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    4 Replies Latest reply: Apr 18, 2012 10:57 AM by Mariam YOUSFI RSS

    Using Crystal Reports with BFC

    Ashwin HARIRAM
    Ashwin HARIRAM Apr 4, 2012 9:55 PM
    Currently Being Moderated

    Has anyone used Crystal Reports as a reporting tool over BFC data?  I find the Report Designer in BFC very limited.  What would be the architecture required in order to be able to do so?  It would be if somebody can provide me with a high-level overview on what needs to be implemented to achieve this.

     

    Thanks

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    • Re: Using Crystal Reports with BFC
      Marc Kuipers
      Marc Kuipers Apr 16, 2012 5:36 PM (in response to Ashwin HARIRAM)
      Currently Being Moderated

      Hello Ashwin,

      I would recommend that you use the BFC 10 Cube Designer component (this was formerly known as Extended Analytics) which will allow you to build OLAP cubes and also WebI universes.

      Once you have this, you can use WebI reporting tools

      You can find more information on http://help.sap.com

       

      Regards,

      Marc Kuipers

      • Re: Using Crystal Reports with BFC
        Ashwin HARIRAM
        Ashwin HARIRAM Apr 16, 2012 8:00 PM (in response to Marc Kuipers)
        Currently Being Moderated

        Hello Marc

         

        Since we're using BFC 7.5, could we do the same with Extended Analytics?  We do have the product and I'm trying to build a business case for its benefits in using it.

         

        Thanks

        Ashwin

        • Re: Using Crystal Reports with BFC
          Mariam YOUSFI
          Mariam YOUSFI Apr 17, 2012 10:34 AM (in response to Ashwin HARIRAM)
          Currently Being Moderated

          Hello Ashwin,

           

          It is also possible to automatically create OLAP universes with Extended Analytics 7.5.

          Concerning the reporting tool, I would like to point that all the SAP BusinessObjects tools supporting OLAP universes will be able to connect to the universes generated by Extended Analytics.

          You mentioned Crystal Reports as a reporting tool. However, it does not support connections to OLAP universes. You can use:

          - Web Intelligence  (a hybrid analysis tool that supports Relational and OLAP Universes).
          - Voyager (a pure OLAP analysis tool).

           

          PS: Crystal Report is able to connect natively to any OLAP Datasource (but not OLAP universes). So if you specifically need to use Crystal Report to consume your SSAS cubes, you can refer to the knowledge base article 1561286.

           

          Regards

          Mariam

          • Re: Using Crystal Reports with BFC
            Ashwin HARIRAM
            Ashwin HARIRAM Apr 17, 2012 3:58 PM (in response to Mariam YOUSFI)
            Currently Being Moderated

            Hi Mariam

             

            Thanks for the insight.  Crystal Reports is not a must but since it's being used in other sections of the company, I was thinking of leveraging its usage.  Would you happen to know if the latest version, Crystal Reports 2011, supports OLAP universes?  I haven't had time to look thouroughly in the documentation.

             

            My business case is to find the appropriate reporting tool which will overcome the limitations of BFC Report Designer.  I'll definitely see with our IT people which Business Objects reporting tools we already have.

             

            Thanks again

            Ashwin

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