Hands On: Ad Hoc Web Reporting
This version of Seagate Crystal Reports introduces a report/query designer that is 100% Java based. This Java application is capable of running on either a user’s desktop or within a browser provided they support JDK 1.1 or higher. For example, the browsers currently capable of supporting Crystal Query include: Internet Explorer 4.01 or higher, and Netscape Navigator 4.06 or higher.
| Note | The Seagate Crystal Reports 7 installation includes the Sun Java plug-in 1.1.1. This plug-in can be used with Internet Explorer 3.02 or higher and Netscape Navigator 3.0 or higher. To view Crystal Query in an HTML page using this plug-in please refer to the SCRSamples web site at http://<machinename>/scrsamples/. |
Crystal Query has been designed to provide a quick and easy alternative to creating reports and queries. Crystal Query is made up of two main components; the Query client that resides on either the user’s desktop or browser, and the Query Server which resides on the web server or other networked machine. All requests from the Query client are processed by the Query Server and are then passed back for viewing in the Results section or preview window of the Query Client. The result can then be saved as an RPT file which can also be viewed and modified within the Crystal Reports Designer.
Before You Begin
Ensure that the Crystal Query Server is installed and running (either as a process or as a service). If installed on NT you can do this by going into Services in your control panel. If you installed it under Windows 95 or 98 you can start the Query Server by selecting it from the main Seagate Crystal Reports program group.
Step by step
| 1 | To load the
application into your browser once the Query Server is running navigate to C:\Program
files\Seagate Software\Query\qry_web.htm in your Windows Explorer. Double click on the
file "qry_web.htm" and it will load your browser with a prompt dialog requesting
the machine name of your Query Server. Enter this and click the connect button. To start Crystal Query directly from Windows simply launch it from the Seagate Crystal Reports Program Group. |
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| 2 | Once Crystal Query has loaded, select New... from the File menu and the Data Explorer will automatically open, allowing you to browse for a desired data source or an existing Crystal Reports file to build from. | |
| 3 | From within the Query Explorer, navigate to the data source "Xtreme Sample Data" found under ODBC Data Sources\User Data Sources and double click on it to open the available tables. | |
| 4 | Select the Customer table and drag and drop it into the top section, the Table Linking Section, of Crystal Query. | |
| 5 | Close the Query Explorer. | |
| 6 | Drag Region, Customer Name & Last Year’s Sales fields into the Select Panel one at a time. The order that you place them in on the select line will determine the order that they appear in the final output. You can see the result instantly as the Query populates the Results Section with returned data. | |
| 7 | Drag Country into the Where Panel and right mouse click. Select the "edit" option and choose "is equal". Type "USA" without quotes into the space provided. This adds a record selection to the query so that only records where the customers with a Country = "USA" are included in the query. Click OK. Click the refresh button (the lightening bolt on the main button bar). You should now see a count of 59 records instead of 77. | |
| 8 | From the View menu select the Sort Panel option. Drag the Region field into the new panel and double click on the Region field to select your sorting option. Click OK and then click on the refresh button. The returned results are now sorted according to region. | |
| 9 | From the View menu select the Group By Panel option. This will add a new panel to the Query section and allows you to add a grouping to the query. | |
| 10 | Drag the Region field into the Group By Panel so the query results are grouped by State. Click on the refresh button and your group tree for smart navigation appears in the bottom results section. This provides a quick and efficient method of moving through the data to specific report data. | |
| 11 | Hide the Table Linking Section by clicking on the View menu. Select the Table linking option and toggle the panel off to free up more space on your desktop. | |
| 12 | You have completed the design of your first simple query. Click on the Report Tab at the bottom of the Query designer to preview the output as a result in a report format. The Seagate Crystal Reports preview window is presented which provides added capabilities for dragging and resizing fields, exporting and more. Click on the Query tab to return to the Query designer. When a query is saved it is stored as an RPT file, Crystal Reports native format, so that it can be opened later within the Crystal Query or the Crystal Reports main designer. |
For more information on the Crystal Query please refer to the Seagate Crystal Reports User Guide, or the Seagate Crystal Reports Developers help (DEVELOPERS.HLP)
For the latest information about this
product, please visit the web site at www.seagatesoftware.com/crystalreports.
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