Crystal SQL Designer 1

[BurnsORegan]

Help, is this sold separately or is it standard in CR 9 or in CR8)

Burnsoregan

 

[kenhamady]

It comes with CR 8.x Proffessional or Developer, but may not install by default. It does not come with v9 but can be downloaded.

Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Expert's Guide to Formulas / Tips and Tricks / Guide to Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

- tek@kenhamady.com

 

[synapsevampire]

It's also NOT suggested by Crystal or anyone who has database skills and access to the database as it's just an extra layer of potential failure.

-k

 

[kenhamady]

I agree that it is limited, and I don't use it much, myself, but I think the only time I have seen Crystal recommend NOT using this tool, is when you are deploying web or client applications.

It can be useful for those who don't have access to the database, and it can also provide a portable data set that can support multiple reports.

Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Expert's Guide to Formulas / Tips and Tricks / Guide to Crystal in VB

http://www.kenhamady.com/

- tek@kenhamady.com

 

[etseel]

I'm starting from scratch in CR9, but would like some user friendly way to figure out the syntax for SQL statements. My end goal is to figure out how to write SQL statements for standard sets of grouping and record selection formulas so I can save them to the Repository, and then process them server side to make reports run faster in CE... I do not want to develop entire reports in SQL - over my head.

Does anybody know if it is OK to use the SQL Designer with CR9 ? I am NOT trying to upgrade any Crystal Dictionaries, nor older versions of reports. The help file attached gives some warnings about overwriting dll files with v 8.5 dll files - I was just nervous about corrupting something in CR9 or limiting my functionality.

 

[synapsevampire]

Ken: It doesn't even ship with CR 9, that alone should be a clear indicator of their intent.

Also try speaking with someone at BO, they will suggest otherwise as well, and from what I understand, it isn't supported in version 10, so upgrading will mean major rewrites because you've used a proprietary tool.

etseel: Create a new thread rather than piggybacking a dead subject, you'll get more responses.

Also please include the type of database that you're trying to learn how to generate SQL for, SQL is not a common language, there are different flavors in each database.

I'm never sure if people neglect technical information because they don't know it, were lazy, or didn't think of it, so please forgive me if you were already aware of this.

There are lots of visual tools on the market, most of which will generate REAL SQL as opposed to Crystal SQL, meaning that you could then easily use this SQL as the basis for your reports in CR 9, or readily generate Views or Stored Procedures using them.

For Oracle I prefer PL/SQL Programmer

For SQL Server I rely heavily upon the graphical View building tool in Enterprise Manager.

For a generic database programming environment that supports many backends consider Embarcadero's products, though they are extremely expensive.

-k