Books/Guides/Etc: Crystal Reports

[GeekDrew]

Several programs that are used extensively at my office (and all others like it) use Crystal Reports extensively... and it bugs the hell out of me that everybody using said apps continues to submit report changes to the vendor, rather than take care of it themselves. In an attempt to save my office (and similar offices) a bit of money in the long run (ahem, not to mention increase my marketability in certain areas), learning how to write reports has been added to my list of things to do sometime in the near future.

Does anybody have experience with Crystal Reports (that is, writing them or modifying them, not just viewing them) that can suggest books, tutorials, etc., that might help me? I somehow doubt that I'll have any problem with this, I just need some jumping off point. I haven't even seen the interface yet, just placed an order for the Crystal Reports 11 Pro this afternoon. There's no harm in asking for advice and suggestions, is there?

 

[Rip the Jacker]

What

the

f
uck

 

[dsfunk]

just open one up and play with it. it's not hard to learn. use your book for reference after you get started.

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: Rip the Jacker
What

the

f
uck

Did I miss something?

 

[GeekDrew]

Originally posted by: dsfunk
just open one up and play with it. it's not hard to learn. use your book for reference after you get started.

I'm glad to hear that it's not hard to learn, since I have very little time to do so.

Regardless, though, a good book is always in order, if only for a desk reference (which is what I usually use books for anyway). Suggestions?

 

[rsd]

If you have basic sql/db experience and/or programming, it is nothing particularly difficult. I'm sure there are advanced features and such, but you should be able to figure out what you need to do.

 

[cyclistca]

I develop reports for a living. If you have any sort of programming ability you should be able to figure things out on your own.

If your buying the software you also will have access to help from the good folks at Business Object (They have a big office just down the road from were I live) including forums.

Also try Goggling "Crystal Reports forums". There are a whole bunch of them out there.