How to calculate variances from subreports? 1

[bv0719]

Hello,

Just created a report that's taken awhile to put together. Still not where I want it though. The report uses 4 subreports to query data on Invoiced Sales, Physical Inventory, Purchases, and Prior day Inventory.

After the report is generated I export it out to Excel so I can create variance formulas on the column data. This step seems like a waste of time. I'm sure Crystal can do this I'm just not sure where to start. Might need to use shared variables but that's just a guess.

The layout of the report is as follows:

itemid, descrip, whse on hand, invoiced sales, old phys inv, purchases, new phys inv.

All of these fields and subreports are in the group 1 header section of the report. The report is grouped by Item ID. Each subreport (Invoiced Sales, Old Phys Inv, Purchases, and New Phys Inv) are comprised of 3 fields each. Case Qty, Broken Qty, and Weight Qty.

When exported to Excel the report consists of 17 columns. 3 for each subreport, 3 for the on hand quantities and 2 for the item id and description. This makes for a rather long report as is. Add another 9 columns for the variance totals.

There are 2 variances.The first is the variance old phys inv + purchases - new phys inv. This value is then compared to the invoiced sales orders for variance #2. If there is a variance this will likely mean that the inventory was counted incorrectly.

Whew... Quite a mess. Any thoughts on how to clean this up would be appreciated.

Thanks,
Bill V

 

[lbass]

You should be able to create a shared variable formula in each subreport, as in:

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar salescase:= sum({InvSales.CaseQty});
shared numbervar salesbroken := sum({InvSales.BrokenQty});
shared numbervar saleswgt := sum({InvSales.WeightQty});

Repeat for the other subreports, changing the variable names. In each case, place the formula in the report footer of the subreport.

In the main report, place one formula containing all the variables from the three reports in the group footer to reset the variables:

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar salescase := 0;
shared numbervar salesbroken := 0;
shared numbervar saleswgt := 0;
shared numbervar purchcase := 0;
shared numbervar purchbroken := 0;
shared numbervar purchwgt := 0; //etc.

Then in a group header section below the one in which the subreports are located,e.g., GH1b, you can reference the shared variables in formulas like the following (a madeup calculation):

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar salescase;
shared numbervar purchcase;
sum({table.onhandqty}, {table.itemID}) - salescase + purchcase

You can suppress all sections within each subreport, format the subreports themselves to "suppress blank subreport", and format the GH section they are in to "suppress blank section". The shared variables will still work, as long as you don't suppress the subreport itself or suppress the section they are in.

-LB

 

[bv0719]

LB,

Thank you very much for the reponse. Your help is greatly appreciated as always.

I setup the shared variables on the subreports but got stuck on how to implement them on the main report.

This might help explain the report a bit more.

Report Design:

RH - suppressed

PH - Titles

GH1a - Whs Item ID - Item Descrip - Case OH, Broken OH, Wgt OH - Inv Orders(Subrpt) - Old Phys Inv(Subrpt) - Purchases(Subrpt) - New Phys Inv(Subrpt)

GH1b - Currently suppressed but this is where I started to place the shared variables. Created a new variable named @inv with the following items in the formula:
shared numbervar invpri;
shared numbervar invbro;
shared numbervar invwgt;

GF1 - sharedreset formula;
whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar invpri :=0;
shared numbervar invbro :=0;
shared numbervar invwgt :=0;
shared numbervar popri :=0;
shared numbervar pobro :=0;
shared numbervar powgt :=0;
shared numbervar newpri :=0;
shared numbervar newbro :=0;
shared numbervar newwgt :=0;
shared numbervar oldpri :=0;
shared numbervar oldbro :=0;
shared numbervar oldwgt :=0;

RF - Suppressed
PF - Suppressed

The Old Phys and New Phys Inventory reports use a SQL statement for processing. The PO an Inv Orders report use a standard report with the select expert. Not sure if this makes a difference.

Also having trouble suppressing blank sections an subreports. I've checked the "suppress blank subreports" option on all subreports however I still have a lot of blank sections on the report. Since the report is grouping by the WHSITM.ITMID I received a record for every item in our inventory. If there are no records for any of the subreports then would prefer to

Please let me know if you have any questions.

Thanks,
Bill V

 

[lbass]

I would add "whileprintingrecords;" to the beginning of each formula. How did you set up the shared variables within each subreport?

If you set those up correctly, then in your example above, what you should see in GH1b is only the value for shared numbervar invwgt. This formula (and ones like it) is where you should be doing the calculations using your shared variables, and you can reference any of the shared variables that you have established in the subreports, but note that if you have multiple clauses, only the last one will be displayed. I was trying to show you what you could do with this example:

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar salescase;
shared numbervar purchcase;
sum({table.onhandqty}, {table.itemID}) - salescase + purchcase

This calculation probably doesn't make sense, but see how you reference values from the main report in the usual way:
sum({table.onhandqty}, {table.itemID}), and shared variables based on their variable names.

Please explain the trouble you are running into with the variables.

Within each subreport go to the section expert and check "suppress blank section" for all used sections. Also in design mode within each subreport, resize to minimize the height of used sections.

-LB

 

[bv0719]

LB,

You asked:
"How did you set up the shared variables within each subreport?"

Formulas used:

Invoiced Orders Subreport Formula:
whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar invpri:= sum({@QTY});
shared numbervar invbroken:= sum({itmldg.ilgbqty});
shared numbervar invweight:= sum({itmldg.ilgwqty});

Old Phys Inv Subreport Formula:
whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar oldpri:= ({Command.whisohd});
shared numbervar oldbroken:= ({Command.whibohd});
shared numbervar oldweight:= ({Command.whiwohd});

New Phys Inv Subreport Formula:
whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar newpri:= ({Command.whisohd});
shared numbervar newbroken:= ({Command.whibohd});
shared numbervar newweight:= ({Command.whiwohd});

Received Purchase Order Subreport Formula:
whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar popri:= sum({@QTY});
shared numbervar pobroken:= sum({itmldg.ilgbqty});
shared numbervar poweight:= sum({itmldg.ilgwqty});

All of these formulas have been lpaced in the section "Report Footer a".

I think what I need to do is break up the formulas so that I have 1 for each unit of measure. Name each as a separate formula.

Inv Orders Example:

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar invpri:= sum({@QTY});

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar invbroken:= sum({itmldg.ilgbqty});

whileprintingrecords;
shared numbervar invweight:= sum({itmldg.ilgwqty});

etc...

Right now the shared variables display only Zeros. Must have the reset incorrect.

You said:
"Within each subreport go to the section expert and check "suppress blank section" for all used sections. Also in design mode within each subreport, resize to minimize the height of used sections."

I did this but still have blank reports. Maybe Crystal thinks it's not blank because there's an item displayed. I think it's blank because there's no vaules on the subreports.

Hope I answered your questions.

Thanks,
Bill V

 

[bv0719]

LB,

Is there any way to show how the report looks visually using this Tek-Tips site?

Don't recall seeing any posts with images. Might be a helpful tool for troubleshooting.

BV

 

[bv0719]

LB,

OK... I got all of the subreports and formulas to work. Had to create individual formaulas for each variable as I thought.

Now, what I can't seem to get is for the lines that are all zeros (no weight, no sales, no inventory, no purchases) to not display on the report that would be great. I tried to create a Y/N formala on the shared variable to see if it's zero but the program said I couldn't create a formula against itself or similar message.

Any thoughts on limiting the records?

Thanks,
Bill V

 

[lbass]

No, there isn't any way to do that right now, but I think it's necessary anyway. The formulas in the subreports do NOT have to be individualized.

You don't have the section containing the subreports suppressed, do you? Or the subreports themselves? Can you clarify whether you can see the correct values in the subreports themselves? Only the last value in the shared variable will show, but the others will be calculated and available in the main report, too. As long as you are then referencing the shared variables in a formulas in GHb, you should be able to see them.

-LB

 

[bv0719]

LB,

Maybe it was more work then necessary but the individual formulas did the trick. Thanks again for the help with the formulas.

I have GH1a and GH1b set to suppress blank subreports, that's all. All of the data totals are in place and seem to be correct. I have not had the chance to verify totals yet but the do look correct. All I need to do is create the variance formulas now. I'll work on that tomorrow.

Thanks again. If any problems come up when I start creating the variance I'll let you know.

Thanks,

Bill V

 

[bv0719]

LB,

Just a quick update. Ran the report this morning and it worked great. I added the variance formulas to the report. They're working well. Thanks again for your help.

BV