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How to share SAP crystal reports with users?

Former Member
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Hi,

I have created various crystal reports for different business users, some are drill down, some are parameter based using SAP Crystal Reports for Enterprise version 14.0.7. I am facing issue with deployment of these reports.

We need to provide some interface to users to view these reports, users are located at different locations, just wanted to know from SAP BI experts here, what is the best way to distribute various crystal reports for viewing  to different users at Head Office, Stores and different levels such as managers and staff.


I've created a publication at Crystal Reports Server to schedule reports and send as an attachment (PDF/excel) to users by mails, this solution was not approved as they don't want to receive reports in their mails, they want to generate reports as and when they want or require, also the data is these reports are static  and drill-down reports are not working in PDF .

Then I suggested to view reports directly from server using BI Launchpad or CMC, but they think that this is way too complicated to  going through CMC & BI Lauch pad folders to view their reports. Also there is some license issue so they have only 5 BI users (I want to know from experts here is there any such restriction with any license, otherwise what's the use?).

I have tried following tools so far

  1. Crystal Report viewer  - (Need to install at each & every location, drill-down working here, but again need to select from various reports)
  2. BI Launch pad (already explained above)
  3. PDF / Excel (already explained above)
  4. Dashboards (They just want to see their data i.e. crystal reports(daily, monthly, weekly etc), not graphics, thus not interested in dashboards)
  5. Central Management Console (already explained above)

But the senior management is not satisfied with the ways, they want real time data (not static like crystal reports exported to pdf, excel or any other format) with the options to select

a) which report they want to view (I think they are looking for some menu based system where they can select  say 'Daily Reports' and under that can see all types of daily reports and select which one they want  to view from the list by clicking on it as hyperlink or some other way like dropdowns)

b) where they can select different parameters such as location, period etc.

c) It should be user friendly and easy to operate,they don't  like going through CMC & BI Lauch pad folders to view their reports.

d)Also they want to view all reports on their mobiles, ipads at any time, any place whenever they travel overseas.

Please suggest/advice.

Thnaks,

Poonam

Accepted Solutions (0)

Answers (1)

Answers (1)

abhilash_kumar
Active Contributor
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Hi Poonam,

If they don't like logging on to LaunchPad to view their reports, why would they like logging onto any other thrid party solution?

If they don't want reports to be scheduled to their email, or view reports on demand or export to PDF, why would they invest in a CR Server in the first place?

If you're looking for third-party alternatives, a good place to start looking for them is here:

The Crystal Reports® Underground

http://www.kenhamady.com/productlinks/default.html#serversched

-Abhilash

Former Member
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Thanks for your reply, Abhilash.

I think they are looking for some kind of easy interface to view reports. I can understand their concern, they have invested in Crystal Report Server to replace their existing manual reporting solution, but to get some information, browsing through 100s of reports from a folder in CMC or BI Launch Pad is not convenient for them at all. 

That's why I am looking for ideas from experts like you and other SAP gurus here, is there any way where by clicking on few buttons or hyperlinks they can go to their desired report. Or in simple words, my question is what is the best possible way to distribute crystal reports to users located at different geographical places?

For example : If they want to see monthly sales of some region, they can  just select Store and month and view the required data and then compare with it any other store or any other month.

Regards,

Poonam

Former Member
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It sounds like they are wanting a dashboard then. And you can do this in Crystal reports Sap Dashboards.

Former Member
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Hi Paul,

Thanks for your reply.

As I mentioned earlier, that I have suggested dashboards also but they just want to see their data i.e. crystal reports(daily, monthly, weekly etc), not graphics, thus not interested in dashboards, which is more graphic representation of data, they just want to see their numbers in traditional report formats.

The thing is that they are Ok with the reports prepared so far, but the problem is with the delivery i.e. how to give them those reports for their usage, so that they can see them as and when required?

Hope, I am clear to explain you the issue.

Thanks,

Poonam

DellSC
Active Contributor
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Unfortunately, you used Crystal for Enterprise instead of "classic" Crystal.  None of the third-party programs will work with CR4E because it is dependent on the BI Platform.  The only way to deliver those reports is through the BI Launchpad (DO NOT let your users into the CMC!!!!)

It would take a bit of work, but BI Launchpad could be set up to show their reports in a "default" dashboard on the home page so they don't have to go anywhere to get them.  Or you could create a Category for each of sets users and add the reports that are relevant to each of them to make it easier to find the reports.

-Dell

Former Member
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Thanks Dell for your reply.

Is that mean, BI Lauchpad is the only way to distribute reports created using SAP Crystal Reports for enterprise?

I have already created 'folder' such a way to identify report by their names and category. Sorry I couldn't get your second point about 'default' dashboard on the home page, can you please explain how to show the reports as a dashboard in BI Launch pad?

Regards,

Poonam

Former Member
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Hi Poonam,

You can refer to the following administrator's guide to know more about how to manage users and their access to the reports and objects

http://help.sap.com/businessobject/product_guides/boexir4/en/xi4sp7_bip_admin_en.pdf

Refer to the chapter "Managing Users and groups", which will help you with your queries.

Regards,

Ashwini

DellSC
Active Contributor
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You could write an application using either the .NET or Java SDK to give users a list of reports they have access to and then use OpenDocument calls to view the reports.  But my point was that there is no SDK to run Crystal for Enterprise reports outside of the BI Platform, so BI Launchpad or a custom app using the SDK is the only way to view these reports.

Something you might want to look at is building a "Workspace" that contains links to the reports that users don't want to navigate the folder structure to get to.

Last week at TechEd I saw some things that they're trying to do for the 4.2 release that is due out either 1st or 2nd quarter of next year - they're looking at a "tiled" approach to presenting reports to users that will be easier for your users to navigate.  However, it's not available yet.

-Dell