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Procedure documentationCreating Reports Using Crystal Reports Locate this document in the navigation structure

Prerequisites

  • The business query (and the underlying BDoc) that you want to use as the source of data for the report exists.

  • You have created the business content provider that you want to use as the source of data for the report.

    For more information, see Business Content Provider.

  • You have installed one of the following versions of Crystal Reports in your system:

    • Crystal Reports 7.0

    • Crystal Reports 8.0

    • Crystal Reports 8.5

    • Crystal Reports 9.0

    Note Note

    • If you use a business content provider for designing the report, then you must install Crystal Reports 8.5.

    • The runtime files of Crystal Reports Designer and Crystal Reports Viewer must be of the same version.

    End of the note.

Procedure

Perform the following steps in MSY.

  1. Choose   Report Maintenance   Details   .

  2. Choose New on the Report Overview tile and enter the required data.

    You can choose a business query or a business content provider as the data source for the report.

    Note Note

    The value that you enter in the Report Name field is used internally for the RPT file, which contains Crystal Reports design information. This file is saved in your system in the temporary directory at the path, ...\Reports\Design. The system deletes this file when you save the report.

    End of the note.

  3. Choose the Report indicator and then choose Design Report.

    The Crystal Reports designer appears.

    Note Note

    If you are creating a report using a business query, then the <query name>.TTX file is generated with the properties of the business collection. This file is saved in your system in the temporary directory at the path, ...\Reports\Design. The system deletes this file when you save the report.

    End of the note.

  4. If you useCrystal Reports 9.0, perform the following steps:

    1. From the menu bar, choose   Database   Database Expert  .

      The Database Expert dialog box appears. This dialog box has two parts; the Available Data Sources part appears on the left and the Selected Tables part appears on the right.

    2. On the Available Data Sources part, choose   Create New Connection   Field Definitions Only  .

      The Field Definitions Only dialog box appears; in this dialog box, you can select the TTX file.

      Note Note

      • The TTX file is saved in your system in the temporary directory at the path, ...\Reports\Design. You can open your temporary directory by entering %temp% in the dialog box; the system accesses your temporary directory directly. You can also find your temporary directory in your Microsoft Windows environment by choosing   Start   Run  , and then entering %temp%.

      • If you use a business content provider as the data source, then a TTX file is generated for each business object that exists in the business content provider structure. You must create a new connection by selecting Make New Connection for each business object.

      End of the note.

    3. Choose Finish.

      The file is added to the list and the query for the report appears in the Selected Tables section. A list of existing properties of the selected business query or business object appears on the left in the Field Explorer. Move the required fields to the report layout, using drag and drop.

    4. Go to step 5.

    If you use Crystal Reports 8.5, perform the following steps:

    1. From the menu bar, choose   Database   Add Database to Report   .

      The Data Explorer dialog box appears.

    2. Choose   More Data Sources   Active Data   Active Data (Field Definition Only)   .

      The Select Data Source dialog box appears.

    3. Choose Data Definition to browse and select the data source.

      Note Note

      The TTX file is saved in your system in the temporary directory at the path, ...\Reports\Design. You can open your temporary directory by entering %temp% in the dialog box; the system accesses your temporary directory directly. You can also find your temporary directory in your Microsoft Windows environment by choosing   Start   Run  , and then entering %temp%.

      End of the note.

    4. Choose Add to add the data source.

      If you use a business content provider as the data source, then a TTX file is generated for each business object that exists in the business content provider structure. You must create a new connection by selecting Make New Connection for each business object.

    5. Choose   Insert   Field Object...   .

      The Field Explorer dialog box appears with a list of existing properties of the selected business query or business object. Move the required fields to the report layout, using drag and drop.

    6. Go to step 5.

    If you use Crystal Reports 8.0, perform the following steps:

    1. From the menu bar, choose   Database   Add Database to Report   .

      The Data Explorer dialog box appears.

    2. Choose   More Data Sources   Active Data   Active Data (Field Definition Only)   .

      The Select Data Source dialog box appears.

    3. Choose Data Definition to browse and select the data source.

      Note Note

      The TTX file is saved in your system in the temporary directory at the path, ...\Reports\Design. You can open your temporary directory by entering %temp% in the dialog box; the system accesses the temporary directory directly.

      You can also find your temporary directory in your Microsoft Windows environment by choosing   Start   Run   , and then entering %temp%.

      End of the note.

    4. Choose OK to add the data source.

    5. Choose   Insert   Field Object...  .

      The Field Explorer dialog box appears with a list of existing properties of the selected business query or business object. Move the required fields to the report layout, using drag and drop.

    6. Go to step 5.

  5. The report layout contains the following sections. Enter appropriate values:

    • Report Header

      This is the first section of the report; you can, for example, include a title in this section.

    • Page Header

      In this section, you can include information besides the title to identify the report; you can, for example, include information about the person who prepared the report and the date on which it was done.

    • Details

      In this section, you include fields that must appear in the report (business partner name, city, and country, for example).

    • Report Footer

      This is the last section of the report; here, you can, for example, include a summary or notes.

    • Page Footer

      This section can contain information that must appear on every page of the report (the page number or the word “Confidential”, for example).

  6. On the menu bar, choose   File   Save Data with Report   and deselect this option.

  7. Choose Save on the toolbar and close the Crystal Reports designer.

    Caution Caution

    Choose Save and not Save as..., because the system selects the reports from the temporary directory on your default drive.

    If you choose Save, the report is saved with the technical name of an existing report in the default directory.

    If you choose Save as, you can give the report a new technical name.

    End of the caution.

    The Report Maintenance/Details tile set appears.

  8. Change the status of the report to Executable and save the changes.

    Note Note

    Setting the report status to Executable makes the report available in the Mobile Sales application.

    End of the note.

Result

You have created a report using Crystal Reports. You can now perform any of the following functions:

  • View the report

    Choose Show Report to view the report that you have just created. You can also view all the reports that have been created. Choose Overview on the navigation bar. The Reports tile contains all the existing reports.

    The report also appears in the Reports component of Mobile Sales.

  • Change the report

    Choose Modify Report to change the details or design of the report.

  • Define parameters for the report

    You can define parameters and parameter descriptions, and set default values for a report.

    For more information, see Defining Filtering Criteria for Reports and Charts.

  • Copy the report

    Choose Copy Report.

    The application creates a copy of the report. You can then make the required changes in the report.

  • Assign specific users to the report

    In the User Assignments tile set, you can assign specific users who can view the report. If you do not assign any users to a report, then, by default, the Distribute to All Users indicator in the Report Maintenance/Details tile set is selected; the report is available to all users.

  • Create a super report

    You can create a super report by adding multiple data sources to the report.

    For more information, see Creating a Super Report Using Crystal Reports.

  • Update the Active Field Definition file

    If you have created a report using a business query, then, when the structure of a underlying BDoc changes, you can choose Update Field Definition to update the fields in the Active Field Definition file.

    For more information, see Updating the Active Field Definition File.