Crystal Reports - Grouping, Sorting and Subtotaling Report

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Crystal Reports - Grouping, Sorting and Subtotaling

Before starting a new report in Crystal . . .

  1. Plan your report!
  2. Lay it out on paper. Give details. Draw a picture if necessary! What you are thinking is not necessarily what someone else may be envisioning.
  3. When working in Crystal, you should have an idea of the structure of the Abra database. Go to the Data Dictionary to see the files and the fields.

Help/ Contents/Reference Material/Abra HR Data Dictionary or Abra HR Database Files.

(Note, data dictionaries for Abra Payroll, Abra Train and Abra Recruiting Solution are also located in this area)

For our example, we will use the Employee List report located in the Crystal HR Report Library. When you open Crystal, click on More to open up the libraries. If you selected the default settings when installing Abra, the Crystal Libraries are located at the following address:

Programs\Sage Software\Sage Abra HRMS\Programs\Crystal

*** Crystal Tip #1 of the Day ***
Discover the Secret Toolbar in Crystal!
Hint: It can be opened with a Wrench!

Find the icon that looks like a yellow wrench on the top right toolbar in Crystal. Click on it to open a "Supplementary Toolbar" at the bottom left of your screen. Familiarize yourself with what they represent by sliding your cursor over the icons.

Grouping - Crystal makes it easy!

Note that you have an Insert Group icon in the Supplementary Toolbar at the bottom of your screen. Click on this to open the Insert Group window. The drop down box allows you to select the field you want to group by.

In our example, we want to group by Department name. Scroll down until you come to the following:

_level2

***Note the difference between _level2 and P_level2. The Underscore fields like _level2 are the descriptions while the P_ fields are the codes. An example might be the Accounting Department which is Department #123

P_level2 123
_level2 Accounting

Preview your results by clicking on the Preview tab or the Print Preview icon located on the top toolbar.

If you don't like what you see . . .

*** Crystal Tip #2 of the Day ***
UNDO!!
Go to Edit/Undo on the top menu . . . to erase your last action

Sorting in Crystal - Everything from A to Z!

Find the icon on the top toolbar that looks like A -> Z and click on it. Select the field from the right window by highlighting it and clicking on the Add button in the middle to move it to the left window.

Note: The _level2 that we selected as our Group is already selected as the sort! And we didn't have to do anything.

Also note that you cannot remove the _level2 as a Sort. That's because whatever your Group is in Crystal, it must also be your first Sort.

For our example, let's sort by Employee Last Name within each Group. Find the Last Name in the left window, highlight it and click Add.

View your report now to see the results.

Don't like what you see? See Crystal Tip # 2 above!

Subtotaling - It Couldn't Be Easier!

Highlight the field on your report that you want to subtotal, for example, Annual Salary. Note, you can do this under the Design tab or under the Preview tab! Right click and select Insert/Subtotal.

You will have an opportunity to also choose to have Crystal insert a Grand Total.

It's that simple!

Don't like what you see? See Crystal Tip # 2 above!

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