Before getting started, I want to provide a quick update on the Reportapalooza competition:
- Challenge #1 (Done) – Winner , Mico Yuk (Check out my Coffee Consumption Calculator)
- Challenge #2 (Done) – Winner, Mico Yuk (based on traffic sent to Report a Hero Page)
- Challenge #3 (Done) – Winner, Brian Durning (voted best Crystal Reports Video by Community)
- Challenge #4 (Done) – Winner, Jim Brogden (voted best Charity Dashboard by Community)
- Challenge #5 (In Progress) – What this series of blog post is about!
- Community Dashboard Challenge (In Progress) – You can submit your dashboard by 11/5 to win a very COOL prize!
Unfortunately, I fell a bit behind while attending 2 SAP Conferences back to back this month. Sorry if I let anyone down but I can’t tell you how much I appreciate the support. I also want to give a huge CONGRATS to our current leader David Deitch who is an Xcelsius beginner turned Guru in this competition!
Now to Challenge #5. Labeled the ‘Report Remix’ challenge, I am tasked with learning more about Crystal Reports 2008 and sharing it with YOU the community, hence the ‘remix’ which is to take you on the journey with me of learning a new Crystal product
. Below is my official public statement:
So let’s get started with a few simple questions?
Q. How can you integrate Xcelsius flash files into your Crystal Reports?
A. It’s a 2 step process. You first have to configure the Crystal Reports Data Consumer connection in Xcelsius (seen below) and then use the .swf button in Crystal Reports to embed the Xcelsius flash file. (More details on how to setup each will be provided in the next article)

Q. What are the Pros and Cons?
A. Pros – It is no secret that Xcelsius’ ability to handle large amounts of data is VERY limited. By embedding your Xcelsius flash file into Crystal Reports you get to leverage the power of the Crystal engine while utilizing the beautiful graphics in Xcelsius. It’s like having the best of both worlds. In fact, in my next blog posts I am going to show how to integrate a map in Xcelsius into a Crystal Report.
A. Cons – If your not as familiar with Xcelsius you may have some issues using the ‘Crystal Reports Data Consumer’ connection. It could use some fine tuning (note to the Product Team
)
One more thing! This is your last week to submit your dashboards to the community Reportapalooza competition. Hope you read this far down, because if you have something worth seeing I am opening the door to review any entries that you send via email to gurus at everythingxcelsius.com and provide feedback if sent by 10/31 @ 12am EST.
Mico Yuk is a 2010 SAP Mentor and the founder of the Xcelsius Guru Network and the Everything Xcelsius blog. To learn more about her, please visit our About Us page.
Current Highest Rated Post
- Video: Show Chart Values without Hovering




(5.00 out of 5) - Pictures from the Xcelsius Community Event at GBN 2009




(5.00 out of 5)
Tags: Business Objects, Reportapalooza, SAP Crystal Dashboard Design, Xcelsius 2008









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Dammit, Mico, this is a fantastic post. I was really gonna try to take a shot at this challenge.
@Jamie LOL. Your post is great as well not to mention Interactive Analysis is much more of a black hole than Crystal Reports. I am actually looking forward to your findings.
For anyone who wants to follow Jamie’s journey here is the link – http://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/weblogs?blog=/pub/wlg/21829
Also, I just made a correction in the blog post. Jim Brogden was the winner of Challenge #4 the charity challenge (not David Deitch). Sorry If I confused anyone.
David Deitch however has the most points throughout the entire competition and is our leader.
Mico
Mico this is really a very good post and i am eagerly waiting for the other posts thanks for bringing up this post.
Hi Santosh,
Thanks for the support. Yes its pretty cool. Looking forward to the feedback on this.
Mico
[...] Part 1 – I went over some Q&A on what it would take on a high level to embed your Xcelsius charts and maps into a Crystal Report, as well as some pros and cons of both. [...]
I want to create web service connection(data from sql server 2005).
how can i do this.
Tony,
Please clarify. Using which tool? Xcelsius or Crystal Reports?
Thanks,
Mico