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Database Tips: Use The Singularity Principle

Use each field of a database for one purpose and only one purpose. Do not use one field for several different things.

Sometimes, a field has been used some of the time for one purpose and is then shanghaied into another duty. Avoid this. Create a separate field for each role. Then there is no confusion about what a specific field is used for.

Yes, you can have several variations of a basic field. The USPS, for example, has Address 1, Address 2, and Address 3. Each has a specific purpose.

An example of double usage would be a field for apt/suite. This is a bad idea. People live in an apartment and work in a suite. So one is a residential address and the other is a business address. These should be separate fields.

The singularity principle is similar to the atomic principle. The atomic principle requires that you use several individual fields rather than a single field that combines several together. It can be difficult, and sometimes impossible, to extract the required data element from a combined field. However if you have individual fields, you can always find ways to join them together.

An example of this would be to create fields for firstname and lastname rather than have a combined field for name. With separate fields, you can sort by lastname, and select data based on firstname.

A combined field would make one, the other, or both difficult to do. While you are at it, include fields for title and initials, a common name (or nick-name), and maiden name. You may even want to include fields such as alias1, alias 2, dba1, and dba2.

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.

Tuning, tweaking, optimizing

Get your database tuned, tweaked, and optimized by using Report Analyzer to look for anomalies. Originally designed just for Crystal Reports, Version 5 allows you to analyze any data source or file system.

Let's take a closer look at what Report Analyzer for Crystal Reports allows you to do:

Improve report performance
  • Automatically detect reports that do not take advantage of server side database processing.
  • Detect record selection formulas which use data type conversion functions.
  • Detect group fields which use formulas instead of SQL Expression fields.
  • Find report tables which use less than an optimal number of fields.
  • Discover special fields which cause an additional pass over the report data source.

 Improve report reliability and reduce maintenance effort

  • Discover unused Formulas, Fields, and Variables.
  • Identify group settings which cause blank pages and footers.
  • Identify missing standard Crystal documentation best practices (Report Title, Author, Description special fields).
  • Locate reports which may use the "Convert null field to default" setting inconsistently.
  • Keep versions of your documented reports for historical comparison.

 Speed development and maintenance

  • View report designs in a design window similar to the one in the Crystal Reports designer program.
  • Select design objects and view/print settings, formula code (including conditional formatting formulas), dependencies with other design objects, and call stacks (for formulas only).
  • Use interactive diagrams (trees) of formula hierarchies, object dependencies and report design elements.
  • Query and print over 600 report settings across all documented reports. Perform instant impact assessment for database changes and formula changes across all documented reports.
  • Locate which reports use specific functions, parameters, and design settings.
And then there's the powerful project management part....

Improve Project Management

  • Generate summary and detailed documentation.
  • Analyze report complexity metrics to assist with test plan development and maintenance planning.
  • Easy to use documentation explorer to browse and compare report design settings.
  • Print report design diagrams.
  • Print report data dictionaries.
  • Extensive formula printouts including call trees, object cross references, formatted listing, and conditional formulas.
  • All documentation can be exported in a variety of formats including PDF, HTML and Word.
  • Uses Crystal Reports to produce the documentation, enabling complete customization
  • Plus more!

For pricing and/or purchase, click here.

 

 

"Report Analyzer does it all. This is the best Crystal Reports 3rd party application on the market today! The numerous features combined with great performance makes Report Analyzer the ultimate documentation and analysis tool." -- Brian Kuipers, CrystalInfo.Net, USA

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Report Analyzer is the ultimate documentation and analysis tool for Crystal Reports users and developers. With a comprehensive library of analysis and documentation reports, Report Analyzer provides you with complete documentation, analysis, and performance suggestions for your Crystal Reports projects. Keep your investment in Crystal Technology at its best performance using Report Analyzer!

 

How does Report Analyzer Work?

Report Analyzer connects to your local Crystal Reports or Crystal Enterprise APS servers and imports their design definition into a documentation database. These imported reports are organized into documentation groups within the database to organize your information for easy referencing and reporting.

How can Report Analyzer help you?

Report Analyzer now comes in two editions - Standard and Enterprise (click here for Enterprise features).
Both editions of Report Analyzer assist with:

  • Comprehensive report analysis
  • Reducing maintenance effort
  • Performance/design tuning
  • Change management
  • Test plan development
  • Extensive documentation

    Improve report performance

    Report Analyzer automatically detects potential performance issues in your report design settings, including record selection formulas, grouping options and database options.

  • Automatically detect reports that do not take advantage of server side database processing.
  • Detect record selection formulas that use data type conversion functions.
  • Detect group fields that use formulas instead of SQL Expression fields.
  • Find report tables which use less than an optimal number of fields.
  • Discover special fields which cause an additional pass over the report data source.

    •  

    Report Analyzer for Crystal Reports Screenshot

    Improve report reliability and maintenance

    Report Analyzer documents over 30 design and style settings.

  • Discover unused Formulas, Fields, and Variables.
  • Identify group settings that cause blank pages and footers.
  • Identify missing standard Crystal documentation best practices (Report Title, Author, Description special fields).
  • Locate reports which may use the "Convert null field to default" setting inconsistently.
  • Keep versions of your documented reports for historical comparison.

    •  

    Speed development and maintenance

    You can easily view dependencies between report objects such as formulas, SQL expression fields, parameters, and database fields with the dependency viewer. Additionally, the powerful query feature lets you view dependency information across reporting projects.

  • View report designs in a design window similar to the one in the Crystal Reports designer program.
  • Select design objects and view/print settings, formula code (including conditional formatting formulas), dependencies with other design objects, and call stacks (for formulas only).
  • Use interactive diagrams (trees) of formula hierarchies, object dependencies and report design elements.

    Click to Enlarge
    Click to enlarge

  • Query and print over 600 report settings across all documented reports. Perform instant impact assessment for database changes and formula changes across all documented reports.
  • Locate which reports use specific functions, parameters, and design settings.

    •  

    Click to Enlarge
    Click to enlarge

    Project Management

    Report Analyzer generates comprehensive documentation of your reports, with over 100 presentation quality reports. Complexity metrics assist with test case planning and maintenance estimates.

  • Generate summary and detailed documentation.
  • Analyze report complexity metrics to assist with test plan development and maintenance planning.
  • Easy to use documentation explorer to browse and compare report design settings.
  • Print report design diagrams.
  • Print report data dictionaries.
  • Extensive formula printouts including call trees, object cross references, formatted listing, and conditional formulas.
  • All documentation can be exported in a variety of formats including PDF, HTML and Word.
  • Uses Crystal Reports to produce the documentation, enabling complete customization.
  • Plus more!

     

    Click to Enlarge
    Click to enlarge

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