Customer Reviews

Crystal Reports Professional Results

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

If you're just getting started with Crystal Reports, you've had some introductory training and know your way around the basics fairly well, but you're just not sure if some particular thing is possible or how to do it, this is the book for you. (Even if you are not just getting started!) Some of us are lucky and have a Crystal guru in the cubicle next door for those one-off questions; the rest can look them up in this book.

The first half of the book is tips and tricks, some more tricky than others, but all in the realm of good-to-know. I consider myself a sophisticated Crystal Reports developer and yet I found tidbits of knowledge that I had never come across before. The topics covered are broad, encompassing report formatting, formula creation, grouping enhancements, and more. Putting just some of the tips into practice will make you look like the guru.

The second half of the book is a Crystal Reports formula reference that I did not find much more helpful than the Crystal Reports help files. However, the tips section is more than worth the price of the book!

I already have George's CR 8.5 book and I think its great. When I saw the description for this book I was very interested in reading it. Unfortunately, once I got the book in my hands I was let down.

As I went through the chapters I saw that it was really a "Tips and Tricks" book. This is mostly stuff that I already read in his 8.5 book. So I didn't see much new information. But the really bad part was when I got to page 200. The book was over! Yes, this "400" page book is only 200 pages.

The last 200 pages are a printout of the Crystal help file. I've read books that have what I consider too many tables copied out of a help file. But this book goes over the top by having a full 50% of its content being a copy of the help file. What was George and his publisher thinking? It reminds me of the Tom Petty song The Last DJ, "The guys at the top want to see how much you'll pay for what you used to get for free."

In summary, the first half of the book is a lot of repeated tips from his 8.5 book. The second half of the book is worthless. If you want a good CR book, get George's 8.5 or 9.0 book and pass this one by. I'm shocked to see that a great CR author such as George put with his name on the cover.

This is a disappointing read. Half of the book is the reference material from the help files and the other half is random report design techniques that don't fit together. Give this one a pass.

While I must agree with some of the reviews here saying that this is only 200 pages of the actual 'useful' part of the book, I also must say that those first 200 pages are very much helpful! Now, the second half of the book is of great help if you need a good Formula Reference, which is not that easy to find in some other books (except in the author's other book, Crystal Reports 2008). Why I gave this book 5 stars is because it is written in a plain, simple language, easy to follow, without all the technical jargon that most other books are full of. All I want is some practical advice, whether I apply it to my work, or for my cert. exam, which I've been preparing for. Get this book if you are a beginner, or if you are a pro, as you'd be surprised to learn how easy it is to achieve some results once someone shows you how to. And that's exactly what this book is about. Within a page or two you will learn about each trick. Easy to follow, understand, and keep focused on.

I am a Trainer for Seminar companies nation-wide and Crystal Reports is one the the topics I teach. Crystal Reports Professional Results is a good resources for individuals that have some experience with Crystal Reports and need a good reference manual to answer those difficult questions demanded by their jobs. This book can be your private coach for using Crystal Reports 2008. I recommend it, George Peck knows this product inside and out, the companion book is ASIN:0071590986 Crystal Reports 2008: The Complete Reference (Osborne Complete Reference Series)]] get both of them. Another resource I recommend to my students is Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies. "Education is less a matter of knowing certain things than of knowing how to learn and taking advantage of opportunities to do so" Colin Powell.

Dushun Mosley
"Real Project Management for Real Project Managers"

I am a rookie Crystal Reports user and I wanted to come up to speed quickly and do some nice looking reports. This book should probably have been my second Crystal Reports reference. It assumes that you already know all of the basics and probably have a library of reports you want to add slick things to. The book does have a lot a great tips and techniques and great online samples to download, and I did learn a lot reading it, but my first book should have been a step-by-step guide to building the basic reports.

George Peck's "Crystal Reports Professional Results" is an excellent shortcut for all levels of Crystal Reports users. The book is well organized. It has an excellent table of contents that allows the reader to focus on information for a task in progress. The instructions are well written and easy to follow, and examples are available for download from the web so the reader can work along with the instructions and see immediate results. While it is not a comprehensive text, it provides great tips that will make reports look professional quickly and easily.

The book seemed to be geared towards Crystal 9 and not Crystal XI. I had purchased XI at the same time. The book was not a large book and half of it contained an extensive glossary of terms. Very unneccessary as this information is found in many places.

Thanks
Bonnie

The author of this book is also the author of the various editions of the standard 'Crystal Reports: The Complete Guide' book. This book tries to pick up where that book left off--in other words, this book tries to be a resource for intermediate to advanced users.

The book does present numerous interesting tips and a few really useful strategies for report development. However, the examples are not particularly thorough and there simply are not enough of them to really cover the breadth of the product. If used as an "idea-generator" book for a mid-level developer it would be useful, but it is not a comprehensive guide to advanced techniques.

As other reviewers have already mentioned, about half of the book is just reprinted information from the electronic help files that are included with Crystal Reports. Of course having them nicely organized and bound in printed form is very useful--but the book is pretty pricey for a simple reference manual.

I read and enjoyed the book, I learned a few things and it gave me some ideas, but in general it was a bit dissappointing. If work's buying it for you--great! If it's your own money--well, you might wish you hadn't spent it.

Crystal Reports Professional Results, by George Peckis a superbly organized and very highly recommended resource which provides a wealth of tips, ticks, and techniques on the creation and presentation of expert quality reports and complex, interactive analysis documentation both on and off the Web. George Peckis is particular adept at explaining just how to develop and design reports, make maps, tables, and charts, extract and present data from SQL databases, download ready-to-use sample report templates, and so much more.