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September 2005
 Welcome to our newsletter!
The Repository comes out every 6 - 10
weeks. It features Crystal tools tips and tricks, news about Crystal
Reports and Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server. 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 and from you (when you
send them in), our subscribers.
- SQL Professionals head to
Texas for 2005 PASS Summit - This year The Ablaze Group exhibited at 2005 PASS Community
Summit, September 28th and 29th, Grapevine, Texas. Read about this in
our News section.
- Post-CDUGNA: what user
conference is best for you? - Visit our News section - now that CDUGNA's gone, where can
Crystal users go for a well-rounded, unbiased user conference?
- Custom Crystal
Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server and Crystal Reports
Applications -
Upgrading to v10 or XI? Planning a custom Web Desktop? Converting,
combining, creating reports? Learn more about our Crystal Reports,
Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server consulting services in our
Promotions section.
- Do you want to keep your
user group independent? - George Peck, Ablaze Group President, shares his ideas on how to
keep the independent user group spirit alive. Go to our Promotions
section.
- Online Learning
Series - Participate
from work, from home, on the road. Learn from "the guy who wrote the
book". See our Promotions section.
- Crystal Reports XI: The
Complete Reference - buy it online and in stores October
2005 - George Peck's
6th in the Complete Reference series released Fall 2005. Our Promotions
section has details.
Questions and suggestions? email
us - we look forward to hearing from you.
Visit our newsletter archive
for past
issues.
... how to customize
a hyperlink tooltip.
Tooltips
are small bits of text that appear when you "hover" your mouse over a
hyperlink in a web page. You may also notice that tooltips are displayed
liberally in the Crystal Reports preview window itself when you hover over
a particular report object.
Crystal Reports allows you to customize the tooltip that appears when
you point to a hyperlink. By using a custom formula in the Format Editor,
you may completely customize the appearance of a tooltip. This new tooltip
will appear when you view the report in Crystal Reports or in a web
browser.
- Open an existing report or create a new report that you wish to add
a tooltip to.
- Select the object on the report that you wish to add the tooltip to.
- Right-click on the object and choose Format from the pop-up menu.
You may also use pull-down menu options or the appropriate toolbar
button to display the Format Editor.
- Click the Common tab of the Format Editor.
- Click the formula button next to the Tool Tip Text property. The
Format Formula Editor will appear.
- Build a formula to create the tooltip that you wish to display. The
formula must return a string value - any other data type, such as
numbers, will result in an error message when you try to save the
formula.
- Use database fields or built-in formula language features as
necessary. For example, to display a tooltip indicating "Send e-mail to"
followed by the customer first and last names for the current database
record, use the following formula:
"Send e-mail to " & (Customer.Contact First Name) &
" "
& (Customer.Contact Last Name)
Check the formula with the syntax check button. If you receive no
errors, save the formula with the Save button.
Notice that the Tool Tip Text formula button has turned red with the
pencil pointing at an angle - this indicates that a formula has been
specified to supply the tooltip.
Click OK to close the Format Editor.
Preview the report. Move your mouse over the object you added the
tooltip to and wait for a second or two. Notice the customized tooltip
that now appears.
... what that crazy
"remaining text...." error message box means.
Have you ever
seen the Crystal Reports message box that shows "The remaining text does
not appear to be part of the formula."? This is perhaps the least helpful
error message of them all. It means that Crystal Reports has no idea what
the text following the cursor is - it can't resolve it to an existing
field, function, operator or variable name. Simply ensure that what
follows the cursor is a properly spelled function name, a field name that
includes curly braces on both sides, or a properly spelled variable
declared earlier in the formula.
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.
2005 PASS Community Summit,
Grapevine, Texas
The Ablaze Group participated
in this year's PASS Users Conference
and Expo. PASS (Professional Association for SQL
Server) held its annual summit this year at the Gaylord Texan Resort and
Conference Center. The event was an excellent opportunity to meet and
learn from the experts, network with other IT professionals and make new
friends and valuable contacts.
The Ablaze Group was on the exhibit floor Wednesday and Thursday
(September 28 and 29). George Peck, "the guy who wrote the book" on
Crystal Reports was there signing books, answering questions and spreading
the word about Crystal Reports and Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports
Server. Thanks to all of you who attended and contributed to the success
of 2005 PASS Community Summit.
Learn
more about next year's PASS Community Summit.
Call or email
for details.
Post-CDUGNA: What Conference Should You Attend Now?
As the Crystal Decisions User Group of North America (CDUGNA) has
disbanded, taking their annual Crystal-oriented conference with them,
you are now faced with few choices for a national annual event focusing on
Crystal Reports, Crystal Enterprise, and Crystal Reports Server. The most
obvious choice is the Business Objects International User Conference. This
conference, sponsored and organized by the vendor’s marketing department
instead of an independent organization, is being heavily promoted by
Business Objects in direct mailings and on their web site. We’ve received
several inquiries from our customers as to whether this conference is a
good expenditure of their funds and personnel.
We’ve attended the past two Business Objects conferences—one
immediately after their announcement of the Crystal Decisions acquisition,
and last year’s conference presented after completion of the acquisition.
We didn’t find them to be nearly as valuable as we felt the CDUGNA
conferences were, being much more heavily sales oriented, and having a
much less technical and “from the real world” feel.
Organized and controlled by the Business Objects Marketing Department,
past conferences have been heavy on “why you should upgrade to the latest
version” sales pitches, “how great we are” roundtables, and “customer
profiles” with carefully-chosen customers telling about how perfect
everything was, with a Business Objects associate standing by the
customer’s side for the entire presentation. Independent “from the
trenches” presenters with valuable technical or “how to” sessions have
been few and far between. In the past two conferences, we also found a
large amount of the content leaned towards the traditional Business
Objects products with far fewer presentations oriented towards Crystal
products—particularly any version or product not under the “must upgrade”
umbrella.
With the demise of CDUGNA, few options remain for Crystal-oriented
national events. Regional independent user groups remain (although they
are feeling pressure from Business Objects as well—see a related article
elsewhere in this newsletter) and should be considered as potential
avenues for learning and collaborating with other Crystal users. But,
unless and until another national event takes shape, you should carefully
consider whether the Business Objects conference truly meets your needs.
Comments, suggestions? Your opinion matters. Send us an email.
Special
iPod Offer - IPod nano is yours FREE when you engage The Ablaze Group
for consulting and/or training before December 31, 2005! Call for
details.
Custom Crystal Reports and
Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server Applications
Ablaze Group CR and CE
technical services teams have the knowledge
and the experience to
prescribe, plan and execute your move to v10 or XI.
Crystal Reports Upgrade services include:
- Planning
- Conversion of existing reports
- Consolidating similar reports
- Customizing
- Standardization
- Design and report creation
- Migration
- Training.
Enterprise Upgrade services include:
- Planning
- Report design
- Publication process
- Folder and report organization
- Security setup and maintenance
- Application setup and fine-tuning
- Migration
- Configuration
- Custom ePortfolio/Web Desktop/Infoview replacements
- Training.
Call or email
for details.
Business Objects Training/User Groups Feeling Pressure
As training and consulting partners with the various vendors of
Crystal Reports from the mid 90’s until early 2003, we’ve experienced
much “adversity” in our dealings with the various companies. Typically,
we’ve considered these internal business issues that didn’t concern our
customers, nor warrant mentions in our customer communications.
However, recent attempts by Business Objects to quash competitive
training and consulting offerings, including threatening to withhold
“catering funds” from their user groups, should now concern all Business
Objects customers, whether members of user groups or not. If you are
considering any sort of Business Objects training or consulting services,
this may very well impact you. And, if you are a member of a user group,
you should also be concerned. Our president George Peck offers background
information, as well as an offer of financial support to independent user
groups that choose to bring in presenters based on quality, not Business
Objects pre-approval. Read his comments here.
Online Learning
Series
Join Ablaze Group
Professionals Online
The Ablaze Group proudly announces the Online
Learning Series. Presented regularly, these webinars will feature Ablaze
Group professionals discussing Crystal Reports and Crystal
Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server topics with a follow-up email question
and answer period. Our pilot presentation will be in October. Remember,
the introductory session is free. After that you may subscribe on an
annual or by-the-session basis. Interested? email
us now with topic suggestions. Call 800 773 3472 for details.
Crystal Reports XI: The
Complete Reference George Peck's 6th book in the Complete
Reference series
book will go on sale in October. The Crystal Reports XI: The
Complete Reference will be available in bookstores and online at www.CrystalBook.com and amazon.com.
Call or email
for details.
Training
Pick & Choose - build
your own courseware
Crystal Reports
Crystal Enterprise/Crystal Reports Server
Call or email
for details. Our courseware includes Crystal Reports: The
Complete Reference. Use it during class - rely on it at work. This
is an Ablaze Group exclusive.
Call us at 800 773 3472.
Take a look at our course outlines.
Call or email
for details. |
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