Crystal Reports: Target lines in Crystal Reports

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Crystal Reports: Target Line on a Chart

Here is a type of calculation you might need to display on a chart. As well as the data from the database, you might want to include a target figure.

The target can come from 3 places: Another database field, a constant, or a parameter. The constant and parameter are a problem because they do not appear to be available to place on a chart. The parameter is not available at all, and has to be used in a formula, but the formula with a constant or parameter is not available either.

The reason for this is that the formula is calculated BeforeReadingRecords, and the only formulas available for a chart have to be calculated WhileReadingRecords; So change the evaluation time and the formula, and you can now place this number on the chart.

The final thing to do is to change the chart so that the number appears as a bar, but the target appears as a line.

You do this in the Chart Analyzer. Select the chart and right click to open the Chart Analyzer. Select one of the target bars and right click and select Format Chart/Series. In the box labeled “Always show selected series as”, change the value to line.

Custom charting changed significantly when CR8 was released, so this hint applies to versions 8 and 8.5. Users of older versions can still do this, but they will need to use the “Custom Chart” option in their Chart Expert.

Now, if you really want to do some serious charting in Crystal Reports, you need CR Chart.

CR Chart helps you enhance the graphing abilities and visual impact of your Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, or Crystal Decisions system. Add box plots, Pareto charts, scatter charts, smooth line charts, waterfall charts, step line charts, audiograms, conditional styling, programmable markers, and so much more.

Try the FREE demo download.

CR Chart provides you with an unlimited license for all developer, end-user, and viewer seats connected to one production server (unlimited processors). Additional server licenses are $999. You probably won't need it, but additional years of tech-support/upgrade are $300 each (and totally optional). There are no other fees of any kind.

More about CR Chart, below....

With this graphics product, you can:

Set chart properties at runtime.
Create boxplots, Pareto charts, error bars, and waterfall charts.
Use pivot functions--swap series/group, data reversal, and so on.
Use conditional logic.
Create wow factor with drop shadow and alpha channel transparency effects.

Have superior control over:

Axis labels: skipping, decimal precision, scale range, etc.
Color of markers and risers.

Take advantage of user-programmable:

Lines on any axis (or free floating).
Markers/labels at any point on the chart.
Label names and user-defined datasets.

CRChart dramatically expands your charting and graphing capabilities inside Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, and Crystal Info. Perfect for:

Engineering reports.
Financial analysis.
Operations management projects.
Productivity reports.
Sales presentations.
Wherever you have a need for clear and compelling data presentation.

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.