Crystal Reports Faq's

 Crystal Report Faq's      

1. What is Crystal Report?

Ans: Crystal report is a report generation tool. Generally have interface with VB6. Crystal report basically generates dynamic data. You can format the data in whichever way you feel like.

2. Can we use Crystal report as a stand-alone application?

Ans: Generally we use Crystal Reports with VB6. However we can make crystal report stand-alone application also. But for that limitation is for viewing the report user should have crystal reports installed on his/her PC.

3. How do we connect to the database?

Ans: There are two ways of creating the report: -

1. Use crystal report built in query.
2. Use the tool ‘ Crystal SQL Designer’ provided by crystal report.

When you create report using crystal report built in query then it asks for the data source name that you have created. When you run the report, then for the first time it will ask for the user id and password. After that it will store the same.

When you create ‘.qry’ using ‘Crystal SQL’ Designer then at that time it will ask for the user id and password. When you run the report for the first time instead of asking for the user id and password it will ask for the ‘.qry’ file location. You can change the query location also. For that open the report, select ‘Set Location’ option in Database menu item, and set the location.

4. How do we format field?

Ans: For formatting any field just right click on it and you will get many options like ‘Format Field.’ ‘Browse field data’ etc. Click on ‘Format Field.’ You can align data, suppress, make it multiline, change the font size, style, and type, make it hyperlink etc.

If it is an amount field then you can display currency symbol also. Right click on the field select ‘Format Field’.

5. Can we give parameters to the report?

Ans: We can very well give parameters to the report. For creating parameters select ‘Parameter Field’ in Insert menu item. ‘Create Parameter Field’ dialog box will popped up, it will ask for the name of parameter, prompting text and datatype. Now when you run the report it will prompt for these parameters.

6.Can we create our own formulas in reports?

Ans: We can create our own formulas in reports. Select ‘Formula Field’ in Insert menu item. Write the formula in ‘Formula Editor’. Here you will get ‘Field Tree’, ‘Function Tree’, and ‘Operator Tree’, which will display the report fields, functions that are supported by crystal reports (like CDATE () etc.), operators (arithmetic, strings etc.) respectively.

7. Can we create report using more than one database?

Ans: We can create report using more than one database like Oracle, Access. Create data source name for both the databases. Select tables from them and create the report.

Only restriction is if you use two databases then you cannot see the SQL generated by crystal reports.

8. Can we export data of reports into other format like in world doc etc?

Ans: Generated data can be exported to word doc, or in rich text format. Just click on ‘Export’ icon in the menu. Export dialog box will be popped up. It will ask for the ‘Format’ like comma-separated value (csv) etc and the ‘Destination’ like disk, application etc. After that it will ask for the file name and save the data.

Only restriction is formatting of data will be lost, but crystal report will try to maintain as much formatting as it can.

9. Can we use our own SQL for creating a report?

Ans: We can also make our own query using ‘Crystal SQL Designer’ tool provided by SQL. Here you can insert your SQL statement as such. It will save this file as ‘.qry’ . And when you create a report instead of using ‘Database’ button use ‘Crystal SQL Statement’ button.

10. Can we edit SQL made by Crystal reports?

Ans: We cannot edit the SQL made by crystal reports. However we can view the SQL. For that select ‘Show SQL Query’ in Database menu item. Limitation is if you are using only one database. If you use two databases then you can’t even view the SQL prepared by crystal report.

11. Are there any limitations in crystal reports?

Ans: There are certain limitations in crystal reports. They are: -

1. If database is having field whose length is more than 255 characters, then you cannot make formula using that field.
2. While exporting data formatting is lost.
3. When you browse data just by right clicking on the field then it displays that is there in the database not the data selected by the query.

12. Can we suppress printing in crystal reports if 0 records are fetched?

Ans: Yes, we can suppress printing if no records are fetched. Select ‘Report Options’ in File menu item. ‘Report Options’ dialog box will pop up. In that there is one option ‘ Suppress printing if no records’ Check this option. If no records are found then nothing will be printed on the report.

13. What are the sections that we have in Crystal reports?

Ans: Report has got standard sections like ‘Page Header’, ‘Page Footer’, ‘Report Header’, ‘Report Footer’, and ‘Details’.

However you can add other sections also. Select ‘Sections’ in the Insert menu item. You can insert group sections also.

If you don’t want to show any section just right click on that section and suppress that.

14. Can we add any database field once we have chosen ‘Close’ button?

Ans: Yes, we can add any database field afterwards also. Select ‘Database Field’ in Insert menu item.

If you are using crystal report built in query then it will display the tables that you have selected. And you can select whichever field you want to display on the report.

But if you are using ‘.qry’ file then it will display Query and you can select only those field, which are there in the query.

15. Does Crystal Report support all the functions that we have in Oracle?

Ans: No, Crystal report does not support all the functions. Like Decode function is there in SQL but not there is crystal report. You need to convert that in crystal report format (in if and else etc.).

However if you use ‘.qry’ files then it take the SQL as such. There is no need of changing any syntax.

16. Can we use stored procedure for creating the report?

Ans: Yes, we can use stored procedure.

17. Is there any feature like summing total in crystal report?

Ans: Crystal reports provide features like grand total, sub-total, running total etc. You can select any of these features in Insert menu item.

You can sum up records on the basis of each record or on change of group using ‘Running Total ‘ option in Insert menu item.

18. I am using two tables one is of access database and other is of oracle database, I am getting an error saying that ‘SQL odbc error’ what should I do?

Ans: If you are getting such an error then click the icon for ‘Report Expert’. It will give a warning saying that formatting will be lost. Ignore this you will get ‘Standard Report Expert’ dialog box. Reverse the links of access database table and it will work.

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 Features

I haven’t seen a lot of information available that talks about what’s new in the release of the latest version, BusinessObjects XI 3.1, so I thought I would point out some of the highlights I’ve come across.  You may also want read the complete What’s New in BusinessObjects XI 3.1 guide from the website.

Release Highlights

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 is a release that is focused on bringing parity to our platform support for both Java and .NET.  In BusinessObjects XI 3.0 we did not provide a .NET version of our standard BI portal, InfoView.  In BusinessObjects XI 3.1 we have released a native .NET portal which has near parity with the Java version.  I say near parity, because there are a few things missing, namely:

• Encyclopedia
• Dashboard Builder
• Voyager
• BI Mobile
• Polestar

For companies who find comfort in an all Microsoft World, this release will be welcomed.  BusinessObjects XI 3.1 has added support for Windows Server 2008, SQL Server 2008 and Sharepoint Portal Server 2007.  (There is also Microsoft Active Directory Forest Support as well!)  If you are using the SAP Integration Kit, this is also now available on the .NET platform.

Web Application Container Service

One of the way in which BusinessObjects has been able to balance both rich feature sets and cross platform compatibility is through the introduction of a new server to the BusinessObjects Platform.  This service is called the WACS, Web Application Container Service, and is a java container.  What this allows BusinessObjects to do is to run existing java applications through the BusinessObjects framework.
Let me explain how this will work in practice.  The BusinessObjects Administration Console, the CMC, is written in Java.  Instead of rewritting this application in .NET, BusinessObjects simply added the WACS to the BusinessObjects service bus and will execute application via this service.  The beauty of this solution is that the .NET administrator never has to worry about it.  BusinessObjects manages everything.
What other Applications can use the WACS?
Besides the CMC, there are a number of other applications that could within the WACS.  This includes:

• Interactive DHTML Viewer for WebIntelligence
• Query as a Web Service (for supporting Xcelsius)
• LiveOffice

There is an important document that covers what is supported and what is not supported within the WACS framework.  In theory all native java-based aspects of the BusinessObjects application suite could be run through the WACS but the question is whether or not it is officially supported.  This document is called:  Web Application Container Server (WACS): Supported and Unsupported Features for BusinessObjects Enterprise XI 3.1and it explains the details.  You can download it here.

Additional Platform Enhancements

BusinessObjects XI 3.1 supports IPv6 100% across the product suite (except for Desktop Intelligence).  They have also added their first native 64-bit architecture.  Since BusinessObjects XIr2 SP3, the platform has been able to run on 64-bit operating systems however the platform still runs as a 32-bit application.  The first native 64-bit release is an the HP-UX IA-64 Itanium hardware.

Life Cycle Manager

Life Cycle Manager, LCM for short, s a web-based utility that allows the administrator to:

• Promote BI content from one system to another (without affecting the dependencies of the content)
• Manage dependencies of BI content
• Manage different versions of BI content
• Roll back (yahoo!) promoted BI content

This tool does not install with the platform, but is a separate install.
“So isn’t that what the Import Wizard is for?”, you may be asking?  Well, certainly the import wizard has been used to provide this type of functionality in the past – especially with the introduction of BIAR files in BusinessObjects XI; however I think you’ll see from the list of features in LCM, it is better to have a specialized tool for the LCM process.
Life Cycle Manager provides a number of features over the Import Wizard (besides rollback) including:

• Granular control over the objects selected (yes, we trust you)
• Scheduling Promotions Jobs (a job is a collection of BI content or InfoObjects to be precise)
• Integrated Version Control (via Subversion)
• Database connection overrides and mapping (Tired of changing database connection strings?)
• Auditing
• The ability to “preview” to changes before committing them
• Rollback, Did I mention rollback?

There is a new LCM Job server which has been added to the platform to manage the promotion process.
Have you ever created a BIAR file and realized you missed a file?  Now with LCM you can save your Promotion job and use it to generate a BIAR file.  If you find that something is missing, you can simply open up the promotion job , select the missing objects and regenerate the BIAR file.
BIAR ≠ BIAR
When is a BIAR file not a BIAR file?  Well, with the LCM tool, the BIAR files which are generated by the LCM tool are LCMBIAR files.  As the name indicates, the LCMBIAR files are NOT compatible with the BIAR files used with the Import Wizard.  Bummer.

Voyager

Voyager was the other biggie.  A lot of work was put into providing interface enhancements and increased performance.  This is probably the last release before the eagerly anticipated release of “Pioneer” in 2009, which will combine Voyager’s intuitive user interface with the powerful OLAP capabilities of the BEx OLAP tools.
Voyager now has a number of new visualizations including Box-Plot, Scatter, Bubble and Radar charts.    There are also a number of features that were in OLAP Intelligence, which were missing in earlier versions of Voyager, namely, Exception highlighting, URL Linking to other BI Content and Favorite Groups.
Have you ever made a mistake when building a Voyager workspace?  Well, now you have full undo/redo capabilities.  After being so used to the undo/redo capabilities in WebIntelligence, I always found the missing feature extremely annoying and I’m sure other did to.

Fly Over Of Additional Features

Rather than talk about additional features in detail, I thought I would briefly mention some of them here and perhaps in the future I can blog about them in detail if there is interest.
Semantic Layer -Support for BEGIN_SQL, Prompt support for codes AND descriptions.
Crystal Reports – Dual Monitor support, flash printing to PDF.
WebIntelligence -Support for Extension Points, Auto-Save, RelativeValue(), Multi-Pass Bursting
SAP Integration – SNC for BusinessObjects Universes (Prior to XI 3.1, this was only available for Crystal Reports), Improve Prompt Support for Hierarchy and Hierarchy Node dependencies.
Dashboard Builder – Printing, Interportlet Communication

Summary

There are some good things that have come out in this latest release.  This release is also the latest ‘reset point’ for BusinessObjects XI 3.X maintenance, so you can expect fix packs for XI 3.0 to no longer be released.
Hope you found this information useful.  I’ve tried to keep it short and sweet.
«Good BI»

BUSINESS OBJECTS ALL INTERVIEW QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS

1: Chasm trap:

The Chasm trap occurs when two “many to one” joins converge on a single table. For example a customer can place many orders/and or place many loans.

2: Fan trap

The Fan trap occurs when a “one to many” join links a table which is in turn linked by another “one to many” join.

4: Re: What are universe parameters? Answer

Definition Tab: name, description and connection to the

database

Summary Tab: author and statistics about the universe

Strategies Tab: internal or personal wizards to make

Creating a universe easier

Controls Tab: manages access and control of resources

SQL Tab: queries and SQL parameters

Links Tab: enables dynamic links with other universes.

5: Business Objects Universe Optimization

By BIDW Team on February 9, 2010

Every Business Objects Universe designer faces performance problems in his/her career at least once and in most of the cases he will use “push down strategy” ask DBA to optimize the warehouse

However it works very well but there are some thing which can also help to optimize the performance of Universe.

Analyze Report SQL for unnecessary Joins

1. First get the list of reports which are performing low and get their SQL.

2. Analyze the report SQL for joins. There could be unnecessary join which is causing query to perform low. make a change in your universe accordingly to generate query with optimized joins.

Analyze report Query for Indexes. ( work with DBA for this )

1. Get the report SQL , check the where clause

2. Check if indexes are user properly in SQL and also they exist in database

3. Also, check if statistics in database is updated, as its its not then DB may not generate optimized query.

Use Aggregates for measures

1. Use Aggregate aware for your measure objects to use summary tables form Database

2. You can also think of Automatic Query re-write instead of using Aggregate Aware in Universe designer, However this requires careful planning and high involvement from DBA

Use Partitions for high volume fact tables

1. Partitioning the fact table can boost your query performance.

2. Work with DBA to get it done

Array Fetch Size

1. Play with Universe options for setting up optimal value of Array fetch Size parameter.

Universe Analysis for Shortcut joins

1. Analyze your reports and universe for possible use of shortcut joins as they play little but important role in performance.

Index Awareness

1. Try using Index Awareness from Universe side to generate optimized query.

Note: This requires thorough testing of report data and detail understating of data warehouse data

Universe Cleaning.

1. Make sure LOV is disabled measure objects

2. Make sure LOV is disable for un-necessary dimension objects

6-R WHAT IS ROW LEVEL SECURITY IN BO? 

Answer

HI.. The above answer refers to Row limit where we can 

restrict users to run reports for specific row limits like 

5000 rows or 10000 rows just to have a good server 

Performance.

Where Row level security is allowing the end user who runs 

the report to view the data which he is authorized to view.

For Example you are trying to run a report which pulls data 

contaings of 2 departments of the organization.

If you belong to DEP 1 then you will see data related to 

DEP1 only and a user belonging to DEP2 can see DEP2 data 

only. if you belong to both the groups then you can view 

data without restrictions.

7-R: What are the different types of schemas? 

Answer

two types of schemas r there: Star schema and snow flake Schema: in Snow flake schema normalozation is promoted where as in star schema denormalization is promoted. incase of snowflake schema DB size will be saved but no of joins will be increased and poor performance compare with star schemaregards,

 

8-R: Errors While Creating Univers?

---

The most common errors while creating universes are

cardinalities not ok
loops not ok
divergence not ok
check integrity not ok

 

kirant.seo@gmail.com