Crystal Reports 9 The Complete Reference PHẦN 7 docx

Supported OLAP Systems While OLAP technology has been somewhat fragmented and proprietary until recently, industry standards are starting to emerge. Crystal Reports will work with leading proprietary OLAP databases, as well as with the emerging Open OLAP standard. Thus, Crystal Reports 9 can create OLAP reports based on the following tools: ■ Hyperion Essbase ■ Crystal Holos ■ IBM DB2 OLAP Server ■ Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 OLAP Services or SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services via OLE DB ■ OLE DB for OLAP sources (or other “Open OLAP” sources) ■ SAP BW ■ Crystal Analysis Professional (.CAR file) The Standard Edition of Crystal Reports 9 does not support OLAP. The OLAP-related functions will be inactive on all screens. OLAP Report Creation Methods There are several ways Crystal Reports can be used to report on your OLAP data. While all OLAP reporting in Crystal Reports will be based on the same type of object (the OLAP grid), there are several ways to create it. An OLAP grid is very similar in appearance and functionality to a cross-tab object (discussed in detail in Chapter 11). An OLAP grid displays one or more cube dimensions in rows and columns on the report. As with a cross-tab, you may format individual rows and columns to appear as you wish. You may also easily swap, or pivot, the rows and columns to change the appearance of the OLAP grid. And with Crystal Reports 9, you can launch the OLAP Analyzer, an interactive viewer similar to Crystal Decisions Crystal Analysis product, to conduct real-time “slice and dice” analysis of your OLAP data right from within Crystal Reports. Creating reports with OLAP cubes is straightforward and very similar to creating reports with regular relational databases. You may either use the OLAP Report Creation Wizard right from the Report Gallery or add an OLAP Grid object to a report you’ve already created using a standard relational database. The OLAP Wizard leads you step by step through choosing the cube and dimensions you want to use in the row and column of your report. It will then create a report containing an OLAP grid. If you add an OLAP grid object to your report manually, you can make similar choices to that of the OLAP Report Creation Wizard to construct the OLAP grid (this is similar to creating a cross-tab object). Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 505 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Using the OLAP Report Creation Wizard The OLAP Report Creation Wizard is available from the Report Gallery that appears whenever you create a new report. Just click the OLAP button to use the expert. The Data dialog displays first in the Report Creation Wizard, to allow you to identify the OLAP cube you wish to base your OLAP report on. Click the Select Cube button to display the Crystal OLAP Connection Browser, where you can choose from the OLAP cube connections available. If you wish to report on a Crystal Analysis Professional .CAR file, you can click the CAR button; CAR files are found through the standard Open dialog, rather than the OLAP Connection Browser used for most OLAP connections. 506 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 507 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Use the OLAP cubes explorer tree to navigate to the OLAP cube you want to report on, then select it and click the Open button, or simply double-click the OLAP cube. If you don’t see the desired OLAP cube, you may need to click the Add Server button to browse, log on to, and add a new OLAP server in the New Server dialog. Depending on the type of cube and location of the OLAP database, complete the fields in the Add Server dialog box. If you are using a Microsoft Analysis Services cube with SQL Server 2000, choose the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for Olap Services 8.0 server type. If you are using Microsoft OLAP Services with SQL Server 7, choose the Microsoft OLE DB Provider for OLAP Services item. In either case, you’ll then need to specify the server name, user ID, and password in the following three fields. If you have been provided with an Analysis Services local cube (.CUB) file, select the Local Cube file radio button and type in or navigate to the .CUB file. Or, if you’ve been instructed to connect to the Analysis Services server via HTTP (the standard Internet protocol), select the HTTP Cube radio button and type in the URL to the server, along with your user name and password. If you choose other OLAP Server Types, appropriate options will appear in the New Server dialog box for connecting to the associated cube. If you are unsure of how to connect to your particular cube type, consult with the administrator of your OLAP database. If your OLAP server doesn’t appear in the Server Type drop-down list, you may need to install client software specific to your particular OLAP system, such as a cube-viewing application, on your PC. After you install this software, restart Crystal Reports and try creating the report again. Once you’ve successfully logged on to and connected to the proper cube, you’ll be returned to the OLAP Connection Browser and the cube will appear in the OLAP Cubes list—you won’t have to go through the Add Server process again, as the cube will remain in the list from this point on. If you made errors in the connection process in the New Server dialog box and the cube can’t be connected to, right-click the cube definition in the list and choose Remove Server from the list. The server will be removed and you can click the Add Server button to add the server again (you can also rename the server from this pop-up menu, as well as adding individual cubes within the server to the Favorites entry in the browser). Once you’ve selected the desired cube in the OLAP Connection Browser, the Data dialog of the Report Creation Wizard redisplays, and the Cube, Type, and Server fields on the Data tab of the Expert will be filled in. After you make these choices, click the Next button to show the Rows/Columns section, shown in Figure 18-2, to choose the dimension or dimensions you want to include in the rows and columns of your report. Crystal Reports 9 includes a sample Holos OLAP cube for the Xtreme Mountain Bike company that you can use to experiment with OLAP reporting. XTREME.HDC can be found below the Crystal Reports program directory in \Samples\en\Databases\Olap Data. However, the examples in this chapter are based on the sample Foodmart OLAP cube provided with Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services. 508 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 509 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED If the default dimensions already in the Rows and Columns list aren’t correct, choose from the Dimensions list the dimension that you want to appear as the row in your OLAP report. Then, simply drag and drop it into the Rows box or click the right arrow next to the Rows box. Use the same drag-and-drop method to add to the Columns box the dimension you want to appear as the column in your OLAP report. Or, select a dimension and click the right arrow next to the Rows or Columns list. Figure 18-2. The OLAP Report Creation Wizard Rows/Columns section Dimensions defined in cube Dimension(s) to appear as rows in OLAP report Dimension(s) to appear as columns in OLAP report Specify individual members or groups of members to appear in report Click to toggle between short (unique) dimension names, or descriptive (caption) dimension names You aren’t limited to placing just one dimension in the Rows and Columns boxes. If you add multiple dimensions, Crystal Reports will “group” the dimensions in the OLAP report. For example, if you add a State dimension, followed by a Customer dimension, Crystal Reports will print states and show customers broken down within each state. If you place the dimensions in the Rows or Columns box in the wrong order, you can simply drag and drop the dimensions into the correct order within the Rows or Columns box. Alternatively, you can select the dimension you want to move, and use the up and down arrows above the Rows and Columns boxes. If you wish to remove a dimension from the Rows or Columns box, drag the dimension back to the Dimensions list. Or, you can select the desired dimension and click the left arrow (you won’t be allowed to leave a row or column empty). Select the Use Member Caption radio button if you want Crystal Reports to use the “long name” or “alias” in the OLAP report, instead of the short code contained in some cubes. For example, by choosing this option, the OLAP report might show spelled-out state names instead of two-letter state codes. If you prefer the smaller codes, select Use Unique Member Name. The behavior of the member name/caption option is dependent on the OLAP database and cube you are using. If you see abbreviated code-like material in your OLAP report, ensure that this option is checked. However, if the OLAP database or cube isn’t designed with long field names or aliases, selecting this option will have no effect or different results. Depending on the cube you choose for your report, you may find dimensions that contain many levels or members. A member (sometimes referred to as a generation) is a lower level of information that breaks down the higher level above it. For example, a Products dimension could contain several members: product type, product name within product type, and size within product name. Each member further breaks down the information shown by the member above it, creating a hierarchy for data in the dimension. By default, if the dimension you choose for your OLAP report contains multiple members, Crystal Reports will show only the highest member in a group hierarchy when it displays the dimension. While this may be the way you want the report to appear, it may actually display a data level that is too high. Often, you’ll add dimensions to a report’s Rows and Columns boxes, only to have the OLAP report show just one number at the intersection of one row and column. If you need to increase the number of members shown inside a dimension that appears on the report, you can use the Select Members buttons to select the additional members that you want to see. First, select the dimension in the Rows or Columns list that you wish to work with, and then click the Select Row Members or Select Column Members button. You may also just double-click a dimension in the list. When you do either, the Member Selector will appear, as shown in Figure 18-3. The Member Selector dialog box shows the dimension members in a hierarchy, with pluses and minuses to the left, much like the display of folders and files in Windows Explorer. You can expand the hierarchy to see lower members by clicking the plus signs 510 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference next to the members. If you want to see just the higher-level members, click the minus sign to collapse them. Once you’ve expanded the dimension’s members sufficiently, you can simply click the check box next to individual members to select or deselect them. Those that are checked will be included in the report—those that aren’t won’t. If you want to select multiple members at the same time, you may CTRL-click or SHIFT-click on multiple member names to highlight them (multiselect or range-select, respectively), and then click one check box. All the members that are highlighted will be selected. If you want to be more systematic in member selection, particularly for very large hierarchies, click the down arrow attached to the Select button in the Member Selector’s toolbar to display a pull-down menu (you can also right-click a member name to get the same menu). You’ll see various options for selecting groups of members (such as all top-level members, all base members, children, parents, and so forth). Notice that once you choose one of the options in the select menu, the Select button will display an icon similar to the choice you made from the menu. By just clicking the Select button, you can repeat that selection without displaying the menu again. You can also control other aspects of the Member Selector by choosing other toolbar buttons: ■ Select Display Mode will change from viewing members in a hierarchy to sorting them in ascending or descending order. Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 511 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Figure 18-3. The Member Selector Select groups of members Choose between hierarchy or sort display Choose multihierarchy options Create new Favorite folder Toggle between short and long descriptions Click plus/minus sign to expand or contract hierarchy Click check box to include member Choose “favorite” members TEAMFLY Team-Fly ® ■ Select Hierarchy will provide additional options if the particular dimension you’ve chosen encompasses more than one hierarchy. ■ New Favorite Group will add an additional category underneath the Favorites folder where you may drag “favorite” members. ■ Toggle Descriptions will toggle between short and long member names (if your cube makes a distinction). After you choose the members you want included in the report, click OK. You won’t notice any difference in the Rows/Columns tab—you’ll need to double-click the dimension or click the Select Member button again to see what members you’ve chosen. Once you’ve chosen dimensions and members, click the Next button to advance to the Slice/Page section, shown in Figure 18-4, to determine how the remaining dimensions included in the cube will affect your OLAP report. In the Slice/Page section, you’ll see all the other dimensions in the cube that you didn’t include in the Rows or Columns boxes. You can use these dimensions to either slice or page your OLAP report. Slicing (similar to filtering) the OLAP report limits the report to certain occurrences of data in these dimensions. Paging the OLAP report is very similar to setting up report grouping. Like the grouping of other reports, discussed in Chapter 3, this creates a new section of the OLAP report showing a different OLAP grid every time the value of the chosen dimension changes. Each resulting OLAP report section will contain data just for that one member. To slice the report according to a dimension, look at the Slice part of the dialog box. You’ll notice that each dimension displays a filter criterion, such as Store = All Stores. Typically, this default value will be either All or a particular general value that was set as the default when the OLAP cube was defined. Either double-click the dimension you want to slice, or select the dimension and click the Select Slice button. The Member Selector dialog box, described earlier, will appear, in which you can choose a particular value to limit the OLAP report. After you make your choice and click OK, the criterion in the Filter list will change to indicate the value you picked. The OLAP report will now be limited to only values that are included in the dimension you chose. Unlike the previous example with the Member Selector dialog box, you can choose only one value in the box here. Selecting a new value deselects the preceding value. To page the OLAP report according to a dimension, select the desired dimension in the Slice list and either drag it to the Page list or click the right arrow. Once again, the Member Selector dialog box appears, in which you can again select any combination of members (using options from the Select menus, if you’d like). After you make your choices, click OK to close the Member Selector dialog box. The dimension you chose for paging will appear in the Page list at the right of the Slice/Page section. If you wish to later change the members you chose to page the report, return to the Slice/Page section and double-click the dimension in the Page list, or select the dimension and click the Select Page Values button. 512 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference You can add more than one dimension to the Page list. If you do so, you can change the order in which Crystal Reports will group the OLAP report, by selecting one of the dimensions and clicking the up or down arrow. If you want to remove one of the Page dimensions, select it in the Page list and click the left arrow button or drag the dimension back to the Slice list. A new feature in Crystal Reports 9 is the ability to base slices and pages on parameter fields. To do this, select the slice or page dimension that you want to create a parameter field for and click the Create/Edit button. The Create Parameter Field dialog box will appear, where you may choose options to prompt the report viewer Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 513 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Figure 18-4. The Slice/Page section Dimensions not included in row or column Limit view to particular member of dimension Create multiple grids for individual members Create parameter prompts for slice and page values 514 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference when the OLAP report is refreshed. Then, the value that the viewer supplies to the parameter field will be passed to the slice or page dimension to control how the OLAP report appears. Once you’ve added a parameter to a dimension, you’ll notice the parameter field to the right of the equal sign in the Slice or Page list. If you later want to edit the parameter field, click the desired dimension and then the Create/Edit button. To delete the parameter and return to a fixed value or values chosen in the Member Selector, choose the desired dimension and click the Delete button. More detailed information on creating parameter fields can be found in Chapter 14. Once you’ve made any slicing and paging choices, you’re ready to display the OLAP report if you’re satisfied with the default formatting Crystal Reports will apply. Click the Finish button if you’re ready to view the report. However, you have additional choices in the OLAP Report Creation Wizard if you wish to choose them. You may choose from a set of preformatted styles for the OLAP report, as well as adding charts to show data plotted in your OLAP report. To customize the formatting of the OLAP Grid objects the Wizard will create (very similar to the cross-tab object discussed in Chapter 11), click Next to display the Style section of the Wizard. Choose from one of the predefined grid styles to apply to the OLAP report. You may then click the Finish button to display the report, or click Next to create a chart based on your OLAP data. There is a minimal set of charting choices on this section (more detail on charting on OLAP grids is discussed in Chapter 12). Click the Finish button in the OLAP Report Creation Wizard to run the report and show it in the Preview tab. Depending on any page dimensions you chose, you’ll see a few simple objects on the report, such as the print date and the report title. You’ll also see one or more OLAP grid objects, plus any report sections and groups that were created to accommodate the page dimensions. If you need to make changes to the Rows/Columns or Slice/Page values in the OLAP cube, you can rerun the Report Creation Wizard by clicking the OLAP Report Settings button in the Expert toolbar or by choosing Report | OLAP Report Settings from the pull-down menus. Alternatively, to display the full OLAP Expert with all possible options (discussed in the next section, “Adding an OLAP Grid to an Existing Report”), you can select the OLAP grid object by clicking in the blank area of the object’s upper-left corner (if there is more than one, select the particular one you want to change). Then, right-click and select OLAP Expert from the pop-up menu. Adding an OLAP Grid to an Existing Report You probably will encounter situations in which you want to create a standard database report that includes one or more OLAP grids. By choosing the Blank Report option or other wizards from the Report Gallery, you have more flexibility in creating this type of report. Simply create the base report using the techniques discussed elsewhere in the book. [...]... and operate Crystal Reports includes the capability to create flexible reports on these event logs 536 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Although designing reports against the event logs won’t harm the computer containing the log, you probably won’t find the information returned to be of much use if you’re not generally familiar with Windows NT/2000 and its components This Crystal Reports capability... Remove Sort 523 524 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Figure 18-6 OLAP Analyzer Cube View tab I Click down arrows next to a dimension to launch the Member Selector (Figure 18-3 earlier in the chapter) where you can choose to display individual members of the hierarchy in the grid, or slice the grid (if you choose a dimension at the bottom of the grid) In the initial Crystal Reports 9 release, you... behave the same as relational database data Once the main part of your report is finished, you can add the necessary OLAP grid objects 515 516 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference The tabs in the OLAP Expert behave almost identically to the same sections in the OLAP Report Creation Wizard, described earlier in the chapter Follow the same steps for the Data and Rows/Columns tabs to choose the cube... typically won’t pick the correct fields to perform an Outlook link CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED You cannot report on the Notes folder You’ll receive an error message if you try to select it 531 532 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Figure 19- 1 Crystal Report based on the Outlook Calendar folder Reporting from the File System Data You are probably familiar with Explorer, the Windows application... OLAP Cubes 5 17 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Notice that any Filter dimensions, such as 199 7, are listed Otherwise, the All designations appear This indicates to the report viewer what limits have been placed on the OLAP grid You may choose to limit the set of OLAP labels that appear— perhaps to just the ones that are used as a Filter dimension Or, you may want to otherwise customize the way the OLAP labels... finally, you can check the Display Dimension Name check box to replace the “All “ label with “ = “ for labels After you make your desired choices in the OLAP Expert, click OK An outline of the OLAP grid object will be attached to the mouse cursor Drop the object in the desired section of the report 518 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Figure 18-5 The Labels tab You may... clicking them, and then return to the Cube View tab by clicking it To close the Cube View tab and return to a regular report view, click the red x to the left of the page navigation buttons Interactivity in the OLAP Analyzer is somewhat similar to that of the OLAP grid in the preview tab discussed earlier in the report There is also additional functionality to swap and nest dimensions These are among the. .. dimensions Look very carefully for the single arrow (a double arrow will swap the dimensions) When you see it, release the mouse button In the initial release of Crystal Reports 9, you’ll receive an error message if you press F1 while working with the Cube View tab However, you can display regular Crystal Reports help and look for “Cube View” in the help Index tab CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED I To nest or “stack”... that the software you want to report from (such as Microsoft Outlook), or the vendor’s “client” application to access data (such as Oracle SQL Plus) is installed on the same PC as Crystal Reports Crystal Reports automatically detects these software packages and will list them when you choose a data source 3 Create a new report using either the report wizards or the Blank Report option Using either... may need to move the Member Selector window once it’s been displayed to fully form the window Otherwise, you will be unable to click the upper right-hand X to close the window I To swap a row or column dimension with another row or column dimension, or a filter dimension (at the bottom of the Cube View tab), click the dimension name that you wish to swap Then, drag the dimension to the other dimension . connections. 506 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 5 07 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED Use the OLAP cubes explorer tree to navigate to the OLAP cube you. page values 514 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference when the OLAP report is refreshed. Then, the value that the viewer supplies to the parameter field will be passed to the slice or page. as similar choice in the OLAP Labels tab of the OLAP Expert). Chapter 18: Reporting from OLAP Cubes 5 19 CRYSTAL REPORTS 9 INTRODUCED 520 Crystal Reports 9: The Complete Reference Formatting OLAP