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Crystal Reports
on Steroids

Crystal Reports Basics: Working with data sources

This is based on the book, Crystal Reports: A Beginner’s Guide. For more detail and explanation, plus practice exercises, order the book here.

A compelling aspect of Crystal Reports is it can report from nearly any database. It doesn’t matter if you run a desktop application or a data warehouse. It doesn’t matter if you run a simple file-type database (e.g., Excel), a relational database (e.g., Access), and OLAP database (e.g., HOLOS HDC), or an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) system (e.g., SAP).

Crystal Reports uses two data access methods:

  • A native driver or connection. This is a driver written for a specific program.
  • The ODBC layer. Open DataBase Connectivity is a common interface for running queries on relational databases. It also is what allows you to paste data from one MS-Office application into another.

You can access data sources through the Data Explorer, which pops up automatically when you create a new report. It also pops up when you are adding a new database or table to and existing report. You really need to know the data type. These are:

  • PC/Client. Crystal Reports uses a direct driver for these. The applications are:
    • Btrieve (ddf)
    • Clipper (ntx)
    • Dbase/Xbase (dbf, ndx,mdx, bde)
    • Foxpro (idx, cdx)
    • MS-Acccess (mdb)
    • MS-Outlook (wab)
    • Paradox (db)
  • OLAP
    • HOLOS HDC
    • Hyperion Esssbase
    • IBM DB/2
  • ERP
    • Baan
    • JD Edwards
    • PeopleSoft
    • SAP
  • MetaData
    • Crystal Dictionaries (dc5)
    • Seagate Infoviews (civ)
  • Miscellaneous
    • Act! (SalesLogix)
    • MS-Exchange
    • MS-IIS
    • MS-SMS
    • MS Windows NT/2000 Event Logs
    • Web server activity logs (NCSA format)

You can see Crystal Reports solves the big Achilles Heel of data systems by largely rendering the platform a non-issue. It also resolves some database structural problems by allowing you to use database aliases. For even more functionality, you can use third-party programs, such as the ones available here.

This article is copyrighted by Crystalkeen, Mindconnection, and Chelsea Technologies Ltd. It may be freely copied and distributed as long as the original copyright is displayed and no modifications are made to this material. Extracts are permitted. The names Crystal Reports and Seagate Info are trademarks owned by Business Objects.

 

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