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June 2008

Welcome to our newsletter!
The Repository comes out every 6 - 10 weeks. You'll find Business Objects/Crystal Decisions tools tips and tricks, news about Crystal Reports and Crystal Reports Server, Crystal Xcelsius, BusinessObjects Edge/Enterprise. Check our Promotions section for upgrades, implementations and training. This month's highlights:

I Didn't Know... - your Crystal knowledge resource. This time we answer a subscriber's timely question. Look for tips and tricks from Crystal Reports Professional Results.
Crystal Reports 2008: The Complete Reference available Q2 2008! - George Peck writes his 7th Complete Reference book. See our News section.
What's WebI? - See our Promotions section.

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

... I could place a subreport alongside main report data. When adding a subreport to a report section, it will follow any report objects that appear above it in the same report section, as well as following objects in any report sections above its own section. And, any report sections that follow the section containing the subreport will print below the subreport.

While this "vertical orientation" is standard Crystal Reports behavior, you may wish to alter report formatting so that a subreport will print alongside data above it, as opposed to printing below the data. This is handy, for example, when you want to print some data in the main report that relates to a subreport, and have the subreport print alongside the main report data. By placing the subreport in its own report section and using the Section Expert's "Underlay" formatting option, you can achieve this result.

Open an existing report containing a subreport, or add a new subreport to an existing report.

Determine the report objects that you want to appear side by side with the subreport. Resize and move them far enough left or right on the report to accommodate the width of the subreport on the opposite side.

Resize the subreport object so that it will fit in the allotted horizontal space.

Insert a new report section separate from main report objects to contain the subreport. For example, if the main report data is located in the details section, insert another details section below the section containing the main report objects.

Swap the details sections so that the new details section is above the section containing the main report objects.

Move the subreport object to the new details section above the main report objects. Position the subreport so that there won't be any horizontal "conflict" with main report objects.

Right-click the gray section name for the details section containing the subreport. Choose Format Section (Crystal Reports 8.x) or Section Expert (Crystal Reports 9) from the pop-up menu. You may alternatively use the Format | Section menu option (Crystal Reports 8.x) or Report | Section Expert option (Crystal Reports 9), or the corresponding toolbar button. The Section Expert will appear.

Select the section containing the subreport in the Sections list. Click the Underlay Following Sections check box.

Click OK to close the Section Expert.

Preview the report. Notice that the subreport will appear alongside the main report data.

Make any necessary horizontal sizing or placement adjustments with main report objects and the subreport object for a more pleasant appearance.

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.

Crystal Reports 2008: The Complete Reference available Q2 2008.
The latest edition in the Crystal Reports: The Complete Reference series authored by our President, George Peck, hits the shelves within two or three weeks. Crystal Reports 2008: The Complete Reference continues as the de-facto “Bible” on Crystal Reports. The latest edition not only covers all Crystal Reports 2008 capabilities that haven’t changed since Crystal Reports XI, but offers exhaustive coverage of new Crystal Reports 2008 features, such as Interactive Sorting, Optional Parameters and the Parameter Panel, new Cross-Tab Calculated Members and Embedded Summaries, Flash/Xcelsius Integration, and more. You’ll also find an updated chapter covering custom Crystal Reports web and Windows application development with Visual Studio .NET. And, there is also extensive coverage of the latest edition of BusinessObjects Enterprise that fully support Crystal Reports 2008, Enterprise XI 3.0!

Once the book is available, you may purchase it directly from its companion website, www.CrystalBook.com. You may also purchase from Amazon.com or at your favorite local bookstore.

email us about the book.

What's WebI?

Being a “classic Crystal” organization, we’ve previously concentrated on Crystal Reports as the tool of choice to use to design an interactive report. While a Crystal Report can be published to a member of the BusinessObjects Enterprise family (Crystal Reports Server, Edge, BusinessObjects Enterprise) for interactive viewing, a report designer still needs their own copy of Crystal Reports, installed on their Windows computer, to create the initial report. Well, the latest member of the Enterprise family, BusinessObjects Edge, offers a very interesting alternative.

Coming from the “classic Business Objects” side, Web Intelligence (or WebI for short) offers a compelling option for those who aren’t well suited to all the varying (and potentially complex) capabilities of Windows-based Crystal Reports. Requiring only a web browser to use, Web Intelligence allows complete interactive query and report design without any Windows software required at all. By use of a Business Objects Universe (a simple-to-understand “middle layer” that exists between WebI and your database), a simple or moderately-complex query and report can be designed interactively right on the web. This report can include data in a table, cross-tab, or chart, with flexible field formatting, sorting, level breaks, and totals. Once you’ve created a Web Intelligence document, it can be exported to PDF or Excel formats, or saved to the BusinessObjects Edge system for sharing with other Edge users, as well as recurring scheduled processing.

WebI may be the perfect alternative for end users who find Crystal Reports too complex for their simpler querying/reporting needs. Let us know if you’d like to know more. We’ll be happy to schedule an online demo for you!

Do you want to learn more about WebI, BusinessObjects Edge or Enterprise? Call 800 773 3472 or email us.

The Ablaze Group, a Business Objects Crystal Partner, Sales & Support

Crystal Reports

Crystal Reports Server

BusinessObjects Edge

BusinessObjects Enterprise

Crystal Xcelsius

Call 800 773 3472 or email for pricing and details.

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2008 Schedule

Crystal Reports/Xcelsius Track