HP Intelligent Management Center Standard Software Platform - Manual (Page 92)

Determining the layout of the report
What is the report title going to be?
Write out a working title for the report. You may decide to change it later, but
at least you will have a title to use when creating the prototype report.
What identifying information is needed in the header and footer?
You may wish to include the print date, information on who prepared the
report, a block of text to describe the purpose of the report, the range of data
covered, or something similar. If you are going to include such information,
write it down so you can use it in preparing your prototype.
The information can come from a variety of sources, depending on the kind
of information you plan to use.
• Information on who prepared the report might be drawn from individual
data fields in the database table(s) used. If it is to be drawn from a
database table, what table? Or, what combination of tables?
• A block of text can be created as a text object and placed anywhere on
the report.
• Crystal Reports can generate information such as the print date or page
numbers.
Finding the data
What data do you want to use in the report?
Do you know the type of database you are reporting from? Will you be
reporting off a data file, SQL/ODBC, or another data source?
If you do not know, ask the database administrator in your organization for
help in setting up the database type and location of the data. For more
information, see Accessing Data Sources in the Crystal Reports Online Help.
92 Crystal Reports 2008 SP3 User's Guide
Report Design Concepts 5
Deciding on the content of the report