Crystal Reports: Group Tree Gone

We were working on a client report and noticed the group tree button was disabled in preview. This is also known as the Navigation tree.

We find the group tree really useful for navigation and as a high level summary of the group values in the report.

We looked at the report options and found that the report option “Create Group Tree” was unchecked. Ticking that box, and refreshing the report still didn’t enable the group tree.

You need to close the preview, and then refresh the report. Then the group tree toolbar icon will work as required.

We have tested this with versions 8.5, 9, 10, XI and XI/R2 and they all behave the same way.

If you use CR2008, go to File / Report Options / Show Preview Panel / tick.

Here's a tip on using the Group Expert:

Display “Continued” when a group continues onto a new page. It can also be useful to display the word “Continued” when then the group header is not the start of the group. Place this formula in the group header section:

If InRepeatedGroupHeader then “Continued” 

On a related topic, you can also group by field.

You can group by the same field more than once. This could be useful if you have used Specified Order for the higher level group, or the report is TopN and you would like the "Others" group to show totals by the original field at the next level down.

However if you use that summary in a formula, interesting things happen. The summary is referred to in the formula as

Sum({table.field},{table.groupfield})

There is nothing in that formula to distinguish which of the two levels summaries you want. So the formula will always display the higher level total. This means you can’t use the lower level summary in that form in the report.

If you want the lower level summary in a formula you will need to create a formula to calculate the original group field. Then create the lower level group by the formula rather than the field. You can use this summary in a formula. We have a sample report to demonstrate this available from our web site to illustrate this.

Grouping by a field more than once is available in Crystal Reports versions 9, 10 and XI. Crystal Reports 8.5 and earlier will not allow you to create a group if the field is already used for grouping. However, our formula field solution lets you group by a field more than once for any version of Crystal Reports. And the summaries don’t get confused when you use them in formulas.

You can group on pages

Using groups in a report is one of the major strengths of Crystal Reports. Creating the right groups and using them effectively is one of the skills you quickly develop.

Use the group header, and display the group name and other fields to identify the group. It can also be useful to move the column headings from the Page Header to the Group Header section.

But what if you have a large group that flows over to a subsequent page? How do you control the report so the headings re-appear on each page as the group continues?

When you create the group, select the option "Repeat Group Header on Each Page." This will cause the group header to appear on each new page. If you have forgotten to set this, you can change an existing group, and set it later when you need to.

Here's another tip on this subject:

Display “Continued” when a group continues onto a new page. It can also be useful to display the word “Continued” when then the group header is not the start of the group. Place this formula in the group header section:

If InRepeatedGroupHeader then “Continued” 

On a related topic, you can also group by field.

You can group by the same field more than once. This could be useful if you have used Specified Order for the higher level group, or the report is TopN and you would like the "Others" group to show totals by the original field at the next level down.

However if you use that summary in a formula, interesting things happen. The summary is referred to in the formula as

Sum({table.field},{table.groupfield})

There is nothing in that formula to distinguish which of the two levels summaries you want. So the formula will always display the higher level total. This means you can’t use the lower level summary in that form in the report.

If you want the lower level summary in a formula you will need to create a formula to calculate the original group field. Then create the lower level group by the formula rather than the field. You can use this summary in a formula. We have a sample report to demonstrate this available from our web site to illustrate this.

Grouping by a field more than once is available in Crystal Reports versions 9, 10 and XI. Crystal Reports 8.5 and earlier will not allow you to create a group if the field is already used for grouping. However, our formula field solution lets you group by a field more than once for any version of Crystal Reports. And the summaries don’t get confused when you use them in formulas.

Parameters, not pages

Nothing says you have to group on pages. You can group on parameters, instead. Sometimes, we get a request for the same Crystal Report grouped in two or more different ways.

One solution is to create different reports, but then any subsequent modifications have to be done to each rpt file.

Another way is to let the user select the group by using a parameter and some clever formulas. If our report has a parameter to select the group of City or Region, the formula for Group1 would be:

If {?Group}="Region" then {Customer.Region} else {Customer.City}

You could write similar formulas to control optional headings and the first column in your report.

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