Crystal Reports

Often we are asked about using Crystal Reports.  You can use Crystal Reports to access your data in Advisors Assistant.  However, this is what you should know.

•Crystal Reports is a separate program and the reports would run OUTSIDE of Advisors Assistant.

•You would not be able to use the Selection Reports Screen and then run a report developed in Crystal Reports from the reports menu.

•Access to your Advisors Assistant database would use the SQL Administrator password you entered during the installation of the Red CD.  This is why we provide that password.

•Crystal Reports would normally be used by someone who has experience with this reporting package.  It is not necessarily a program that an average user would be able to use without some training and learning curve.

What The Crystal Developer Would Want To Know

Here is some useful information for the person developing the reports:

•Use the SQL Administrators password to access the SQL 2005 files.

•There are several report views which combine data from various tables so you don't have to do most of the joins yourself.  Just select against these views.

•The Unique ID for any name in the database can be access by any user by right clicking in the upper left quadrant of the view screen.  This integer ID can be used as a runtime data input item to select the name you want to report on, assuming the report is designed for a single name.

•Some of the views are specifically designed for doing sub-reports with many to one relationships to the main report.

Which Report Writer Does Advisors Assistant Use

Our reports are developed using a report writer designed by ComponentOne.  We use it because we can control it better from inside of the program and there are no royalty fees that need to be paid no matter how many users are connected to the database.  Crystal Reports has very high fees for certain user scenarios that can run into 5 figures.

The ComponentOne Advanced Report Designer is available for $299 and has these restrictions:

1.It can only be used with Advisors Assistant.

2.Like Crystal Reports, it requires knowledge of data structures.

3.Support is not included, but is available hourly.

4.There is a Tips and Techniques manual which can help with many projects.

Advantages of using our Advanced Report Designer.

1.You can clone reports that are already in the system and modify them.

2.You can use the Selection Reports Filter and other report filters with these reports.

3.The reports will appear on the Advisors Assistant Menus.

Disadvantages To Using Advanced Report Designer

1.There is a new learning curve.

2.More knowledge of data structures may be required than Crystal.

Advantages Of Using Crystal Reports For Custom Reports

1.Crystal has more capabilities because it is a dedicated report writer.  However, you may not need them.

2.Someone in your IT Department may already be proficient with Crystal Reports.

Disadvantages To Using Crystal

1.Distribution of reports may be more cumbersome because you may need to install the Crystal Runtime on each desktop.

2.Reports will not be included on the Advisors Assistant Report Menus.  You will need to place icons on the users' desktop.

3.Crystal may be more expensive.