USING OUTER JOINS AND SUB REPORTS IN CRYSTAL

We write many Crystal Reports for our clients and answer questions about the best way to obtain data from the MAS90 database files.  Crystal and MAS90 work together wonderfully, but there are several tricks out there that can help you create accurate reports.  

One issue that comes up frequently is how to establish the join types between the files.  How the files are linked are the backbone of any report, so it is important to understand how the linking works.  The linking concept is quite complex.  If you go to our Crystal Linking tip, there are instructions for downloading a document from the Best Online Customer Service section that explains and outlines the different link types quite well.

When creating a report in Crystal, you may run into cases where you need more than one outer join type in your report.  At this time, it is recommended that there should only be one outer join per report.  If you find you need to include a file that would create a second outer join, you may need to use a sub-report to retrieve the data from the file.   If you are unfamiliar with sub-reports, we suggest you review the Crystal documentation on their uses.  They can add great flexibility to your reports.  There is also a document published by Seagate Software, the manufacturer of Crystal Reports, that outlines how to use and link sub-reports.   It can be found in the Crystal Decisions support section where you can find many useful documents to help you create, format and troubleshoot your reports as well as answer many questions that arise while creating reports.  This web site is an excellent resource for anyone who wishes to learn more about using and mastering Crystal Reports.