Dell shares Power of Crystal Reports on SAP HANA with ASUG

Brian Durning, of Dell and also an ASUG Volunteer, provided this webcast to ASUG this past week.

Webcast Abstract:

Learn Crystal Reports for Enterprise to an SAP HANA data source.  In addition to learning about SAP HANA connectivity, you will also understand how SAP HANA processes SQL queries so that you can optimize your reports for maximum efficiency.

Figure 1: Source: Brian Durning

Brian explains in Figure 1 that the traditional relationships created client side are not needed with HANA.

HANA includes a suite of tools and high speed analytics database, says Brian.

Figure 2: Source: Brian

Figure 2 shows that Crystal Reports connects to HANA using the JDBC connection and the different parts of HANA.  Use HANA Studio for modeling, and the database for storage.

Figure 3: Source: Brian

Figure 3 shows the steps for HANA modeling.  Brian said if you know Universe or IDT, HANA modeling will be familiar to you

Figure 4: Source: Brian

The HANA Studio is in logical order and the order you need to create

He said to think of it as building a cube “on the fly”

Figure 5: Source Brian

Brian reviewed some best practices for modeling in HANA.  He explained to “Do calculation after aggregation”.

Figure 6: Source: Brian

Brian reviewed the steps to create a JDBC connection with Crystal Reports 2011/SAP HANA.

Crystal Reports for Enterprise on HANA

Brian said connecting Crystal Reports for Enterprise to HANA was “easy”.

Figure 7: Source: Brian

Brian showed you launch Crystal for Enterprise, select Connection by Vendor, and then select SAP > SAP HANA database 1.0 > JDBC

“Make HANA do all the work” says Brian

Figure 8: Source: Brian

Figure 8 shows that joins are done in HANA

Brian said there is no need to define contexts – not in HANA, but built on cube

He also stated that you should not have to create formulas

He said there is no need for aggregate aware – HANA does that on the fly

Figure 9: Source: Brian

Brian advised “Don’t bring the data back to Crystal and do it locally”

He also suggested not using a Universe connection  – if do use universe and using HANA by default there is a limit of 5K set

“HANA understands SQL” was another statement made.

Question and Answer

Q: Does Crystal for Enterprise support custom SQL?

A: Yes

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Q: Can you please show BW BEX Connection. Thanks

A: Not using at Dell‑

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Q: Based on your experience, what’s the row limit/data size limitation to display in Crystal, before it chokes?

A: Hasn’t run into anything that has “choked” yet‑

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Q: How do you filter a View Crystal Reports (i.e. where clause) via parameters?

A: That hasn’t changed from normal Crystal functionality ‑

Related Links:

SAP TechEd EA269 hands on sessions for Crystal on HANA BW ERP

Your own SAP NetWeaver BW on SAP HANA with SAP BusinessObjects BI4 system….just in a few minutes

Getting Started with Crystal Reports and SAP HANA

SAP BusinessObjects BI 4.1 Upgrade October 8, 2013 Webcast Open to Everyone – register here

Empower Your Business By Creating, Visualizing, and Sharing Your Data October 15, 2013 Webcast – Open to Everyone – register here