Crystal report - Conversion from text to decimal? - crystal-reports

I have a crystal report, which takes data from an XML template. For a particular field of report, say 'Cost' the database stored procedure send data to XSD file in decimal format , but when the crystal report displays data picking from XSD, it is rounded off.
When i right click on other data fields of report, I can see 'Field:table1.columnname',. But when i click on 'Cost' field, it shows 'Text:'.
To my understanding, this is a text field which is mapped to pick data from XSD and since the type is text, it gives result in text hence truncating the decimal.
Please suggest how can I get decimals here.
P.S: This code was created by someone else, so i have no idea on what they had set at that time. I have to fix it and i have no clue about it.

(This sounds like one of those problems which is probably fixable in 20 seconds if I stood over your shoulder. Or not. Since that's not possible, let's do some background first:)
When you right-click on a field and see Text:, that means it's just a Text Object which may or may not display data from the database (if you just roll your mouse over it, it should say Text Object). When you want a report to say something generic like "Hello, my name is", this is how you'd do it. But you can also drag & drop data fields into it as well.
The other data fields that say 'Field:table1.columnname' when you right-click are indeed pulled (almost) directly from the database
Try this:
Go into your Field Explorer (If it's not open already, from the menu bar, choose View->Field Explorer). Check the Field Type of your field of interest. If it's a number field, then that's how it's being pulled from the database, which is good.
Try deleting the original field in the report and drag&dropping your field directly from the field explorer. Preview the report. Right click to Format Field. There, you'll see display options to add/remove decimals, insert currency symbols, etc.
That's enough for now. Let us know how it goes.

Related

building a form with dynamic fields in progress 4gl

I am trying to display a list of open indents with check boxes before them each line. Based on the selection a report will be generated next with further details.
Table: xxind_mstr (xxind_nbr, xxind_shipto, xxind_askedby, xxind_date).
Is there any way that I can bring the records from xxind_mstr and place them in the FORM with check boxes ?
Note: This only works if dynamic. Never hardcode this approach.
Name each check box with the value of ROWID(xxind_mstr).
This way on the post you can read back through the each xxind_mstr getting the value of the the rowid.
Rod
I'd like some more info, just to know if I'm not talking rubbish here. You want to display the records in xxind_mstr as checkboxes, then upon selection of the report setup, fire the report respecting the checkboxes flagged? If so, then I'd use a browse pre-built with a temp-table containing the xxind_mstr records, and a "flagged" field, this being a logical view-as checkbox, and when they run the report, do a
FOR EACH ttxxind_mstr WHERE flagged = true, and you should have what you want.

Border around blank data in Crystal Reports

I'm currently creating a report in Crystal Reports and each item has a border. The problem is that some of the fields can have a NULL value. When a field has a value of NULL the border doesn't show up, leaving an unsightly gap in the data.
The only solution I was able to come up with is that I create a formula for each column that displays the value if it's not null or displays a blank space when it's not null to trick crystal into thinking there is a value. This would be a major pain and definitely be confusing to anyone trying to modify the report. Is there a better solution to this problem that I might have missed?
Note: I'm unable to modify the SQL.
You can change the report options to give the default value to the null fields. But it may be not desirable for other cases.
If you wanna try it, right click the report and select "report options". Check the options "convert database null values to default" and/or "convert other null values to default".
You can insert a textbox on the report, then place the field inside that textbox. The borders would be placed on the textbox and would always appear regardless of the field value.
A few drawbacks to this,
Formatting cannot be done on the field any more (e.g. if you needed to display 123 as $123.00 you'd need to create a formula to perform the formatting then insert that formula into the textbox)
Export the data to Excel would not respect the data type - any numbers would come over formatted as text (though displayed exactly as you formatted them on the report) with that little green arrow in the cell
I found that method from https://archive.sap.com/discussions/message/9923668#9923668

Crystal Reports 2008: field shows as blank even when data is returned from the database?

Issue
I have a report in CR 2008 that I inherited from someone else
A sub-report in the report pulls its data from a database view
A field exists, "TRANSCBFLAG" in the view -- it's a string with values of "Y", "N", or "D"
The view has these values
The report displays every other value, but not this one field.
Attempted Resolutions
Suppression attribute? -- No, it's unchecked
Field type issue? -- No, it's a string
Font and background? -- No, it's black font / white background
Suppression / formatting formulas? -- no formulas on display or suppression in subreports or report
Space constraints? -- stretched the field out below all other fields -- still shows as blank
Check to make sure Crystal can see the data -- right-clicked field, select "Browse Field Data", and it came back with the three potential values. So, it can see them in the DB at least, and potentially even in the fields itself.
Just a local Crystal Issue? -- No; I uploaded the report to Business Objects XI for a test and all fields still display except that one.
Question
Where in the process could I be going wrong? It shows when I run the view directly from the database, and every other field shows perfectly in Crystal the first time.
I would assume you did 'Verify Database' but if not that's the first thing I would have tried.
And just a piece of advice... always, always, always run your reports off of a command you write yourself instead of using Crystal's GUI to let you select tables/views/procs. This allows you to make pretty much any kind of change to the query you want and even completely change the source from where your data is coming without wiping all your report controls away. If the modified query has the same field names it will always work seemlessly and if not it will give you a chance to redirect which fields are supposed to come from where. Otherwise... you will have to recreate everything as you just experienced.
There may be a more correct answer, but in a pinch, removing the view from my report (thus removing all fields), adding the view again, and redoing all fields caused the field to display correctly. Not sure how or why.
A further explanation would be appreciated, but for now, that's all I've got.
I had the same issue on a new report I'd created and finally found that the issue was in one of the parameters I used in my command SQL - it had double }} at the end. Eliminating one of the }s allowed the query to return data.
That said, go over the SQL in your database expert with a fine toothed comb, and you'll likely find the issue!

Prevent a text field within a portal from being truncated, filtering portal contents to display in another layout

I am already using Filemaker Pro 10, I have two questions:
I have a text field in a portal, and whenever I am entering values like "B12C45" in it, it works well, but when the string is longer like "BC12F42, B45z87" it doesn't show whole the strings and omits the letters from it. what Can I do?
My second question is that: I have a portal in a layout, in this portal every row has an id sometimes the id is repeated in other rows but the value of another field called Position is changing. Now I want to have those rows of this portal which have the same id in another layout. I have tried using scripts for it, but scripts don't work well in this case, and they are entering whole the portal in the new layout not the parts I want . How can I write a script which does this?
I will really appreciate any help.
For the first question there are many ways you could display more data in a field and the best one will depend on the particular implementation in your database. There are three main ways to solve this problem: field-size adjustments, text-size adjustments and programming adjustments to dynamically change the text-size.
Field-size adjustments include:
Making the field longer
Using the autosizing aspect of a field so that as the window grows, so does the field
Text-size adjustments include:
Making the font size for that field smaller.
Setting the font style for that field to condensed.
Programatically, though, three things stand out to me as possibilities. I like the third one the best for most of my solutions:
Set the tooltip for the field to "Self" (without the quotes). A user can see the entire contents of the field by hovering the mouse over the field.
In "Define Database" set the field's calculated value to: "TextStyleAdd(self;Condense)" (without the quotes) and make certain that "Do not replace existing value of field" is turned off
Use Conditional formatting to add the Condense style or use a smaller font when the number of the characters in the field gets long.
The steps for using conditional formatting are as follows:
In layout mode select the field and select 'Conditional Formatting...' from the pop-up menu
Add a new condition
Change the condition to 'Formula is'
In the text field enter "Length(Self) > 8" (without the quotes)
Press the "More Formatting..." button
Select "Condense" as the Style from the text
You can add multiple conditions, so you might have "Condense" only for Length(Self) > 8 and another condition for Length(Self) > 16 where you set both "Condense" and reduce the Font Size.
As for your second question, I'm not able to get a picture of what you're trying to do from the question you asked. You might be able do the following in a script:
Go to Related Record [the portal relationship]
Sort Records [by ID]
And then use a summary field (Count of ID) to determine how many of each ID you have.
If you clarified what you were trying to do, gave more information about your tables and table occurrences, we might be able to provide a better answer for this instance.

Field text is being truncated inconsistently

I created a label report (2 columns). The fields used are, Suffix, Contact Name, Company Name, Job Title and Department – simple contact data.
The Department field is the last one and in the report of 78 records the Department field decided not to display the entire field text twice.
I have "Can Grow" set as default on all fields, I checked the margins and label width to ensure the text is not being truncated because of the labels being too wide for the margins. I modified the data in the database by abbreviating certain words and it shows the change but it still truncates after 50 characters. Other times the Department name is 80+ characters and it displays all of the data.
This problem is happening onscreen when I preview the report and also when various users print it. The default printers have not changed.
This one has me stumped. Is this an application bug (if so is there a Service Pack for CR 11.5?) or does it have anything to do with printer drivers in need of update?
Thanks in advance for your help on this puzzle.
Update
I did specify data source
The text in the database is without any special characters or anythig else that might be out of place
No I am not using Underlaying Following sections anywhere in the document
11.5.8.998 is my version of CR (lloks like I am behind - however, when I click on verify for updates it tells me there aren't any. Do you ahve a link to the SP2 download?)
No formula in the Custom string option
Mine worked by simply going to the Database Menu option: Database-->Verify Database, and the field sizes were updated
It could happen if the length of the field in the Data Source is less than your string. To check this:
In the Field Explorer right click on the data source name and choose "Show Field Type"
The length of the field is written between ( ). If it is less than your string length, you have to re-build your data source. For example, if your data source is a view, you have to drop and create it again and then verify your data base in crystal report.
Hope it helps.
Random troubleshooting thoughts. One of these could even work :)
You didn't specify your datasource, but can you preview your data before it goes into Crystal? If the actual data is randomly truncated, then the problem isn't Crystal, it's the data.
Does this data have any special characters, i.e. accents, foreign currencies, etc? That could be a problem (I don't know if this could even create problems, never used them in Crystal)
In the Section Expert, are you using the Underlaying Following Sections option for fancy formatting? If so, your 'grown' fields may be hidden by some other field in the following section.
My Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition is 11.5.12.1838 (that's service pack 2). Is your Crystal up to date?
In the Format Field pane, there is an option to make a custom Display String. Sometimes I forget I have a formula and then don't understand why it's not doing what i want.