Crystal Reports Sample Files Explained

[Former Member]

I was recently given the Crystal Reports 2011 pre-release software  for review (a 90 day keycode) and the first thing I did was go to the  SAP download area. I wanted to download and save the sample reports onto  my temporary VMWare instance that I’ll use for testing Crystal Reports  2011. I realized that the sample reports have no explanation of what  they are, and it isn’t totally clear by looking at their file names. So I  thought I would write a quick blog post to help clarify what each  download is and what you get with it.

For example, when I search on “Crystal Reports 2008 – Samples”, here are the downloads available for the English language.

• CR XI Xtreme Reports Samples and Database
• CR 2008 Sample Reports – Demonstration
• CR 2008 Sample Reports – Features
• XML data sources for the CR 2008 sample reports
• CR 2008 sample reports – Financial

My first thought is, why are the CR XI sample reports and its  database appearing in the CR 2008 search results? Secondly, what is the  difference between the file names “Demonstration”, “Features” and  “Financial”? Are they all separate downloads, is it possible to download  a single file that has everything? I can’t tell any of this just by  looking at the search results, and I’m not sure what I need to download.

Oh yeah – here is the download link:
http://bit.ly/hvE8UH

NOTE: The SAP blog software won't let this link redirect off the page properly (it will give you a 404 error). Highlight the link, then copy it into memory and pasted on your browser's URL to go to the correct page.

Of course, I downloaded everything. Here is a summary of the downloads:
CR XI Xtreme Reports and Database
This includes the Xtreme.mdb database (an Access database) that has been  used for almost every version of Crystal Reports through XI. The sample  reports use the Xtreme.mdb database as their datasource. I assume that  this is included in the CR 2008 query results b/c many people, like  myself, are more comfortable with these original files and would rather  work with them rather than the XML files that are used with the CR 2008  sample reports. I personally like these reports b/c as I write books and  articles about Crystal Reports, I like to take existing reports and  ‘tweak’ their data and layout so that I can quickly demonstrate a point.  It’s much easier for me to modify the data in an Access database than  it is to work with XML data files.

CR 2008 Demonstration:
Comparative Income Statement.rpt
Order Processing Efficiency Dashboard.rpt
World Sales Report.rpt

CR 2008 Features:
Calculated Member Cross-tab Chart.rpt
Drilldown.rpt
Grouping and Sorting.rpt
Interactive Parameters Chart.rpt
Interactive Parameters Dynamic Group.rpt
Interactive Parameters.rpt
Interactive Sort Details.rpt
Interactive Sort Group & Chart.rpt
Optional Paramater – DCP.rpt
Xcelsius 4.5 Charts and Dials.rpt
XML Exporting.rpt
Folder: Xcelsius 4.5 Sample Flash Objects: a multitude of flash objects for Xcelsius

CR 2008 Financial:
Consolidated Income Statement.rpt
Income Statement.rpt
Monthly Variance Cross Tab.rpt
Rolling Quarter Income Statement.rpt
Sorted Variance Analysis Report.rpt
Trial Balance.rpt
Variance Analysis Report.rpt
YTD Variance Cross Tab.rpt

XML Data Sources
These are the XML files that are used by all the Crystal Reports 2008  sample reports. As of Crystal Reports 2008, the sample reports no longer  use the Xtreme.mdb database that has been in existence forever.  Interestingly enough, you only need the sample data if you want to build  new reports from it. The sample reports that you download have a link  to the same XML files that are stored on the www.businessobjects.com ; servers. Thus, you don’t need a local copy of the XML data to run the  sample reports. If you’re interested in the XML data source URL, you can  open one of the sample reports and select the menu options Database  > Set Datasource Location and look in the “Current Data Source” area.

I hope that this clears up a little of the mystery around the sample reports