Formula field displays blanks instead of desired result - crystal-reports

I'm stuck on a problem with a formula field in Crystal Reports and I keep going around in circles. I'll try my best to explain it.
The report I'm creating will be exported as a data file. It uses 3 tables, with work_table as the main table. work_table is joined to a view called order_item_with_aux using two fields, orderhdr_id and order_item_seq; it's an inner join. I don't think this has much bearing on my problem but, work_table is also joined to the customer_address table on customer_id and customer_address_seq.
In my output, I've included several fields from all three tables. Where I'm stuck is creating a formula field to populate a #Split field. Here's what I'm writing in my formula:
if {order_item_with_aux.zzaux_no_renewal_notices} = "Y" then "B"
else {work_table.split_value}
This results in the #Split field being populated with "B" for records on the work_table whose corresponding record on the order_item_with_aux view has zzaux_no_renewal_notices equal to "Y". The value of #Split for all other records displayed is blank. I've tried several variations of the above formula all to no avail. I've also tried setting a variable and handling it that way, but again, no go.
Anyone have any ideas? Please let me know if there's more info I can provide.

You need to test for null values first:
if isnull({order_item_with_aux.zzaux_no_renewal_notices}) then
"missing value"
else if {order_item_with_aux.zzaux_no_renewal_notices} = "Y" then
"B"
else
{work_table.split_value}

Related

Repeating a result on a line on the rows/lines below untill that result changes?

Image showing problem
I want to know if there is a way of repeating the result of a column downwards until the change of result.
Attached image shows the problem.
I need 9.1stWC column to fill the number(which is actually a string) all the way down until that number changes.
The column is not null where the blank fields are (9.is null, shows this) so I'm going to have to write additional formulas to show I'm guessing.
I've used previous function but that only shows for the next line down then is blank after.
The replicate string function will go across the column not downwards.
I've looked at a stringVar but cant find a way of making this work on this report.
I'm reserved about grouping as I have a lot of other filters and by grouping I could possibly loose the sequence depending on what I group by.
My aim is to show WC which are equal to the current op line by doing a simple formula after I have managed to populate that column
I will assume your column is a field named {Result.WC}.
Try this:
Create a formula. Let's call it #LastWC.
Use this code in the formula:
shared stringvar sharedLastWC;
if not isnull({Result.WC}) and {Result.WC} <> "" then sharedLastWC := {Result.WC};
sharedLastWC; //returns
Replace the field by the formula.
The idea behind this is to set the shared variable when the field is not blank and not null. So, the variable will hold the last "filled" value.
I can't make a test with the purposed solution right now, but give it a try and make adjusts if you need. Tell me if it does not work.
If the first row can be empty, you may need to create an aditional formula do start the value of the shared variable in the header of the report.

Show 0 for values with missing data

I have a dimension I am showing in a text table that can have one of 3 possibilities "A", "B", or "C" and I want at all times to have A, B and C shown in a text table even if one of them has 0 occurrences. The issue is that I am filtering this based on date, so it is possible that for example B may not exist, but I still want to have a 0 printed for B.
I have gone to Analysis -> Table layout -> show empty rows which will show "B", but in the count display it shows a blank. How can I get it to display a 0?
This problem is very famous among tableau users and I still did not see a generic tableau-only solution. All proper solutions start with injecting rows to your data which I assume you do not want this.
Below method will only work if you have a Date Dimension on the measure and no-data dates are not completely filtered-out; so you will be seeing zeros even though that date has no data as you may see on below screenshot.
When you filter out the no-data dates, unfortunately you will keep on seeing NULLs.
If you are using the SUM of Number of Records as your occurrences, then you may create a calculated field as below and use it in your pane:
ZN(LOOKUP(SUM([Number of Records]),0))
You can leave the Default Table Calculation as Automatic so the Results are computed along Table (accross).

Displaying multiple records in Crystal report as comma separated value

I have a view that I am using to display some information in Crystal report file. In some cases, view is supposed to return more than 1 record.
By default, in these cases, Crystal report take the last record and display that one. So, if I have two records with id A and B, I will see only the details of B.
I want to have an option where both A and B are displayed separated by comma.
E.g. if EmployeeDepartment in Employee table has two records (CIS, FINANCE) for employee A, then I want to see #EmployeeDepartment return "CIS, FINANCE" instead of just "FINANCE".
I have been trying to find a way to do this. Till now, I have gotten this far:
Base formula
Shared Stringvar store;
store:=store+{TBL_MR_Header.MRHD_Customer_Ref_No}+ ", "
Display formula
Shared Stringvar store;
store
When I run the report, base formula returns "B," instead of "A,B". Display formula on the other hand displays nothing.
I am unsure what I am missing here.
Edit:
I have created a query that returns the two value comma separated, in both records. So, both records display "CIS, FINANCE" instead of "CIS" and "FINANCE" respectively. Now, I have simple problem, how do I put this query in crystal report file? Only option I can find is to use that datasource expert tool but that does not allow updating query.
Edit:
I actually decided to go different route there. I tried putting the base formula in header and display formula in detail section, but that didn't work either. Turns out, one of my colleague tried a trick to solve similar problem. He used the C# code to call a T-SQL query, got the value in CSV format, and passed it as a parameter. It requires an extra trip to database, but it made it easier.

Avoid column names on empty results in Crystal Reports

My question it's quite simple.
Suppose I have a "StoredProcedure" that gives me a result of a table with 2 columns, say: "Name" and "Surname".
I want to show the table only if the result set is not empty.
If I drag&drop the "Name" and "Surname" fields to the "Details" section, it automatically generates in the Header section the name of those columns, but if the result set is empty, I still see the column names. What I want is to make the column names dissapear if there isn't any data to show.
Any idea of how to do this?, it sounds very reasonable so I guess the solution is simple, but I don't know it
I now realized this question is answered in other question I made.
Conditional printing depending of empty or null value in Crystal Reports
I guess that setting a conditional value on the column labels with the "Count()" function (I guess should be one), would make the job done.
If Count(someFieldOfTheResult) == 0 THEN
notShowLabel
ELSE
showLabel

Flatten data inside a crystal report

Ok, this might be a weird request, but is it possible to essentially flatten my dataset inside a crystal report?
I have a datatable in C# that was created with a join, so when it hits the report its 2 records. Most of the columns have identical data, with the last few displaying a different address.
Instead of printing the detail section multiple times with mostly similar data, I need to display 1 'record' with the common data printed once, and each records address arranged next it. As in, all the common fields displayed in one area, and then next to that the address fields from the record where 'AddressType = 1', then next to that the address fields where 'AddressType = 2'
Is this a subreport thing? Because even with subreports I can't get it to only print 1 detail section with the data from just the first record.
Is this even possible with crystal? For long drawn out reasons, I can't flatten the data before it gets to the report.
Ok, someone here in the office showed me the way, so I'll put this out there.
Given data with cols A,B,C all common and D,E different across multiple rows, this is how I 'flattened' the dataset in crystal:
Create a group based on col A, and put A,B,C inside that group header - get rid of the details section entirely
Create a subreport in the group header for each row of data, in my case 2 subreports
Inside each subreport, put fields D,E. Important: There are NO links for these subreports!
For each subreport go into the Select Expert and create a condition that shows only 1 particular row of data. This conditional will have the same field for each subreport, but different values. In my case it was AddressType='A', and AddressType='B'
This will produce 1 report, with A,B,C listed once, and D,E listed once for each subreport(once for each row of data)
This was confusing, time consuming, and I hate crystal reports now more than ever.
It would be pretty ugly, but you could add a group for each common field in Group Expert and then display the data for the common fields in the last group header. So if your common fields are field1 through field5, you would create five groups and put all five fields in the group header of field5. Then you would put the unique address fields (call them field field6 through field8) in the details section.
Now the trick is getting everything to line up correctly. You can set "underlay following sections" on the group header for field5; this will cause field1 through field5 to "fall down" into the details section. You just need to make sure that field6 through field8 are all to the right of field1 through field5 so the text does not overlap.
Now, if you want the two address records to print horizontally, I think you will need a subreport with multiple columns for that. But the same principle applies -- just make sure the subreport is to the right of field1 through field5 so the data doesn't overlap.
Have you tried the suppress if duplicated option on each non-address field?
Otherwise, you could group by the common id, put the common fields in that header, and then display the multiple addresses in the details section.
Or, you could remove the addresses from the datasource and use a subreport to fetch this data for each record. This would bypass the join and be the slowest option performance wise, due to having to select the addresses for each record.
Ok, firstly let's see if I understand this right :
You want a report that would be in the format
MainDetails Address(type1)
MainDetails Address(type2)
to instead be in the format
MainDetails Address(type1) Address(type2)
?
Assuming there are only two address types, you can do the following :
1) Group by Main details (whatever the unique entry is
2) Put the address details in the group header next to them, on the right
3) Also put the address details in the details section, but positioned as if they were in the Address(type2) column positions, so it looks like :
GH MainDetails Address
D.......................................Address
4) Next, add a sort to the report on the AddressType field, so that AddressType=1 shows first.
5) Add a conditional suppression formula to the Details section saying {AddressType=1}
6) Using the Section Expert, in the Group Header tick the 'underlay following sections' box
This should work as long as the number of addresses is either 1 or 2.