Converting Crystal .rpt(s) that were not built on a universe to a WebI doc

[Former Member]

Business is changing. We are currently on BO XI R2, using crystal reports developer to create all of our reports, these were built not from a unverse but from ODBC connection to DB2 tables. In the near future our sister business will be upgrading from BO 6 to BO X1 R2 and using WebI documents. Can the documents that were created in Crystal developer 11 but converted to an WebI document? Also, is there any documentation that BO can provide as how to write develop, modify a WebI document?

[former_member583013]

Good evening Kelley,

First, in response to your first question, there is no way to automatically convert Crystal Reports into Web Intelligence documents. The only conversion currently possible with developed utilities is from Desktop Intelligence to Web Intelligence.

Second, with regards to your second question, there are some very good documents (http://help.sap.com) that describe the workflows within Web Intelligence, as well as, how to design and distribute those documents. When considering which report type to choose for your reports, you first need to understand your business need. If your business needs to refresh and distribute reports where the format is not going to be changing frequently or where a significant amount of precise formatting is required, then Crystal Reports is best. If your business needs to provide end users with the ability to quickly create their own reports and perform analysis of the data within those reports, then Web Intelligence is best. You should not just jump "head first" into converting all of your Crystal Reports to Web Intelligence, without first questioning why either is necessary.

Regards,

Coy

[Former Member]

Kelley,

documentation that BO can provide as how to write develop, modify a WebI document

You can visit [help.sap.com]. Once you get there choose the icon on the first row entitled "SAP BusinessObjects", then choose on the left panel all products. Wait a moment and in the main panel a big list of document titles will appear. One of those that may be helpful is entitled "Building Reports Using the Web Intelligence Java Report Panel".

In addition to reading stuff from BO, there are a couple of books available (like on Amazon) that provide a tutorial for learning how to use Web Intelligence (WebI). Plus, attending vendor training, especially the course "...Web Intelligence ... Report Design" would be beneficial. Good luck!

John