Four types of data

The data that Seagate Crystal Reports can access falls into four general categories:

• Direct access database files
• ODBC data sources
• Crystal SQL Designer files
• Crystal Dictionary files.

Each type of data must be accessed using a specific set of Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) and other data access-related files. Once you understand the process the program uses to access each type of data, you will have a better understanding of the report creation process and the elements used to create powerful reports with your data. See The Crystal SQL Designer, and Dictionaries.

Note:    When accessing any type of data, Seagate Crystal Reports relies on the database drivers to provide field names, field types, and field lengths. This information is provided by either the database engine or the ODBC database driver.