BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Administrator Workshop Vision Harvest, Inc. 1-888-236-8087 sales@visionharvest.com Published November 1, 2005 i
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED This course covers BusinessObjects Enterprise XI and Crystal Server XI. No part of this manual may be copied, photocopied, or reproduced in any form or by any means without permission in writing from the Author - Vision Harvest, Inc. and the Publisher - Vision Harvest, Inc. All other trademarks, service marks, products or services are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective holders. This course and all materials supplied to the student are designed to familiarize the student with the operation of the software programs. We urge each student to review the manuals provided by the software publisher regarding specific questions as to the operation of the programs. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MADE WITH RESPECT TO THESE MATERIALS OR ANY OTHER INFORMATION PROVIDED TO THE STUDENT. ANY SIMILARITIES BETWEEN FICTITIOUS COMPANIES, THEIR DOMAIN NAMES, OR PERSONS WITH REAL COMPANIES OR PERSONS IS PURELY COINCIDENTAL AND IS NOT INTENDED OT PROMOTE, ENDORSE OR REFER TO SUCH EXISTING COMPANIES OR PERSONS. ii
Table of Contents Introduction...1 Introduction Objectives...2 About BusinessObjects Enterprise XI...3 Training Philosophy...4 Class Objectives...5 About This Manual...6 Tips, Notes and Warnings...7 Lesson 1: Architecture and Installation...11 Lesson Objectives...12 Understanding the BusinessObjects Components...13 Client Tier...13 Application Tier...13 Intelligence Tier...13 Processing Tier...13 Data Tier...14 Client Tier...14 Application Tier...15 Intelligence Tier...16 Processing Tier...17 Data Tier...18 Report Viewers...18 Information Flow...19 Installing Enterprise on Windows...20 Installation Options...20 System Requirements (Windows)...21 The Central Management System (CMS) Database...22 Network Requirements...22 Full Stand Alone Installation...22 Lesson 2: BusinessObjects Launchpad and InfoView...29 Lesson Objectives...30 BusinessObjects Enterprise Administrator Launchpad...31 Java Launchpad:...31.NET Launchpad:...31 Administration Launchpad Components Overview...33 Central Management Console...33 Documentation...34 Administrative Tools...34 More on the Web...38 InfoView Overview...38 Logging on to Enterprise...38 The InfoView Main Screen...40 The Title Area...41 The InfoView Navigation Panel...42 The InfoView Objects Area...44 The InfoView Discussions Area...45 Using InfoView...46 Viewing Folders...46 iii
Folder Objects...48 Schedule a Report...49 View Latest Instance...51 Lesson 3: Account Management...55 Lesson Objectives...56 What is Account Management?...57 Central Management Console...57 Managing Groups...58 Why Use Groups?...58 Creating a Group...61 Subgroups and Members...63 Managing Users...65 Creating a User Account...65 Users and Groups...68 Modifying a User Account...70 Guest Account...71 Disabling the Guest Account...71 Password Settings...71 Lesson 4: Folder Management...75 Lesson Objectives...76 What is Folder Management?...77 Creating Folders...77 Deleting Folders...79 Copying and Moving Folders...80 Adding an Object to a Folder...82 Folder Limits...85 User Folders...86 Categories...89 Creating a Personal Category...89 Corporate Categories...91 Lesson 5: Managing User Access...93 Lesson Objectives...94 Enterprise Object Security Model...95 Access Levels...97 Group and Folder Inheritance...100 Group Inheritance...100 Folder Inheritance...100 Access Levels and Rights...100 Setting Advanced Object Rights...101 The CMS and User Rights...102 The Root Folder...104 Security Models...105 Model 1 Closed System of Increasing Rights...106 Model 2 Open System of Decreasing Rights...109 iv
Lesson 6: Publishing Wizard...117 Lesson Objectives...118 What is Publishing?...119 Publishing with the Publishing Wizard...119 Lesson 7: Managing Objects...133 Lesson Objectives...134 What are Objects...135 Managing Report Objects...135 Adding a new Object using the Central Management Console...136 Copy, Move and Shortcut...138 Copying a Report Object...138 Creating a Shortcut...139 Searching for a Report...141 Managing a Report Object and Its Instances...143 Properties Tab...143 History Tab...144 Process Tab...144 Schedule Tab...151 Object Packages...155 Lesson 8: Scheduling Reports...161 Lesson Objectives...162 What is Scheduling?...163 Time Based Scheduling Options...163 On Demand Schedule...164 Once Schedule...164 Daily Report...164 Every X hours, N minutes...165 Weekly...167 Monthly...167 Lesson 9: Managing Events...171 Lesson Objectives...172 Events Overview...173 Creating a File Based Event...174 Creating a Schedule Based Event...176 Creating a Custom Based Event...182 Lesson 10: Managing and Configuring Servers...187 Lesson Objectives...188 Server Administrative Tools...189 Central Management Console (CMC)...189 Central Configuration Manager (CCM)...189 Start, Stop and Restarting Servers...190 Using Central Management Console to Organize Servers....190 Using Central Configuration Manager to Manage Servers...191 Viewing Metrics using the Central Management Console...193 Server Metrics...193 Managing the Central Management Server...194 Configuring the Audit Database...195 v
Clustering Central Management Servers...195 Installing a New CMS and Adding it to a Cluster...196 Adding an Installed CMS to a Cluster...198 Changing the Cluster Name...200 Copying CMS data from one Database to Another...201 Recreating the CMS Database...202 Managing the File Repository Servers...202 Metrics...204 Managing the Cache Server...204 Cache Server Properties...204 Cache Server Metrics...206 Managing the Event Server...207 Event Server Properties...207 Event Server Metrics...208 Managing the Page Server...209 Page Server Metrics...212 Page Server Rights...213 Managing the Report Job Server...214 Job Server Properties...214 Report Job Server Metrics...215 Default Disk Destination...216 Default Email (STMP) Destination...220 Server Groups...222 Creating a Server Group...222 Lesson 11: Business Views...225 Lesson Objectives...226 Business View Overview...227 Data Connections...227 Dynamic Data Connection...227 Data Foundations...228 Business Elements...228 Business View...228 List of Values...228 Business Element Wizard...228 Business View Architecture...229 The Business View Manager...230 Starting the Business View Manager...230 Creating a Data Connection...233 Checking Connectivity...238 Creating a Dynamic Data Connection...239 Creating a Data Foundation...243 Property Browser and Data Foundations...246 Adding Formulas to a Data Foundation...247 Adding SQL Expressions to a Data Foundation...248 Using Custom Functions in the Data Foundation...251 Creating Filters in the Data Foundation...252 Multiple Filters...255 Creating a Parameter Field...256 Business Elements...258 Business Views...261 vi
Business Views Object Rights...263 Editing Rights...263 Inheritance...266 Security Model Example...267 Row and Column Security...269 Row Security...269 Column Security...272 Reports based on Business Views...274 List of Values...275 Importing and Exporting Business Views...279 Lesson 12: The Repository...285 Lesson Objectives...286 The Repository Migration Wizard...288 The Repository Explorer...288 Working with the Repository Explorer...290 Adding, Renaming & Deleting Folders...290 Adding Text Objects or Images...291 Adding SQL Commands...292 Adding Custom Functions...295 Changing Repository Objects on Your Report...300 Disconnecting Text Objects and Images...300 Reattaching Text Objects and Images...301 Editing SQL Commands...302 Editing Custom Functions...304 Editing Repository Objects Summary...305 Update of Report Objects Linked to the Repository...306 Lesson 13: Universe Overview...313 Lesson Objective...314 Understanding Universes...315 Creating a Universe with Designer...316 Define the Universe Parameters...317 Create Initial Classes and Objects...318 Create Measure Objects...318 Generate the Universe...319 Modifying the Universe...320 Defining Joins...320 Formatting Display Values...321 Publishing the Universe...322 Exporting the Universe...323 Using the Universe in Enterprise...324 Universe Connections...324 Universes...325 Using Universes in Crystal Reports...326 Lesson 14: Security Concepts...331 Lesson Objectives...332 Security Overview...333 Authentication and Authorization...333 Authentication Types...334 vii
The Primary Authentication Process...335 Managing Authentication...336 Enterprise Authentication...336 LDAP Authentication...337 Windows NT Security...339 Default Account...340 NT Single Sign On...340 Secondary Authorization...341 Appendix A: Performance Options...343 Live Data versus Saved Data...344 Increasing Live Data Viewing Capacity...344 Improving Web Response...345 Scheduled Report Capacity...345 Some Common Implementation Designs...346 One Machine Set Up...346 Three Machine Set Up...346 Six Machine Set Up...347 Appendix B: Platform Support...349 Operating Systems...350 Minimum Hardware Requirements for BusinessObjects Enterprise XI...350 CMS Database (Repository) & Audit Databases...351 Web Application Servers...351 LDAP \ Single Sign on Server...351 Web Browsers and Browser JVM...352 Crystal Reports Reporting Data Sources...352 Crystal Reports Reporting Data Sources supported for Scheduling only...354 Web Intelligence Reporting Databases...355 Microsoft Office...356 Citrix (Not supported for Chinese and Korean)...356 Development Platforms...357.NET Framework...357 Wireless...357 Appendix C: Import Wizard...359 Licensing...365 viii
Introduction Introduction 1
Introduction Introduction Objectives This manual is written to give you a step-by-step guide for your classroom training and act as a handy reference for your daily work. In this introduction you will learn how to use this training guide effectively. This section covers the following topics: Overview of the features and benefits for BusinessObjects XI and Crystal Server XI Class Objectives Help with using this training guide. 2
Introduction About BusinessObjects Enterprise XI BusinessObjects Enterprise XI is a solution for delivering interactive reports to end users via web applications such as a corporate portal, the Internet; extranet, etc. The ability to distribute reports across your organization makes it possible for everyone to have up-to-minute relevant information wherever they are. A user simply needs a web browser and will then have access to interactive reports, enabling them to make better business decisions. BusinessObjects is an integrated suite for reporting, analysis and information delivery it increases end user productivity and reduces administration. Enterprise XI provides benefits at the business user level and for the IT professional: Makes information easily accessible within and outside the organization. Provides enhanced analysis tools providing key components for better decision making. Provides a customizable web interface for quick deployment. Information is organized in logical folder and sub folder objects. Allows better manageability of report source code and report objects through the use of the integrated Repository. Offers Business Views, enabling better administration capabilities for providing access to heterogeneous data sources. Allows tighter integration with Microsoft Office documents such as Word and Excel. 3
Introduction Training Philosophy Studies show people retain 10% of the information they see, 20% of the information they hear, 50% of what they see and hear and 80% of what they see, hear and do. In line with this philosophy, this class utilizes a hands-on method of training. You will see the effect of new skills on the screen, hear the instructor explain how and why to use features and perform each command yourself as you learn. In addition, this class focuses on your ability to perform tasks using the most productive techniques. The manual may contain several methods of accomplishing a certain task. However class time does not allow for practice of all methods for each task. Your instructor will guide you the most effective method of performing a task, but inform you of other methods that are available. Questions are encouraged. While we give our best effort to explain new concepts in understandable terms, you may need to hear the concept again or have it explained more thoroughly. Please let the instructor know when you need more information! 4
Introduction Class Objectives The class is a performance based instructional system. It is geared to provide you with the tools you need to distribute reports the quickest, most efficient way. After completing this course you will have a greater understanding of BusinessObjects XI and be able to perform the following tasks: Understand the architectural components of BusinessObjects XI and the functions of each component Determine the best architecture for your organization Install the stand alone version of BusinessObjects XI Add new users to the system and assign rights Assign and manager user groups Manage each server and its properties Monitor the system s efficiency by viewing parameters Be able to change parameters to allow the system to work more efficiently in your environment Define file, custom and scheduled events Schedule reports based on a calendar Schedule reports based on an event or to trigger an event 5
Introduction About This Manual Each section of the manual contains objectives to provide you with the overall goals for the lessons. Lessons have descriptions of features and concepts followed by step-by-step directions for completing a specific task. As you work in this Training Guide, certain conventions are used to identify specific procedures. Use the following table as a guide. TRAINING GUIDE CONVENTIONS Item Menu Commands Command Buttons Categories, Radio Buttons, Text Boxes, Check Boxes Keystrokes Illustrated As Underlined letters for accessing menu commands are shown: Example: File/Open Command Buttons in dialog boxes are shown as buttons: Example: Tables All options within dialog boxes are listed in italicized text: Example: the Keep Group Together check box the Other radio button Keyboard keys are indicated by uppercase text: Example: press ENTER Keyboard combinations are shown in uppercase text with a plus sign (+) between the keys that need to be pressed simultaneously. Toolbar Buttons Example: press CTRL + S to save Toolbar buttons are indicated by the button name and a graphic image of the button: Example: click the Print button Typing or File Selections Text to be typed or file names to be selected are printed in bold letters: Exercises Example: type Henry select grouping.rpt Step-by-Step exercises in the text are indicated by bold text and the symbol. For example: Exercise - Format Objects 6
Introduction Tips, Notes and Warnings Tips, notes and warnings display with the following icons. Text for these additional comments display in bold and italics. This icon indicates a tip or shortcut This icon calls attention to a warning or very important note. This icon points out a note of additional information. 7
Introduction NOTES 8
Introduction NOTES 9
Introduction NOTES 10
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Lesson 1 Architecture and Installation 11
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Lesson Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the BusinessObjects components Understand the Architecture Learn how the components work together Utilize various installation options 12
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Understanding the BusinessObjects Components BusinessObjects is a multi-tier system with multiple components. Each component is responsible for a different task although components can be logically grouped based on the type of work they perform. To ensure the most appropriate configuration for your business, you need to plan your installation. To plan your installation you need to understand the components. BusinessObjects has four tiers and within those tiers are the various components as follows: Client Tier Browser with components such as the InfoView, Central Management Console (CMC), and custom applications Packaged applications such as the Publishing Wizard, Central Configuration Manager (CCM), Business View Manager and Import Wizard. Application Tier Java Platform o Java Web Server o Java Application Server o Web Component Adapter (WCA) Windows.NET platform o IIS.NET Web Server o.net Server Components o Web Component Adapter (WCA) Intelligence Tier Central Management Server (CMS) File Repository Servers Cache Server Event Server Processing Tier Report Job Server Program Job Server Web Intelligence Job Server Web Intelligence Report Server Report Application Server (RAS) Destination Job Server List of Values Job Server Page Server 13
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Data Tier OLAP data (SAP BW, SQL, Holos and Essbase) Relational ODBC, OLE DB and Native Other data such as XML, ERP, CRM and COM NOTE: The servers are services on Window machines and daemons on Unix machines. Services can all run on one machine, run as multiple instances on one machine or separate machines 14
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Client Tier The client tier is where users interact with Enterprise XI. This tier is made up of applications for users and administrators. These applications and their functionality are covered in detail later in this course but here is a brief description of them. InfoView is the web-based interface that ships with Enterprise from which users can view and schedule reports. Central Management Console (CMC) is a web-based application from which administrators manage the environment such as setting up authentication or adding users and groups etc. Central Configuration Manager (CCM) is a server management tool typically used by Administrators to configure servers and enable and disable them. Central Configuration Manager is a Windows based application. Publishing Wizard is a windows application for easily adding multiple reports to Enterprise. Import Wizard is a windows application administrators use for importing users, groups, reports and folders from existing Crystal Info or Enterprise implementations. Business View Manager is a windows application administrators use for setting up Business Views for the Enterprise Users. Application Tier The application tier hosts the server-side components needed to process requests from the client tier as well as the components needed to communicate requests to the appropriate server in the intelligence tier. Java platform is the platform for all UNIX based servers and also for Windows servers using the Enterprise Java SDK. A web server for this platform is optional since static information may be used directly with the application server. o Application server and Enterprise Java SDK runs the SDK on a third party application server. The application server acts as the gateway between the web server and the rest of the components in Enterprise. The application server is responsible for processing requests from your browser, sending Crystal Server Pages (.csp files) to the Web Component Adapter, and using the Java SDK to interpret Crystal components in Java Server Pages (.jsp files). 15
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation o Web Component Adapter (WCA) provides support for the CMC and CSP applications and is a web application. The WCA can be configured by editing the web.xml file (Java Platform). Windows.NET platform uses the.net Framework, which includes Primary Interop Assemblies (PIAs) that allow you to use the COM BusinessObjects SDK with ASP.NET. There is also a set of.net Server Components you can optionally use to simplify the development of custom applications. This configuration requires the use of a Microsoft Internet Information Services (IIS) web server. o Web Component Adapter (WCA) provides support for the CMC and CSP applications and is a web application. The WCA can be configured by editing the web.config file (.NET Platform). Intelligence Tier The intelligence tier is the core of Enterprise it manages the system. Central Management Server (CMS) has three main tasks maintaining security; managing objects and managing servers. The CMS maintains a database of information about the Enterprise system. The database type is decided during installation see the Platforms Appendix to see what database types are supported. The CMS maintains security by maintaining a database of users and their rights. The CMS also enforces the licensing policy. The CMS keeps track of report location and folder hierarchy. It also communicates with the job scheduler to make sure reports run on schedule. The CMS keeps a list of servers in the system and their status. CMS's can also be clustered to provide fault tolerance. Cache Server handles all viewing requests. When it receives a request from the WCA it sees whether it has the page cached. If it does then it passes the page back to the WCA, if not then it passes the request to the page server. When the page server is done it passes the page back to the cache server to be cached and the cache server passes the data to the WCA. The cache means that Enterprise does not have to access the database each time a request for information is made. File Repository Servers provides one input and one output file repository per Enterprise installation. The input file repository server contains all the report objects that have been published to the Enterprise System. The output file repository server contains all of the report instances generated by the Report Job Server. 16
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation NOTE: The Input and Output file repository servers cannot share the same directory. Event Server manages file-based events. When you create a filebased event, the Event Server monitors the directory specified. The Event server notifies the CMS when a file-based event occurs. It then resets the event and continues to monitor the directory. Processing Tier The Processing tier accesses the data and generates reports. The processing tier accesses the database for the reports directly. OLAP data is accessed from the intelligence tier if you are using Crystal Analysis. Report Job Sever processes reports and generates report instances, which are reports with saved data. The job server communicates with the database. Program Job Server processes scheduled actions submitted by the CMS. A Job Server can be configured to access program objects. Configuring the Job Server to a specific object type determines the Job Server type. It can also be configured to process custom application objects, such as scripts or Java programs. Web Intelligence Job Server processes scheduling requests it receives from the CMS for Web Intelligence documents. It forwards these requests to the Web Intelligence Report Server, which will generate the instance of the Web Intelligence document. The Web Intelligence Job Server does not actually generate object instances. Web Intelligence Report Server is used to create, edit, view, and analyze Web Intelligence documents. It also processes scheduled Web Intelligence documents and generates new instances of the document, which it stores on the Output File Repository Server (FRS). Depending on the user's access rights and the refresh options of the document, the Web Intelligence Report Server will use cached information, or it will refresh the data in the document and then cache the new information. Report Application Server (RAS) processes reports users view with the Advanced DHTML viewer. The RAS also provides the ad hoc reporting capabilities that allow users to create and modify reports over the Web. The RAS is very similar to the Page Server, however, it bypasses the Cache Server by using its own internal caching system. 17
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Destination Job Server is a job server added to your Enterprise system. When you can you configure it to send objects or instances, it become a Destination Job Server. List of Values Job Server processes scheduled list-of-value objects. These are objects that contain the values of specific fields in a Business View. Lists of values are use to implement dynamic prompts and cascading lists of values within Crystal Reports. Page Server receives requests for pages from the cache server. It generates Encapsulated Page Format (EPF) pages and gives them to the cache server. The EPF pages define the layout of the report. Data Tier The data tier consists of the corporate databases in a wide range of formats. The Platforms appendix lists the databases supported. Report Viewers Enterprise offers several viewers to support multiple browser platforms and client operating systems. Generally viewers fall into two categories, client-side viewers and zero client viewers. Client-side Viewers o ActiveX viewer o Java viewer Zero Client Viewers o Dynamic Hyper-Text Markup Language (DHTML) viewer o Advanced DHTML viewer When using a client-side viewer, a small application is downloaded and installed on the client s browser. This enables BusinessObjects to send the report object in its native format, or Encapsulated Page Format (EPF), for processing and viewing by the client. In a zero client viewer scenario, the report EPF pages are processed by the server and sent to the browser as a web page. 18
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Information Flow Before we look at the installation options for BusinessObjects let s look at information flow in one scenario viewing a report. This will give us an idea of how the components interact with each other in the simple case where we only have one of each component. In this example we are using the Windows COM platform for our application tier and therefore are working with the Web Component Server (WSC) and the Web Connector. The process would differ slightly with other platforms. Viewing a Report 1. Using InfoView a user requests to schedule a report from their desktop. 2. Request is passed to the application server and evaluated by the Enterprise SDK. 3. The SDK passes the request to the Central Management Server (CMS) 4. The CMS checks to see if the user has viewing rights to the requested report. 5. If the rights exist, the CMS schedules the job to run at the specified time. 6. When the time occurs, the CMS passes the job to the appropriate Job Server. In this case the job request is for a report and the request is sent to the Report Job Server. 7. The Report Job Server retrieves the report from the Input File Repository, processes it and then notifies the CMS when the job is complete. The instance generated is stored in the Output File repository. 19
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation Installing Enterprise on Windows Installation Options There are seven options when you are considering installing BusinessObjects on Windows. In this class we shall do the full standalone installation, which is the first in our list. In your environment it is unlikely you will do a stand-alone install except as a test environment. For details on a Unix install see the appendix Installing BusinessObjects on Unix. With any of these options you need to log on to the local machine as Administrator to install BusinessObjects. 1. Stand Alone Installation in this case you install all the Enterprise components on a single machine that is already running as a Web server. NOTE: Stand Alone is the only option available with Crystal Server XI. All other options are available with BusinessObjects Enterprise XI only. This is the major difference between the two products. 2. Server Side Installation in this case the Web server is running on a separate machine. You install Enterprise on one machine and install and configure the Web Component Adapter on the web server machine. This is especially useful if you have a UNIX web server. 3. Expanded Installation in this case you choose where and how many various components to install to suit your environment. This shall be covered in this course in some level of detail. By the end of the class you should understand enough about the various components to be comfortable doing this kind of install. 4. Client Tools Installation Enterprise comes with some standalone windows applications such as the Publishing Wizard. This installation enables you to install these applications for those users who need them. 5. Custom Installation this is for the expert user and allows you to choose exactly what components are installed. 6. Silent Installation this is for an experienced administrator and allows installation from the command line. You would use this for quick installations on multiple machines. The silent installation command can also be included as part of a script. 7. Developer Component Installation allows the installation of the Java and/or.net versions of InfoView and the Enterprise SDK. 20
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation System Requirements (Windows) The Platforms appendix provides a list of tested environments for BusinessObjects including specific versions for web servers etc. In general the following must be installed before you install Enterprise: Operating Systems Microsoft Windows 2000 Data Center Server SP4 Microsoft Windows 2000 Advanced Server SP4 Microsoft Windows 2000 Server SP4 Microsoft Windows 2003 Server Microsoft Windows 2003 Data Center Server Microsoft Windows 2003 Web Server Microsoft Windows 2003 Enterprise Edition Server Microsoft Windows 2000 Professional SP4 (Client Components) Microsoft Windows XP SP1 (Client Components) Microsoft Windows XP SP2 (Client Components) Hardware 3 Gigabytes (GB) free disk space P3 700 Mhz or higher 512 Megabytes (MB) RAM, 1 GB recommended CD-ROM Drive Web Server Software Microsoft IIS 5.0 Microsoft IIS 6.0 Tomcat 5.0.27 (JDK 1.4.2) WebLogic 7.0 SP5 (JDK 1.3.1) WebLogic 8.1 SP2 (JDK 1.4.1) WebSphere 5.0 SP2 (JDK 1.3.1) WebSphere 5.1 Fix 4 (JDK 1.4.1) WebSphere 6.0 (JDK 1.4.2) Oracle Application Server 10g (9.0.4x) (JDK 1.4.2) SAP Web Application Server 6.40 (JDK 1.4.2) Client Browsers IE 6.0 SP1/SP2 Netscape 7.0.2 Safari 1.2.1 on OS 10.3.3 (OLAP and DHTML editing not supported) NOTE: Additional installation requirements can be found in Appendix B: Platform Support. This includes server databases and Java Application Servers 21
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation The Central Management System (CMS) Database The CMS needs a database to store the information about Enterprise and its users. The Setup program installs and configures the Microsoft Data Engine (MSDE) database if necessary. The MSDE is a version of Microsoft SQL server. If you already have MSDE or SQL server installed, the installation program uses it to create the CMS database in which case you will be prompted to logon and need Create, Delete and Update rights to the database. Network Requirements If you are installing Enterprise across multiple machines make sure each machine can communicate over TCP/IP with the machine that is running the CMS. All InfoView clients must be able to access the web server. The web server must be able to communicate with the machine that is running the Web Component Adapter. A simple way to test communication is to ping the machine with which you are trying to communicate. You type the command at the DOS prompt ping IP Address, such as ping 192.168.1.1. Full Stand Alone Installation This is the quickest way to install Enterprise and is the one we shall do in class. When you do this installation, all the client and server components are installed on the local machine. The CMS automatically creates its own database. The Web Adapter is automatically configured to allow communication between Enterprise and the web server on your local system. Default user and group accounts are created and sample reports are published to the system. 22
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation The steps for the install are as follows: 1. Run setup.exe from the win32 directory on the CD. 2. Step through the install wizard until you get to the following dialog where you need to select New 3. Click Next 4. In the Choose Web Component Adapter Type dialog box, select the type (or types) of Web Component Adapter you want to install. For this class, ensure your selections match the screen below. 23
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation 5. Click Next. 6. Since we selected to install the Tomcat application server, it will need to be configured. Please accept the default settings shown below and click Next. 7. In step two, we elected to install MSDE or use existing local SQL. The next screen will prompt to provide a username/password. Provide the appropriate information and click Next. 8. A final screen provides a notice the installation is about to begin. Click Next to start the installation. 9. Once the installation is complete, you see the final screen where you have an option to launch the Publishing Wizard this is the default. Clear that option if you do not want to do so. 10. You can now access Enterprise by opening your Web browser and going to: Java: http://webserver:8080/businessobjects/enterprise11/ desktoplaunch/infoview/logon/logon.do.net http://webserver/businessobjects/enterprise11/infoview/ logon.aspx NOTE: webserver is the name of your local machine. 24
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation NOTE: If you cannot access Enterprise, start the Central Configuration Manager from the Enterprise/Crystal Server program group and make sure all the servers are started and enabled as shown below. Note: If you can no Exercise 1.1 - Install BusinessObjects 1. Run setup.exe on the CD and do a complete stand-alone install of Enterprise/Crystal Server using the above steps as a guide. 25
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation NOTES 26
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation NOTES 27
Lesson 1 - Architecture and Installation NOTES 28
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Lesson 4 Folder Management 75
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Lesson Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Navigate the Folders area of the Central Management Console Set up a hierarchy of folders and subfolders Add objects to a folder Set limits for a folder Understand User Folders Understand how to create Categories 76
Lesson 4 - Folder Management What is Folder Management? In the previous lesson we looked at account management and setting up users and groups. In this lesson we shall look at folder management and how objects, such as reports can be organized in the Enterprise environment. The following lesson will then look at how the users and the objects interact. In Enterprise we organize content into folders similar to our documents in the explorer. We organize objects into folders to make navigation simpler and also so as not to worry about access rights at the object level, but at the folder level. All objects added into a folder inherit access rights from the folder s rights. Creating Folders We can create folders using the Central Management console or we can create folders by using the Publishing Wizard, which is covered in lesson 6. When you use the Publishing Wizard the directory structure is copied into a folder/sub folder structure. To create a folder, go into the Central Management Console from the Administration Launchpad or by typing in your browser: Java: http://webserver:8080/businessobjects/enterprise11/admin/ Windows: http://webserver/businessobjects/enterprise11/admin/ 77
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Click on the Organize Folders button and you should see a list of the top level folders. You will not see any subfolders listed at this time as shown in the following dialog: The default installation creates several folders. All but one is for example purposes. The User folder is the exception. It will have a sub folder for each user you have created. The following table describes what each of the buttons on this dialog do. Button Action Click this button to go to the dialog to create a new folder at the top level. Use this button to copy a folder and its contents or move a folder and its contents. Click this button to delete selected folders. Search a title or description for containing a word or not containing a word. Refreshes the CMC and shows all folders including those added recently. 78
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Click on the New Folder button to add a new folder at the highest level. To create a new subfolder, first click on the top level folder to go to the folder s property page. Click on the Subfolders tab and then click the New Folder button. At this point you only need to provide a name and description to complete the process. The folder hierarchy can be many levels deep. When you add a new folder you add a name and description. If you are at any level other than the top level you will see a folder path. In the following illustration we are adding a folder named Report Samples Formulas into the Report Samples folder as shown in the dialog below. Deleting Folders Folders are deleted in the Folders Management area of the Central Management Console. You select the folders you wish to delete and then click on the delete button. When you delete a folder its entire contents (subfolders; reports; objects etc) are deleted. If you wish to delete a subfolder click on the parent folder; select the subfolder and delete it. In the dialog shown below we have selected two subfolders (subfolder 1 and subfolder 3). Clicking on the delete button will delete these subfolders from the Enterprise System. 79
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Copying and Moving Folders Folders can be moved into other folders or copied into other folders. In either case when you move or copy, you move or copy the entire structure below the parent folder you are moving or copying. For example, under the Report Samples folder we have a Custom Functions Folder and a Date Formulas folder. Suppose we would like to move these folders under the Formulas and Custom Function folders. At the following dialog select both the Custom Functions Folder and the Date Formulas folder as shown: Click on the Copy/Move button and in the following dialog chose whether to copy or move, having made that choice choose the destination for these two folders and their contents. The Look For option is useful when you have a large number of folders and wish to find a folder. Showing subfolders is used when you want to move a folder to a particular subfolder. 80
Lesson 4 - Folder Management NOTE: We have not yet covered user rights and folder security yet, but it is worth noting here when you copy a folder it does not retain its original object rights but inherits the rights of the parent folder into which it was copied. When you move a folder it retains its rights. Exercise 4.1 - Creating; Deleting and Moving Folders 1. Create the following folder hierarchy. Sales and Marketing Sales Admin Marketing North America EMEA Sales Admin Marketing Admin Direct Mail Internet Your top level screen should look as follows: 2. Move the Admin folder to the top level. First find the Admin folder in the Sales and Marketing Subfolders tab, select it and then click the Copy/Move button. Be sure to select Move option. 3. Delete the Sales Admin and Marketing Admin folders from the Admin folder. Your top level dialog should now look as follows: 81
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Adding an Object to a Folder Now that we have our folder structure, we probably want to add objects to the folders. Once you have the folder open, click on objects to see a list of objects in the folder. There should not be any in our folders so let s click on new object. You should see the following dialog: 82
Lesson 4 - Folder Management There are many object types we can add to our folder. The first object type and default is a Crystal Report. Since version 10 we can now add other file types such as Excel; PowerPoint etc. The steps are similar regardless of the file type Object Packets and Hyperlinks are different and are covered in the following section. There are four basic selections necessary with each object type. Depending on the object type there may be additional information necessary. However, the four basic selections are: Object Type, as mentioned above, can also be described as a document type. You specifying what kind of object or document you wish to upload. Browse for the object to load. Browsing will require access to the file either on the local hard drive or on a network drive. It is not necessary for the Enterprise server to have access to the browsed file since you will be loading (copying) the file to the Enterprise server. Categories are a topic not yet covered, but categories are a way to tag an object to a topic, department or area. This is extremely helpful in situations where you wish to find, by category, all reports related to accounting rather than manufacturing for example. Destination allows you to specify which folder to assign the report to. With report objects you have additional options: Generate a thumbnail - provides a small picture of the report s first page in the folders. Use Object Repository this is for reports that are linked to the repository. Checking this option will update repository objects when refreshing the report. For example consider a report that contains a company logo from the repository. If the company logo changes and you select the option to use the repository when refreshing the report then the report will show the latest company logo from the repository. There are many more properties we can set for a report object to control when it is run; record selection etc. These shall be covered in more detail in the lesson on Managing Objects and Instances. 83
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Exercise 4.2 - Adding a Report to a Folder 1. From the Top Level Folders listing, click on the Sales and Marketing folder. 2. Once you have the Sales and Marketing folder open, click on the Objects tab and then click on the New Object button. 3. Make sure Report is highlighted in the object types list. Add the World Sales Report. You will find the report at: C:\Program Files\Business Objects\ BusinessObjects Enterprise 11\Samples\en\Reports\ General Business\World Sales Report.rpt 4. Make sure (No Categories Selected) is highlighted and also make sure the Destination shows Sales and Marketing as the selected folder. Click OK. 5. It may take a minute or more to load the report, When complete you should see a screen similar to: 84
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Folder Limits As users run and view reports you can see that a folder could become cluttered with instances very quickly. With Enterprise you can automate some of the clean up of instances. You can limit the number of instances of all objects in a folder. By user and group you can also limit the number of instances. Additionally by user and group you can limit the number of days an object stays in the system. Click on the limits tab for a folder and you will see the following dialog: The first option allows you to delete excess instances when they are more than a certain number (100 is a default) for the entire folder and its subfolders. It is advisable the check this and decide upon a number across the entire Enterprise system. In addition you can set the number of excess instances for a particular group or user. For example you could decide that for Sales Administrators only 25 instances are required. The next option allows you to set the number of instances based on number of days. For example Sales Managers may only need a week s worth of instances so you could set them up to have 7 days of instances. 85
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Consider the following: We decide 25 are enough instances of an object for the Sales folder with Sales Managers only needing 10 instances. In addition, Sales Administrators and Sales Managers do not need to see instances after 5 days. Our dialog would then look as follows: User Folders You will notice when we look at the Top Level Folders there is a folder named Users Folders. Within User Folders, Enterprise creates a folder per user on the system. This is created by Enterprise automatically and is called the Favorites in InfoView. By default the My InfoView folder shown when you log onto the Enterprise system and the user will have to open the Favorites folder manually. However, that can be changed by changing your preferences. 86
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Exercise 4.3 - Setting Limits and User Folders 1. Set the following limits for the Sales and Marketing>Sales folder: Limit number of instances to 15. For Sales Department and Sales Administrators limit number of instances to 5. For the Sales Managers limit to 3 days of instances. Your limits dialog for the Sales Folder should look as follows: 2. Copy the World Sales Report to a user folder in this case we are using Roberts. When you have the Sales and Marketing folder open, click on the Objects tab and you will see the report. 3. Select the report s check box and click Copy/Move/Shortcut. 87
Lesson 4 - Folder Management 4. Change the Destination to User Folders. 5. Your dialog when complete should look as follows: 6. Click OK. 7. Now logon to InfoView as Roberts or whichever user folder you copied the report. You may have to change the password as we set up each user in the previous lesson with changing the password when logging on. 8. Open the My Folders>Favorites folder and you will see the World Sales Report: 88
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Categories We have made brief mention of categories in earlier lessons, but now we will provide more detail information. Categories are just as the name implies, categories to apply to individual objects. By tagging an object with a category, we can search or organize reports that are similar in purpose without knowing the titles or folders in which they reside. It is simply another way, instead of using folders, to organize large numbers of reports There are two types of categories; Personal and Corporate. Personal categories relate to individual users of the system. User folders are automatically considered as a personal category. However, from InfoView users can create additional personal categories. These categories are not available to other users and are meant to help a user categorize their published reports with personal meanings. Corporate categories are similar except they are available to all users on the Enterprise system, provided a user has access to the report object in the category. Creating a Personal Category The two main methods for creating a personal category are using either the CMC or the InfoView. From the CMC simply click on the Organize Personal Categories link. A page will load listing all users on the Enterprise system. 89
Lesson 4 - Folder Management From this list, you may click on a particular user to add or view additional personal categories for that user. Clicking on the Subcategories tab will provide the list of personal categories the selected user has setup. Clicking on the New Category button will provide a dialog for adding a category: Once the category has been created, objects can be assigned to it to help organize. To see a list of personal categories, simply select the user from the Personal Categories list and go to the Subcategories tab: 90
Lesson 4 - Folder Management Corporate Categories Corporate categories are similar in purpose to personal categories. However, with corporate categories we can assign user and group rights to the category. This means we could create a Sales Payroll category where only users belonging to the Sales Managers group would find and manage this category Adding and managing user and group rights for a category works exactly the same as folders. Below shows the rights associated with a category that is created during a default installation: Exercise 4.4 Creating a new Corporate Category 1. From Home page of the CMC, chose Organize Categories. 2. You will now be at the Top Level Categories dialog page. Click the New Category button. 3. Create a category titled Sales Reports and click Update. 4. Now that the category is created, it will be listed in the Top Level Categories page as shown below: 91
Lesson 4 - Folder Management NOTES 92
Lesson 12: The Repository Lesson 12 The Repository 285
Lesson 12: The Repository Lesson Objectives After completing this lesson, you will be able to: Describe the Repository Understand what the repository is and why you would use it. Look at the repository that ships with Enterprise. Adding Objects to the Repository Learn how to organize your repository and add text objects; images; SQL commands and Custom Functions. Use the Repository You will learn how to edit repository objects and how to make certain your report has the most up to date objects. Configure your own Repository Be able to create your own repository and add repository objects to it. 286
Lesson 12: The Repository What is the Repository? In earlier versions of Crystal Reports there was not a simple way to share report design elements among report designers. The primary method of sharing was to open existing reports and cutting and pasting the elements that were needed. The Repository allows the ability to share some of the report elements. Starting with version 10 of Crystal Reports, the Repository can only be accessed through integration with Enterprise. The Repository is installed as part of the CMS database installation and will reside on the server database specified during the installation. It manages the items you indicate you want to share across reports and with other developers. With proper configuration, all of the report developers in your company can utilize the same Repository. This will allow accessibility and collaboration, making the report writing process more efficient. Using the Repository is a great way to manage items you constantly use from one report to another. For example, all of your reports may require the use of a company logo in the Report Header section. This logo needs to have the same dimensions for every report. In older versions of Crystal Reports, the only method to insert these objects was to utilize the Insert Picture option. This required the user to browse to the Windows directory where the object was stored every time you needed to use it. It may have also required you to resize the logo after placing it into the report. With the Repository, you can store the logo and easily access it from report to report via the Repository Explorer. If you were constantly resizing the logo every time you needed it, with the Repository, you only need to add the resized logo once. This logic also applies to formatted text objects. Suppose you place into your reports the company website address with a URL hyperlink, or a corporate email with the necessary logic built in. With the Repository Explorer, you can add those defined objects one time and have them available for any report in the future. This saves time in creating the object and remembering the necessary logic each time it is utilized. It also guarantees consistency across all of your reports. Another added benefit of the Repository is having the ability to create custom functions for key formulas. The Line Total formula is a good example of this. During this course, you have created the Line Total formula several times. Although Quantity * Unit Price is a very basic formula, if you had utilized the Repository, you could have created the function once and had it available for the additional reports. The Repository also stores commands for more advanced reporting. 287
Lesson 12: The Repository The Repository stores and manages the following object types: Bitmap Images such as corporate logos, pictures, external map images, etc. Text Objects such as email address, website URLs, company address and phone numbers, etc. Custom Functions such as string formulas, numeric formulas, advanced formulas using SQL language. Commands (queries) such as database connection strings using SQL language. Business View Elements such as Data Connections, Data Foundations, Business Elements and Business Views. NOTE: The Repository is not included in any of the editions of Crystal Reports as of version 10. It is now only shipped with Enterprise 10/XI. The Repository Migration Wizard The Repository Explorer In the event you utilized the repository in version 9 of Crystal Reports, you may wish to import those objects to the new repository in Enterprise. Enterprise provides an application called Repository Migration Wizard. This tool will step you through the process of connecting to your old repository and import specific items into your new repository. The Repository Explorer is the interface that allows you to quickly view some of the content of the Repository from the Crystal Reports Design canvas. The Repository Explorer has the same type of structure as Windows Explorer. There are high-level folders that you can rename, sort by name or by item type or delete the objects and folders. You can add new folders, new objects, rearrange the folder content or add subfolders easily. 288
Lesson 12: The Repository To view the Repository Explorer, you can use the button on the Standard toolbar or select View/Repository Explorer. The Repository Explorer, when opened, will reside on the left side of the Crystal Reports window. The window can be resized as well as undocked from its default position. As you begin to add objects to the window, you can view the properties of each object by RIGHT clicking on the object and selecting Properties. NOTE: The Repository in Enterprise comes without any predefined folders and sample objects. You must import the sample objects from within the Business View Manager application. For this class, we perform this step in the Business Views lesson. NOTE: Only items that can be placed directly into the report, such as images and text objects can be placed into the Repository Explorer. Commands are added to the command folder when making a new connection to the database. Formulas, parameters or field objects cannot be placed into the Repository Explorer. Custom functions reside in the Repository folders of the Formula Workshop. 289
Lesson 12: The Repository Working with the Repository Explorer In order to take advantage of the benefits of the repository functionality, it is best to understand how to work with the Repository Explorer. As mention earlier, the Repository Explorer contains a predefined set of folders and objects. Once you begin to work with the application, you will want to establish your own setup. You can create folders that make sense for your company, define objects that are universal to all reports and establish commands for connecting directly to the database to improve efficient reporting. Adding, Renaming & Deleting Folders Objects in the Repository Explorer can be organized into folders and subfolders. The detail level depends on personal preference. Adding primary folders is done directly from the Repository Explorer window by simply right clicking on the repository and selecting the New Folder option from the menu and providing the folder name. Selecting the primary folder and performing the same process easily creates subfolders. The renaming process of folders and subfolders in the Repository Explorer follows the same conventions you are familiar with in a Windows environment. By selecting the folder and right clicking the object, a menu will display with the Rename option. Deleting folders is allowed only if the folder is empty. This is to prevent the accidental deletion of objects contained in the folder. Moving the objects to another location will allow you to delete the folder or subfolder. 290
Lesson 12: The Repository Adding Text Objects or Images Once you have your repository organized into folders, you can start adding objects. There are two methods to add objects to the folders. To add a text object or image you can right click the object in the report and select Add to Repository from the menu or drag the object to the folder destination. Dragging the object into the Repository Explorer folder will have the same effect. The Add Item dialog box will immediately display, prompting for additional information for the object. These items become the properties of the object once it is placed into the folder. The Object Information window contains the following items for population: Name The user defines the name of the item. This name will display in the repository folder. Author Capturing the creator of the object is useful if question arise from other sharing the repository. In addition to the author name, contact information such as phone number or email would be useful for other users. Description The description is very useful for other report designers and even yourself if you return to the report after a period of time. Make the description a clear detailed description of the purpose of the object. Provide details of any limitations, hyperlink destinations, or special formatting features that may exist. WARNING! Before adding the object to the repository, the object in the report should be fully formatted, resized, contain any hyperlinks, etc. Otherwise, you will have to detach the object from the repository to make changes and then reattach it. 291
Lesson 12: The Repository The Repository Explorer adds a visual indicator to objects added to its folders. These indicators allow you to see at a quick glance if the item is a graphic image or a text object. Adding SQL Commands The Repository Explorer can contain Command objects. Although these objects are displayed in the explorer, you cannot actually add them to the Design view of the report. However, you can delete, rename, or view the properties of the commands. To add a SQL command to the repository, it must be created from the Database Expert. The Add Command function on the Data tab of the Database Expert will display the following window when selected: 292
Lesson 12: The Repository The Add Command to Report window contains an open text box where a user can enter the SQL statement for connection to the data source as well as prompting parameters for data restriction. SQL commands can be simple in nature or very complex statements. Because the SQL statements have to be entered directly, you must be familiar with the language to utilize this functionality. Commands are generally used by advanced developers to connect to data sources that support SQL language to gain more control over the execution of the report. 293
Lesson 12: The Repository Exercise 12.0 Starting a Report Using a Simple Command Connection 1. Start a new report based on the Xtreme Sample Database 11. 2. Select the Add Command option from the Data tab of the Database Expert. 3. The Add Command to Report dialog box opens. In the Enter SQL query in the box below area, type in the following SQL statement: Select * from Customer and then click OK. 4. On the right hand side of the data tab for the Database Expert window will be the SQL Command titled Command in the Selected Tables list. 5. Right-click the Command item and choose Add to Repository The Add Item dialog box opens. In the Name: box, type Customers and in the Author: box, type Your Name. 6. Finally, be sure to find and select the Commands folder in the Locations: list. Click OK. NOTE: The new SQL command is still named Command. This is not a problem. The repository will reflect the name Customers, but to make the item Command displayed in the Selected Tables list in the Database Expert as Customers, simply click twice slowly to rename the item. 7. In the Database Expert dialog box click OK to accept your changes. Exercise 12.1 Organizing and Adding Objects to the Repository 1. If necessary open the Repository Explorer by clicking on the button. Notice the Customers SQL command is now part of the repository. 2. Select the top level folder (Repository Items). RIGHT click and select New Folder. Name it Lesson Folder. 3. Create a text object in the Page Header with the text Lesson Text Object. RIGHT click the text object when finished and choose Add to Repository. 4. In the Add Item dialog box, name the item Sample Text Object, provide your name as the author and select the Lesson Folder for the location. Click OK. 294
Lesson 12: The Repository 5. Create a text object in the Report Header with the words Authored by your name. Format the object with a drop shadow box, Arial font, 14-point size, and format the text font to red. Resize as necessary. 6. RIGHT click on the text object and add to the Repository Explorer. Name it Authored By and add it to the Text Objects folder in the repository. 7. Drag and drop the graphic image named Extreme Logo into the Report Header from the Repository. 8. Save the report as Repository.rpt. Your Repository Explorer should look similar to the one below. Adding Custom Functions Now that you are more familiar with the Repository Explorer, let s look at the Repository functions within the Formula Workshop. If you looked closely at the Repository Explorer, you would have noticed there is not a folder for custom functions. Although these items can be stored in the repository, they are not accessible through the explorer. You must work with these items via the Formula Workshop. The Formula Workshop can be accessed by selecting the Formula Workshop button. 295
Lesson 12: The Repository In the Formula Workshop, you will see a folder tree on the left side of the window. At the top of the tree there are two headings pertaining to custom functions. One is the Report Custom Functions and the other is the Repository Custom Functions. The Report Custom Functions contains all of the custom functions currently being used in the report. Functions located under this heading do not necessarily belong to the repository. Crystal provides visual indicators to let you know if the object has been joined to the repository. The Repository Custom Functions contains all of the repositories and the Custom Functions for each that have been added to the database for object sharing. Once a function has been added to the repository, the function cannot be modified until it has been disconnected from the repository. You can view the Repository Custom Functions by expanding the folder tree as shown in the illustration: TIP: If a function is connected to the repository it will have the connected symbol to the left of its name. If you look at the properties of a function when it is connected to the repository, the background will be gray and you will not be able to make any changes. 296
Lesson 12: The Repository When a new custom function is created in a report, it is added to the Report Custom Function heading by default. In order to add the function to the Repository, it has to be indicated by right clicking the function and selecting the Add to Repository option from the menu. The function will be placed directly under the Repository Custom Function folder. Crystal provides you with the option to create different categories to store the functions in an effort to provide organization. To place the function in its own folder, you must select the function and then the Toggle Property Display button. Next, the category must be selected from the drop down list or typed into the category text box. You can also provide additional information about the custom function by populating the open text objects in the property display window. NOTE: In this version of Crystal you can only have one repository. 297
Lesson 12: The Repository Exercise 12.2 Creating and Adding a Custom Function to the Repository Creating custom functions are covered in more detail in the Designer 2 Workshop manual. However, in order to show how to add these functions to the Repository, you are going to create a simple function by extracting it from a formula. 1. Return to the Design view of the Repository.rpt. Create a formula called Budget. This formula should calculate a 5% increase in a customer s last year s sales. The formula should look like the following: {Customer.Last Year's Sales} * 1.05 2. Save the formula but do not close it. In the Formula Workshop highlight the Report Custom Functions in the workshop tree. RIGHT click and select New. Enter Budget as the Custom Function Name. Click the Use Extractor button. 3. Since there is only one formula in the report, Crystal assumes that it is the one you would like to use. The following dialog box should display: 298
Lesson 12: The Repository 4. Click on Enter More Info to choose the category for the function. 5. In the Category: box type Repository Lesson and then click OK. Click OK again to close all dialog boxes. 6. Expand the Report Custom Functions until the Budget function can be seen. RIGHT click on Budget and choose Add to Repository Select OK to add the custom function to the Repository. 7. Click on the Properties button. The Formula Workshop should look like the following illustration: 299
Lesson 12: The Repository Changing Repository Objects on Your Report When you add an object to the repository, the objects are locked and become Read-only. You cannot make any changes to these objects other than to change their positions within the report. The reason Crystal locks the objects is because these objects are available to other users of the Repository. Consider what would happen if you were able to directly change an object while another user was trying to edit the object. There would be a conflict with the objects. Crystal does provide the ability to edit repository objects; however, they must first be disconnected from the repository. Right clicking the object in the repository and selecting Disconnect from Repository from the shortcut menu will disconnect the object. Disconnecting allows you to edit the object, but keep in mind that any changes you make are not reflected in the repository. The changes are local to the report you are working with, not global to all reports that have utilized the item. Reports that have used the objects reference the last saved object in the repository. To take advantage of the main benefit of the repository, which is having a central location for objects consistent across all reports, the object must be reattached to the repository. Consider this example when editing repository objects: Suppose you have created a text object with your company s website address and a hyperlink to that location. You placed the formatted object in the repository so it was available to all report developers. The website text object has been used in 100 reports throughout your company. What happens if you need to change the website address text and hyperlink of the object? First, you must disconnect the object from the repository so you can change the content and format. When you make the necessary changes, the changed object is reflected in the current report only. The other 99 reports still contain the old structure. When you reattach the object to the repository, as the other reports are opened, the new website text and hyperlink will be updated. Disconnecting Text Objects and Images Disconnecting text objects and images from the repository is a simple process. To disconnect the object, select it with the mouse pointer and right click the object. You will notice the Disconnect from Repository option in the shortcut menu. Select this option to disconnect. 300
Lesson 12: The Repository You will notice when you have selected this option, the object in the report is now editable. You can resize, change text and have all of the formatting options available as you did when you initially created the object. This technique applies to all repository objects. Reattaching Text Objects and Images If you want the changes to be available to other reports you must reconnect the object to the repository after you have completed the editing process. Reattaching the object is a simple process. However, you must make sure you select the object in the repository you are updating when re-adding the object. If you do not select the target object in the repository, the object will be added as an additional object. To reattach the object, select the object, right click the object and select Add to Repository from the shortcut menu. The Add Item dialog box will reappear. It is within the Add Item dialog box you must select the target object you want to update. 301
Lesson 12: The Repository Once you have selected the target object, Crystal will prompt you to confirm the update of the object. This is a warning message to prevent the overwriting of the incorrect object. After the object has been reattached, it is no longer editable in the report. Editing SQL Commands To edit a SQL command in the repository, it must first be disconnected from the repository. To do this, choose a new report as a blank report. In the Repository folder, you must locate the custom command in the directory tree and add it to the Selected Tables section of the Database Expert. Once the command is selected, right clicking and selecting Disconnect from Repository from the shortcut menu will make the command editable. 302
Lesson 12: The Repository Once the command is disconnected, you can select the command again in the Selected Tables section, right click the object and select the Edit Command option from the shortcut menu. The Modify Command dialog box displays so you can modify the SQL statement. When you have finished editing, to add the object back to the repository, make sure the Add to Repository check mark is selected. The Add Item dialog box will appear when you click OK. In order to complete the reattachment, follow the same process as you would when you reattach an object. 303
Lesson 12: The Repository Editing Custom Functions As with adding custom functions, in order to edit custom functions, you must be within the Formula Workshop to perform this process. To disconnect custom functions from the repository, the function must be utilized in the report you are working on. Otherwise, you will be able to view the custom function structure, but will not be allowed to edit it until it has been added to the report. Once you have added the function to the report, it will display under the Report Custom Functions heading with the connector symbol to the left of the function name. This visual indicator lets you know that the object is still connected to the repository. You can also tell by the gray background color of the text window that the object is connected to the repository. With a gray background, viewing is allowed, but editing is not. To disconnect, right click the object and select the Disconnect from Repository option in the shortcut menu. You will notice when you choose this option, the gray background changes to white and the connection symbol no longer displays, indicating that you can edit the function. 304
Lesson 12: The Repository Editing Repository Objects Summary The Repository is a powerful function in Crystal Reports. With proper usage, it will allow you to organize items common to all reports, such as company logo s and website address text objects. It also allows you to store the structure of custom functions and SQL commands in one central location so that they are available to all report developers. Let s look again at the steps involved in updating repository if you need to make modifications to the items it contains. 1. Add the object (text object; image; SQL command or Custom Function) to the report. 2. Disconnect the object from the Repository. 3. Edit the object. 4. Save the object back as the target object in the Repository by selecting the object name within the Location tree. Exercise 12.3 Updating the Repository 1. Open the Repository.rpt report if necessary. 2. Right click on the Authored by text object in the Report Header. Notice that the shortcut menu does not have any of the edit options, such as the Edit Text or Format Text options. 3. Disconnect the text object from the Repository. Right click the object and select the Disconnect from Repository option from the shortcut menu. 4. Remove the drop shadow from the text box. 5. Now you are ready to re-add the object back to the repository. Select the object and right mouse click to display the shortcut menu. Select the Add to Repository option. 6. Locate in the Locations window the original object you want to update. This will ensure that you are updating the target object and not creating a new one. Your Add Item dialog box should look similar to the following: 305
Lesson 12: The Repository 7. Click OK. Crystal will display the Confirm Item Update warning message. Click Yes to update the object. Update of Report Objects Linked to the Repository Up until now you have looked at adding objects to the repository and updating those objects. As you are aware, the key benefit of working with the repository is to allow global sharing of some report objects to maintain consistency throughout all of your reports. So what happens if an object has been updated? How do you guarantee that your report has the latest version of the object from the repository? Crystal provides two methods of updating reports with the latest versions from the repository. 306
Lesson 12: The Repository The first method for updating is by using an on demand option. This option is displayed when a report is opened in Crystal Reports by using the button from the Standard Toolbar or File/Open from the menu. The Open window that displays contains an object that prompts you to Update Repository Objects for the report you are going to open. By default the option is not selected. You must place a check mark in the box to toggle this function on. Otherwise, the report will not check the report objects against the repository for the latest updates. WARNING: If you open a file from the welcome dialog box list or directly from the file list, then you will not see the option to Update Repository Objects. The second method of updating is to set a global option. If you want to have all of the reports check for the latest versions of objects from the repository, you can set a global option to update connected objects when loading the reports. The Update Connected Repository Objects When Loading Reports option is located on the Reporting tab of the File/Options menu item. By default, this option is not checked on in the application. 307
Lesson 12: The Repository Exercise 12.4 Updating the Repository 1. Return to the Design view of the Repository.rpt report. Add to the Details section the Customer Name, Last Year s Sales and Country fields. 2. Sort the records by Country in ascending order. Your report should look similar to the following illustration: 308
Lesson 12: The Repository 3. Save and close the Repository.rpt report. 4. Begin a New Report. Select the Repository folder in the Database Expert. Locate the Customers object in the Commands folder and move it to the tables list. Right click the Customer object name and choose Disconnect from Repository. 5. Right click on the Customer object again and choose the Edit Command option. Change the command to select USA records only as shown below. Select * from Customer where country = 'USA'; 6. After clicking OK, make sure to add the command to the Repository. 7. The Add Item dialog box should display. Locate the original SQL command in the Locations window. 8. Select Yes when you are prompted to update the object in the Confirm Item Update message. 9. When you are finished, click OK to close the Database Expert dialog box. 10. In the Design view add the Authored by text object to the Report Header section. Disconnect the object from the repository by right clicking it and selecting the Disconnect from Repository option. 309
Lesson 12: The Repository 11. Edit the text object to have a blue font and a silver background. Add the object back to the repository. Make sure you select the Authored by object in the Location window to ensure you are updating the original. 12. You are now going to set the options of the report to update the repository when opening a report. Select the Reporting tab in the File/Options. Place a mark in the check box to turn on the option Update Connected Repository Objects When Loading Reports. 13. Close the report without saving it. 14. Open the Repository.rpt report. Refresh the report. You should now see only records with a country equal to the USA because the Customer SQL command was changed. You should also see that the Authored by text object now reflects the new formatting changes. Your report should look similar to the following illustration: 310