Crystal Reports: Create blank labels on a sheet label report

To use this solution you need a Counter table with an integer field that we have called RecID.

In that table, have values from 1 to thenumber of labels on your sheet.

Use a SQL command as your data source. Start by selecting the name and address fields from your address table. Then do a UNION all with the counter table to add your blank records.

A {?Blanks} number parameter can be used to select how many blank records you want at the top of the page.

The SQL Command needed for the report now looks like

Select [Customer Name] as Name,

Address1, Address2, City, 9999 as SEQ

FROM Customer

UNION ALL

SELECT NULL as Name, NULL as Address1, NULL as Address2,

NULL as City, RecID as SEQ

FROM Counter

WHERE RecID <= {?Blanks}

In the report, set the sort sequence to the SEQ field, and then whatever fields you want to use to control the sequence in which the labels print. This sorts the blank records to the top of the first page.

Why labels in Crystal?

Now, this brings up another question. Why are you using your business intelligence system to disseminate data? This can create confusion, but we do have a solution. First, understand that Crystal Reports was not developed as a means of presenting data. It was developed as a means of presenting information derived from data.

The typical report is, in essence, a data query with nice formatting. This leaves a tremendous amount of value unrealized. If you're the report developer or administrator, putting out these kinds of reports makes you far less valuable to your company than you could be. And during staff cutbacks, that's personally important.

Adding irony to the situation, staff cutback decisions are typically made by Excel spreadsheet--which is why those cutbacks often don't make sense. They aren't made based on business intelligence but on rudimentary analysis of partial data.

You need to ensure your reports contain business information, not business data. They need to be decision tools, not intermediary data sources. And you need to make sure users understand this. Else, the system will be underutilized and your own position will be of less value.

The solution? When using the system to disseminate data:

• Don't use the word "report" anywhere on or in the report.
• Mark a data dissemination with a name saying exactly what it is, e.g., "Mailing Labels."
• Don't mix data dissemination with reporting. Keep these as two separate functions.
• If the data may be important to users, you could use a drilldown function or you could simply refer to a file containing the data.

Remember, the more time people spend massaging data, the less time they spend doing productive work. This time-wasting can really add up across a company and cause the company to lose its competitive edge.