Microsoft SQL Server is the leader in mid-sized and affordable SQL solutions. Plus, you can now serve large businesses on the Microsoft Windows platform. Crystal Reports is the most flexible tool on the market and is recognized in the market. Several software vendors offer Crystal Reports as the main reporting tool: Microsoft, Best Software, Oracle, to name a few.

Sometimes developers try to use Crystal directly to pull data from various database platforms. We understand the need to provide you with additional tips to increase the flexibility of Crystal reports. It is also a common case where Crystal Report must pull data from multiple database platforms. Assuming you are creating Crystal Reports on the Windows platform, we recommend that you use Microsoft SQL Server as your database access tool.

1. Use Crystal when you’ve fine-tuned your query, no matter how good Crystal Reports is, it’s a reporting tool, not a query environment. Adjust your query first and make sure you get the correct data.

2. Use SQL Server linked servers. Use a professional tool such as Microsoft SQL Server where you can create linked servers to Oracle, Ctree, Btrieve, MS Access, Unidata, DB2 and other platforms.

3. Use distributed queries, in the case of SQL Server, investigate possibilities with OPENQUERY, OPENROWSET clauses to connect to non-SQL Server linked servers.

4. Create stored procedures – When you need parameters to be passed to the SQL statement, you need a stored procedure. You need a stored proc if temporary tables are required to do intermediate work on your SQL query.

5. Report flexibility: When you have a report based on SQL View or Stored Procedure, if you need to modify the data query, you don’t have to change the report, you change your SQL View/Stored Procedure.

6. Create an SQL query to poll the data; again, we always recommend tweaking your query and making sure you get the right results; in any case, Crystal Report is just a nice tool to display the results of your query.

Happy customizing, consulting, and designing! If you want us to do the work, give us a call at 1-866-528-0577! [email protected]