Need to add default columns to a CrossTab

Question

Post Author: ViBaldi
CA Forum: Crystal Reports
Just wondering if anyone has any ideas, as I have run out...
I have a summary report that queries an SQL view and contains a CrossTab. The selection criteria is filtered by 4 selectable parameter fields:
1) Region    2) Type of Job     3) Start Date    4) End Date
With the exception of the dates, the user can select u2018one or manyu2019 from the dynamic parameter fields. The dates are selectable with Calendar controls. The Report is Grouped initially by Region. In my CrossTabs in each selected Region, the rows are the selected Job Type and the columns are grouped by the Month of the Job. The summarized field in the CrossTab is a Distinct Count of the JobID's. So basically, I want a monthly summary of Job Types, where the user can select the Job Types and date range for any particular Region.
My dilemma is that my Cross Tab will not include Months, if there was no activity in those months. I want it to still print the Months, regardless of whether there were no jobs, but show a count of zero. Note that if there were different Job Types during the Month, it will appear with a zero in the column for the correct Job Type, but if that month had none of the selected Job Types, the Month is skipped altogether. Somehow, I would like to have the CrossTab leave all selected Months within the Start and End Dates in the columns, but with zero's as the Distinct Count, instead of skipping those Months.
Here is a typical example:
User selects 4 regions from the Regions PickList (say..Vancouver, Victoria, Nanaimo, Sooke).
User selects 3 Job Types from the Job Type pick list (sayu2026Install, Removal, Service Call).
User selects Jan. 1/07 as Start Date and Jun. 31/07 as End Date
All of these picklists populate on first pass of the query, I believe.
My Report Groups into Regions first, and then includes a CrossTab for each Region. I had hoped that the CrossTab would list all 3 Job Types in the left hand Rows, and all six Months in the Columns. Not so! If there was no u2018Installu2019 activity in Vancouver for all six Months, then that Job Type is omitted. Similarly, if there were no Job Type activities (of the 3 selected) at all for the whole month of March in Victoria, then the column for March is omitted. But, if March had 2 u2018Removalu2019 Job Type, and no other activity, and all other Months had at least one Job Type activity, then all Months would appear, and zerou2019s would be present where appropriate.
So, it seems obvious that the query doesnu2019t have data for the Months with no activity, and you cannot do a Distinct Count of no data. I cannot insert fake records into the database, nor would I want to, because the JobID is a Unique Identifier. I have viewed a similar post that suggests linking to a .txt file, but I think that this may not work for me. I suspect that the ability for the user to select a date range would be a problem here, because the user could select only 3 consecutive months, or 18 consecutive months.
Any ideas will be greatly appreciated. Please note that I am fairly proficient with Crystal Reports XI, and have tried everything I know, but I am relatively inexperienced with CrossTabs.
Thanks!

Answer 1

Post Author: Doug Johnson
CA Forum: Crystal Reports
This may not be the best solution but I believe it will solve your problem.  Try adding dummy records to your SQL view query.  I've done this with crosstabs in the past.  Use a UNION to your original select statement to do this.  So if your original query looks like:SELECT job_type, month, cross_value FROM tableA {where...blah blah}then add some UNIONs to it and return the whole thing as one view.SELECT job_type, month, cross_value FROM tableA {where...blah blah}UNIONSELECT DISTINCT job_type, 'January' AS month, 0 AS cross_value FROM tableA {where...blah blah}UNIONSELECT DISTINCT job_type, 'Feburary' AS month, 0 AS cross_value FROM tableA {where...blah blah}ect....If you are doing a sum at the crosstab value, the extra 0's won't harm anything.  If you're doing a count you will have to compensate by subtracting the extra 0 job_types/months.  You could also create a dummy table that contains the distinct job_types, 0 values and months, then just add one UNION selecting from that table.  OR you could just add an extra record to your existing table(s) that contains 0's for all months/job types.