Crystal Reports(R) 9: The Complete Reference

Features

• Cover Type: Paperback with 880 pages
• Published by: McGraw-Hill Osborne Media
• Edition: 1st Edition November 19, 2002
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 007222519X
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0072225198
• Book Dimensions: 9.1 x 7.3 x 2.1 inches
• Weighs: 3.8 pounds

Product Description
Create winning presentations and reports using the most powerful data analysis tool and this comprehensive guide. This book explains how to use the software to analyze and format data, generate reports, perform advanced interactive reporting from the Web, and much more, making it the ultimate one-stop Crystal Reports resource.

Back Cover Copy


Your Definitive Resource on Crystal Reports 9!

Covers upgraded GUI, custom functions, repository, Report Application Server, and more

Create eye-popping, presentation-quality reports and complex, interactive analysis documents both on and off the Web with help from this one-stop reference. Learn to use the latest version of this powerful reporting tool to develop and design reports, draw information from databases, make tables and charts, integrate with Visual Basic and Visual Studio .NET applications, and much more. This helpful resource provides comprehensive coverage of core basics for new Crystal Reports users, and plenty of review--as well as clarity on what's new--for those who have experience with previous versions. Get the information, advice, and tools you'll need to conquer the learning curve and produce winning reports and report-based applications.

• Develop, design, and build business, corporate, and personal reports
• Learn essentials such as mapping, formatting, grouping, design, and exporting
• Share formula logic and report objects within your organization using the new repository and custom functions
• Utilize templates, complex formulas, charts, report wizards, and more
• Integrate Crystal Reports into Visual Studio .NET Windows and Web applications
• Implement state-of-the-art Web reporting with the new Report Application Server
• Customize Crystal Enterprise for efficient and speedy Web delivery
• Integrate Crystal Reports with Visual Basic and Active Server Pages using Crystal Reports' Report Designer Component
• Maximize report performance with your SQL database

Reader Reviews
to start, I am a crystal developer who is responsible for putting reports on our sales intranet, and I bought this book thinking it could help me with the new version of Crystal. To be fair, the book does a good job of showing you how to create simple reports. Unfortunately, it never moves far beyond that and is not really deserving of the title "complete reference". Once you get through the basic material on report design, the chapters on distributing reports through the web, ASP, etc. are weak and the sections on other languages are worse-- the code examples are similiar to the projects that come with the product itself. And probably the worst part of it all, is a MAJOR chunk of the book refers to the previous versions of the product (including Crystal Enterprise 8.5, NOT 9) and outdated features with a disclaimer of "this hasn't been released yet, so here is the old stuff". Why would I buy a book with "version 9" on the cover, when it uses filler material from the previous version? It is a sad attempt to bulk up the page count and make you think you were getting something you are not. So in total, if I could rip the book in half, I would keep the first section and throw out the other half. It is still a good reference for report design, but not much else.