Tips and Tricks: Crystal reports

Printing

  • To print Crystal reports (which includes both Print to Screen and Print PDF file to Screen), you must have the free Adobe® Reader® installed on both the server and your workstation.
  • If you are experiencing problems with your margins, you might want to check your print driver’s default margins. The print driver’s default margins will override all other margins.
  • To cancel a print job, you must have permissions to the print server.

Can Grow Fields

  • Crystal has an option that prevents data fields from being truncated. This prevents longer names from being cut off. This option should be set on all fields except date fields and numeric fields.
  • To set the Can Grow option globally: Select File > Options, select the Fields tab, click String, select the Common tab, and enable the Can Grow option.
  • To set the Can Grow option on a field: Highlight the field, right-click, select Format Editor, select the Common tab, and enable the Can Grow option.

Dates

Do not hard code date formats in the report. Instead, use the system default.

Suppress blank sections

Use different detail sections for fields that you wish to suppress based on selection criteria or, if there will be no data in those fields, for some records.

Report access

To access a module's reports, you must be assigned either to the module's group or to the Reporting group. You will see only folders and documents that match your permissions.

To see the Generate reports link on the iMIS Home page, you must be assigned to the Reporting group.

Runtime parameters

  • An asterisk (*) next to a parameter name shows that it is required.
  • With an optional parameter, either enter a parameter to narrow the search or leave it blank to obtain all records.
  • In addition to default parameters (OrgName, ReportTitle, OperatorName, and DateTimeSubmitted), Crystal reports might use others: refer to the Crystal Report Specifications for report-specific parameters.
  • If you see no default value (the field is empty), you can enter your own value. However, if a default value appears, you must select from among the values in the drop-down list.
  • If you change the original parameters in preview mode, be sure to select Change Parameters before generating the report.
  • If you expect parameters but see none, ask the creator of the output process to enable the Show Parameters at Runtime option.