Section Contents

The following is a short description of each section in the online help.

Welcome to Seagate Crystal Reports

This section provides an overview the user's guide and online help. It also lists the command, button, and key conventions used in the user's guide.

What's New

Seagate Crystal Reports includes a set of new features to make reports even more flexible and also incorporates many improvements suggested by users. This section identifies and describes the new features and enhancements made to this version of Seagate Crystal Reports.

Quick Start

This section begins with an overview of the sample reports and data commonly used with Seagate Crystal Reports. It then presents an overview of the Report Experts — both new and advanced users can benefit from looking at the Standard Report Expert as it has many steps in common with the other Report Experts. Finally, the section offers two tutorials: one for new users and another for more advanced users.

Report Design Concepts

This section describes the basic concepts of report design and helps you decide what information you want to include in your report.

Introduction to Reporting

This section shows you the basics of creating a report in Seagate Crystal Reports. First you'll learn about the report design environment, then how to select database tables, place objects on a report, and sort, group, and total your report data.

Record Selection

This section shows you how to filter the records you want to include in a report. Use the record selection tools to show records for a specific group of customers, a specific range of account numbers, or a particular date range.

Sorting, Grouping, and Totaling

Sorting, grouping, and totaling are the steps that turn disorganized data into useful information on a report. This section describes the types of sorting, grouping, and totaling you can do within a report.

Running Totals

Running totals are a flexible and powerful way to create specialized summaries and continually incrementing totals. This section shows you how to add a basic running total and a running total within a group to your report. You also learn how to create conditional running totals and running totals using formulas.

Multiple Section Reports

This section introduces the various types of sophisticated reports you can create using the multiple section reporting capabilities in Seagate Crystal Reports. These capabilities enable you to create reports that treat individual values differently based on sets of criteria you establish. These concepts are then applied to the creation of Form Letters.

Formatting

Formatting refers to changes in the layout and design of a report, as well as the appearance of text, objects, or entire report sections. This section details methods you can use to draw attention to data, change the presentation of dates, numbers, and other values, hide unwanted sections, and perform a variety of other formatting tasks to give a report a professional appearance.

Charting

Seagate Crystal Reports enables you to present summarized data in colorful, easy-to-read charts and graphs. This section demonstrates how to create charts and how to use them in reports to make report data more meaningful and easier to understand. You can choose from a number of chart layouts and types, as well as drill down to see the details behind the graphical summaries and format chart objects.

Mapping

Seagate Crystal Reports enables you to include professional geographic maps with every report. This section explains how to use maps in reports to make report data more meaningful and easier to interpret. You can customize and rearrange the appearance of a map and activate the drill-down mode to view the details behind the graphical summaries.

OLE

This section explains how Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) can be used to edit graphics or other objects from within your report instead of opening an additional application.

Cross-Tab Objects

A Cross-Tab object is a grid that displays values that are grouped and summarized in two directions. This section provides you with information about how you can use Cross-Tab objects in your report.

Creating and Updating OLAP Reports

This section describes how to create OLAP reports with a variety of OLAP and Multi-Dimensional data sources and how to update them when the location of your data changes.

Distributing and Viewing Reports

This section provides you with information you need to distribute finished reports using a variety of methods (printing, faxing, exporting). In addition, it includes instructions for viewing your reports using a web browser and Report Viewers.

Creating Reports from Excel and Access

This section describes the Add-ins for Microsoft Excel and Microsoft Access. It explains how you install the Seagate Crystal Report Wizard and how you create reports from an Access table or query and an Excel spreadsheet.

Using Formulas

This section explains the basics of formulas and introduces you to the Formula Editor so you can begin to create formulas.

Creating Formulas with Basic Syntax

This section provides you with an overview of various parts of a formula. You learn about Basic syntax and the techniques you can use when creating a formula.

Creating Formulas with Crystal Syntax

This section provides you with an overview of various parts of a formula. You learn about Crystal syntax and the techniques you can use when creating a formula.

Functions

This section provides you with a list of functions and demonstrates how they can be used in a formula.

Operators

The section provides you with a list of operators and demonstrates how they can be used in a fornula.

Parameter Fields

This section explains what parameter fields are and how they can be applied to create a single report that can be used to access different types of data depending on the user's needs.

Subreports

A subreport is a report within a report. With subreports, you can combine unrelated reports into a single report, coordinate data that can't be otherwise linked, and present different views of the same data in a single report. This section shows you how to create and use subreports.

Understanding Databases

This section describes the essentials you'll need to know to understand database design and use. After describing relational databases (including those from ODBC data sources), indexing, and table linking, the section introduces the concepts of server-side processing (pushing report processing to the server level) and field mapping (re-establishing report and database field mappings after a database changes). Finally, the section focuses on common database-related tasks such as changing a database driver and creating an ODBC data source.

Accessing Data Sources

Seagate Crystal Reports works with all kinds of data, from simple text files to advanced client-server SQL databases. This section shows how the program connects to various data sources and what files have to be in place in order to make the connection. This is an in-depth section for advanced users who need to know how Seagate Crystal Reports operates beneath the surface.

The Crystal SQL Designer

This section shows how to create queries that can be used for ad-hoc analysis or result sets for creating reports. The Crystal SQL Designer can be used to create, modify, and optimize complex SQL queries.

Dictionaries

Dictionaries are structured and simplified views of data that can be created for some or all of the individuals in an organization. When working with Dictionaries, users see only the information that they need and that you want them to see. This section shows you how to set up and use Dictionaries to improve organizational efficiency and security.