Technical Tips and Tricks

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Technical Tips and Tricks
Presented by Tom Fallwell Prepared by Agha
Ahmed Data Management Group
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Tip 1 Set your default formula language in
Crystal Reports XI R2
Are you tired of setting the formula syntax you
want to us every time you create a formula? By
default, the formula editor will use the Crystal
syntax option but you can change this to default
to basic syntax by selecting File gt Options and
then clicking on the Formula Editor tab. You can
then use the drop-down at the bottom of the page
to select your default formula syntax.
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Tip 2 Using Summary Information in Crystal
Reports
When saving your report, don't forget to fill in
the Summary Information with a title,
description, etc. If you plan to use this report
with Crystal Reports Server or BusinessObjects
Enterprise, this information is displayed by
default when you publish the report.
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Tip 3 Inserting a User Name on Reports
Ever look at a printed report and wonder who ran
it? One of the old tricks was to use a parameter
for the user name when the report was run, but if
you are using Crystal Reports Server or
BusinessObjects Enterprise, there is a "Special
Field" available in Crystal Reports called
"Current CE User Name" that you can place on your
report to tell you.
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Tip 4 Copy Formatting Between Fields
Need a quick way to format multiple report
objects? Format a single object as required, then
click on the object and then select Format gt
Format Painter. Click on another object of the
same type and the formatting options from the
first field will be applied.
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Tip 5 Conditional Formatting for Position
One of the new features of Crystal Reports XI is
the ability to control report indenting
conditionally format the "X" value in the size
and position dialog. To work with this feature,
right-click on a field, select Size and Position
and then click the "X2" button to add a
conditional formatting formula.
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Tip 6 Resizing fields with the arrow keys
If you are tired of trying to resize objects with
the mouse, switch to the Design view of your
report and try holding down the Shift key and use
the arrow keys on your keyboard to resize your
report fields.
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Tip 7 Setting Default Export Options
One of the great new features of Crystal Reports
XI is the ability to set the default export
options. To do so, open a report and select
File gt Export gt Report Export Options and use the
dialog that appears to set the default export
options for different export formats (Excel, RTF,
etc.)
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Tip 8 Setting default fonts and formats
If you are tired of formatting each new report
with the same font and field formatting settings,
why not do it once and for all? From the File
menu, select Options and then use the options in
the "Fields" and "Fonts" tabs to set the
formatting for any new reports you create from
that point on.
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Technical QA