Back to the Newsletter page

The Repository from The Ablaze Group, Inc.

August 2006

News Welcome to our newsletter!
The Repository comes out every 6 - 10 weeks. You'll find Crystal tools tips and tricks, news about Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports Server/Crystal Enterprise. Check our Promotions section for upgrades, implementations and training. This month's highlights:
  • I Didn't Know... - your Crystal knowledge resource. Look for tips and tricks from George Peck's Crystal Reports Professional Results.
  • Crystal Reports XI Version Conflicts - George Peck offers solutions. Have you encountered any irresolvable “Release 1/Release 2” conflicts? Want to save yourself a lot of time and avoid headaches? Read George's article in the News Section.
  • Online Learning: Log On...Learn...LIVE! - August's session: Report Design Tips and Tricks #3 (all new topics). Tips & Tricks sessions are our most popular. Go to Promotions section for schedule, more information and to register.

Questions and suggestions? email us - we look forward to hearing from you.
Visit our newsletter archive for past issues.

I Didn't Know...

... how to check for Null database values.
Depending on what database you are using, as well as how the database has been designed, you may encounter null values in database fields when you design reports. A null value is a value that, in essence, equates to nothing. An important distinction, however, needs to be made between a null and the number zero or an empty string - they are, in fact different!

Because of the difference between a null and a zero or an empty string, normal summarizations (such as counts), string concatenations (appending groups of strings together), and tests for empty strings or numeric zero values will often behave unpredictably. There are two approaches to solving null-related problems:

  • Select Convert NULL Field Values to Default options from either the File | Report Options or the File | Options pull-down menu. (In Crystal Reports 9 and later, you can choose to separately convert database null values to default, and non-database, or "other", values to default).
  • Use specific logic to test for nulls and adjust your formula accordingly.

Case in point....

  1. Find a formula that appears to be encountering a difficulty with nulls. For example, the following formula may at times return address line 1, followed by a comma and a space, and address line 2. At other times, it may return nothing at all:
    {Cust.Address1} & ", " & {Cust.Address2}
  2. In this situation, the entire formula will evaluate to null if any of the individual parts (address line 1 or address line 2) are null.
  3. If you attempt to check for an empty string with an If-Then-Else statement, as follows, you may not solve the problem, as a null is not the same as an empty string:
    If {Cust.Address2} = "" Then
    {Cust.Address1}
    Else
    {Cust.Address1} & ", " & {Cust.Address2}
  4. Instead, use the IsNull function. IsNull accepts one argument: the field to test for a null value. The following example will work properly:
    If IsNull({Cust.Address2}) Then
    {Cust.Address1}
    Else
    {Cust.Address1} & ", " & {Cust.Address2}
Crystal Reports XI Addendum: In addition to the steps mentioned here, Crystal Reports XI provides an additional formula-by-formula null handling choice. If you select “Exceptions for Nulls” in the Formula Editor drop-down list, any nulls encountered in the formula will be treated as described above. However, if you select “Default Values for Nulls” in the Formula Editor drop-down, any nulls encountered in the formula will be converted to their “default” value (for example, an empty string for a string field and zero for a numeric field), regardless of what your File | Options or File | Report Options settings are.

Tips and tricks are brought to you by Crystal Reports Professional Results and you, our readers. You can win a copy of Crystal Reports Professional Results or Crystal Reports: The Complete Reference and see YOUR name here. How? Just email your favorite Crystal tip, trick or technique. If it's selected we'll include it and your name in the next release of The Repository and we'll send you a copy of either Crystal Reports Professional Results or Crystal Reports: The Complete Reference.

email your favorite Crystal tip, trick or technique.

News

Crystal Reports XI Version Conflicts - by George Peck
Here’s an interesting “Catch 22” situation that we ran into when working with several of our clients. We had a client who specifically requested a training program on Crystal Reports XI Release 2. We also had a client that we were working with on Visual Studio .NET 2005. In both these situations, Crystal Reports XI Release 2 was required.

We also had several clients that were still working with Crystal Reports Server XI Release 1. Upon installing Crystal Reports XI Release 2, we got a “cannot connect to an older version of the CMS” message when we attempted to connect to our clients using Crystal Reports Server XI Release 1. A Business Objects knowledgebase article acknowledges this version conflict and offers no viable solution, with such recommendations as “roll back your Crystal Reports XI installation to Release 1” (which will remove VS.NET 2005 compatibility) or “upgrade Crystal Reports Server XI to Release 2” (which is not really a practical or reasonable option for our existing Release 1 clients). Our initial attempts to use our Crystal Reports Server XI Release 1 product keycode to install Crystal Reports Server XI Release 2 also failed, which further complicates a possible Crystal Reports Server upgrade.

So, be aware that you may find yourself with irresolvable “Release 1/Release 2” conflicts, particularly if you want Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition compatibility with Visual Studio .NET 2005 and still need to connect to Release 1 versions of Crystal Reports Server XI or BusinessObjects Enterprise XI.

PS...
Oddly enough, upon reinstalling Crystal Reports XI Release 1, we discovered that it will connect without error to either version of Crystal Reports Server XI. So, old will connect with old and new, but new will only connect with new!

Have you come across this already? What did you do?
email your solutions, comments, suggestions.

Promotions

Online Learning Series - Log On...Learn...LIVE!

Monthly Online Learning, Thursday, August 24, 2006, 2p - 3p MDT
Report Design Tips & Tricks #3(all new topics) Plan for at least one hour of learning! Past sessions have lasted up to 90 minutes. Why? One hour of lecture and 30 minutes of audience participation! Better than "canned" recorded CBT, Ablaze Group Online Learning is delivered to you "fresh" in a LIVE!, interactive, online format. Subscribe on an annual basis and enjoy the privileges of membership: tech support questions, access to archived sessions, links to all sample reports/documents/slides. Individual sessions are also available.

2006/2007 Monthly Online Learning

  • Report Design Tips & Tricks #3 (all new topics) - August
  • Take Advantage of the Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server Repository - September
  • Interactive Reporting: Drill-Down Report Design Techniques - October
  • Report Performance Tips for SQL Databases - November
  • All About Business Views - December
  • Ins and Outs of Subreports - January 2007
  • Report Design Tips & Tricks #4 (all new topics) - February 2007
Attendance is limited. Call 800 773 3472 for details and to register. 		 


About The Ablaze Group, Inc.
Consulting
Training
Books
Web Site
The Ablaze Group offers consulting and training for Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports Server/Crystal Enterprise. Our staff can help you design and develop reports, distribute reports via the Web, and integrate it all into your company's Web site or intranet. And we can also show you how to do it with our customizable on-site training classes. Just let us know how we can help.

Back to the Newsletter page

Copyright