Designing a Custom Report using Crystal Reports

Objective:

To create an employee list sorted by start date.

You will need the correct version of Crystal Reports !!

You will also need:

1. Name of the server where the DOVICO timesheet software database is stored
2. Name of the database(s)
3. The login account, and the password. (This information can be obtained from your administrator)
4. MDAC (Microsoft Data Access Components) preferably 2.1 or higher.

Steps to create the Client List Report:

Follow the instructions below, or copy the code from our web site (.rpt)

1. Start Crystal Reports.
2. Select the New icon to create a new report. Choose the Using a Report Wizard and choose the Standard Wizard. Click OK.
3. From the Data page under the Create New Connection folder select OLE DB (ADO).
4. In the OLE DB Provider window select Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server. Click Next.
5. Enter the Server name for the DOVICO time management software you are using.
6. Enter login account information. This information was created when the employee time tracking software was installed.
7. If the above information is correct, the drop-down list in the Select the database on the server box will list your existing databases. Select the applicable database from the list. Click Finish.
8. A list of tables and views will be displayed under the database you connected to in the data wizard window.
9. Expand the Views under the database connection you just made and double-click DOVREP_LIST_EMPLOYEE to add the view to the report. Click Next.
10. From Fields choose Employee_Last_First, Employee_Start and Employee_End, Click Finish.
11. You should now see a bare list of employees and dates.
    1. To sort this list based on employee start dates choose the Record Sort Expert icon.
    2. From the Record Sort Order window select the report field Employee_Start. Choose OK.
12. In order to run this report from; you will need to add a parameter to the report. Right click on Parameter Fields in the Fields Explorer and choose Add. In the Name field enter REPORTID and in the Value Type field choose Number. Click OK.
13. The report is now finished except for basic formatting which you may want to apply according to your specific needs.
14. Save the report in an appropriate directory.

To add this report:

1. Open the DOVICO time tracking software you are using.
2. Select the Reports Explorer
3. Select the Folder that you would like to add a report to. Or right click and select Add Folder to create a new folder.
4. Within the right window containing the reports, right click and select Add Report.
5. Enter the Report Name.
6. Enter a brief description for the report.
7. Browse to the .RPT file and select open.
8. Click OK.
   
   * Note: You have now added the report, however the specific report query boxes (parameters) need to be added. Please Click Here for information.

The example above was a very simple exercise to get you started using Crystal Reports. Needless to say there are all kinds of Business Intelligence tools that you can use with our project time management software to extract data (i.e. Excel™, MS Access™ for example).

Final Thought... Be patient, Crystal Reports has quite a learning curve, especially when linking with a complex database. If you find you are still having problems, and cannot get the results you want, it may be a good idea to hire DOVICO for the specific report, or try to acquire some training on the Crystal Reports software.