Crystal Reports is a business intelligence application used to design and generate reports from a wide range of data sources. Several other applications, such as Microsoft Visual Studio, bundle an OEM version of Crystal Reports as a general purpose reporting tool. Crystal Reports became the de facto standard report writer when Microsoft released it with Visual Studio.
Crystal Reports is a popular Windows-based report writer (report generation program) that allows a programmer to create reports from a variety of data sources with a minimum of written code. Developed by Seagate Software, Crystal Reports can access data from most widely-used databases and can integrate data from multiple databases within one report using Open Database Connectivity.
Crystal Reports uses an ActiveX control called CrystalReport to establish a connection with another program. The programmer can use automation tools called Experts to be guided through common tasks, such as linking and embedding reports. Crystal Reports treats all text, graphics, and database fields as object s that a programmer can place, arrange, and format on forms.
Data Access - Crystal Reports provides broad data connectivity options making it easy to access enterprise data and satisfy end user information requirements.
Formatting and Design - Crystal Reports offers a high degree of flexibility and control over how data is presented and formatted.
Report Viewing and Interaction - Crystal Reports provides flexible options that let end users view and interact with information in familiar formats and via familiar environments.
Application Integration - Crystal Reports provides a range of proven Java, .NET, and COM components that help reduce the complexity of integrating dynamic reporting functionality into your applications. Whether you need to build a web, windows, XML web services, or mobile application, you can use Crystal Reports for your data presentation requirements.
