To understand how to connect to an existing data source in order to analyse and report on key business information.

Open participant course: £550 per person - maximum 10 people

Those who need to design, create and analyse reports by connecting to external data sources.

By the end of the course, you will be familiar with the Crystal Reports interface and be able to produce reports based on both ‘flat’ and ‘relational’ data sources. You will be able to extract accurate data and summarise data using formulae and functions.

Introducing Crystal Reports:

• What is Crystal Reports?
• The Crystal Reports interface.
• Working with the field explorer.

Getting Started:

• Planning and creating reports.
• Exploring the report design environment.
• Previewing and navigating report pages.

Modifying Reports and the Reporting Environment:

• File and report options.
• Page and printer setup.
• Placing and positioning controls.
• Moving, sizing and deleting controls.
• Aligning controls.
• Working with text objects.
• Combining text objects and fields.
• Inserting special fields, headers and footers.

Absolute Formatting:

• Formatting text objects.
• Working with lines, boxes and pictures.
• Formatting report sections.
• Applying themes with the template expert

Organising Records:

• Sorting by one/multiple fields.
• Finding records.
• Filtering records and selection criteria.
• Filtering data with parameters.
• Grouping and summarising data.
• Creating running totals. 

Formulae and Functions:

• Working with the formula workshop.
• Creating calculations using fields and mathematical operators.
• Using crystal functions.
• Writing an 'If, Then, Else' statement.
• Combining functions and formulae.

Conditional Formatting:

• Using the highlighting expert.
• Formatting text with conditional statements.

More on Experts:

• Adding and deleting report tables.
• Multi-table reports and relationships.
• Creating cross tab reports.
• Mailing labels.

Distributing Data:

• Printing and emailing reports.
• Exporting report data to other applications.

This course can be delivered remotely or in a classroom environment, to suit your requirements.

Delegates must have the following equipment to attend this training remotely:

• PC or laptop with a microphone and speakers (webcam is preferred but not essential).
• Access to the internet and web browser application (e.g. Google Chrome).
• An email account for file sharing.

Attendees must be proficient with a mouse and keyboard and be able to confidently work within a Windows environment - minimise, maximise, open and close. Familiarity with either Microsoft Excel or Microsoft Access is useful, but not essential.