User`s guide

The quickest way to help improve the performance of reports created in older versions of Crystal Reports
is to save them in the latest Crystal Reports format. Crystal Reports has been enhanced to process
reports faster than ever before: update your older reports to take advantage of these enhancements.
To update the format of an older report, just open it in Crystal Reports and select Save from the File
menu. The older version of the report will be replaced with a version 2011 report.
Note:
If for some reason you need to keep a report in its original file format, use the Save As command
(instead of Save) and enter a new name for the version 2011 report.
6.3.2 Choosing between live and saved data
When reporting over the Web, the choice to use live or saved data is one of the most important decisions
you'll make. Whichever choice you make, however, Crystal Reports displays the first page as quickly
as possible, so you can see your report while the rest of the data is being processed.
6.3.2.1 Live data
Live reporting gives users real-time access to live data, straight from the database server. Use live data
to keep users up-to-date on constantly changing data, so they can access information that's accurate
to the second. For instance, if the managers of a large distribution center need to keep track of inventory
shipped on a continual basis, then live reporting is the way to give them the information they need.
Crystal Reports supports live reporting. However, you should first consider whether or not you want all
of your users hitting the database server on a continual basis. If the data isn't rapidly or constantly
changing, then all those requests to the database do little more than increase network traffic and
consume server resources. In such cases, you may prefer to use reports with saved data.
To ensure the efficiency of real-time reporting, read all of the suggestions in this chapter. These topics,
however, are of particular importance:
• Taking advantage of on-demand subreports
• Performing grouping on server
• Incorporating parameter fields into record selection formulas
6.3.2.2 Saved data
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Designing Optimized Web Reports