Crystal Reports 2008 Introduction

Open the Crystal Reports 2008 start page to create or open reports. Use the report wizards for blank, crosstab, mailing labels, and OLAP cube.

Navigate the Crystal Reports 2008 interface with tabbed top navigation and multi-report support, mastering page setup, design view, and field explorer for data, formulas, and presets.

Use the report explorer to view headers, sections, and items inside your report, and use the repository explorer and dependency checker to validate the server connection.

Explore the Crystal Reports workbench to organize projects and launch reports, while mastering grids, locales, inserts, and sections for precise data presentation.

Learn to switch between design and preview modes in Crystal Reports 2008, use print preview to view reports, and navigate groups, data, and parameters via the tabbed interface and explorers.

Create your first Crystal Reports 2008 report using the wizard, then compare it with building from scratch, choosing data sources, selecting tables and fields, and refining the design.

Modify and resize report objects, adjust fonts and colors, and preview changes in design and preview modes; save as customer list and attach to the intro class in workbench.

Create a blank report by selecting the Northwind employees table, rename connections for clarity, and begin configuring the report sections such as header and detail.

Learn to insert and align fields in Crystal Reports 2008 using the field explorer, drag-and-drop into detail, with auto header naming and basic date and text formatting.

Open the format field dialog box, apply a two-digit month, two-digit day, four-digit year to the birth date field, preview the result, and resize the display for a clean date.

Insert a text object in the report header to title the report. Resize the text box, adjust the font size, and drag fields from data to the employee list.

Create formulas with the formula editor in Crystal Reports 2008, merging fields into full names and using string and date functions. Explore functions and operators to manipulate text and numbers.

Concatenate first and last names with ampersand in Crystal Reports, format as last name comma first name, and test formulas for errors while applying proper case for clean, space-efficient results.

Convert numeric values to words with the two words function in Crystal Reports to produce text equivalents for checks, and explore date calculations with formulas.

Use the year function to extract the birth year from a date and format it as a plain year, then concatenate city, state, and zip into an address.

Learn to create summary calculations by counting employee IDs, placing the count in the grand total on the report footer, and using the formula editor to insert a summary.

Discover how to use special fields and parameter fields in Crystal Reports, adjust titles, dates, and page counts, and leverage summary info metadata for professional report presentation.

Create a parameter field to dynamically customize a report title in Crystal Reports by naming it, choosing the data type, selecting static or dynamic data, and setting the prompt text.

Replace the report title with a parameter field in Crystal Reports, and refresh data to apply new parameter values during preview.

Master multiple parameter fields in Crystal Reports 2008 by creating title and description prompts, setting default values, and prompting users before report generation.

Insert and configure groups in Crystal Reports 2008 to organize data by country and region, define group headers and footers, and keep grouped data together across pages.

Sort records by customer name in crystal reports 2008 using the record sort expert, layering country and region as prior sorts, choose ascending or descending, and review via report explorer.

Delete a group via the report expert or group editor, then build a customer contact list by grouping on the first character of the customer name using a left formula.

Insert and configure summary fields to calculate last year's sales by region and country, including grand totals across all group levels, using Crystal Reports.

Dress up Crystal Reports 2008 by inserting graphics, such as a mountain bike image, and resizing with the shift key to preserve aspect ratio after configuring data and layout.

Format objects in Crystal Reports 2008 by changing fonts and font sizes, using the format painter, and aligning headers, footers, and groups for right-justified, neatly spaced totals.

Learn to align and resize report controls in Crystal Reports 2008 by selecting items, using the handlebars to mark the active control, and applying left or right alignment.

Apply conditional formatting with the highlighting expert to change text or background in a Crystal Reports 2008 report, using rules such as sales greater than 10000 to highlight customers.

Learn how to filter data in Crystal Reports 2008 using the select expert to display only records that meet criteria, such as last year sales over $100,000, while preserving groupings.

Create a currency parameter named sales to prompt users for input and filter the report data. Use the select expert to apply the parameter or rely on conditional formatting.

Create mailing labels with Crystal Reports 2008 using the wizard, build a city state zip formula, adjust layout, apply a dynamic country filter, and export the report.

Export Crystal Reports 2008 reports to formats and destinations, embedding data for offline viewing. Use parameters and a dynamic parameter to tailor exports and mailing labels.

Master crystal reports 2008 by navigating the user interface and start page, using the field viewer, and building reports with formulas, parameters, sorting, grouping, and conditional formatting.