Row headers for details section columns

Question

Post Author: Shawn Weaver
CA Forum: General
I'm new to Crystal Reports, and I'm recreating some old reports in Crystal. I'm currently working on a report that shows record detail in columns, with a header for each row at the start of the row (on the left).
I've figured out how to use the "Format with multiple columns" option to display the records in columns, but I can't figure out a way to put headers in the first column.
For example, if the fields being displayed were an ID, date, and price, I'm trying to do something similar to:
ID        <ID1>        <ID2>        <ID3>
Date    <Date1>    <Date2>    <Date3>
Price    <Price1>    <Price2>    <Price3>
I don't know if a Cross-Tab would provide a better solution, but I would need some guidance on that, as well, since my attempts at using a Cross-Tab so far haven't had much success.
Thanks for any help.

Answer 1

Post Author: Shawn Weaver
CA Forum: General
This thread hasn't seen any updates, but I've figured out a few different ways to solve my problem, so I'm going to add them here for anyone that may come along in the future.
The first method is to put headers in the first column and use conditional formatting to prevent the headers from being shown on any column except the first. This achieves the row header effect but limits the usable room in the column (since part of it will be taken for the headers, even if they're not displayed).
The second (and, in my opinion, better) method is to simply use groups. For each group, the group header and footer will be put around the column:
<Group Header> <Column> <Group Footer>
If the group footer is suppressed, and the group header is suppressed using conditional formatting (like above), you get a header followed by several columns. The only difference is that the conditional formatting must be applied to the group rather than the detail record.
In both cases, the conditional formatting is simple (Crystal Script):
RecordNumber mod <columns> <> 1
(for groups: "GroupNumber mod <columns> <> 1")
where "<columns>" is the number of columns displayed on a page. (i.e., "GroupNumber mod 4 <> 1" for a report with 4 detail columns)