Wiley Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies 978-0-470-29077-4 Manual Do Utilizador

work together seamlessly to support report creation, modification, and distri-
bution. And the tight integration extends beyond Crystal Reports 2008 to
BusinessObjects Enterprise, making the sharing of reports across large enter-
prises not only feasible but downright convenient.

The Explorers and Experts within Crystal Reports provide highly intuitive
visual tools that step you through creating a report. Features such as the
Repository (which applies to enterprise installations) and report templates
allow users throughout the organization to reuse components or entire
reports. There is never any need to reinvent the wheel. If a component in the
Repository or a report template comes close to meeting your requirements
but doesn’t meet them exactly, you can easily make minor modifications and
have a usable report quickly, which is a vast improvement over creating an
equivalent component or report from scratch.

Formatting a report

The primary job of a report writer, such as Crystal Reports, is to take data
from a database and put it into a pleasing, logical, and understandable format
for viewing. With Crystal Reports, you are well equipped to give your reports
the appearance you want — without having to become a formatting guru.

Crystal Reports offers both absolute and conditional formatting:

 Absolute formatting enables you to put text, titles, charts, maps, columns

of figures, cross-tabs, and graphics pretty much anywhere you want on
the screen. You can handle preprinted forms. You can optimize for screen
display or for printing on paper. This is close to the ultimate freedom in
report creation — but not quite.

 Conditional formatting takes you one step further toward the ultimate:

Using it, you can change the format of the data you’re displaying in
response to the content of the data itself. With conditional formatting,
every time the data in a report changes, a formula that you include in
the report can make the appearance of the report change accordingly.

Chapter 8 covers absolute and conditional formatting.

One especially useful feature of Crystal Reports 2008 — carried over from
earlier versions — is the Report Alert. Suppose that a value being displayed
crosses a critical threshold that requires immediate action on the part of the
report’s target audience. When that threshold is crossed, not only is its value
displayed, but also a Report Alert dialog box pops up that can’t be ignored.

Another labor-saving feature is Template Expert, which enables you to create
and save a report template for later use. Imagine how much time you’ll save 
if you have to quickly format multiple reports with a common look. Turn to
Chapter 8 for more about Template Expert.

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