Integrating Xcelsius into Crystal Reports Series – 1 of 3

Before getting started, I want to provide a quick update on the Reportapalooza competition: 

• Challenge      #1 (Done) – Winner , Mico Yuk (Check out my Coffee      Consumption Calculator)
• Challenge      #2 (Done) – Winner, Mico Yuk (based on traffic sent to Report a Hero Page)
• Challenge      #3 (Done) – Winner, Brian Durning (voted best Crystal Reports Video by      Community)
• Challenge      #4 (Done) – Winner, Jim Brogden (voted best Charity Dashboard by      Community)
• Challenge      #5 (In Progress) – What      this series of blog post is about!
• Community      Dashboard Challenge (In Progress) –      You can submit your dashboard by 11/5 to win a very COOL prize!

Unfortunately, I fell a bit behind while attending 2 SAP Conferences back to back this month.  Sorry if I let anyone down but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support.  I also want to give a huge CONGRATS to our current leader David Deitch who is an Xcelsius beginner turned Guru in this competition!

Now to Challenge #5.  Labeled the ‘Report Remix’ challenge, I am tasked with learning more about Crystal Reports 2008 and sharing it with YOU the community, hence the ‘remix’ which is to take you on the journey with me of learning a new Crystal product 🙂 .  Below is my official public statement:

So let’s get started with a few simple questions?

Q. How can you integrate Xcelsius flash files into your Crystal Reports?

A. It’s a 2 step process. You first have to configure the Crystal Reports Data Consumer connection in Xcelsius (seen below) and then use the .swf button in Crystal Reports to embed the Xcelsius flash file. (More details on how to setup each will be provided in the next article)

Q. What are the Pros and Cons?

A. Pros – It is no secret that Xcelsius’ ability to handle large amounts of data is VERY limited. By embedding your Xcelsius flash file into Crystal Reports you get to leverage the power of the Crystal engine while utilizing the beautiful graphics in Xcelsius. It’s like having the best of both worlds.  In fact, in my next blog posts I am going to show how to integrate a map in Xcelsius into a Crystal Report.

A. Cons – If your not as familiar with Xcelsius you may have some issues using the ‘Crystal Reports Data Consumer’ connection. It could use some fine tuning (note to the  Product Team :))

One more thing! This is your last week to submit your dashboards to the community Reportapalooza competition.  Hope you read this far down,  because if you have something worth seeing I am opening the door to review any entries that you send via email to gurus at everythingxcelsius.com and provide feedback if sent by 10/31 @ 12am EST.

http://everythingxcelsius.com/about