Crystal vs Actuate reporting

Guys,

Could anyone tell me how Crystal is different from Actuate reporting? I am basically an Actuate report developer and wondering how flexible is Cystal reporting. My knowledge of Crystal is very limited (with ver 7) We are planning to move away from Actuate possibly to Crystal provided if it is flexible enough to do everything. How easy/difficult to do the following...

1. DB Connection: Can I Connect to different DBs? Read UserID/Password info from a text file or a table instead of defining in the report?
2. Drop-down parameters: Dynamically populating parameter values from DB into the Drop-down.
3. Can I control whats goes into the drop-down box based on the user role.
4. Generate reports where the data comes from multiple DBs.
5. Page-leve security
6. Drill-down reporting - Tree view
7. Dynamic Cross-Tab reports -
8. LDAP Integrating
9. Single Sign-on
10. Output in PDF/Excel
etc...

Please point out if these feature are available out of the box. I looked at the latest version features and it says we can do it all. I would like to hear from you what you think whats possible and what not with out much effort.

Thanks,
PSGuys,

I am very sure some of you have used not all but at least some of these tasks. I would appreciate it if you could respond to only those tasks and comment how easy/difficult to do for a beginner. Whats available out of the box. We can directly talk to sales guys but we do not think we get the correct picture unless you talk to people who is actually using the product.

Thanks a lot for your time.

PSsql

Crystal Viewer 8.5 with vb6

Any body help me that I want to use Crystal Report viewer 8.5 to explore the conditional report. For Example
Show data from date to date, or show data for particular code(s).
Yours cooperation in this regard is highly appreciable
Thanking yours.http://support.businessobjects.com/communityCS/TechnicalPapers/apps_rdc.pdf

http://www.experts-exchange.com/Database/Reporting_/Crystal_Reports/Q_21312684.html

Crystal V9 Range selection

Hi all,

I have installed SP3. whilst in the development environment, I have created a simple report that just lists everything from a single table. This works fine.

I then introduced a range parameter on one of my fields. then go to preview and enter a valid range, but the results still show all records???

Cant believe this is a enuine bug, as it's pretty fundemental. What am I doing wrong?What datatype it is? I tried with date range. It works fine.|||the field type is a character string and the database is an Access 2000 one.

The values are 2 characters like:

LA LB LC LD LE ......and so on.

when I enter a start of LB and and end LD for instane, it returns All|||check ur selection formula.|||I have now removed all parameter fields and will walk you through what I am doing.

I have the field explorer open and have right clicked on the parameter fields and selected new.

this displays a create parameter field dialog box I then enter a value in the name and propting text values leaving value type as string. I change options to range values then press the button set default values. I ensure that the table is correct and then set the browse field with the column from the table that I want to filter on. Then in the left hand pane it displays all values relating to that column. I press the >> button to make all values the default I then set the order to alphabetical ascending i then press ok. it goes back to the previous dialog and I leave allow editing of default values checked and press ok.

My parameter field now exists in the field explorer window under parameters. I drag this to the report header, and press preview I'm them prompted for a start and end of range which I enter, I then press ok, and then I'm returned all values.

???:confused:|||Everythings looks correct.

The last step is, you have to write the record selection formula.

Goto Report menu, select "SelectFourmula" and then "Record..."

This will opens the edit formula window.

Here select your database field and then give in condition which will be suitable for range values and then select ur parameter field.
This looks like

{table.column} in {?parameter}

now save and close this.

Refrsh the report|||Ah....thx the manual doesn't mention the last bit. It works now.

Crystal v9 and SQL stored procedure

I am having a heck of time doing what seems to should be simple. I have a stored Procedure (SQL Server) with one parameter that returns a records set. When I put this into a Crystal ver 9 report it prompts me for the param and produces the report. When I use this report as a subreport in a main report and link a value value from the main report to the subreport param (which is the SQL Stored Procedure param) I get a blank report.

Any clues?

I then decided that I would have the main report run the stored procedure and change the stored procedure to write a table of the result set into the database; I could not manage this as the crystal reports returns the succinct but cryptic 'not allowed when I try to write the table'. (When running this in the query analyzer, it generates the new table as expected).

If you can help it would be greatly appreciated.As a followup to my previous post, I found that if I changed the stored procedure so that it inserted the records into an existing table (as opposed to creating a new table and inserting the data) then the crystal reports interface successfully executed the stored procedure so it was hanging up on the create table part of the process. Can someone tell me if its possile (and if so how) to change the call from crystal reports so that it is permitted to create a table. The same user id and db login executes the create table correctly from QUery Analyzer.|||Not exactly know how to do it in SQL Server. But in Oracle, we can use object type to return
the record from stored procedure and call it from CR.
Other way is, to call this stored procedure from your program and save the result in text delimited
file, then load this file to CR...Just an idea.

Crystal Using DAO

Hi,
Can Some Body Help ?

I was using Crystal Report 7.0, 8.0, 8.5 using CrystalReport control but when i started using 9.0 first of all my old DAO reports are not working, when i am trying to connect it is giving logon error. If i create new one it is ok but working with CRViewer which i do not need, there is a long code i have to write to make any report run, another problem there is no possibility/option of printer seledction like it was there in earlier versions.

Please Help Me.

Thanks in Advancehi, i m also facing problem with DAO can u help me pls.if got soln of urs query.i am just started to work on crystal report 8.5.

so can you?|||See if you are able to find solution here
www.businessobjects.com

Crystal Syntax Problem

I have created a Crystal Report with a section that needs to be suppressed when there is no data. I used an "if then else" statement using the basic syntax of Crystal on the suppress control option of a textbox.

The code is as follows:

if {GetData;1.Complaint} = "" then
formula = True
else
formula = false
end if

Most of the time it works just fine, however on occasion I get the following error:

Error in formula <Object_Visibility>.
if {GetData;1.Complaint} = "" then

Exception Target Site: []N

I am not sure what causes this error. As a note this Report is used in conjuction with Sql Server and a VB.NET application. Any help given is greatly appreciated.Make sure that the condition does not return null value|||It could return a null value. What can I do in the Crystal Report to account for that? Any help given is greatly appreciated.|||Try this

if {GetData;1.Complaint} = "" or isnull({GetData;1.Complaint}) = True then
formula = True
else
formula = false
end if|||It still gave me the same error. Not sure what to do. Any theories?sql

Crystal syntax date query

Does anyone know what the formula is to search for records between 01/04/04 and the end of the last full month?
Thanks.Does anyone know what the formula is to search for records between 01/04/04 and the end of the last full month?

i assume that date1 is ur field at the table1 that need to be search for the formula..at ur report->edit selection formula->record..at this

{table1.date} in date(year,month,day) to date(year,month,day)

regards