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February 8th, 2016, 09:21 AM
#1
Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
Hi,
I'm a complete Newbie to Crystal_Reports. I have worked with QlikView so far and continue to do so, but as a matter
of fact, Crystal_Reports is the global standard we have here, so I have been asked to help out with this tool.
I have kicked off the purchase of a book on the thing for the company and for me, but I have not had any real training.
One of the other users showed me what he knows - but he was not one of the Powerusers, so that was precious little ...
There does not seem to be anything in the way of a Debugger in Crystal, or is there? I mean, there are SQL queries, mighty
complex ones from the look of it, with JOINs and stuff, but only in the background. Crystal does not show me the
progress of the query, so when I look at a report that used to work fine and it's not delivering any data now - how do
I know where to look for whatever breaks the report?
Among the little I have scooped up so far, I know where to look for the filtering_formulas in the report - but how do I check
whether they are correct? There is a filter for a specific value in a field - but how do I know that value even exists in that
field?
Thanks a lot for any help you can give me!
Best regards,
Quibblemind
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February 9th, 2016, 05:05 AM
#2
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
Hi,
to put it more precisely and start with one specific question:
How do I, without using another tool, find out what values exist in a given field so that i can check whether a query in the report is correct?
(for the moment, not knowing another way, I'll use listboxes in QlikView to check that)
The thing is, since the SQL_queries in the background are so complex, when there is just one uncorrect filter and Crystal just does not find the value, that can cause the computer to freeze for quite a while before the system decides to cancel the attempt.
Thanks a lot!
Best regards,
Quibbelmind
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February 9th, 2016, 10:15 PM
#3
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
I take the SQL Query produced by Crystal and run it through SQL Server Management Studio to review and troubleshoot the query and the data that is returned.
Garbage in, Garbage out.
Got to check to see what SQL is sending to the report. If that is good, then Crystal just puts the lipstick on the pig. =)
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February 10th, 2016, 04:54 AM
#4
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
Originally Posted by Malvisk
I take the SQL Query produced by Crystal and run it through SQL Server Management Studio to review and troubleshoot the query and the data that is returned.
;-) So you also use a second tool to check that what Crystal is using is correct? That makes me smirk a bit ;-)
That was, in fact, exactly my thought - as I don't have SQL_Developer and I don't know SQL and have no chance of having anything installed here, I would use QlikView to display listboxes of individual fields and check whether the value that Crystal filters for actually exists in that field.
It is kind of paradoxical that you have a BI tool, but you need a second one to make sure that what the first one is using is correct, but there's nothing I can do about that, it is the global standard.
Best regards,
Quibbelmind
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February 10th, 2016, 05:47 AM
#5
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
SQL is super easy to learn, I recommend Sam's Learn SQL in 24 Hours.
http://www.amazon.com/SQL-Hours-Sams...7s+24+hour+sql
You can also obtain SSMS for free from Microsoft. Though I've always found the installation to be annoyingly complex, as there isn't a simple "Install SSMS button"
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/down...s.aspx?id=8961
BI software is only meant to format/interpret the raw data. Crystal Reports has several methods of obtaining the data it is meant to interpret. The developers are faced with trying to reinvent the wheel to allow users to fully explore the data source, and compete against free native tools. No point trying to design a paring knife to also do the job of a meat clever. =)
Just get a meat clever. =)
If you're able, I'd recommend designing your reports so that the Datasource is a SQL Stored Procedure, rather than having Crystal doing all SQL Table joins. It really keeps the two worlds separated (the world of formatting the raw data vs the world of providing the raw data).
When I first learned Crystal Reports, I was working in an environment where all Crystal was given was a Field Definition file. The Field Definition file was produced by a 3rd party software where I had to manually create the SQL through a restrictive design tool that only allowed very simple SQL table joins. In that world Crystal didn't even know the actual SQL that was producing the data, and the 3rd party software didn't even provide me the SQL it was using to produce the data. =) I had to guess at what SQL the 3rd party software was using. So we would know what SQL Query was needed, and we would have to try to figure out how to work with the 3rd party software to get it to server up the data in the same way.
Killer thing is.... I worked for the company that made the 3rd party software.
Good luck, welcome to the world of SQL. I hope you find it as enjoyable as I do.
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February 10th, 2016, 08:25 AM
#6
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
Hi Malvisk,
thanks for your elaborate answer!
Unfortunately, in this company I cannot install anything, nor can I simply have it installed - it is an odyssee to get anything ... I'm not experienced or able enough to program SQL procedures that Crystal can then use as a data_source - able people have a tendency to quit this company eventually ...
I started at this because I'm being asked to, but I always had the feeling that Crystal is both complicated and unpractical as it doesn't let me explore the data before I display it, it just assumes that I know exactly where and what the data is and such ... but the people asking for reports very rarely really know the data, they just tell you what info they want ...
The thing is, only veeery few people in the company really know the database, there is no documentation and - oh, it's a wonderful mess ;-)
You are actually just telling me that I'd need just that info about the data that I usually don't have to effectively use Crystal.
Well, I'll see whether I'm supposed to do that in the long run or whether they'll take the licence from me as soon as the current pressing matters are over and done ...
Anyway, I much prefer using QlikView to design reports because it can do both - explore and manipulate all the available data and then display it - plus I can write all the LOAD statements myself so I know exactly what it's doing - I could do so in SQL, but it also has a scripting_language of its own, so I don't go beyond an >> SQL SELECT << from one table at a time ...
Thanks a lot!
Best regards,
Quibbelmind
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February 12th, 2016, 03:35 AM
#7
Re: Newbie to Crystal - how to go about debugging existing reports?
Hi,
well, it isn't so bad after all - I just have to find out bit by bit what I can do with this tool - I don't need too much as most of our users are only interested in the raw data exported as Excel or sent via email.
I can expand all the tables that are incorporated in a report and right-click on any field and select >Search data< and I can see what different values there are in that field, so I do have a way of finding out whether any of the filters applied in a report is correct or even possible.
The bigger problem is that none of the reports are properly documented, but that's not necessarily a problem of the tool itself - the knowledge of what exactly a report is supposed to show is often only in the head of the report_owner, so anyone else, particularly people without a Crystal_licence, have no way of knowing how many reports there are in any dpt. and what they are doing.
(I solved this in QlikView by typing up a documentation for every report in Word and saving this in a central location on the server and just linking it to a button in the report)
So all is not black - I'll see. As yet, I don't even know whether I'm supposed to do this in the long run - as likely as not, IT is going to sack my licence once the current phase is through ...
Best regards,
Quibbelmind
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