Book Description
This best-seller has been fully updated for Crystal Reports XI (extreme insight) -- the first jointly developed release of this leading report writing and analysis software since the acquisition of Crystal Decisions by Business Objects. Readers will learn to create visually appealing reports that communicate content effectively using helpful features such as charts, complex formulas, custom functions, sorting and grouping, Business Views, and more. Publishing and viewing reports on the Web is also explained in detail. NEW coverage includes: All the new user interface elements; New Dynamic/Cascading Parameter Fields; and, Using Crystal Reports with Business Objects Enterprise XI.
Customer Reviews:
Excellent Resource for the Seasoned Professional.......2007-08-31
This book provides an excellent reference for Crystal Reports developers. If you utilized Business Intelligence's online training and did not receive any of the handouts or materials, this book covers not only what was taight in the courses but more detailed examples. This is a great resource even for the experienced developer.
Great reference book for any serious Crystal developer.......2007-04-28
I have worked with Crystal Reports since version 8.5 and for about 4 years now. I am currently a Crystal Reports developer and create reports all day for my job. This book is a great tool for learning and provides me access to all the Crystal Syntax functions and other hard to reference materials. This book is also very in-depth and will provide a total knowledge to someone just learning.
The hardest thing with Crystal is that buidling reports is more an art form then science considering the vast amount of options the developer has to solve any given business problem. The best way to learn is get this book and dive in to making reports.
crystal ix review.......2006-07-08
Great book, am learning on my own crystal reports and this book has met my needs and expectations.
Standard Revision of Solid Reference.......2006-06-15
The text is one of the first available for Crystal Reports XI, and is largely a revision of the same material which has been presented in previous editions (which covered earlier versions of Crystal Reports). As you would expect, it does a solid job of covering all the basics. It even goes into some intermediate details in a few sections.
If you are a beginner to Crystal Reports, then the book will be a valuable reference to you. If you're an experienced Crystal Reports developer or you have used previous versions of Crystal Reports, then this book will not get much use. The book does not have many "hints" or "secret tips" that make developing in Crystal Reports easier. However, the amount of material covered is good in that there is not much left out entirely, so even an advanced developer will find bits of useful information, particularly when using Crystal Reports in new ways or on new platforms, etc. For example, the new features presented in Crystal Reports XI are covered in considerable detail, particularly the various methods of implementing new report parameter features. And, thankfully, the sections detailing now-deprecated software components have been removed or minimized.
If you're familiar with the earlier renditions of this book (i.e., for Crystal Reports version 10, etc.), then you will find this rendition exactly as expected.
Exhaustive and Detailed.......2006-03-01
Good Book. Covers 99% of all the topics. Found it very useful. I'm a power user now.
Book Description
Would
you
read
information
presented
like
this?
No. It’s just not natural. Sometimes presentation is almost as important as content. When you create a report, the goal is to provide information for readers in a format they can readily understand.
Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies, the latest version of the most popular report writer in the world, shows you how to create simple or sophisticated reports, turning data into interactive, actionable reports that convey what’s happening in your business. You can progress cover-to-cover or use the index to find out how to:
- Give your reports more pizzazz by using the correct fonts, color, drop shadows, graphic elements, and more
- Integrate elements from multiple, non-database sources
- Group sort, total result sets, cross-tab reports, and add formulas, charts, or maps
- Print reports
- Use customized Business Views gleaned from the same information to provide each reader with information he or she needs to know without spilling all the beans, sales figures, marketing information, or whatever
- Present multi-dimensional data in OLAP (Online Analytical Processing) cubes
- Get ideas from sample reports on the companion Web site
Written by Allen G. Taylor, nationally known lecturer, teacher, and author of over 20 books, including Database Development for Dummies, Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies makes it crystal clear how to:
- Store your information securely in Crystal Repository
- Use Crystal Analysis 10 to display OLAP data so you and your report’s readers can analyze the information in an online environment
- Use Crystal Enterprise to put Crystal Reports online for viewing by hundreds or thousands of people in your organization
Whether you want to dazzle your company’s CEO and shareholders, motivate the sales force, or simply share database information cogently, with Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies you not only make your point, you an impression. When your reports look professional, you look professional.
Download Description
ated to reflect the latest version of the Crystal Reports reporting tool
* Explains how to use Crystal Reports to quickly transform almost any data into interactive content
* Features a jump-start chapter on creating a simple report
* Covers basic and advanced reporting features, such as retrieving data from databases; sorting, grouping, and totaling result sets; using report templates; making correlations with cross-tab reports; working with formulas; adding geographic detail with maps; publishing reports; and much more
* Includes a new section that explains how to use the new time-saving and data-sharing features available when Crystal Reports is integrated with the other components in the product suite: Crystal Enterprise and Crystal Analysis
* Companion Web site includes sample reports from the book
Customer Reviews:
good.......2007-09-16
a good book to get your feet wet. my first 'for dummies' book. I felt a tad foolish buying this, having written loads of programs in the last 18 years, but this book was very helpful getting me started on crystal reports.
Crystal Reports 10- Yay!.......2007-06-14
This is not an intuitive program for me to use for reports and documents, but the book gave me some good pointers.
The For Dummies Approach applied to Crystal Reports.......2007-03-11
The computer was going to eliminate paperwork. That's why Crystal Reports has sold about 13 million copies. Simply put, Crystal Reports is a database report writer.
Most of the data a business wants to look at is maintained in a database. How to produce a report that is customized for what you (or your boss) want to see can be done by going directly to the database, executing a query and then printing it out in a format that you want to see -- bah humbug. Who wants to go program all that stuff?
Hence Crystal Reports. Here is a program that allows you to basically point and click and produce the report you want. It's rather simple to use for a simple straight forward report. That's why Crystal Reports is included in some 200 software packages.
Now, why buy a book on it, and why this book in particular. First, if you've looked at the documentation provided by Crystal Reports you've probably thrown up your hands in disgust. Second, because you've gotten to this page means you probably searched for something on Crystal Reports and found that you didn't have all that many choices that cover Version 10. Third, this is a 'For Dummies' book. It is written in a style that most of use can read and get some sense out of it.
If you're just getting started, this is a good place. If you're already an expert, this will tell you about what's possible in the newest version.
Crystal Reports 10 for Dummies.......2007-02-20
This book is pretty good for a quick tour of the software and it's capabilities.
Dummies and Crystal Report.......2007-01-11
Crystal Reports has more features than can one book can explain, but this one gives a great mini overview of lots of items available. Well worth the expense.
Book Description
Produce winning presentations and reports with expert advice from this definitive guide. Discover vital tips on how to best utilize Crystal Reports’ features to analyze data, and build professional, complex, and effective reports. Find the entire spectrum of user knowledge—from advice for new users on how to develop, design, and build a simple report, to in-depth information on complex features such as Crystal Server Pages and integrating Crystal Reports into Visual Basic.NET programs.
Customer Reviews:
Crystal Reprots 10 - complete reference.......2007-02-20
This is a very good, thorough book with lots of examples included. I have bought other books by the same publisher and have been very pleased with all of them.
Best Book on Crystal Reports 10.......2005-06-17
This book has been an invaluable resource in creating and publishing reports with Crystal Reports 10. I've been able to give it to new designers to get them up to speed and also use it to look for answers to quick questions on new features. Overall, this is the most versatile book I've found on Crystal Reports 10.
Complete but not for learners.......2005-04-02
This book delivers exactly what the title promises. It goes through Crystal Reports 10 screen by screen and feature by feature. It is well laid out and has lots of screen prints. There is way too much verbiage, at least for this reader.
So what's the problem? The book desparately needs examples of how you actually DO some of the things it talks about in such detail. Crystal gives you some really nice sample reports, but they are all finished, not exactly easy to break apart and understand. If this book had some case studies (eg, now lets build the chart report of Quarterly Sales by Employee), I would have found it a whole lot more useful.
Come to think of ut, I would trade this book in a minute for something more task-oriented and hands-on.
Good review -- lacks advanced depth.......2005-03-30
The text is one of the first available for Crystal Reports 10. It does a good job of covering all the basics. It even goes into some "intermediate" details in various sections. If you're new or fairly new to Crystal Reports, then the book will be a valuable reference to you.
If you're an experienced Crystal Reports developer, then this book will probably not get too much use. It lacks the hard-hitting details that would make it an excellent standard resource, and it's shy on the "topics for gurus" sections commonly found in complete references. One thing that is good about the book is the scope--there is not much left out entirely, so even an advanced developer will find bits of useful information, particularly when using Crystal Reports in new ways or on new platforms, etc.
If you're familiar with the earlier renditions of this book (i.e., for Crystal Reports version 8.5, etc.), then you will find this rendition exactly as expected.
Book Review.......2004-07-16
I have to say I'm disappointed in this book. Normally I don't buy McGraw-Hill "Complete Reference" books because generally I find them lacking sufficient detail and depth to do any real programming. I bought this book because there aren't an abundance of Crystal 10 books out yet and because Crystal Reports documentation is notoriously bad, but this book has lived up to my McGraw-Hill "Complete Reference" expectations. I find the book lacks sufficient detail and code samples to be of any real use for integrating Crystal Reports into an application. Specifically, I'm working with Part II, Crystal Reports 10 on the Web.
Book Description
I wrote this book from the perspective of a programmer wanting to learn how to integrate reports within a .NET application. I've been working with Crystal Reports since Visual Basic 3 and it's always been difficult to find technical information on report writing.
I spent a year and a half researching what .NET programmers need to successfully create, implement and deploy a Crystal Reports application. I even put the book on the internet for everyone to read for free all of last year. This generated an incredible number of emails from programmers telling me what they liked, disliked, and what was missing from the book. I learned that there are two distinct types of .NET programmers using Crystal Reports.
The first type of programmer doesn't have much experience with Crystal Reports and wants a series of tutorials to help them build reports from scratch. For this programmer I wrote 13 chapters which teach you everything about adding reports to ASP.NET and Windows applications. It starts with the basics of building reports to adding charts, crosstab reports, sorting and grouping, subreports and using the formula editor with Basic syntax and Crystal syntax.
The second type of programmer has been using Crystal Reports for years and is mostly concerned with how to do technical runtime customization of reports. For this programmer I researched and diagrammed the undocumented report object models. I included dozens of examples in both VB.NET and C# to show you how to modify reports, manipulate different data sources (XML, ADO.NET, ODBC, OLE DB, stored procedures with parameters), modify formulas and report parameters, and integrate .NET with the RAS and RDC.
The dozens of emails I received when the book was online were instrumental for doing a major revision of many chapters before publishing the book in hardcopy format. Since releasing the book I continue to receive more emails from people. They regret that the free book isn't online anymore, but understand that it couldn't last forever and that the hardcopy version is even better. I hope you like it and that it helps you achieve your reporting goals.
September 2004 Update: Due to high demand, I did a second printing of the book. I took advantage of this opportunity to go through the book and remove all grammatical errors. The content is the same, but the typos have been corrected.
Customer Reviews:
great book. terrible product........2007-09-15
The book is outstanding. packed full of real time, practical info. Brian's online forum is the best.
The problem is crystal reports itself. It repeatedly crashes my VS2005. Business Objects is selling an enterprise server product which delivers CR reports thru the browser. My guess is BO wants to discourage users from using asp.net to access their reports.
As someone using CR for the last 6 weeks to design reports, I would much prefer to ditch the product and try other Windows reporting alternatives. It is totally tedious when working with reports with a lot of columns and total breaks. snap to grid does not always work. Have not been able to figure out how to use one report as a template for another ( ex. the dollar version of a report is a lot like the unit version. problem is I have to code each from scratch. With 12 monthly columns and 5 total breaks, this is hours of needless work. )
BO tech support is brutal. Basically you have to pay $2500 per year for phone support. Otherwise you will waste too much time figuring out how to do what you want with the product. Then for the enterprise version, for the same reason, you will have to pay for another tech support contract.
Not bad - not good, but good support!.......2007-04-21
Like many other people I purchased Visual Studio 2005 and tried to use the bundled version of Crystal Reports but found the supplied and online documentation to be inadequate. I bought this book because the description references the bundled version of Crystal Reports and also that it covered both the declarative and programatic approaches to developing reports.
Having read much of the book I find that all the examples and screen shots are from the stand-alone version of Crystal Reports with no attempt to accomodate those readers using the bundled version. In the majority of explanations I am forced to explore the bundled interface trying to find the feature the book is explaining. Sometimes I was unable to find a feature leaving me to wonder if the feature was excluded from the bundled version or if I simply didn't look hard enough.
Some examples simply don't work. The explanation on changing the connection info programaticaly doesn't work with the bundled version - it still reads from the original connection. I don't know if this is because the example is bad or it simply doesn't work with the bundled version.
In addition to the versioning confusion (created by Business Objects admittedly, but not resolved by this book) there are numerous gross grammatical errors in the book. Someone needs to slap the editor awake because that's his/her job and they didn't do it. I'll give you a couple of the most egregious errors.
'The layout tab effects[sic] your interaction with the report designer.'
'This insures[sic] that no matter how short your line is,...'
And yes, I don't have a professional editor either so don't start harping on about spelling or grammatical errors in this review :-)
Now that I read the acknowledgements I see Brian didn't employ a professional editor; two of his friends edited some of the chapters. It shows.
I decided to upgrade to the developer edition of Crystal Reports to gain access to some features I need so perhaps one of my major critisisms of the book will go away and the examples will actually match what I see. But if you think this book will help you learn the bundled version of Crystal Reports you will see a limited return on your investment.
[...]
Crystal Reports [..].......2007-02-15
If you want to create professional looking reports using Crystal Reports, this is the book to read. It is easy to read, and examples are excellent for all programmers.
I highly recommend this book to anyone interested in using Crystal Reports to generate professional looking reports in a short period of time.
Need to know what CR does on the object level? this is the book........2006-07-27
If you need to know what's going on under the hood of Crystal reports, this book is a must have.
I had a requirement that a report be able to draw data through a stored procedure from 1 of 4 versions of a SQL Server 2000 Databases determined at runtime. Without this book I would have been forced to use the Push method.
Thanks to this book I was able to write the code to dynamically modify the login information, set the parameters, redirect the data source, and other things inside the ReportDoc object and other objects. I would have never found the UML diagrams and code I needed to track down what to change.
There is nowhere on the Net that had what I needed to know about Crystal Reports, this book does.
Good outline for overall functions about Crystal Report.......2006-03-15
This is my first and the only Crystal Reports book. I bought this coz this is the first time I am working on a VB.NET project and have to build reports for it.
Pos.
It outlines well about Crystal Report structure and what it can do in a clear and simple way. As a new comer, I can catch up fairly easy by reading this books.
The size of this book is v. handy and good for reading on the road.
Cons:
At the very beginning, I have just want to create a report, a single form which is a field service report for my company engineers. I need to display customer information as well as some description on the it. I think it is pretty simple. But I think I just can't find such a simple example on this book. Since the project schedule is tight and Crystal has so much options that I really need some good example to do my job. By I can't find one here. All reports in the books are concerntrated on multiple records reports only. And finally I have to do it on my own, though this book give me a clear direction what I should do with those ado.net dataset.
Book Description
All-in-One is all you need! This authoritative reference offers complete coverage of all material on all three Crystal Reports Certified Professional exams, including content for each of the three electives. You’ll find exam objectives at the beginning of each chapter, helpful exam tips, and end-of-chapter practice questions. The bonus CD-ROM contains a testing engine with questions found only on the CD. This comprehensive guide not only helps you pass the challenging CRCP exam, but will also serve as an invaluable on-the-job reference.
Customer Reviews:
A Must Have Book for Crystal Developers.......2007-07-25
If you are a Crystal Reports Developer, this book is a must have. Not only is it a great teaching resource, but it also make an awesome reference. It's loaded with thought provoking questions and exercises. I've currently got five Crystal books on my bookshelf here at work. The ONLY one I refer to is this one. This book is also outstanding for someone new to Crystal, as long as you have some IT background. If you are completely new to programming/reporting, this book will be very useful to you eventually, but it's not a good book for your level.
CRCP Exam Guide.......2007-01-23
I highly recommend this book! If you are writing Crystal Reports this book is a MUST HAVE even if you are not interested in getting your CRCP certification. I have been using Crystal Reports for 5 years and have read several Crystal Report reference manuals. This one is by far the best!!!
All you need to be CRCP Certified.......2005-03-30
This textbook contains everything the reader will need to gain Crystal Reports Certified Professional (CRCP) certification.
I used the textbook to take all three exams, and passed them all within twelve weeks. The only other source of information I used was the on-line documentation provided with the product (and I used that as a secondary reference only). Note that I did not take any education courses from Business Objects or third-party providers--this book was my sole information source, and it guided me to high scores on all three exams. I also became a much better Crystal Reports developer in the process.
The writing is exceptionally clear and free of all the techno-babble that clutters up so many other texts. This book is clear, easy to read, and structured perfectly. Not only that, but the examples are exceptional and applicable.
In addition to guiding the reader through the certification material, the text will thereafter continue to serve as a valuable reference for Crystal development.
Highly recommended--this is the Crystal Reports book that nobody should be without.
NOTE: Now that Business Objects has revised their CRCP examinations you might be wondering if this text would still be useful. The unqualified answer is YES. The two exams for XI are nearly identical to the three exams for version 10, except all of the Business Views components have been removed.
For XI certification, you still use this text. Just i) skip the Business Views parts (skip chapters 27, 28, 29)--as that software component has been dropped; ii) focus on the SQL components elective (chapter 22); and iii) skim the other elective sections (chapters 23, 24)--as there are no longer elective test tracks. Do this and you will still find this text the definitive preparation material for the CRCP exams.
If you are preparing for the CRCP, you need this book........2005-03-21
The CRCP exams for version 10 Crystal Reports are difficult without taking instructor led courses. This book gives detailed information that is critical when preparing for these exams.
Exam Study Tool and On-The-Job Reference.......2005-03-10
Just in case you're not aware, Crystal Reports is a graphically oriented program designed to produce reports filled with data that comes out of a database, comes from a specialized type of server called OLAP, or from data that is calculated internally. It was one of the first such packages and was usually used in conjunction with big powerful databases such as Oracle or SQL Server that didn't have sophisticated reporting structures built into the database.
This book is oriented to guiding the reader through passing the CRCP exam. As such, it's orientation is less formal and descriptive and more oriented to the practical aspects of what's on the test. It includes a CD with a simulated set of examinations (you take three tests) to give you the look and feel of the test and help identify any areas where you need more knowledge.
The design of the book is such that it will be useful in passing the test and still of value as a reference book to the Crystal Reports user.
Book Description
Special Edition Using Business Objects Crystal Reports XI is a reference guide designed to provide you with hands-on experience for the latest release of the Business Objects' product suite. The authors, all Business Objects insiders, bring unique and valuable real-world perspectives on implementations and uses of Crystal Reports, Crystal Reports Server, BusinessObjects Enterprise, WebIntelligence and OLAP Intelligence. Content, tutorials and samples for reporting within the Microsoft Visual Studio .NET and J2EE development environments is also included. Advanced data-source coverage including SAP R3, SAP BW, Peoplesoft, Siebel, EJBs, .NET/COM objects and XML are also covered. Advanced content on report distribution and integration into the secured managed reporting solution, Business Objects Enterprise XI and the new Crystal Reports Server XI, is included along with coverage on the new Web Services SDK. If you are a Crystal Reports XI user, Special Edition Using Business Objects Crystal Reports XI will become your definitive users guide.
Customer Reviews:
my favorite reference.......2006-07-07
I really like this book. it not only helps answer thing but makes suggestion and gives real world scenerios at end of a chapter. I use it mostly for a reference tool as chapters 1-11 pertain to CR XI report creation part, which is what I need refresh on the most. I do wish there was a good tool book that gave more on crystal syntax if anyone knows please email me, but this book helps get me thinking on the right track.
A Solid Reference - But Poorly Organized.......2006-06-15
This is a solid book and a worthwhile reference. Unfortunately, the content organization is somewhat confusing--and the sheer size of the book makes it fairly difficult to find what you're looking for.
The contents have so many hints and tips that every programmer will learn something. I've been using Crystal Reports for many years, and reading through the book I would frequently learn little tips or timesaving processes.
I might note, however, that several of the examples are specific to certain database platforms or certain report implementation methods. For example, I didn't have easy access to SQL Server while reading the book, so testing out some of the examples was nearly impossible.
Nevertheless, one of the best Crystal Reports XI references available on the market.
Did not answer my question........2005-10-11
I purchased this book with the hope of figuring out how to produce a table of contents. Since database publishing tools are no longer produced I was trying reproduce the effect in Crystal Reports. I have 18 years experience using the Oracle Reporting tools and know how to produce what I need, however Oracle will no longer be supporting it's report toolset. There is an article on the Business Objects knowledge base on how to do this but it is written for SQL Sever and not Oracle. I was hoping that this book would go into this real world situation, it does not. I have also gone to the book's web site and asked for help, but no reply after 2 weeks.
Finally the author implies that including a stored procedure is a matter of selecting the procedure and then providing the parameters, WRONG. For an Oracle stored procedure there much, much more to it than that. The author should research solutions before he puts them in the book. If his solution was for SQL Server then he should be reminded that Oracle holds market share.
Good series book has become better with XI version.......2005-09-24
I have acquired and am using the current version (XI) of the "Using Crystal Reports" series book and I am impressed. I am a seasoned business-savvy IT professional and this book has helped me create useful reports with some of the advanced product features like sub-reports, variables, formula manipulation, parameter passing, advanced formatting, etc.
The author team has evolved the chapters to stay abreast of new features and Business Objects APIs. They have also clearly spent a good deal of time editing this version as the chapters flow together better than the previous versions and the real-world samples are particularly improved (and useful).
The book is not perfect and is lacking detailed coverage of all of the Business Objects Enterprise, Crystal Reports Server or Crystal Reports RDC APIs but the existing coverage is very insightful and I'm not sure I could carry the book if it had many more pages.
Book Description
If you have been looking for a beginners book that has a lot of easy to understand, step-by-step instructions and screen shots that show you how to complete and master Crystal Reports XI design techniques correctly, this is the book for you. The No Stress Tech Guide To Crystal Reports XI: For Beginners workbook, is a self-paced visual guide to learning Crystal Reports and is written from the perspective that the reader has not created a report before or has not used Crystal Reports. Our workbook is for the beginner and intermediate user. To help you become familiar with the options and features, this workbook contains over 600 illustrations that provide a visual tour of the software.
Customer Reviews:
proceed carefully.......2007-08-20
This is the second book I used as a CR developer, and it got me rolling nicely. It could definitely be laid out better for beginners, so it gets 3 of 5 stars.
The information is accurate and extensive. The organization could be greatly improved. It is unclear where the author is explaining and where each exercise begins and ends.
The exercises of each chapter are based closely on the exercises of the previous chapter. If you deviate from an exercise to learn more or just to spice things up, you will be lost in the following chapters, so keep a "plain vanilla" copy of each completed exercise.
Wonderful hands-on exercises.......2007-07-30
Dr. Murphy has written an easy to use book that will enable anyone to start using Crystal Report XI. Her workbook exercises ensure that each topic is understood before moving forward to the next topic.
Best Guide on the market for Crystal Reports XI!.......2007-01-28
Dr. Indera Murphy has surpassed all of the other authors when it comes to a user friendly guide for Crystal Reports XI: For Beginners! I love this book; everyone needs this for a desktop reference.
Good beginner bood.......2007-01-09
Good book for somebody who has never seen Crystal Reports before. Has some nice turorials and exercises to demonstrate functionality. Also includes data that would be usefull for completing a certification. Would be a good textbook for a high school or college course.
Book Description
The authorized guide to the latest edition of the #1 business intelligence software product - Crystal Reports. More than 16 million licenses of Crystal Reports have been shipped to date. This book is a reference designed to provide hands-on guidance for the latest release of the product suite. The latest version of Crystal Reports and the Business Objects enterprise reporting suite delivers vast product enhancements and a tighter integration that will drive upgrades from licensees. Brand new features (e.g. Dynamic and Cascading Parameter Generation) will also appeal to new audiences. Over 1 million new Business Intelligence licensees will be migrating to the Crystal Enterprise Reporting platform, as this is the first release of the software with the existing Business Objects (BO) products being integrated into the Crystal infrastructure. As Business Objects insiders, the authors bring unique and valuable real-world perspectives on implementations and uses of the Crystal Reports product. The book also includes content, tutorials and samples for reporting within the Microsoft Visual Studio.NET and J2EE development environments and also on top of the SAP Business Information Warehouse (BW) and the Peoplesoft platform. Advanced content on report distribution and integration into the secured managed reporting solution known as Business Objects Enterprise XI, is also now included in this definitive user guide with coverage on the new Web Services SDK.
Customer Reviews:
Good book for learning and reference........2007-03-22
I found this book to be an outstanding tool for learning Crystal Report. It's an easy read and has many easy and relevant examples.
Furthermore, since this is my first few weeks of using BOXI, I find myself referencing this book a lot. So far I have not been disappointed!
Should have come with the software..........2007-01-08
Remember back in the "good old days" of shrinkwrapped software when the box was mostly full with a big printed reference manual? Well, this is the book that should have come inside the now-nearly-empty box. The book is a standard reference-type manual designed to provide an overview of every feature within the product including the newest features such as Dynamic and Cascading Parameter Generation. Besides the standard overview type stuff, it includes some basic tutorials on often-confusing topics such as report integration (in .NET and J2EE environments); you won't become an expert using these tutorials, however. The book also includes a lot of information on how Crystal Reports integrates with Business Objects' larger software platforms (which, I suspect, will be a useless topic for 99% of users).
Beginning users will find the manual easy to use and full of interesting information. Intermediate users will find solid suggestions here and there. Advanced users will probably give it a flip-through and stuff it on the shelf next to all the other references where it will be used for occasional consultation. All in all a solid offering in a fairly crowded field, but one that is authoratative and complete. But I just can't shake the feeling that the manual should have come in the box. Heck, it even looks and feels just like the typical software documentation of days gone by...
Average customer rating:
- Poor Index, Missing key concepts, Garbage...
- Who are you writing this book for?
- A good reference book
- Not much different than Crystal's own manual
- Not so great
|
Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference
George Peck
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
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ASIN: 0072193271 |
Book Description
The most definitive resource on Crystal Reports available! Create presentation-quality reports using the most powerful data analysis tool and this comprehensive guide. Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference explains in detail how to use the software to analyze and format data, generate reports, and perform advanced interactive reporting from the Web. Also, learn to develop custom applications and incorporate any Crystal Report into your Windows applications.
Customer Reviews:
Poor Index, Missing key concepts, Garbage..........2005-01-18
I frequently use these reviews to select books of all types. I consider myself a power user able to learn rapidly from good texts. This book has not been very helpful for my work in Crystal Reports.
I need to be able to program Crystal Reports to perform a variety of complex reporting on databases that are completely denormalized. Thus, the ability to parse strings and execute stored procedures is critical.
This book completely fails to provide the information about built-in commands that I need. For instance, no information about string commands is present. No discussion of the use of arrays in Crystal Reports is provided.
I was deeply disappointed with this book.
Who are you writing this book for?.......2003-11-13
After reading positive reviews of this title, I decided to purchase the complete reference and was extremely disappointed. The most common problem with crystal books (or any other software application manual-excel, access, etc.) is that the author try's to appeal to all crystal report's users. There are generally three types of software user's out their, 1. database administrator/computer programmers who want reference manuals with excellent indexes. 2. Basic users who can get by with your classic "for dummies" title. 3. User's who don't understand VBA or SQL but want to be able to create reasonably advanced adhoc reports.
This title is to basic for the database administrator who would have to read 4 pages of babble to find the specific piece of information they need. There are no practice assignments for the beginner/intermediate report writer to do just that "practice". And when you do find a title that contains tutorials/assignments they are often to basic and lack real relevance in the business world. With the number of access, excel, crystal, etc. titles on the market you would think that there would be enough room to specifically appeal to the different types of software user's out their.
A good reference book.......2003-03-30
I develop financial reporting applications for various companies using VB and VBA. Recently I have completed a financial reporting system completely within Access 2000 making extensive uses of Access's report objects.
Although the Access report object does its job well, it lacks a lot of power features, i.e., limited grouping capabilities, formula in text boxes is limited to a simply expression unless you make a call to UFD, then you would loss your object encapsulation, etc, The Data Report object is VB6 is still some what of a joke, but let not open this can of worms. Thus, I have chosen Crystals reports for my developing needs.
I find George Peck's Complete Reference series very helpful. The book has 800 pages to teach me every nuance of Crystal. This book does not teach me anything about VB coding nor does it contain a reference to the object model within the RDC or any of the other object models in Crystal. I didn't buy this book to learn how to code. The author noted in page 659 specifically that the book is not meant to teach you Visual Basic.
Overall, this book gets me up to speed quickly and it's a good reference source for my future needs. Personally, I don't find the crystal help files very helpful.
Not much different than Crystal's own manual.......2003-03-15
I purchased this book as a reference. Fortunately, I had a separate training course for learning the Crystal application. And I now teach the product.
It's a good reference. I truly haven't had a question yet regarding basic or advanced procedures in the application that I couldn't find. But I would not recommend it for learning the application. It is dense.
I'm also disappointed that it is not very different from the CR 8.0 manual published by Crystal Decisions. The layout and procession of the book are virtually the same! It could have included more tutorials, too.
One thing that I would love for any CR reference/manual to include is a list and description of all the formulas in the system. To my knowledge, this does not exist anywhere, even in Crystal's own documentation.
PURCHASING RECOMMENDATION
If you need a solid reference and didn't purchase manuals with Crystal, this will work. If you need to learn the product, get something else.
Not so great.......2002-12-11
As you become more and more proficient, this book is more and more frustrating. There are so many things just touched on and not explained or not in the book at all!
Average customer rating:
- Not as helpful as I hoped.
- Good tips - but lots of repetition
- Very valuable
- Disappointing Read
- Superbly organized and very highly recommended
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Crystal Reports Professional Results
George Peck
Manufacturer: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
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Similar Items:
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Crystal Reports 10: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)
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Crystal Reports XI: The Complete Reference (Complete Reference Series)
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Crystal Reports 8.5: The Complete Reference
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Crystal Reports 10 For Dummies
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ASIN: 0072229519 |
Book Description
Create presentation-quality reports and complex, interactive analysis documents both on and off the Web with help from this thorough resource. Learn to use this powerful reporting tool to develop and design reports, make maps, tables, and charts, and much more. Produce visually appealing reports quickly and effectively, extract and present data from SQL databases, download ready-to-use sample report templates. Get the information, advice, and tools you’ll need to conquer the learning curve and produce winning reports and report-based applications.
Customer Reviews:
Not as helpful as I hoped. .......2006-08-03
The book seemed to be geared towards Crystal 9 and not Crystal XI. I had purchased XI at the same time. The book was not a large book and half of it contained an extensive glossary of terms. Very unneccessary as this information is found in many places.
Thanks
Bonnie
Good tips - but lots of repetition.......2006-06-15
The author of this book is also the author of the various editions of the standard 'Crystal Reports: The Complete Guide' book. This book tries to pick up where that book left off--in other words, this book tries to be a resource for intermediate to advanced users.
The book does present numerous interesting tips and a few really useful strategies for report development. However, the examples are not particularly thorough and there simply are not enough of them to really cover the breadth of the product. If used as an "idea-generator" book for a mid-level developer it would be useful, but it is not a comprehensive guide to advanced techniques.
As other reviewers have already mentioned, about half of the book is just reprinted information from the electronic help files that are included with Crystal Reports. Of course having them nicely organized and bound in printed form is very useful--but the book is pretty pricey for a simple reference manual.
I read and enjoyed the book, I learned a few things and it gave me some ideas, but in general it was a bit dissappointing. If work's buying it for you--great! If it's your own money--well, you might wish you hadn't spent it.
Very valuable.......2004-04-08
Like vitamins - read one a day for better reports. Glad I bought this book.
Disappointing Read.......2004-01-20
This is a disappointing read. Half of the book is the reference material from the help files and the other half is random report design techniques that don't fit together. Give this one a pass.
Superbly organized and very highly recommended.......2003-11-13
Crystal Reports Professional Results, by George Peckis a superbly organized and very highly recommended resource which provides a wealth of tips, ticks, and techniques on the creation and presentation of expert quality reports and complex, interactive analysis documentation both on and off the Web. George Peckis is particular adept at explaining just how to develop and design reports, make maps, tables, and charts, extract and present data from SQL databases, download ready-to-use sample report templates, and so much more.
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