Customer Reviews

Crystal Reports(R) 9: The Complete Reference

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(2)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

to start, I am a crystal developer who is responsible for putting reports on our sales intranet, and I bought this book thinking it could help me with the new version of Crystal. To be fair, the book does a good job of showing you how to create simple reports. Unfortunately, it never moves far beyond that and is not really deserving of the title "complete reference".

Once you get through the basic material on report design, the chapters on distributing reports through the web, ASP, etc. are weak and the sections on other languages are worse-- the code examples are similiar to the projects that come with the product itself. And probably the worst part of it all, is a MAJOR chunk of the book refers to the previous versions of the product (including Crystal Enterprise 8.5, NOT 9) and outdated features with a disclaimer of "this hasn't been released yet, so here is the old stuff". Why would I buy a book with "version 9" on the cover, when it uses filler material from the previous version? It is a sad attempt to bulk up the page count and make you think you were getting something you are not. So in total, if I could rip the book in half, I would keep the first section and throw out the other half. It is still a good reference for report design, but not much else.

I read the review from "J. Mecina from NM" entitled, "the incomplete reference, February 20, 2003" before buying this book. I think his review is on the mark. Unfortunately, this was the best book I could find that covers the CRD (Crystal Reports Designer) control for Visual Basic.
I'm a VB developer with several years of experience and have written many Crystal Reports from simple to moderately complex. So when looking for a good book on the subject, I'm looking for advanced topics. And as was said, unfortunately, this book was not everything that I'd hoped it was. But it still seems to be the best one that I could find. And I spent a good deal of time searching. So... Buyer beware. And good luck.

I was fairly new to Crystal when I bought this book and I found it to have some good material for the intermediate user of Crystal, but the index is the most incomplete I have ever seen in a reference book. Every time I try to look up something that I KNOW I have previously read in the darn thing, it inevitably is not listed in the index and I have to go thumbing through the book to try to locate it. Sometimes I succeed, sometimes the help screens are much much better.

As a developer you better check the knowledge base of Business Objects, post in their news groups and/or if you are a registered user ask/email their consultants.

Perhaps some "missing" information is covered somewhere in the book but if so the index must be very poor.

The book should be titled the "Totally Incomplete CR9 Reference".

Has provided little more than the basics despite substantial girth. Especially disappointing are the few pages devoted to VB. Contains no mention whatsoever of .ttx files. The index is also poor for a volume that masquerades a reference tool.

Being new to Crystal Reports and finding the company's website and software tutorials very inadequate, I put forth the money to get this book with the aspirations that it would help my ability to utilize this software better. Unfortunately, that was not accomplished. I found the book to be difficult to follow, screen shots were haphazardly inserted onto the pages, and, as another reviewer pointed out, the index was a complete disappointment. The book does a pretty good job describing parts and pieces of Crystal Reports 9 but did very little to actually "teach" me how to use them. I was able to get through parts but re-reading and repeated trouble-shooting mostly taught me what I needed to know. Unfortunately, because this was my first "Complete Reference" books that I've purchased I doubt that I will purchase another. The bad news is that when I purchased this book, there were not many books on CRv9 that were available so I had little choice. Thankfully my company reimbursed me for the cost of the book.

Crystal Reports has become the leading database report-writing tool. George Peck has become its leading evangelist. This book is the fourth and the best in his "Complete Reference" series. In previous editions he did a credible job of teaching us how to use Crystal's features to create nifty reports. While this edition has many of the same chapter titles, the content has been revised not only to reflect the new features in Version 9 but also to make the chapters easier to read. The concepts almost leap off the page.

Crystal Reports 9 is a major revision of the software product. There are multiple editions and many ways of implementing the results in an application and on the web. Peck addresses all these and provide a guide through the confusing array of choices. Most importantly, Peck provides an independent view of the offerings. He is not a cheerleader. His in-depth experience with the product in the real world is evident as he shows us alternative uses for the product and ways to implement it.

Most people will not read the book from cover to cover. Much like a dictionary, you will look for the topic of interest a read a section or a chapter. The book provides an index, a detailed table of contents and a summary table of contents to help.

The book is written in a direct person-to-person style. Peck suggests situations in which "you" may find yourself and then shows you how to find a solution. Peck's sense of humor shines through in many places. Most of the book is an easy read.

If you use Crystal Reports, you need this book.

The Complete Reference 9 saved me. I have questions this book has answers. The Tips and Cautions. These are good extras - they bring up things I didn't think of. Very valuable.

For critics of this book, the author explains in the preface that calling this book "complete" is a marketing tool--albeit one that is a bit misleading--and that there is no way a reference on Crystal Reports will be "complete" enough to answer every single quesion. Granted there are ways the book could be improved (more screen shots, more typical scenarios, etc) but so far this is the best CR 9.0 book that I have found. Perhaps book publishers should consider this.

I write a considerable number of Crystal reports, and I keep this book on my desk for reference. I always find helpful information when presented with unique reporting requirements.