Cogniza

Crystal Reports: Dynamic Images

Craig Buchanan — Mon, 15 Mar 2010 20:22:31 +0000

Use a conditional formula to dynamically change the location of a report’s image.

Add an image to the report (Insert | Picture). This image will act as a placeholder. Ensure that the placeholder is the same size as the one that will be dynamically loaded, otherwise the image will be scaled.
Change the image’s Graphic Location:
- right click image
- select Format Graphic…
- select Picture tab
- click the conditional-formula button (looks like x+2)
- set the formula’s text to the name of the formula or parameter field that will contain the image’s URL
- save the formula and click the OK button
Save the report

Download

Crystal Report Dynamic Image Sample

BusinessObjects SDK: Change a Universe's Data Connection

Craig Buchanan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:47:11 +0000

Change a Universe’s Data Connection without using the Universe COM SDK.

'get the Universe infoObjects Dim universeInfoObject As InfoObject = infoStore.Query("SELECT SI_ID, SI_NAME, SI_DATACONNECTION FROM CI_APPOBJECTS WHERE SI_ID=" & )(1)


'cast InfoObject into a Universe

Dim universe As BusinessObjects.Enterprise.Desktop.Universe = CType(universeInfoObject, Universe)
With universe

    'clear all data connections

    .DataConnections.Clear()
    'add new data connection

    .DataConnections.Add()
    'save to repository

    .Save()

End With

BusinessObjects SDK: Copy one InfoObject's File to Another InfoObject

Craig Buchanan — Thu, 12 Nov 2009 15:32:55 +0000

Use the BusinessObjects SDK to copy files between two InfoObjects. This is useful when the source is a ‘template’ object (e.g. Crystal Report) that will be deployed to one or more targets.

'get the source and target infoObjects Dim sourceInfoObject As InfoObject = infoStore.Query("SELECT SI_ID, SI_NAME, SI_FILES FROM CI_INFOOBJECTS WHERE SI_ID=" & sourceId)(1)


Dim targetInfoObject As InfoObject =  infoStore.Query("SELECT SI_ID, SI_NAME, SI_FILES FROM CI_INFOOBJECTS WHERE SI_ID=" & targetId)(1)
'get the desired file from FRS

Dim sourceFile As File = sourceInfoObject.Files(1)
'create buffer and size appropriately

Dim buffer As Byte() = new Byte(sourceFile.Size) {}
'copy file to buffer

sourceFile.CopyTo(buffer)
'get the target file from the FRS, using the same index as the source

Dim targetFile As File = targetInfoObject.Files(sourceFile.NthFile)
'copy buffer to target file

targetFile.Overwrite(buffer)

'save to repository targetInfoObject.Save

SQL Server: Date Arithmetic

Craig Buchanan — Fri, 06 Nov 2009 02:32:24 +0000

Useful, dynamically-generated dates for SQL Server.
--[1st day of current month]: use the GetDate(), Month(), and Year() functions to determine the current month and year. Build a string using these values in MM/01/YYYY format. Convert the String to DateTime. CAST( CAST( Month(GetDate()) AS Char(2) ) + '/01/' + CAST( Year(GetDate()) AS Char(4)) AS DateTime)--[Last day of current month]: add a month to [1st day of current month], then subtract a day. DateAdd(m, 1, CAST( CAST( Month(GetDate()) AS Char(2) ) + '/01/' + CAST( Year(GetDate()) AS Char(4)) AS DateTime)) -1--[1st day of prior month]: subtract a month from [1st day of current month]. DateAdd(m, -1, CAST( CAST( Month(GetDate()) AS Char(2) ) + '/01/' + CAST( Year(GetDate()) AS Char(4)) AS DateTime))--[Last day of prior month]: subtract a day from [1st day of current month]. CAST( CAST( Month(GetDate()) AS Char(2) ) + '/01/' + CAST( Year(GetDate()) AS Char(4)) AS DateTime) -1

Crystal Reports: FractionToDecimal() Function

Craig Buchanan — Tue, 08 Sep 2009 18:26:11 +0000

Converts a fractional value in the format of Numerator/Denominator or Whole + Numerator/Denominator to a decimal value.

//Assumes values in the following formats: //99 - integer value //99.9 - decimal value //N/D - numerator/denominator //M N/D - whole + numerator/denominator Function (Stringvar value)


Local Numbervar whole := 0;

Local Stringvar fraction;
//

value := trim(value);
//integer or decimal format

If IsNumeric(value) Then

    ToNumber(value)
Else (
    //whole + numerator/denominator

    If InStr(value, " ")>0 Then (
        whole := ToNumber(Split(value, " ")[1]);

        fraction := Split(value, " ")[2];
    )
    //numerator/denominator

    Else (
        fraction := value;
    );
    Local Numbervar numerator := ToNumber(Split(fraction, "/")[1]);

    Local Numbervar denominator := ToNumber(Split(fraction, "/")[2]);

whole + (numerator / denominator); )

Crystal Reports: Strategy to Localize a Report (labels)

Craig Buchanan — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 15:05:06 +0000

Create a Crystal Report that dynamically recalculate its labels based on the Workstation’s localization settings.

ContentLocale

Crystal Reports XI introduced a keyword named ‘ContentLocale’. This keyword returns the machine’s locale setting (e.g. ‘en_US’ for English (US)). This value is set in Windows’ Regional Settings Control Panel.

However, this keyword can only be used in formulae that are executed during the report’s Second Pass. The following Record Selection Formula, for example, will generate an error:

{my_table.localeName}=ContentLocale

Custom Functions

This keyword, however, can be used in combination with a Report Custom Function to dynamically and transparently apply localization settings when a report is viewed, even reports that have been saved with data or have been scheduled using Business Objects Enterprise.

//——————————————————————————–
// Return a localized string for a given Key and Language.
//——————————————————————————–
Function (Stringvar Key, Stringvar Language)

//define array of keys that are used by Formula fields
Stringvar Array Keys:=["COUNTRY","REGION","CITY"];

//define an array of localized strings for each required language; ensure localized strings are same position as the Key array (correlated arrays).

//determine which array to use
Stringvar Array Values;
Select Language
Case “en_US”: Values:=["Country","State","City"]
Case “it_IT”: Values:=["Paese","Dichiari","Citta"]
Case “fr_FR”: Values:=["Pays","S","C"]
Default: Values:=["Country","State","City"]
;

//set value’s default value to the Key; useful for debugging purposes.
Stringvar value:=Key;

//iterate through Key array…
Numbervar i;
for i := 1 To Ubound(Keys) do (
//if value in array matches the specified value, return the value from the localized array
if Keys[i] = Key then (
value:=Values[i];
exit for
)
);

//return value
value;

Formula Fields

Create a Formula Field that will act as a label for each desired Key. Add it to the report’s canvas.

//{@Country}
getLocalizedString (“COUNTRY”, ContentLocale)

//{@Region}
getLocalizedString (“REGION”, ContentLocale)

//{@City}
getLocalizedString (“CITY”, ContentLocale)

Advantages

Rapid development and deployment.
Executes during ‘view’ time.
Can be saved to Repository and shared with other reports.

Limitations

Crystal Reports is required to maintain the logic and publish changes to the Repository.
Array of Key/Values limited to 1000 items.

Summary

This approach should help ease the burden of localizing the labels contained in a Crystal Report.

Download

Sample report
Sample database

Adobe Acrobat – Printing Legal Landscape Documents

Craig Buchanan — Thu, 01 May 2008 12:55:26 +0000

By default, Adobe Acrobat Reader will scale a landscape-oriented, legal-sized document to letter-sized paper. Fortunately, this scaling can be easily removed.

To remove this scaling, check the ‘Choose Paper Source by PDF page size’ option in Acrobat Reader’s Print dialog.

To make this setting permanent, add a new DWORD value in the HKCU\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobate\8.0\AVGeneral key. Set its Name to ‘bprintSetPageSize’, its Data to ‘1′, and its Base to ‘Hexidecimal’.

Registry Entry
This entry will create a new DWORD entry in the ‘AVGeneral’ key:
[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Adobe\Adobe Acrobat\8.0\AVGeneral]
“bprintSetPageSize”=dword:00000001

Crystal Reports: Array_PushEx() Function

Craig Buchanan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:26:20 +0000

Add a unique string value to an array of string values. Uses the delimiter to convert the value into an array.
Function (Stringvar Array Items, Stringvar Values, Stringvar Delimiter) Stringvar Array Temp:=Split(Values,Delimiter); Numbervar i; For i := 1 To Ubound(Temp) Do ( If Array_Contains (Items, Temp[i]) = False Then ( Redim Preserve Items[Ubound(Items)+1]; Items[Ubound(Items)]:=Temp[i]; ); ); Items;

Crystal Reports: Array_Push() Function

Craig Buchanan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:21:23 +0000

Add a string value to an array of strings, only if string value hasn’t already been added to the array.Function (Stringvar Array Items, Stringvar Value) If Array_Contains (Items, Value) = False Then ( Redim Preserve Items[Ubound(Items)+1]; Items[Ubound(Items)]:=Value; ); Items;

Crystal Reports: Array_Contains() Function

Craig Buchanan — Wed, 09 Jan 2008 20:16:34 +0000

Determines if a string value is contained in an array of strings.
Function (Stringvar Array Items, Stringvar Value) Numbervar i; Booleanvar flag:=False; If Ubound(Items)>0 Then For i := 1 To Ubound(Items) Do ( If Items[i]=Value Then ( flag:=True; Exit For ) ) //End If ; //return result flag;