Customer Reviews

Crystal Reports 2008 Official Guide

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Ten or fifteen years ago, this book would have been in the shrinkwrapped software package as the included reference manual. Now that the software box is more-or-less empty, you have to buy this reference manual separately. The book is a standard reference-type manual designed to provide an overview of every feature within the product including the newest features. Besides the standard overview type stuff, it includes some basic tutorials on often-confusing topics such as report integration; you won't become an expert using these tutorials, however. The book also includes a lot of information on how Crystal Reports integrates with Business Objects' larger software platforms (which will probably be useless for 90% of users).

Beginning users will find the manual easy to use and full of information. Intermediate users will find a few suggestions here and there. Advanced users will probably only give it a flip-through. All in all a solid offering in a fairly crowded field, but one that is authoritative and complete. I might mention that it doesn't include much that isn't in the on-line documentation that installs with the software--but it is easier to use. However, I just can't shake the feeling that the manual should have come in the box.

I'm new to Crystal Reports, saw this at my local bookstore and purchased it. It was exactly what I wanted and is definitely geared for the new user. If you want a reference guide, go with something like this, according to my Crystal expert friends: http://www.amazon.com/Crystal-Reports-2008-Complete-Reference/dp/0071590986

This book has step-by-step instructions on the core features of Crystal, just what a beginner wants. Worked well for me and gave me a good understanding of the basics. Remember, the title says this book is a "guide," not a Reference Guide.

Note that there are numerous quirks and minor flaws in the book. Here are some things I can remember as an FYI:

* Several screen shots don't quite match the instructions, which confused me at times.
* Instructions are based on the "Xtreme" sample database. The instructions on how to acquire that database are wrong. I had to search the SAP/Business Objects web site and eventually got it (even then it wasn't 100% clear I was getting the right thing).
* I wished the book would list all the prerequisites I'll need to follow the examples early on. Several times I came across URLs (some of which were dead ends) to software that I'll need to continue the chapter. That's a bummer when I'm in study mode. And the URLs are not friendly -- long ones with a mixture of upper and lower case letters. Is that a capital "I" or a lowercase "l"? Do you *really* need 32 random characters in one part of the URL? Yuck.
* The chapters build on each other. Later chapters assume you know how to do everything prior, thus making chapter skipping problematic at times. This isn't necessarily a bad thing, but handy to know.

None of the above were deal-breakers. I was stone cold new to Crystal Reporting and it was very easy to follow along and learn the basics. The low scores I've seen on this book seem to be from people who didn't do their homework and view sample chapters -- they are from advanced users who should not have purchased this book in the first place. It does very well as a Guide, which is all it claims to be.

Having reviewed a few different Crystal books over the last few years with colleagues, I came upon this "official guide" by ex and or current SAP employees and consultants. After reviewing the book, I came to quickly like the real world scenarios that compliment the core lessons of each chapter. The book presented reporting concepts in an easy easy to grasp manner and was meaningfully organized and thorough. Additionally, the authors have been responsive to email queries and follow-up challenges that I have sent them. All of this leads to my strong rating - highly recommended.

As a new user who has completed three online Crystal Reports 2008 SAP training courses I was looking for a good reference volume to assist me with syntax and intermediate to advanced topics. This isn't it. I found most of the coverage to be cursory and the index to be sorely lacking and of little value.