Web-Enabled Decision Support Systems

Crystal Reports

Prof. Name name@[Link]

Position (123) 456-7890
University Name
1
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

2
 Introduction
 Crystal Reports is one of the world’s leading software packages for
creating interactive reports
– Allow us to compare, summarize, group, and present data to users in a
variety of formats:
 Invoices, bills, charts, graphs, and more

– Provides a rich collection of features:

 Grouping, sorting, summarizing, analyzing, applying selection criteria, selecting
display styles, and graphically presenting data using charts

– Integrated and distributed along with the Visual Studio package

– We utilize the Visual Studio IDE to design reports and integrate them in
database applications
 Display charts and summarized information on Windows forms or web forms
 Built on existing or new data sources or on other ADO .NET objects

3
Sample Crystal Reports

4
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

5
 A Simple Student Report
 The report should display:
– Contact information (name, email, and phone) of students in the Industrial
Engineering (ISE) department, grouped by student classes
– Bar chart for the number of ISE students in each of the five student classes

The Student Report

6
Application, DB Connection, and Data Source

 How-to: Create a Simple Student Report

1. Create a new Windows application named CrystalReports, using the New
Project dialog box.

2. Choose the Data | Show Data Sources option from the Main menu to open
the Data Sources Window. Click Add New Data Source to start the Data
Source Configuration wizard.

3. Create a new connection to the University database; copy the database to

the current project folder when prompted; choose the student, department,
college, and faculty tables from the table’s nodes on the last page. Click
Finish.

7
 Adding a Report to the Application
4. Choose Project | Add New Item from the Main menu to open the Add New
Item dialog box. Locate and select the Crystal Report option. Name the
report as [Link] in the Name TextBox and click Add.

Adding a Crystal Report to the Application

8
 Using the Report Expert Wizard
 We choose the mode of the Crystal Report creation in the Crystal
Reports Gallery dialog box from the following options:
– Using the Report Wizard
 Choose from a variety of Experts in the bottom half of the dialog box
 Experts create different types of reports and are, arguably, the most popular
methods of creating new reports

– As a Blank Report
 Advanced users can build reports from a blank report
 No Expert wizards are available for this option

– From an Existing Report

 Imports an existing report, which is used as the basis for a new report
 Again, Experts wizards are unavailable with this option

9
 Using the Report Expert Wizard (cont.)
 Selecting the Using the Report Wizard option allows us to choose from
three different Experts as shown in the table below:

Expert Description

Standard It is the most generic and frequently used Expert. It is used to create columnar
reports. It has features such as grouping, sorting, summary options, filtering, and
charts. We can also choose from pre-defined styles for new reports.

Cross-Tab This row-column grid report looks similar to a spreadsheet. It summarizes grouped
data across rows and columns similar to cross-tab queries in the MS Access DBMS.

Mail Label As the name suggests, this Expert prints multi-column mail labels and can combine
the text object and database fields.

10
 Using the Report Expert Wizard (cont.)
5. For the student report example, keep the default selections, Using the
Report Wizard and Standard Expert. Click OK.

The Crystal Reports

Gallery Dialog Box

11
Specifying Source of the Report Data
6. On the Data page, collapse the Project Data | ADO .NET DataSets |
[Link] nodes to see the list of data tables.

7. Add the student table from the Available Data Sources pane to the Selected
Tables pane. Click Next.

Specifying Data
Sources

12
 Selecting the Fields of the Report
8. On the Fields page, collapse the tblStudent node to view its available fields.
Add the StudentID, DeptID, Name, Class, Email, and Phone fields of the
student table from the Available Fields pane to the Fields to Display pane.
Click Next .

Selecting Relevant
Fields for the Report

13
 Performing Grouping Operations
9. On the Grouping page, add the [Link] field from the Available
Fields pane to the Group By pane. Accept the default “in ascending order”
sorting order at the bottom of the wizard page and click Next.

Group By Field
of the Report

14
 Performing Summary Operations
10. On the Summary page, add the [Link] field from the Available
Fields pane to the Summarized Fields pane.

11. Select the StudentID summary field from the Summarized Fields pane and
choose the Count operation from the drop-down list below. Click Next.

Counting the Number

of Students

15
 Using the Group Sorting Feature
12. On the Group Sorting page, accept the default None option for the Class
group and click Next.

Group Sorting
Options

16
 Using the Chart Option
 Chart is one of the most attractive features of the Crystal Reports
– On the Chart page of the Expert wizard, we can specify:
 Chart type
 Chart title
 Chart data

 Chart types:
– Bar Chart
 Uses vertical or horizontal bars to show the relationship between data

– Line Chart
 Uses lines along a grid to present the data

– Pie Chart
 A circle divided into segments, with each piece of the pie representing the data

17
 Using the Chart Option (cont.)
13. On the Chart page, select the Bar Chart radio button. Select
[Link] as the “On change of” field (X-axis) and Count of
[Link] as the “Show summary” field (Y-axis). Name the chart
title as shown in below. Click Next.

Selecting the Chart

Type as a Bar Chart

18
 Filtering the Report
14. On the Record Selection page, move the [Link] field from the
Available Fields pane to the Filter Fields pane.

15. Select the DeptID field in the Filter Fields pane, and choose the “is equal to”
item from the drop-down list. Assign the value of the expression “ISE” in the
second drop-down list and click Next.

Applying Filtering
Criteria

19
 Selecting the Report Style
16. On the Report Style page, select the Red/Blue Border style for the student
report. Click Finish to add the report to the application.

Selecting the
Report Style

20
 Selecting the Report Style (cont.)
17. Select the bar chart object from the report header and right-click the
selection. Choose the Chart Options | Template option from the short-cut
menu to open the Chart Option dialog box. Select the Use Depth option and
click OK.

The Crystal Report’s

Design Environment

21
 Adding a CrystalReportViewer
18. Open Form1 in the Design Window. Drag and drop the CrystalReportViewer
control under the Crystal Reports tab in the Toolbox on Form1.

Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control to a Windows Form

22
 Binding the Report and Running
19. Double-click on the Form1 to open the Code Window. Replace Form1’s
Form_Load event with the code below. Press Ctrl + F5 to run the application.

Getting Data

Binding Report

Crystal Report Binding Code

23
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

24
 Crystal Report Sections
 A Crystal Report consists of a number of sections:
– Report Header/Footer:
 Appear once at the beginning/end of the report

– Page Header/Footer:
 Appear on each page of the report
 Footer includes page number by default

– Group Header/Footer:
 Appear automatically for each group

– Details:
 Core section of a report
 Appears once for each record

Crystal Report Sections

25
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

26
 Formatting Charts and Fields
 We format charts to make them look more appealing
– Includes modifying the chart type, editing its title, layout, data labels, axis
labels, and grid lines settings

– There are four different options available in the Chart Options menu to
format a chart:

Chart options Description

Template We can choose different chart types using this option or enhance existing type settings
such as selecting 3D riser and using chart depth, etc.

General We can alter general options such as data labels and chart layout.

Titles We can modify chart title and axis labels using this option.

Grid This is one of the most effective formatting options. We can decide between major or
minor grid lines and scale of the axes with this option.

27
 Formatting Charts and Fields (cont.)
 How-to: Format Charts and Fields
1. Open the [Link] file from the Solution Explorer to view the
report’s design.

2. Right-click on the chart object in the report header (Section 1) to display its
formatting options. Choose the Chart Options item.

Chart Options Item

for Chart Formatting
Properties of Report Charts and Fields

28
 Editing Chart Design
 To edit any of the Expert wizard options:
– Right-click outside the chart object in the report header section and choose
the appropriate option from the short-cut menu.

Editing Chart Design

29
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

30
Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 We can further enhance report appearance and behavior by manipulating
properties of the CrystalReportViewer control:

Property Description

BackColor Gets/Sets the background color used to display text and graphics in the
control.

DisplayGroupTree Indicates whether the group tree on the left-hand side should be visible or
hidden.

DisplayToolbar Indicates whether the toolbar at the top should be visible or hidden.

ShowCloseButton Indicates whether the viewer toolbar should contain buttons (Close,
ShowExportButton Export, and Print) to perform actions.
ShowPrintButton

Name Gets/Sets the name used in the code to identify the control.

ReportSource Determines which report to display inside the viewer control.

31
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

32
 Creating the Report
 How-to: Create a Pie-Chart to Display Faculty Salaries
1. Add Form2 to the CrystalReports application.

2. Choose the Project | Add New Item option from the Main menu to invoke the
Add New Item dialog box. Choose the Crystal Report item, and name the
report [Link]. Click Add to create a new Crystal Report.

3. Select the default Using the Report Wizard option with the Standard Expert
selection in the Crystal Reports Gallery dialog box. Click OK.

33
 Creating the Report (cont.)
4. On the Data page of the wizard, select the tblFaculty data table under
Project Data | [Link] Datasets in the Available Data Sources pane, and
add it to the Selected Tables pane. Click Next.

Choosing Tables
on the Data Page

5. On the Fields page, select and add the FacultyID, DeptID, and Salary fields
to the Fields to Display pane. Click Next.

6. On the Grouping page, select and add the DeptID field to the Group By
pane. Click Next.

34
 Creating the Report (cont.)
7. On the Summaries page, remove the Sum of [Link] field from
the Summarized Fields pane. For the [Link] field, choose the
Average summary option from the drop-down list at the bottom of the page.
Click Next.

Using the Summary Page

35
 Creating the Report (cont.)
8. On the Group Sorting page, select the None ordering option and click Next.

9. On the Chart page, choose the Pie Chart option. Change the Chart Title box
as shown below. Accept default values for the On Change of and Show
summary drop-down lists. Click Finish.

Setting up a Pie Chart

36
 Creating the Report (cont.)
10. In the [Link]’s design view, remove all the fields in the various
report sections except for the chart object in the report header.

11. Select the chart object and right-click the selection. Choose Chart Options |
General item from the short-cut menu to open the Chart Options dialog box.

12. Navigate to the Data Labels tab and configure it as shown below.

Configuring Data Labels

on the Pie Chart

37
 Binding the Report
13. Add a CrystalReportViewer control from the ToolBox on Form2.

14. Using the Properties Window of the control, change its Dock property from
Fill to None, and set its DisplayGroupTree property to False. Adjust its length
and width on the form.

Un-docking the
CrystalReportViewer
Control

38
 Binding the Report (cont.)
15. Drag and drop the tblFaculty data table from the Data Sources Window on
Form2.

16. Remove the auto-created DataGridView control and the ToolStrip control
from Form2.
Component Tray

17. Replace the form’s Form_Load event with the code shown below.

Binding Code

39
 Binding the Report (cont.)
18. Set the Form2 as the start-up form and run the application.

Running Application: Average Faculty Salaries on a Pie Chart

40
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

41
Creating a Report Based on Multiple Tables
 We often need to create a Crystal Report based on the data from the join
of two or more tables

 Desired report:
– “Plot a line chart of average student grades for each calendar year.”

 In the University database:

– Grade information is stored in the transcript table for student-section pairs
– The year in which the sections are offered is stored in the section table

42
 Setting up the Data Table
 How-to: Create a Crystal Report Based on Multiple Tables
1. Open the Dataset Designer. Right-click anywhere in the designer, and
choose the Add TableAdapter option from the short-cut menu to open the
TableAdapter Configuration wizard.

2. On the Enter a SQL Statement page of the wizard, build the SQL query as
shown below, and finish the wizard.

Average Grade Line Chart’s Base Query

43
 Setting up the Data Table (cont.)
3. The wizard adds a DataTable and TableAdapter in the Data Sources
Window. Rename these objects as tblGrades and tblGradesTableAdapter as
shown below.

TableAdapter and DataTable Objects for the Join Query

44
 Creating the Report
4. Add Form3 to the CrystalReports application.

5. Add an [Link] report to the application.

6. Accept the default selections in the Crystal Reports Gallery dialog box.

7. Select the tblGrades data table under the Project Data | [Link] Datasets
item and add it to the Selected Tables pane.

Choosing Data for

the Grades Report

45
 Creating the Report (cont.)
8. On the Fields page, select and add the Year and Grade fields to the Fields to
Display pane. Click Next.

9. On the Grouping page, add the Year field to the Group By pane. Click Next.

10. On the Summaries page, remove any additional fields from the Summarized
Fields pane. For the [Link] field, choose the Average summary
option. Click Next.

Choosing Average
Function for the
Grade Field

46
 Creating the Report (cont.)
11. On the Group Sorting page, accept the None ordering option and click Next.

12. On the Chart page, choose the Line Chart option. Change the Chart Title
box as shown. Accept default values for the “On change of” and “Show
summary” drop-down lists. Click Finish.

Setting up the
Line Chart

47
 Creating the Report (cont.)
13. In the report’s design view, remove all the fields in the various report
sections except the chart object in the report header.

14. Select the chart object from the report header and right-click the selection.
Choose Chart Options | Template from the short-cut menu to open the Chart
Option dialog box. Check the Use Depth option and click OK.

15. Now choose Chart Options | Titles from the same short-cut menu, and
change the Y-axis title to Average Grade. Click OK to accept changes.

48
 Creating the Report (cont.)
16. Choose the Chart Options | Grid option, and navigate to the Scales tab in the
Numeric Axis Grids & Scales dialog box. Set up the scales as shown.

Adjusting Y-axis
Scales

17. In the same dialog box, navigate to the Grids tab and check the Use Manual
Grid option. Set the interval value to 0.5.

49
 Binding the Report
18. Open Form3 in the Design Window, and add a CrystalReportViewer control.
Change the control’s Dock property from Fill to None. Adjust its length and
width. Also use the Property Window to set the DisplayGroupTree property to
False.

19. Drag and drop the newly created tblGrades data table from the Data
Sources Window on Form3.

20. Remove the auto-created DataGridView control and the ToolStrip control.

TableAdapter and Dataset Components for Chart Data

50
 Binding the Report (cont.)
21. Replace the form’s Form_Load event with the code below.

22. Set Form3 as the start-up form

and run the application.

Running Application:
Line Chart

51
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

52
 Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 Static reports are designed to display information with certain fixed
characteristics

 We can use parameterized Crystal Reports to display information

based on parameter values

 Desired report:
– “Display contact information and a class bar chart for any user-selected
department.”
 The department selected by the user becomes a parameter for the report query
 The query result is displayed on the report dynamically

53
 Edit a Copy of an Existing Report
 How-to: Create Parameterized Crystal Reports
1. Select the previously created [Link]. Choose Edit | Copy and
Edit | Paste from the Main menu. Rename it as [Link].

2. Double-click on [Link] to open it in the Design Window.

Right-click outside the chart object, and choose Report | Select Expert from
the short-cut menu to open the Select Expert dialog box.

3. Click Delete to remove the existing selection criterion, “is equal to” ISE. Click
OK to accept the changes.

Removing Selection
Criteria from an
Existing Report

54
 Adding a Parameter Query
4. Open the Dataset Designer, select the TblStudentTableAdapter, and right-
click to choose the Add Query option to open the TableAdapter Query
Configuration wizard.

5. On the page Specify a SQL SELECT Statement, enter the SQL query as
shown below and click Next.

Parameterized Query
for the Student Report

6. Name the methods FillByDeptID and GetDataByDeptID, and click Finish.

55
 Adding a ToolStrip Control
7. Add a new form, Form4, to the CrystalReports application. Drag and drop
the CrystalReportViewer control onto the form.

8. Set the Dock property of the control to None. Add a ToolStrip control from the
All Windows Forms tab of the Toolbox on Form4.

9. Position the ToolStrip on top of the page. Use the drop-down list on the
ToolStrip control to add a Label control.

Adding Controls to the ToolStrip Control

56
 Adding a ToolStrip Control (cont.)
10. Select the newly added Label control and alter its Text property using the
Property Window.

11. Similarly, add a TextBox and Button controls to the ToolStrip. Manipulate
their properties as shown in the table below.

Control Property Value

Label Text Enter Dept ID

TextBox Name tspDeptID

Button Name tspShowReport

Text Show Report

Display Style Text

Property Values for Controls in the ToolStrip

57
 Binding the Report
12. Enter the code shown below for Form4.

Form_Load Event Code for a Parametric Student Report

58
 Binding the Report (cont.)
12. Enter the code shown below for the Click event of the command button in
the ToolStrip.

Click Event Code for a Parametric Student Report

59
 Binding the Report (cont.)
13. Set Form4 as the start-up form and run the application. Test the application
by entering different DeptIDs in the ToolStrip’s TextBox control.

Running application:
A Parameterized
Student Report

60
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

61
 In-Class Assignment
 In this section we assign a simple problem that covers most of the
features we have discussed in this chapter.

 Create an application that plots a bar chart for the number of students in
each department.
– Do not display any record fields in the report, the chart being the only
requirement.

 Further, users should be able to view the bar chart for any college they
select from a drop-down list of all colleges in the university.

62
 Overview
 16.1 Introduction
 16.2 Crystal Report Primer: A Simple Student Report
 16.3 Crystal Report Sections
 16.4 Customizing Reports: Exploring the Design Environment
 16.5 Properties of a CrystalReportViewer Control
 16.6 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Pie-Chart to Display Salaries
 16.7 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating a Report from Multiple Tables
 16.8 Hands-On Tutorial: Creating Parameterized Crystal Reports
 16.9 In-Class Assignments
 16.10 Summary

63
 Summary
 Reports are the best way to create a printed copy of information.
– They allow us to compare, summarize, and subtotal large data sets in well-
designed and professional forms:
 Invoices, purchase orders, mailing orders, monthly bills, etc.

 Crystal Reports is one of the world’s leading software packages for

creating interactive reports.
– Crystal Reports are widely used and have set the standard for reports.

 We can also build a report based on the TableAdapter that has a join of
multiple tables.
– We introduce a powerful technique to parameterize reports, and we display
reports based on the results of parameterized queries.

64
 Summary (cont.)
 Adding Crystal Reports on a Windows form involves the following steps:
1. Add a Crystal Report to the application.

2. Use the Report Expert to specify the report:

 Data source, report fields, group-by fields, aggregate function, selection fields,
and filtering criteria

3. In the Expert wizard, specify a chart type, chart titles, and chart data.

4. Add a CrystalReportViewer control on the Windows form.

5. Add the data source used for report design:

 Either in the Component tray or create it programmatically at run-time.

6. Bind the report to the viewer control.

65
 Additional Links
 Add links here.

66