Using the Database Expert
The Database Expert is where you do 90% of your work connecting to data sources. It lets you establish the connection to the data source, select the tables to print from, and make sure the tables are linked together properly. You get to see the Database Expert in two places. It is within the Report Expert when creating a new report and it is a standalone dialog box when you choose the menu options Database > Database Expert. It is shown in Figure 10-1.
Figure 10-1. The Database Expert dialog box.
The left side of the dialog box gives you five options for adding a new data source. They are as follows:
Current Connections: List all data sources that are currently open.
Favorites: Just as you might have a list of favorite web pages within your internet browser, Crystal Reports lets you create a list of your ‘favorite’ data sources. If you regularly print from numerous data sources, this makes it easy to find the data sources that are the most important.
History: Shows a list of the last five recently used data sources. If you work with a small number of data sources on a regular basis, you’ll find them listed here.
Create New Connection: Add a new data source by choosing from a list of all the types of data sources available. This list of data sources is quite extensive and we’ll cover it in more detail next.
Repository: Shows the contents of your repository through the Business Objects Enterprise Explorer.
To add a new data source, first determine which folder it would be listed in. If this is the first time you’re using Crystal Reports, selecting Create New Connection would be your best choice because it lets you choose from the myriad of data sources available. If you’ve already created reports before, it will probably be easier to select one of the first three categories. If you are editing a current report and want to add a new table, you can click on the Current Connections folder. If you use a data source on a regular basis, you can add it to the Favorites list and choose it from there. If you have used the data source on another report recently, it will probably be listed in the History folder.
Creating a new connection is the most complex of all the categories because you have to determine what type of data source you want to connect to and know how to connect to it. This information is unique to each type of connection. Figure 10-2 shows a picture of the available data sources.
Figure 10-2. List of available data sources.
In addition to that, if you click on the More Data Sources folder, over a dozen more data sources are listed.
