Crystal Reports (Custom Reports)

Transcription

1 Crystal Reports (Custom Reports) Getting Started The Crystal Reports Module is Option #3 in the Reports Menu. Since not everyone needs the reporting capabilities of this new module, it does not come pre-installed with the Taxslayer program. The first time you open the Crystal Reports Module, a pop-up will ask you if you wish to download the Crystal Reports Module. After selecting Yes, a download and install window will run. Just let it finish. Once it is done, you will be back at the Reports Menu. Select Crystal Reports again, and this time the module will run. Concepts The Crystal Reports Module is built upon three types of objects. They are: Category: A Category is little more than a folder with a descriptive name used to hold and sort Report Templates. The user can create and delete categories in the Category Manager. Every Report Template will be in a category. Report Template: A Report Template is essentially the blueprints for a report. All the columns, filters, and other report setup is all located in this object. This is the object that the user creates and modifies in order to run reports from it. This may often be referred to as just a Report. Report (Instance): Generated from a Report Template, a Report is a one-time file that shows up in the Crystal Reports Viewer. From this viewer, the report can be saved as a PDF, an Excel spreadsheet, a Word Document, etc.

2 Overview of the Buttons Reports Screen View Runs the selected Report and opens it in the Crystal Reports Viewer. The Report can then be saved, printed, or exported. Print Runs the selected Report and sends it straight to the printer without opening it on the screen. Labels Runs the selected Report but instead of the normal Columns, it will create mailing labels which will be opened up in the Crystal Reports Viewer. They can then be saved, printed, or exported. New Takes the user to the Report Template Designer to build a new Report Template. Modify Takes the user to the Report Template Designer to modify an existing Report Template. Duplicate Creates an exact copy of the selected Report Template. The duplicated Report Template can then be modified with any minor changes needed. This makes it faster to design a Report that is very similar to another. Delete Deletes the selected Report Template Categories Opens the Category Manager used to create and delete Categories. Results Opens the folder on your computer that is storing the reports you wish to save. This allows you to browse all of your previous reporting results. Report Template Designer New Blanks all of the Report Template and starts over with a fresh one. Save Saves the Report Template and all of its changes. Also adds it to the Reports screen if necessary. View a Report 1. All of the Report Templates are listed on the main Reports screen. They are sorted by category. 2. Choose the Report Template you wish to run by clicking on it. 3. Click the button or double click on the Template. This will generate the report and display it in a pop-up window. Crystal Reports Viewer This is the viewer that pops-up with your Report. There are 12 buttons at the top of the report. Only the first two need explanation. The others either have no functionality in our program or are for navigating the pages and zooming.

3 Export The first button is the Export button. Clicking on this will bring up a Save screen. Just choose the type of file you want to save the data as and click Save. Print The second button brings up the standard Windows Print screen. Create a New Report Template 1. Click the button or select the Create New Report tab. 2. This will open the Report Template Designer. Here the user can give the Report Template a name and category. A Description can also be entered. It does not affect the resulting report, it just gives a description which is visible on the main Reports page. 3. Taxslayer data is stored in two different places, and so the Crystal Reports Module can search either one. Include All Returns is the default option. It searches all of the backed up returns and builds its data from them. If, for some reason, there are no backed up returns in the backup folder, then no data will return using this search method. Include Completed Returns Only searches the Master Reports database that is updated whenever a return is completed. Though the data should match up in both places, it may be possible to get different information by running on each of the two sources. 4. The Report Template has two main objects. These are Columns and Filters. Columns Columns are the display of the report. Adding a Column to the Template means that the Column s data will display in all the generated reports. For example if you wish to see a report with a person s SSN, AGI, and Age, then add those three Columns to your Report Template. To Manage the Columns: 1. Click the Choose Columns button. 2. A screen will pop-up showing the user all of the possible Columns that can be added to the Report Template in a categorized list on the left. On the right is a list of all the Columns currently in the Report. 3. Choose a Column on the left and click the -> button to add the Column to the Report. You will notice it show up in the box on the right. You can remove Columns by clicking the Column on the right and clicking the <- button. Clicking the up and down arrows will move Columns around in the list. Columns will display in the order that they are listed on the right. You can have a maximum of 11 Columns. 4. Clicking Done will save the new Column selections. Clicking Cancel will keep the old ones. 5. Now you will see the columns previewed in the grid on the bottom-left.

4 Filters Filters are used to limit the records that display in the report. Perhaps you do not care about clients that are under 65 years old, or you only wish to see clients that still owe money. Filters are the means to do this. To Manage the Filters: 1. Click the Choose Filters button. 2. A screen similar to the Column Manager will pop up. On the left is a list of all the potential fields to filter on. To add a Filter, find the field you wish to filter on and check its box. This will cause the Filter Conditions section to populate. 3. You will see the name of the field and then a selection box with all of the possible comparing operations such as Equals, Less Than, etc. Select the one you want. Depending on the field and which operation you choose, there will be either one or two input boxes. 4. If you wish to have a set value (ex. [AGI] is GREATER THAN 10,000), just type whatever you want the value(s) to be into the box(es). Another example would be [Age] is BETWEEN 45 and Underneath each input box, there is a checkbox that says Use Database Field or Use Variable Date if the field is a date field. a. Non-Date Field: Checking the Use Database Field checkbox will replace the usual input box with a selection box containing all of the other database fields of the same type. Select the database field you wish to use. For example to run a report showing who hasn t paid all of their fees you can make a filter that says [Total Fees] is GREATER THAN [Fees Paid]. This would return only the returns that still owe money. b. Date Field: Checking the Use Variable Date checkbox will replace the usual input box with several input boxes. Use these boxes to determine a date that will calculated based upon the current date. For example if you wish to run a report to return clients who have a birthday next month, you could say [Birthday] is BETWEEN [1 Month After 1 st of this Month] and [1 Month After End of the Month] Once this variable filter is saved to the Report Template, any Reports run from it will update automatically based on the current date. Running this Report on July 31 st will give you all the clients who have August Birthdays, but running it on August 1 st will give you all of the September Birthday clients. 6. To Remove an Individual Filter, just uncheck the box on the left. This will remove the Filter. 7. Clicking Done will save the new Filters. Clicking Cancel will keep the old ones. 8. Now that the filters have been chosen, the user can determine how they interact. By Default, all of the Filter conditions must be met for a record to show up in the report. They use the AND logic. (ex. Condition 1 AND Condition 2 AND Condition 3.) But you can also use OR logic if you want any of the Conditions to be met. 9. At the bottom-right of the screen, the Filters are listed. You can change the interaction logic of your Filters by changing the ANDs to ORs. If you are using all ANDs or all Ors, then the interaction logic doesn t matter, but if you have a mix of both ANDs and Ors, then you will need parentheses to finalize your logic. First, you can reorder the filters by clicking the + button on the left side of the Filter and dragging it to the location you want. When you let go of the mouse

5 button, the filter will be in its new place. On the left and right sides of each Filter are narrow buttons. These are the parentheses buttons. Just like a mathematical equation, the parentheses determine the order of operations. Move the Filters and place parentheses where needed to determine the optimum Filter clause for your Report. 10. If you wish to clear all of the Filters and start over, click the Clear Filters button. Headers/Footers The Columns and Filters are all done on the Body tab. By clicking the Headers/Footers tab, you can add a header and/or footer to your Report. There is a Report Header that shows up under the Title on the first page of the Report. There is a Page Header that shows up at the very top of every page. And there is a Page Footer that shows up at the bottom of every page. Just check the boxes of the ones you want in your report and type the text into the associated text boxes. Appearance Save The Appearance tab lets you change the Font and the Colors on the Report. When finished, click the button, to save the Report Template. The Template will be saved under its Category, and the user will be sent back to the main Reports screen. You can now choose your new report template and run a report from it. Modify an Existing Report Template Any of the Templates listed on the main Reports screen can be edited. Just select the Report Template from the list and click the button or the Modify Report tab. The Report Template Designer screen shows up. It has the same exact setup as creating a new report except that the information will be filled in. See the section above. You can make any changes you wish and then click Save. The Report Template will be updated and any future Reports run from it will reflect the changes. Manage Categories Click on the Categories button. This brings up the Category Manager. All of the current Categories are listed in the box on the right. You can add a new Category by typing its name into the textbox and clicking Add Category. You can remove Categories by clicking the Category from the list and clicking the Delete Category button. If there are Report Templates in this Category, they will be

6 moved to the Default category which cannot be deleted. To move a Report Template to a different Category, modify the Report Template and change its Category in the Report Template Designer. Labels Every time a Report is viewed, a Label Report also displays. It can be accessed by clicking the View Labels tab or the Labels button in the Crystal Reports Viewer. If you only wish to run the Labels report, you can simply click the Report Template you wish and then click the Labels button from the main Reports screen. At the top-right of the Labels Report is the Label Setup button. This allows you to make changes to the report, such as where on the page the labels start printing, etc. Any changes you make will be instantly reflected on the screen. When the labels look the way you want, then you can save, print, or export them. Other Menu Options The Main Menu bar at the top of the screen has all of the button options as well as several additional options that are not part of the standard workflow. Refresh Reports List If for some reason the display is not updated with your newest Report Templates, click this option to rebuild the list. Backup All Reports This option will make a backup of all of the Report Templates currently on your system. When your Report Templates are all set up and working perfectly, it s a good idea to back them up. This will back them up to a zip file. From this backup, all of the Report Templates can be restored. Restore All Reports In case your Report Templates get corrupted or altered in a way you didn t intend, you can restore them from the last backup. This will erase all of your current reports and replace them with the ones in the backup file. Restore Default Reports This erases all Report Templates and restores the Taxslayer default Report Templates on your system. Automatically Save Results When this option is checked, any report that is run, will be save to your chose Results Folder. Choose Results Folder This opens a folder browser so you can choose where you want your results to automatically be saved to. This is the folder that is opened by clicking the Results button. Save Results As This lets you pick, what you wish to save your reports as. The default is the standard PDF, but several other options are available. All automatically saved Reports will be saved in this format. This does not affect manually saved Reports.

7 Advanced Users For anyone with advanced computer knowledge, this section gives a few tips. The Report Templates are saved in the Taxslayer folder under the /Reports/Report Templates/ subfolder. Each category is a subfolder containing its Report Templates as XML files. If you wish to save individual Report Templates, you can copy the XML file to another directory. You can later paste it into the correct Category. The next time the Crystal Reports Module is run, it will recognize the Report Template.