Crystal Reports 10 Fundamentals

Picture of Crystal Reports 10 Fundamentals
Quick Facts
  • Delivery Method Online
  • Professional Certificate
  • 24hrs Suggested Study Time
  • 3 Months Access
  • Tutor Support
  • Study On Any Device
  • 6056 Students

Make the points you want to make by converting raw database or accounting information into impressive and meaningful reports.

Discover the secret techniques pros use to produce handsome reports that clearly convey almost any type of information to any type of audience. This class will help you unleash the hidden power of Crystal Reports to present database or accounting information in a way that unmistakably communicates the points you want to make.

If you have information you need to intelligently communicate to others, but cannot do so because it lies buried in your database, accounting program, or other data source, you need Crystal Reports--and this course.

It doesn't matter whether you need to develop a quick-turnaround report that your boss needed yesterday or an elaborate financial report for your company's annual report. Crystal Reports can handle it all, and your instructor will show you how.

You'll discover how to extract the data you want your report to include, how to sort it into the order you want, how to group related information together, and how to include totals for groups of figures or for the entire report. All the while, you'll gain valuable firsthand experience with the process of creating, running, and publishing polished, professional quality reports.

NOTE: If you have Crystal Reports XI, 2008, or 2011, then you should enroll in ""Crystal Reports Fundamentals"" rather than this course. Please check the Requirements for further information.

Courses are delivered to you through expertly executed lessons, online instruction and interaction with like-minded students. Our courses are designed to deliver all of the benefits of studying in a classroom whilst giving you the flexibility to study at a time and place to suit your needs. You can access your classroom 24/7 from any device with an internet connection.

This course has a 3 month duration. You'll complete comprehensive lessons, quizzes and assignments before submitting your final exam at the end of the course to achieve your certificate. Courses must be completed within the 3 month access period.

Crystal Reports is the world's most popular software tool for creating reports based on data stored in databases. It's popular because of its power and flexibility, which will help you create reports that communicate the information you want to convey to the people you want to convey it to. In our first lesson, you'll learn why it's important to find out everything you need to know about the report you want to create before you even launch the Crystal Reports application. This advance planning gives you a much better chance of creating a report that achieves your objectives.

In this lesson, we'll hit the ground running and create a Crystal report from scratch. You'll learn how to connect to any of several different types of data sources, pull data from the data source, and place it into a report. Then you'll learn how easy Crystal Reports makes giving your report a professional appearance with a report header, page headers, page footers, and a report footer, in addition to column headings and the data itself. You'll also learn how to arrange all these items on a page for maximum visual impact.

Once you know how to pull data from a database and display it in a basic report, the next step is pulling data from multiple tables and displaying only the data you want, filtering out any irrelevant information. In this lesson, you'll learn how to perform all those functions, including building reports that allow the user to decide at runtime what to display. In effect, you can build one report that serves the purpose of multiple reports.

Displaying the information in a database is one thing—displaying it in a way that communicates effectively is another. One important way to enhance communication is to organize the data in a meaningful way. In today's lesson, you'll learn how to sort a report's data and how to group related data items together. You'll learn how to summarize numerical data with group totals and obtain an overall grand total. We'll also look into Crystal Reports' drilldown capability, which allows your report readers to use a simple mouse click to access suppressed details of a specific data group.

In this lesson, you'll dive into the details of the various report sections. We'll look at the Section Expert, which is your major tool for selecting options that control the appearance and the function of the various sections of a report. We'll also explore how to create a multicolumn report, most commonly used for printing mailing labels.

Today, you'll get hands-on experience formatting a report. We'll practice using absolute formatting, a feature that can dynamically adjust the appearance of your report based on the data it contains. We'll look at a number of formatting options that Crystal Reports offers to help you give your report just the look you want. By including Report Alerts in a report, for instance, you can guarantee that the person viewing the report will see and acknowledge anything that you consider to be of high importance. A report template is a great way to achieve a consistent appearance across a family of reports. We'll practice using both these options and more in this lesson.

Crystal Reports can do more than just display the data you select from your data source. It can also show correlations between related categories of data items using the Cross-Tab Object. You can show such correlations across the entire data set or within a selected group of data items. As usual, Crystal Reports provides considerable flexibility in how it presents the cross-tab data to users. In this lesson, you'll learn what the options are and how to use them.

You'll often need to create a report based on some, but not all, of the data in a database. For example, a sales manager may want to look only at the purchase records of her top five customers. Alternatively, she may want to view the performance of her bottom 10 salespeople. Crystal Reports makes it easy to produce such reports, as well as others that are selective about what they display. In this lesson, you'll create such targeted reports that make it easy for managers to make informed decisions.

You can make your reports dynamic, sensitive to what's happening at runtime, by using Crystal Reports formulas and control structures, and you'll find out how in this lesson. With formulas, you can operate on data and put the result into your report. You can save time and effort by including one or more of the predefined functions in your formulas. You can even create your own custom functions, save them, and use them both now and in the future. These facilities give you the flexibility to produce a sophisticated custom report written from scratch with a programming language such as Visual Basic or C#, but with much less time and effort.

Crystal Reports gives you the ability to embed one report inside another. The two reports can be related in some way, or they could be totally unrelated. As long as you have a reason for displaying both reports at once, you can do it, and you'll find out how in today's lesson. An alternative to embedding a subreport within a main report is embedding a hyperlink to the subreport, so we'll practice embedding subreports in this lesson, too.

In this lesson, we'll explore Crystal Reports' wide offering of charts and maps that can add visual dimension to the display of information in a report. For the visual learners in your target audience, charts and maps may be far better than columns of numbers at getting your point across. Today, you'll learn how to choose a chart type that best conveys the information you want to emphasize. You'll find out how to use color, font, scale, legends, and titles to help you highlight trends in the data or data points that fall outside the expected range.

After you've created a report, you need to distribute it. Crystal Reports gives you several convenient distribution options, and we'll explore them all in our final lesson. We'll talk about print and fax options, as well as exporting a report to any of a number of popular file formats, and transmitting it to the people who should read it. You'll learn how to post the report on your organization's intranet or the World Wide Web, then we'll discuss distributing reports via Crystal Enterprise's Crystal Reports Viewer.

Allen Taylor

Allen Taylor

Allen G. Taylor is a 30-year veteran of the computer industry and the author of 28 computer-related books, including "Crystal Reports 2008 For Dummies," "Database Development For Dummies" and "SQL For Dummies." He has been teaching computer course... Read more

Read Allen Taylor's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Online learning is a flexible way to study that fits around your schedule, giving you the freedom to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. You'll have 3 months to complete the course and can take the multiple-choice questions and final exam whenever it suits you.

If you need help, you can contact us anytime. You can also join the discussion area where you can interact with other students. The discussion area for each lesson is open for the entire duration of the course.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

We do not offer extensions or transfers for this self-paced course. However, you will have 3 months to complete the course, and if you need to cancel within the first 10 days of enrolment, we offer a money back guarantee.

The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Crystal Reports 10 Fundamentals you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

Our Values

Learn At Your Own Pace

We believe in personalised learning. That's why we provide all the tools and support you need to succeed at your own pace. With flexible learning, you'll stay motivated and retain more information. Plus, you can balance your studies with work and family commitments to make your dreams a reality.

We Won't Break The Bank

Education should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn. That's why we offer some of the most competitive prices in the industry with payments plans for just $25 per week. Investing in your future is a smart choice and doesn’t have to break the bank.

Industry-Led Courses

There's no better way to learn than from experts with years of experience in your field. That's why each of our 200+ industry-led courses are designed to give you a real-life perspective on your industry. With our expert mentors, you'll learn from people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and who are passionate about sharing it with you.

Get The Personal Support You Deserve

At Vibe Learning, we're real people who are dedicated to providing you with personal support every step of the way. Our industry experts are not only professional and knowledgeable but also incredibly passionate about sharing their expertise with you. With their guidance, you'll gain invaluable insights and practical knowledge to help you succeed.

Microsoft Excel 2013 Intermediate Online Course | Vibe Learning
 

Microsoft Excel 2013 Intermediate

Picture of Microsoft Excel 2013 Intermediate
Quick Facts
  • Delivery Method Online
  • Professional Certificate
  • 24hrs Suggested Study Time
  • 3 Months Access
  • Tutor Support
  • Study On Any Device
  • 531 Students

Take your Microsoft Excel 2013 skills to the next level as you master charts, graphs, PivotTables, Slicers, Sparklines, AutoFilter, macros, and other advanced Excel functions.

Take your Excel skills to the next level! Master charting, PivotTables, Slicers, Sparklines, and other advanced features of Microsoft Excel 2013, and discover how this powerful MS Office program can boost your productivity.

In these hands-on lessons, you'll learn how to create informative, eye-catching charts and graphs and harness the power of Excel's data analysis tools and AutoFilter commands. In addition, you'll find out how easy it is to create macros that let you manipulate data with the push of a button. You'll also discover how to use Goal Seek and Solver and apply them to real-world problems. And you'll set yourself apart from the casual Excel user by adding VLOOKUP, INDEX & MATCH, and Excel's other time-saving functions to your repertoire.

So get ready for action-packed learning that will make you an Excel expert!

Courses are delivered to you through expertly executed lessons, online instruction and interaction with like-minded students. Our courses are designed to deliver all of the benefits of studying in a classroom whilst giving you the flexibility to study at a time and place to suit your needs. You can access your classroom 24/7 from any device with an internet connection.

This course has a 3 month duration. You'll complete comprehensive lessons, quizzes and assignments before submitting your final exam at the end of the course to achieve your certificate. Courses must be completed within the 3 month access period.

In our first lesson, you'll discover why Excel 2013 is such a powerful and user-friendly charting tool. To you, a workbook's numbers might tell an interesting story. But to others, that story might not be quite so obvious—they might just see plain old numbers. So, today, you'll find out how to choose the right chart for telling your story and then how to create, format, and edit your chart to help others clearly visualize that story.

There are so many great charting features and enhancements in Excel 2013, there's no way we could cover all of them in a single lesson. So, today, we'll continue exploring Excel's charting options—this time looking at the lesser-known options that are available to you. Even though they aren't well-known, these options can add tremendous value to your worksheets in the right situations. We'll walk through a few of them step-by-step, so you'll see the value for yourself.

Working with data in Excel can be quite easy—and sometimes even fun—when you know about the extra tools that are available once you have your data arranged in a table format. One of these great tools is the Auto Filter command. In today's lesson, you'll learn how to use Auto Filter to limit your table information to just the records you want. Not only does Auto Filter allow for finding exact matches, but it can also filter and sort based on cell shading or font color. How great is that?

Normally, you'll use your Excel workbooks as a place to enter formulas and get answers. But what if the formula isn't returning the answer you want? If you know what you want, but you just don't know what formula will get you there, then Excel's Goal Seek is exactly what you need. This tool will help you avoid the trial-and-error approach that most Excel users go through to get to the right answer. In this lesson, we'll walk through multiple examples together, exploring several ways to apply this great feature.

Today, you'll learn how to use one of the best features of Excel: the PivotTable. If you've heard about PivotTables before, then you know what I mean. There's no greater what-if analysis tool to summarize, reorganize, and report data. When we practice creating a PivotTable, you'll discover how "pivoting" your data helps you gain valuable insights by seeing the same information from a different perspective. This is a lesson you won't want to miss!

Just like charting, Excel's PivotTables are too big a topic to fit into one lesson. So, today, we'll take PivotTables to the next level by taking a tour through some of Excel's more advanced techniques. You'll learn how quick and easy it is to group your data to give your PivotTable even more power. Then you'll find out how a PivotTable can serve as your source and inspiration for some really nice charts, specifically, the PivotChart. Last, you'll become an expert in using the Excel 2013 PivotTable filtering tool called Slicer.

Have you ever worked with a financial model in Excel and wondered how you could speculate different outcomes by changing different input amounts? The Excel Solver can do just that. In this lesson, you'll learn how to use Solver to solve a complex problem based on the criteria and constraints we provide it. If you liked the Goal Seek lesson, then this Solver lesson is going to knock your socks off.

There's nothing more exciting than learning how to master a new feature in Excel. In today's lesson, we'll explore in detail how to create all three types of Sparklines, as well as formatting options for each. By the end of the lesson, you'll have the skills to create dashboardlike mini charts sure to make you the envy of your office. If you enjoy creating charts, you'll really enjoy this lesson.

Today's topic is a student (and instructor) favorite. In this lesson, you'll find out how to use macros to turn boring, repetitive, time-consuming tasks into automated Excel functions. Tired of doing the same formatting on the same report month after month? Here's your chance to see how to record a macro that performs that time-consuming task in seconds with just one swift click of a button! How will you spend all the extra time that this lesson will save you?

If you've used Excel for a while, you know there are hundreds of functions at your disposal. We're going to spend the last three lessons of this course going over exactly how and why you'd use them. We'll start today by going through a quick overview of all the categories of functions and the different methods you can use to create them. Then, later in the lesson, we'll ease into creating various functions using some from the Text category.

Next to learning how to create macros, most students want to learn as much as they can about Excel functions. In today's lesson, we'll dig a little deeper into using some of the slightly more complex functions that you'll find in the Math & Trig category. Specifically, we'll look at two of my favorites, the SUMIF and COUNTIF functions, and discuss how to use one of the more complex functions, SUMIFS. If one of your objectives in taking this course is to learn more about functions, you're in for a treat!

Since functions are such an important and integral part of using Excel, we'll spend our final lesson going over a few more of them. Today, you're going to learn how to use the extremely popular VLOOKUP function. If you're already accustomed to using VLOOKUP, don't feel short-changed, because we're going to add to the complexity. We're going to use the INDEX and MATCH functions to do something just short of amazing. This is another lesson you won't want to miss!

Chad Wambolt

Chad Wambolt

Chad Wambolt is a graduate of Boise State University, where he obtained his bachelor's degree in accounting. He has spent his entire professional career in the finance field, working for both privately and publicly held companies with sales rangin... Read more

Read Chad Wambolt's Profile

Frequently Asked Questions

Once you've made the payment, we'll send you a confirmation email with a link to start your course. Feel free to get started whenever you're ready!

You'll have 3 months access to your course. In that time you are free to study at your own pace. The course duration is 24 hours.

Online learning is a flexible way to study that fits around your schedule, giving you the freedom to learn at your own pace from anywhere in the world. You'll have 3 months to complete the course and can take the multiple-choice questions and final exam whenever it suits you.

If you need help, you can contact us anytime. You can also join the discussion area where you can interact with other students. The discussion area for each lesson is open for the entire duration of the course.

Of course! We offer a 7-day money back guarantee. As long as you haven't completed the course, you can get a full refund within 7 days of enrolling.

We do not offer extensions or transfers for this self-paced course. However, you will have 3 months to complete the course, and if you need to cancel within the first 10 days of enrolment, we offer a money back guarantee.

The Learning Environment

From the moment that you enrol in the Microsoft Excel 2013 Intermediate you will become an integral part of our learning community. You'll find yourself with the freedom to learn at a speed that suits you, on any device, from anywhere in the world. Achieving your career goals no longer has to mean compromising family and work commitments.

Our Values

Learn At Your Own Pace

We believe in personalised learning. That's why we provide all the tools and support you need to succeed at your own pace. With flexible learning, you'll stay motivated and retain more information. Plus, you can balance your studies with work and family commitments to make your dreams a reality.

We Won't Break The Bank

Education should be accessible to anyone who wants to learn. That's why we offer some of the most competitive prices in the industry with payments plans for just $25 per week. Investing in your future is a smart choice and doesn’t have to break the bank.

Industry-Led Courses

There's no better way to learn than from experts with years of experience in your field. That's why each of our 200+ industry-led courses are designed to give you a real-life perspective on your industry. With our expert mentors, you'll learn from people who have a wealth of knowledge and experience, and who are passionate about sharing it with you.

Get The Personal Support You Deserve

At Vibe Learning, we're real people who are dedicated to providing you with personal support every step of the way. Our industry experts are not only professional and knowledgeable but also incredibly passionate about sharing their expertise with you. With their guidance, you'll gain invaluable insights and practical knowledge to help you succeed.