I often work with large and complex reports. Sometimes making a minor change can have unexpected consequences. I like to be able to see that the only things that changed are the things I intended to change. My simple approach to this is described in this article.

R-tag has created a more sophisticated version of this process with their Unit Testing module.  It allows you to create a set of parameters and a validated output file (image, a PDF, a spreadsheet, etc.) for those parameters.  The parameter combinations are called theories, and the validated output file are called golden files.

After you make changes to the report, the data or the environment,  you can run a unit test for that theory.  The software will generate a new output file using the theory parameters, and will automatically compare that file with the golden file, listing all of the differences.  You can create multiple theories for each report with different different parameter combinations. You can then run the unit tests manually (e.g. right after a database update) or on a schedule.

My simple approach will only find values that change, but the unit testing feature can compare the output as two images, which will pick up formatting differences as well as data changes.

R-tag has a demonstration video here.

There is a chance that Crystal Reports 2025 will be released next week on 3/12/2025.  I just viewed an SAP community page that mentions Crystal Reports 2025. The only problem is that page points to an article that focuses on SAP BI 2025 and doesn’t specifically mention Crystal Reports 2025 anywhere. I guess we will know more next week. SAP has always been cagey about new versions of Crystal Reports.

You should also check out the rest of this “new” community page. I say “new” because it is new to me.  It looks like it has been around for about a year without me noticing it. The good news is that most of it doesn’t require you to have an SAP account ID.

This page lets you download the install media for every version of Crystal reports for the past 20 years (including Crystal Reports XI from 2005). Yes, you still have to have a license key to complete the installs, but this is great for when computers crash and you lose your install files.

This page also has links to trial versions of Crystal Reports, SAP generated sample reports and lots of how-to guides (formulas, charts, etc).

And thanks to Gordon Portanier of Crystalize in Canada for sharing the link.