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Parameterizing the Crystal Reports Queries SettingLocate this document in the navigation structure

Parameterizing the Crystal Reports Queries Setting

Use

The following example describes, in basic terms, the solution for a typical parameterization of the pre-calculation from Crystal Reports queries. You can find additional information about the individual steps underDefining Crystal Reports Queries Settings.

A user wants to execute a Crystal Report for various cost centers and various fiscal years.

The BW Reporting Agent allows you to vary within all posted cost centers and required fiscal years in a single background run. In this way, all associated data records are pre-calculated.

Prerequisites

In the query definition of the "useful query", the variables have been set for the following characteristics:

  • Cost Center
  • Fiscal year

We recommend you choose the Changeable with Query option for the variable for the Cost Center characteristic (refer to "Procedure", step 1).

Procedure

  1. The Cost Center characteristics has many characteristic values. For this reason, it would make more sense to use a control query for variation using the Cost Center characteristic.
  • You do not need to create a variant for each individual characteristic value.
  • Only the posted values are pre-calculated. ("0" appears where data has not been posted).

In the BEx Query Designer, define a control query.

A very simple query particularly lends itself to such an auxiliary query: The control query must have the Cost Center characteristic, according to which the system is to filter in our example, in the rows drilldown. Every row in the table delivered by a control query functions as a dynamic filter for the pre-calculation of the "useful query" for Crystal Reports.

  1. In the Parameters tab strip, in the Filtering area, choose the Explicitly with Query Result option, and enter a name for the control query.
  2. The Fiscal Year characteristic only has a few characteristic values. Therefore, it is easily possible to create a variant for every characteristic value for the variation with the Fiscal characteristic.

In the Parameters tab page, in the Variants area, create the required variants for the individual characteristic values.

Result

When executing the background job, the system varies in all variants created for the values of characteristic Fiscal Year, and, for each variant, in all values of the characteristic Cost Center made available by the control query.