extending crystal reports 2008 - archive...swf files to cr 2008 documents ... built-in barcode...

Extending Crystal Reports 2008Custom Add-ins

Sales Consulting, OEMMarch 4, 2009

© SAP AG 2009. All rights reserved. /

Introduction

Who am I?Parin Patel

– OEM Sales Consultant– SAP Business ObjectsBackground:

– Working with Crystal and Business Objects technologies for 4 years– Java SDK support with the Technical Customer Assurance Developer Support team

Goals1. What are some key highlights of Crystal Reports 2008?2. What is the Report Creation/Modification API?3. What is the Crystal Reports 2008 Add-ins feature?4. How can I create custom add-ins for Crystal Reports 2008?


1. Crystal Reports 20082. Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-Ins3. Summary4. Additional Resources5. Questions

Agenda


Crystal Reports 2008 (1/6)

Improve decision making through enhanced view-time interactionOn-report sorting, filtering, drilling and formattingNew parameter panel

Empower end-users with “what-if” analysis and moreinformation in one report

Integrate Xcelsius visualizations directly into your reports

Embed high impact visualizations and interactivityIntegrate Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash files directly into yourreports

Minimize IT and developer effort!Create intuitive and interactive reports; reducing report proliferation!


Crystal Reports 2008 (2/6)Enhanced view-time interaction

On-report sortingduring view timewithout forcing areport refresh.

Use CasesAttach the sortcontrols to datawithin a chart fordynamic chart sort

Attach the sortcontrols to columnheaders todynamically sort listreports

Dynamic Sorting


Crystal Reports 2008 (3/6)Enhanced view-time interaction

Displays your reportparameters duringreport view time.

Interactive Parameter– Parameter prompt that

does not force arefresh of the report

Optional Parameter– Parameter prompts

that can be left emptyduring prompt time

Use CasesDynamic on-reportfiltering = RecordSelection Formula +Interactive Parameter

New Parameter Panel


Crystal Reports 2008 (4/6)Xcelsius Integration – “What If” Analysis

Add existing Xcelsiusswf files to CR 2008documents

Add the ability to doWhat-if analysis viainteractive Xcelsiusanalytics

Use CasesAdd What-If analysisto forecast salestargets

Analyze budget vsactual metric values

Empower end-users with more information in one report


Crystal Reports 2008 (5/6)High Impact Visualizations and Interactivity

Stunning visualizations by adding dynamic charts,graphs and video filesIntegrate custom Flex components to enhance theuse of reports

Integrate Adobe Flex and Adobe Flash


Crystal Reports 2008 (6/6)And much, much more!

Enhanced Web Services data driverIntegrated salesforce.com driverBuilt-in barcode support (Code39)Multilingual reportingReduced install footprintImproved XML exportingSave reports directly to crystalreports.comMore than just reports

Letters, forms, invoices, statements, etc.

Improve decision making!Minimize IT and developer effort!


1. Crystal Reports 20082. Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-Ins3. Summary4. Additional Resources5. Questions

Agenda


Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-ins (1/11)

What are Crystal Reports 2008 Add-ins?Create custom design-time add-ins for Crystal Reports using .NET– Displayed under the “Add-ins” menu

Implement custom workflows to meet business requirements– i.e. apply report formatting, export to multiple formats at once, etc.

Leverage any SAP Business Objects .NET APIs!Make it easier for your clients and report developers to create reports!



Need to update or modify the report (i.e. section highlighting)?Crystal Reports 2008 .NET SDK– Report Creation/Modification API (RCAPI)

– Create new or modify Crystal Reports at runtime– Add/remove parameter fields, database fields, text fields, etc.– Add/format pictures, hyperlinks, charts, etc.– Add/remove subreports, sections, groups, etc.– Change database connection information– Pass runtime data (i.e. DataSets)– Etc.

RCAPI now available with Crystal Reports 2008.NET SDK (included with the install)

– Export to various formats: PDF, MS Word, MS Excel, MS RTF, etc.



Subreport highlighter



Need to implement a custom report wizard?Use the Report Creation/Modification API (RCAPI)

Need to implement a custom SAP Business Objects Enterprise publishing plugin?SAP Business Objects Enterprise SDK– Publish reports to the Enterprise system– Publish reports to multiple folders and categories– Publish reports as multiple formats (i.e. PDF and Excel)– Publish reports to multiple destinations (FTP, SMTP, Inbox)– Etc.



Custom report creation wizard and publishing add-in



Custom spell checker


Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-ins (7/11)Implement any workflow you need!

Publish to external applicationsi.e. upload PDF to FTP

Custom BOE workflowsi.e. publishing, scheduling, etc.

Apply report formattingi.e. highlight subreports

Custom report creation wizardsImage Browser or Picture GalleryEtc.

Make it easier for your clients andreport developers to create reports!



So, how does thiswork?

How can I create anadd-in?



How does it work?DotNetExternalCommandAdapter.DLL

– New managed DLL installed in the Global Assembly Cache (GAC)– CR 2008 uses this to search and load files with a csc prefix in CR 2008’s AddIns subdirectory,

similar to how it looks for database drivers, export drivers and UFLs



How do I create an add-in?Inherit 2 classes from the DotNetExternalCommandAdapter.DLL

ICommand Creates all the information needed to create a single add-on function



How do I create an add-in?Inherit 2 classes from the DotNetExternalCommandAdapter.DLL

ICommand Creates all the information needed to create a single add-on function

ICommandDLL Tells Crystal what menu you want to display in the Add-Insmenu and what ICommands are available.

Also exposes a call-back function that receives data fromCrystal when one of its Add-Ins is selected by the user

Compile the classes into a DLL with csc as the prefix and copy it to:

– C:\Program Files\Business Objects\BusinessObjects Enterprise 12.0\win32_x86\Addins



What happens when the add-in is called?1. Temporary copy of the report created

2. ICommandDLL.doCommand method of the DLL is invoked– command ID and an array of strings (first string is the location of the temporary copy of the report)

passed as parameters– typically the ICommandDLL.doCommand function calls other functions to load the temporary report,

modify the report using Crystal Reports and RAS SDK’s and finally saves the report.

3. Once the doCommand function completes Crystal Reports 2008 reopens the report from the temporarycopy

Refer to the “Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-Ins” document for more information


1. Crystal Reports 2008 Overview2. Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-Ins3. Summary4. Additional Resources5. Questions

Agenda


Summary

Improve decision making through enhanced view-time interaction

Create intuitive and interactive reports; reducing report proliferation

Minimize IT and developer effort for reporting

Make it easier for clients and report developers to create reports throughcustom add-ins

Implement any design-time workflow needed with custom add-ins

Leverage the RCAPI and other SAP Business Objects API to implementcustom reporting workflows at design-time



Agenda


Additional Resources

Business Objects Community: Crystal Reportshttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/crystalreports

Crystal Reports 2008 Custom Add-Ins whitepaperhttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/11471

CR.NET SDK Developer Library (tutorials and sample code) and API Referencehttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/businessobjects-sdklibrary

CR.NET SDK Sampleshttps://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/samples

Product Documentationhttp://help.sap.com/

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/crystalreports

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/11471

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/businessobjects-sdklibrary

https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/boc/samples

http://help.sap.com/



Agenda


Questions


Thank you!


Copyright 2009 SAP AGAll Rights Reserved

No part of this publication may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or for any purpose without the express permission of SAP AG. The information contained hereinmay be changed without prior notice.

Some software products marketed by SAP AG and its distributors contain proprietary software components of other software vendors.

Microsoft, Windows, Excel, Outlook, and PowerPoint are registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

IBM, DB2, DB2 Universal Database, System i, System i5, System p, System p5, System x, System z, System z10, System z9, z10, z9, iSeries, pSeries, xSeries, zSeries,eServer, z/VM, z/OS, i5/OS, S/390, OS/390, OS/400, AS/400, S/390 Parallel Enterprise Server, PowerVM, Power Architecture, POWER6+, POWER6, POWER5+,POWER5, POWER, OpenPower, PowerPC, BatchPipes, BladeCenter, System Storage, GPFS, HACMP, RETAIN, DB2 Connect, RACF, Redbooks, OS/2, Parallel Sysplex,MVS/ESA, AIX, Intelligent Miner, WebSphere, Netfinity, Tivoli and Informix are trademarks or registered trademarks of IBM Corporation.

Linux is the registered trademark of Linus Torvalds in the U.S. and other countries.

Adobe, the Adobe logo, Acrobat, PostScript, and Reader are either trademarks or registered trademarks of Adobe Systems Incorporated in the United States and/or othercountries.

Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation.

UNIX, X/Open, OSF/1, and Motif are registered trademarks of the Open Group.

Citrix, ICA, Program Neighborhood, MetaFrame, WinFrame, VideoFrame, and MultiWin are trademarks or registered trademarks of Citrix Systems, Inc.

HTML, XML, XHTML and W3C are trademarks or registered trademarks of W3C®, World Wide Web Consortium, Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Java is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc.

JavaScript is a registered trademark of Sun Microsystems, Inc., used under license for technology invented and implemented by Netscape.

SAP, R/3, SAP NetWeaver, Duet, PartnerEdge, ByDesign, SAP Business ByDesign, and other SAP products and services mentioned herein as well as their respective logosare trademarks or registered trademarks of SAP AG in Germany and other countries.

Business Objects and the Business Objects logo, BusinessObjects, Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions, Web Intelligence, Xcelsius, and other Business Objects products andservices mentioned herein as well as their respective logos are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects S.A. in the United States and in other countries.Business Objects is an SAP company.

All other product and service names mentioned are the trademarks of their respective companies. Data contained in this document serves informational purposes only.National product specifications may vary.

These materials are subject to change without notice. These materials are provided by SAP AG and its affiliated companies ("SAP Group") for informational purposes only,without representation or warranty of any kind, and SAP Group shall not be liable for errors or omissions with respect to the materials. The only warranties for SAP Groupproducts and services are those that are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services, if any. Nothing herein should be construedas constituting an additional warrant.

extending crystal reports 2008 - archive...swf files to cr 2008 documents ... built-in barcode...

Documents