Access or Crystal Reports

[snowsride]

I would appreciate any advice/opinions as to what advantages, if any, Crystal Reports has over Access.

I am used to developing complex queries and reports etc. in MS Access but a job I have applied for uses Crystal Reports of which I have no knowledge/experience. I've got an evaluation copy of CR and it looks relatively straightforward but if I could use Access I would!

Thanks

 

[boblarson]

Personally, having used both, I would opt for Crystal Reports anytime over Access. I like that I can create a very good looking report by quickly dragging and dropping (much easier than doing the same in Access) and I also like things like the custom grouping you can use. In other words, even though there is no field to group on, you can create your own groupings quickly and easily without touching the source. To rephrase that, let's say that I have a list of companies and I want to be able to display them in a regional format, but regions don't exist within the data. I can assign the companies to my own regions that I create in CR. Then, the data is aggregated, or displayed, by the custom groupings, which is a very nice feature.

Plus, aligning things within CR is much easier than in Access. Also, connecting to multiple data sources (for example, if I wanted to connect up to an Access database, a SQL Server database, and an Oracle database all for the same report) I can do it very quickly and easily without coding or an ODBC connection (using OLE DB). Plus, I can format the sections easier, supress items or sections much easier, create custom functions to use within the report, create multiple headers for different records, and the charting is much easier than using Access.

There are many, many more reasons why I would choose CR over Access if I had the choice. The thing to remember is that Access is designed to be a small business tool and that, while it has a lot built into it, Crystal Reports is designed as a Reporting Tool. Its main focus is reporting. That is what it is for. So, it has a lot more than the tool that is built to be a little of everything. That isn't to say that Access isn't good for reporting. It does quite a bit and it can do it well. But, as far as reporting goes, it is kind of like choosing a bicycle over a Limousine. They both will get you to where you are going, but the Limousine will get you there in much more comfort and faster.

 

[snowsride]

Boblarson

Great - just the sort of feedback for which I was looking. I'll press on with the tutorial foir CR.

Thanks again.

 

[Moniker]

Just remember, as Bob stated, that using CR or Access is not a "one replaces the other" type of choice. Access is a database program that happens to have some built-in reporting capabilities. CR is a reporting program that happens to have a little DB functionality. I don't know if you're old enough to remember this, but CR used to be a part of Access (v2.0 I think) and if I'm remembering correctly, CR was also part of the VB library (VB 3.0?).

CR has always filled the need for Microsoft, but it was always an outside vendor and it was licensed to be used in Microsoft products. Eventually, Microsoft got their internal reporting to the point that they didn't need to license outside vendors for that part of Access anymore, and ever since then, CR has been a stand-alone reporting program that works with Access, Oracle, SQL Server, DB2 -- basically any common data source. Access is great with Access-based data, but like Bob said, it can get hairy when using multiple data sources for one report.

I've personally never been a fan of CR. We used to have a fairly substantial list of jokes about it, but the main one was their one-line response for every "knowledge base" entry: "We are aware of this issue and are working on it."

Of course, I haven't had to use Crystal in five years or so, and maybe it's matured enough to become useful rather than a study in frustration and miniscule documentation. And, if Bob can wrangle goodness out of it, I'll go with what he said. I'm just recounting my own CR experiences so that you don't expect a bed of roses.

 

[boblarson]

Just remember, as Bob stated, that using CR or Access is not a "one replaces the other" type of choice. Access is a database program that happens to have some built-in reporting capabilities. CR is a reporting program that happens to have a little DB functionality. I don't know if you're old enough to remember this, but CR used to be a part of Access (v2.0 I think) and if I'm remembering correctly, CR was also part of the VB library (VB 3.0?).

I don't ever remember CR being a part of Access (I started with Access 2.0) and it wasn't in there. But it has been part of Visual Studio.NET and continues to be.

Of course, I haven't had to use Crystal in five years or so, and maybe it's matured enough to become useful rather than a study in frustration and miniscule documentation.

Yes, the documentation is better in CR XI but I used this book for my reference as it is one of the best:

And, if Bob can wrangle goodness out of it, I'll go with what he said. I'm just recounting my own CR experiences so that you don't expect a bed of roses.

Kevin - I think you would be amazed at it now then. It is actually pretty awesome. Although, I've always said that you really should get training on it because it isn't a real "intuitive" program. But when you have been trained on it, and you can see all that it can do, it will blow your mind. Fortunately I had both the Basic and Advanced official CR training, so I know just what is under the hood and it is a speedster!