Crystal ReportsCrystal ReportsSession II

It’s Easier Than You Think

First Things First

• Install Crystal Reports full product• Tell halFILE the location of the CRW32.EXE

file• Think about the information you want

reported and how you would like it formatted• Know that you can’t screw anything up

except…SoftPro

What are these NAMES???

• HALREPORTS.DSN - The Microsoft Text File Data Source halFILE creates to run reports

• HALCARD.TXT - Database records for a card format report

• HALREPORT.TXT – Database records for a non-card format report

• CRITERIA.TXT – Search criteria text• HITLIST.TXT – Records from the hit list only (NEW

FOR 2.2)• SCHEMA.INI – Tells Crystal field formats (date,

number, etc. to facilitate report design)

Let’s Design a Market Share Report

• Perform a search in halFILE• Click REPORT button• Click INSERT REPORT• Card or not Card Format?• Name your report, set path and .RPT file

name• DESIGN REPORT takes you to Crystal

We Learned All This ???!!!

• How to use Crystal Reports Field Explorer• How to change report orientation and size• How to change fonts and pitch• How to suppress sections• How to group records• How to write formulas for dates and numbers• How to resize fields and move fields around• How to format dates and dollar amounts

And We Learned This Too??!!

• Add SQL based tables to report• Link tables together• Added amount totals and percentages• Added system fields like date, page numbers,

etc.• Added lines and formatting to make the report

easy to read and understand

Administrative Reports• Generate reports for halFILE Administration• These are reports against the System, not necessarily a

specific halFILE Database• Run from Reports menu in halFILE Administrator• Setup using Tools-Options-Administrative Reports• Pre-defined Admin Reports from hal:

– Consistency Check– Cartridge/Drive reports– Database/Basket reports– User Report

• You can set up your own reports!

Crystal Support Resources

• www.businessobjects.com

• www.halfile.com Tech Support Database

• hal Systems Support (non-maintenance)

• Community College or Vendor-sponsored classes of instruction

Questions?