How to Use Crystal Reports Software

The Crystal Reports tool lets software developers create reports based on data extracted from a variety of sources. It is the standard reporting format for Microsoft-based applications such as SQL Server, and as such comes as part of Microsoft's Visual Studio suite of development tools. It is only through the Visual Studio environment that Crystal Reports software can be accessed and used by the developer.

Things You'll Need

• Windows computer
• Visual Studio

Instructions

1. Log in to the Windows computer using an account with administrative rights. Such rights grant you access to the data sources that Crystal Reports require for data extraction.

2. Browse to the Visual Studio application, found in the "Programs" folder.

3. Click "File," "New" and "Project" to create a new project.

4. Click "Tools," then "Connect to Database." Enter the name of the server that stores your data source; for example, enter the name of a SQL Server, then select a SQL database from the drop-down list. Click "OK" to make a secured connection to the data source, which is essential for the creation of the report.

5. Click "Reporting" then "Crystal Reports Application." Click "OK."

6. Click "Create a New Crystal Report Document," followed by "Using the Report Wizard."

7. Click "OK" to run the report wizard. During this step, select the data connection created in Step 4.

8. Click "File," "Save As," then save the report. Visual Studio will automatically save the report with the .RPT file extension.

References

• Microsoft: Crystal Reports for Visual Studio Forum
• MSDN: Crystal Reports Tutorials and Sample Code