Before you launch Crystal Reports or add new report entries to the ClearSCADA database, you should decide:
- The type(s) of report that you require.
For instance, are the reports to contain current or historic data? If the reports are to contain historic data, be aware that you will need to constrain the amount of data that each report is to include (see Important Guidelines on Configuring and Generating Reports).
- The content that you want to include in those reports.
In order to include ClearSCADA data in your reports, you need to specify to which ClearSCADA database table(s) each report is to map. Additionally, you need to specify which of the fields within those database tables are to be included in each report. To do this, you need to be familiar with the ClearSCADA database structure and naming conventions. For more information, see Accessing the ClearSCADA Database, and see Working with ClearSCADA Database Tables.
Large reports, complex reports, and reports that query historic table(s) can place a significant demand on system resources and affect system performance. For this reason, you should include suitable data restrictions when creating such reports (see Important Guidelines on Configuring and Generating Reports).
- On an appropriate structure and layout for those reports.
If you are going to produce many similar reports, you may want to consider configuring your ‘base’ reports within Group Templates (see Configuring Reports within Group Templates).
Be aware that if you are planning on exporting your reports to a different format, some Crystal Report components may not be supported by the chosen export Format. For example, you should not include fields other than data fields in a report that is to be exported to a programmatic-type text format, such as a Separated Values format. Therefore, you may want to exclude headers, footers, and field titles from your report, to avoid these being exported as data records if you are exporting that report to such a format.
- Whether you want to export the reports
If you are going to export reports to another destination, you need to specify the format that the reports are to take (see Define the Export Format for a Report, and see Define the Export Destination for a Report).
For more complex reports, you may need to include formulae to allow you to display the information you require, in the format or order in which you require it.
For this, you need experience or knowledge of the Crystal Reports coding language (see the documentation supplied with the Crystal Reports application for information). For an example of how formulae can be used, see Point Listing that Uses Color to Indicate Alarm Status).
- Whether the reports are to be triggered manually or automatically (see Activating a Report Action Automatically).