come with Crystal Reports for a long time.

Today I found out that this function has an undocumented limit -it can return a maximum of 510 characters. If you need to allow for more than that you will have to use an alternative approach. Here is the formula that I used before I discovered the ExtractString() function. It will also work if you need more than 510 characters.

Local stringVar x := {Your.Field};
Local stringVar Beg := "BeginString";
Local stringVar End := "EndString";

Local NumberVar BegPos := Instr(x,Beg );
Local NumberVar EndPos := Instr(x,End );
Local Numbervar BegLen := Length(Beg);

if BegPos > 0 and EndPos > 0 and EndPos > BegPos
then trim(x [ BegPos+BegLen to EndPos-1 ])
else ''

In the first 3 lines you put in the name of the field, and then the two strings that mark the beginning and the end of the string you want to return. You shouldn’t need to modify the other lines.

The formula will then return everything between those two strings but will not include the strings themselves.