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How to configure a Crystal Report in Jitterbit App Builder

Introduction

Most App Builder pages can be converted into an SAP Crystal Reports report, and from there into a PDF document.

To set up Crystal Reports, follow the sections on this page in order.

1. Download and import into Crystal Reports the App Builder page .xsd file

  1. Create a standard App Builder application dynamic page with the business objects needed for the report.

  2. From the application page, select Action Drawer > Design: {page}.

  3. From the Page Properties panel, select More > Edge Case.

  4. In the Page Definition popup, expand the Advanced Options section.

  5. For the Page Type option, select Report.

  6. In the Report Options section, set the Type option to Crystal Report.

  7. Click the XML Schema > Download icon. You are prompted to download an .xsd file. Save it somewhere.

2. Create a connection between Crystal Reports and your app's page

  1. Open Crystal Reports, then create a new blank report.

  2. Crystal Reports should open the Database Expert popup. In it, expand the Create New Connection section, then click ADO.NET (XML) > Make new connection. The ADO.NET (XML) dialog opens.

  3. In the File Path field, enter the path to the downloaded .xsd file, or click the icon to browse and select it.

  4. Click the Finish button. The ADO.NET (XML) dialog closes, revealing the Database Expert popup.

  5. In the popup, select the newly added connection on the left, then click the >> button to bring your tables into the Selected Tables panel on the right.

  6. Click the OK button. The Database Expert popup closes.

  1. If there are multiple page panels that need binding, the Links tab opens. Use it to link tables in the same way as linking panels.

  2. Your fields should now appear on the Database Fields area of the Field Explorer in Crystal Reports.

  3. A Crystal Report has different sections for different purposes:

    • Report Header: Content appears only at the beginning of the report (for example, a company logo).

    • Page Header: Content appears at the beginning of every page.

    • Details: The main body of your report.

    • Report Footer: Content appears at the end of the report.

    • Page Footer: Content appears at the end of every page (for example, the page number).

    Drag and drop the fields to the sections to create the layout you want.

  4. When the report is ready to be tested, save it and note the filename.

    Tip

    Save a new version of the report every time you make a change. This makes it easier to revert unwanted changes.

4. Run the report

  1. When the report is saved, return to your App Builder page.

  2. From the Page Properties panel, select More > Edge Case.

  3. In the Page Definition popup, expand the Advanced Options section.

  4. Click the Template Upload button. The Report Template Upload dialog opens.

  5. Click the Browse button, find and select the saved Crystal Reports .rpt file, then click the Save button. The Report Template Upload popup closes revealing the Page Definition popup.

  6. Close the Page Definition popup, then click the View Page button. The expected output (the Crystal Report) is returned.

Tips and troubleshooting

  • If you make any changes to the App Builder page design, you must save a new XML Schema and update the datasource that is connected to the Crystal Report in the Set Datasource Location section under the Database tab. Upload the .xsd file again, remap all tables by clicking on the new version of the table (bottom) and clicking the old table (top), then click the Update button. Save once all the tables are remapped.

  • If an App Builder page control is an HTML control, Crystal Reports won't read it as HTML by default. To correct this, right click on the field in Crystal Reports, click Format Field, then under the Paragraph tab, change the text interpretation to HTML.

  • Crystal Reports doesn't support many image formats. If you're adding an image to a Crystal Report, it is easiest to convert all images to a .bmp file type before placing them on a report. Any other image format, no matter the image size, increases the size of your Crystal Report file significantly. This in turn makes your application release package larger than necessary.

  • If you are using two panels on a page, and they are bound to one another, they do not need the Linking option for databases in Crystal Reports, as they are already linked within App Builder.

  • Crystal Reports uses the displayed value from the controls in App Builder. If your control is a list object, the data is received from the list, and not from the UUID that was used to index the list.

  • You may get an error in Crystal Reports saying there are multiple starting points if the data objects from each panel are not linked in Crystal Reports, and that this is usually not supported. This can be ignored.