Printing Order

[prl423]

Does anyone know why when I print a report (open order report for example) that on one day it prints items on the report: item a, then item b, then item c, and then the very next day when I print the same report again with "no" changes to any items on the report, it prints item b first, then item a, then item c......Why is the order not the same as the day before?......and is there a way to fix this in Crysatl 8.5?

 

[lynchg]

You can use the Record Sort Expert in Crystal to sort your output. A simple Select doesn't guarantee any particular odering of the output. Using the sorting expert allows you to sort the output by one or many fields in the order you choose.

 

[prl423]

I am not changing the sort order of the items within a particular customer group. The names in the group are sorted alphabetically, and I know I can change the group sorting , but the line items in the group are changing day to day when there are no changes in the items themselves, and I described in the original post. Users want to compare yesterdays list with todays, but the items in the list have changed even when no changes to the db occur.

 

[prl423]

Here is perhaps a better example of what is happening and how the "printing" looks today.

Yesterdays Printing

12 apples 2 bags 3
10 apples 1 bags 2
7 apples 5 bags 9

Todays Printing

10 apples 1 bags 2
7 apples 5 bags 9
12 apples 2 bags 3

The only thing anyone is doing with this report is printing it from yesterday to today, with no db changes, no sort changes, etc.

The question is why is crystal printing the same information on two different days differently. Thanks!

 

[lynchg]

You can use the sorting expert to sort the individual detail lines within a group. When you open the sorting expert window you are probably seeing the grouping field already in the SortFields list. You can add other fields and the output will be sorted accordingly.

It is not Crystal that is messing with the display order, it is the datasource that presents the data in "random" order. Crystal is just presenting it in the order that it receives it.

In your example, if you add AppleCount descending to the sort fields list in the sorting expert you will get the data presented like your Yesterday's Printing example every time.

 

[synapsevampire]

Please explain your environment better.

The report is probably based off of some date field and so the results are differing each day.

We need to know what these fields are, what's in the record selection formulas, and if you are using any formulas to assist you.

Also, did someone develop this report for you, or were you involved?

-k

 

[IdoMillet]

I agree with lynchg, by explicitly setting the record sort, you should get a consistent sort.

- Ido

Visual CUT & DataLink Viewer:
view, e-mail, export, burst, distribute, and schedule Crystal Reports.

http://www.MilletSoftware.com

 

[prl423]

Update: After further evaluation, I have gone to the accounting application and run an order audit list. The audit list didn't show the problem, the transactions, (before,after changes) did not indicate an item change within the specified period. So this means the accounting application is not the problem. The customer file was not touched in 6 days.

Second: The sort order in the report was not changed from printing the first report to the second report, so I am excluding this from being the cause. The first report was printed 6 days prior to the second report. Who knows what could have happened in that time with the db.

Third: This leave the database, and perhaps db maintenance.

I developed the report, there are the most basic formulas in the report....nothing that is causing this issue.

Thanks to everyone for their input. PRL423