Crystal Reports 8 For Dummies
Perhaps the best thing about Structured Query Language (SQL) databases  is the fact that so many excellent reporting products can talk to them. One of  the best SQL reporting and charting products is Crystal Reports.Crystal  Reports 8 for Dummiesshows you how to use this product to maximum effect,  even if you don't yet know the first thing about SQL, databases, or effective  strategies for presenting information. It patiently reveals what you need to  know, using all of the Dummies tricks--including lots of illustrations and a dose  of humor--to get the facts across.This book does a great job with stepped procedures. You find out what to do in  various situations, of course, but also what Crystal Reports will do in  response. This approach to procedures helps ensure that you always know what to  expect as you navigate Crystal's interface. Coverage of formulas is particularly  good, shedding some light on a subject that sometimes causes new Crystal users  to stumble. The SQL tutorial material is quite strong as well, teaching you the  essentials effectively. This book will be a big help as you extract data from  databases and prepare it for use.--David WallTopics covered:Crystal Reports 8 for novice and intermediate users; how  to manage database tables with Crystal Reports, with emphasis on extracting  information from databases, performing calculations on it, and presenting the  results as reports and graphics; reports; subreports; drill-downs, SQL  connectivity; and Crystal's function library.