Datasheet

Siebel provides a mechanism that formats information for the user based on preferences defined within
the Siebel system. For example, currency fields are formatted to show the correct currency symbol,
numbers and dates are adjusted to the display style of the user's nation, and textual information may
also be modified.
Although much of Siebel's formatting can be replicated inside Crystal Reports, doing so can be time
consuming. Instead, you can simply convert table fields into the representation that Siebel would display.
This is done by inserting an SQL expression field.
24.3.9 Linking tables in reports
Siebel does not present its data as relational database tables, but rather as a series of objects called
business components. When accessing Siebel data using this Integration product, Crystal Reports
represents each business component as a table.
You can use a variety of link types to link these tables in reports and subreports. Because business
components are not relational tables, these linking operations are performed by Crystal Reports on the
client side. For more information on linking tables, see your Crystal Reports documentation.
In addition to the client-side linking performed by Crystal Reports, Siebel allows multiple business
components to be programmatically linked if the business components have a parent-child relationship.
Doing so allows users to improve report performance, and in some cases report from child business
components that would otherwise be impossible to report off directly.
You can report off Siebel parent and child business components by linking parent business components
to child business components. For details, see Reporting off parent-child business components.
24.3.9.1 Reporting off parent-child business components
The SAP BusinessObjects Enterprise XI allows you to report off Siebel business components with
parent-child relationships. When you define a link between parent and child business components in
Crystal Reports, the Siebel server returns only the subset of data relevant to the parent and child
components, significantly improving report performance.
You can report off parent-child business components by linking parent business components to child
business components in the following ways:
• By opening the child business component using the same business object that is used to open the
parent business component.
• By opening the child business component associated with the parent's Multi Value field, identified
with a name that represents the child business component.
• By opening the child business component associated with the parent's Pick List Value field, identified
with a name that represents the child business component.
2011-05-16627
Integrating Business Applications with Crystal Reports