Dynamic Parameters

Part 2 of Crystal Reports XI
by:Reports guru David McAmis takes the new version for a spin.

This version introduces the concept of “cascading” parameters, where the values shown in a list of values are determined by your previous selection. For example, going back to our previous example, you could set up two parameters, “Manager” and “Employee”. Whenever you selected a manager, the next parameter value list would be filtered to only show those employees who work for that manager.


This flexible approach to report parameters should mean less time coding custom application pages for reporting and more time spent getting on with the application development.
In terms of time-saving features, the updated charting components make it possible to simply insert a chart into your report and let Crystal Reports decide what data and chart type should be created. Often this will not be the final desired result, but it does make it easy to quick pull together visual, information-rich reports without having to click through multiple dialogs to get a simple chart.


This same concept has also been applied to cross-tabs, with a single click all that is required to place a cross-tab object in your report. Unlike charts, there isn’t an easy way to automatically select the content for the cross-tab but just the creation of a blank cross-tab is enough of a time saver to make you want to use cross-tabs again.