• Business Objects International User Conference 2004 - Comments on the first user conference since the Crystal Decisions, Business Objects merger. Go to our News section.
• I Didn't Know... - our Crystal knowledge cache. Look for tips and tricks from George Peck's Crystal Reports Professional Results and from you (when you send them in), our subscribers.
• Crystal: The Complete Toolset - Test drive the latest and greatest in Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise utilities! See our Promotions section.

... about basing cross-tab rows, columns, and summarized fields on formulas and parameters.
By basing row, column, or summarized field values on formulas rather than database fields, you realize immediate cross-tab flexibility. However, basing these formulas on parameter fields lends even more flexibility to the mix! You'll prompt report viewers for pertinent information to customize rows, columns, and summarized fields that appear in the cross-tab.

1. Open an existing report or create a new report that you wish to contain a customized cross-tab.
2. Add parameter fields to the report to prompt the viewer for pertinent information. For example, you may wish to create "desired row", "desired column", and "summary field" parameters to allow the viewer several choices.
3. Create formulas related to each parameter field that return certain database fields or calculations based on the values supplied in the parameter fields. For example, the row formula may look like this:

   If (?Row Field) = "Product Name" Then
   (Product.Product Name)
   Else
   (Product.Product Class)

   The column field may look like this:

   If (?Column Field) = "Month" Then
   ToText((Orders.Order Date), "yyyy-MM")
   Else
   (Employee.Last Name) & ", " & (Employee.First Name)

   And, the summary field formula may look like this:

   If (?Summary Field) = "Quantity Sold" Then
   (Orders_Detail. Quantity)
   Else
   (Orders_Detail.Unit Price) * (Orders_Detail.Quantity)

4. Create the cross-tab, adding the appropriate formulas to the Rows, Columns, and Summarized Fields boxes of the Format Cross-Tab dialog box.
5. Run the report, supplying various values for the parameter field prompts. Ensure that the formulas the cross-tab is based on behave as expected with various parameter values.

email your favorite Crystal tip, trick or technique.

Business Objects International User Conference 2004

The Business Objects International User Conference was held in Grapevine, Texas in early November. This conference is heavily attended, with well over 1,500 participants present.

This was the first Business Objects conference that integrated the Crystal toolset. However, when comparing attendance at Crystal-related breakout sessions versus "classic" Business Objects sessions, it was obvious that this conference has a ways to go before it's accepted in the Crystal community. By far, the vast majority of attendees were interested in sessions relating to traditional Business Objects products.

There was little Crystal "news" of consequence, save for the announcement of a new "name" for the next release of Crystal products. Previously referred to as "version 11", the next release of Crystal will be referred to as "XI". Known as Business Objects XI, the suite update will include updated versions of Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise. A small peek at the updated web-based enterprise product was shown in a conference general session. While the updated product retains much of the functionality of the existing Crystal Enterprise 10, additional "classic" Business Objects document types will be integrated. Business Objects XI is currently in a beta release status.

Next year's Business Objects International User Conference is scheduled for November 6 - 9, 2005 at the Gaylord Palms Resort and Convention Center in Orlando. Learn more about next year's conference.