Operation Manual

Introduction to Reporting

Creating a new report

98 Crystal Reports User’s Guide

Placing data on the report

Placing data on a report is a very important task. You need to know what type

of data should be placed on the report and where on the report it should be

placed.

Database fields

Much of the data placed on a report are database fields, displaying data as it

is stored in the database. For example, in the “Quick start for new users” on

page 48, the Customer Name, City and Country fields are placed on the

report. Normally, database fields will be placed in the Detail section, but under

certain circumstances, they will be placed in other sections of the report.

To insert a database field

1. On the Standard toolbar, click Field Explorer.

The Field Explorer dialog box appears. To speed the report building

process, this dialog box remains on-screen until you close it. You can

move this dialog box wherever you wish.

2. Expand the Database Fields folder to see all the tables chosen from the

database(s).

3. Expand the individual tables to see all the fields they contain.

4. Select the field you want to appear in the report.

5. Click Browse to review the values in the selected field.

6. Click Insert to Report to place it in the report.

Formula fields

To display data that is a calculated value, you need to create a formula field

and place that formula field on the report. For example, if the database only

stores the order dates and ship dates for orders but you need to display the

number of days it takes to ship the order, you must create a formula field that

will calculate the number of days between ordering and shipping. This is just

one example of the use of formula fields. See “Using Formulas” on page 417,

for an introduction to formulas.

SQL Expression fields

SQL expressions are like formulas, but they are written in Structured Query

Language (SQL), not in the Crystal Reports formula language. An SQL

expression can be used to query the database for specific sets of data. You

can sort, group, and select based on SQL expression fields.