To use Crystal Reports on top of SAP HANA views, you can use an OLAP connection, which directly points to the Business Layer in HANA Views. You can also connect to the Universe directly, which is created on top of SAP HANA views and tables. Crystal Reports can connect to multiple data sources that include −
To connect to a data source, go to File → New → From Data Source.
Following are the three ways in which you can connect Crystal Reports to HANA system - Database layer or HANA views.
Crystal Report Version | Connection | Notes |
---|---|---|
Crystal Reports 2011 SP4 |
JDBC ODBC |
Command objects and SQL Expressions are available |
Crystal Reports for Enterprise 4.0 SP4 |
JDBC ODBC |
Direct-to-data connections are available with FP3 and higher |
Crystal Reports for Enterprise 4.0 SP4 |
Universe (.unx) |
Relational Universe |
Following are the scenarios, which define the direct connectivity to HANA or the use of a Universe −
When a Universe is not available
When you are using Crystal Reports 2011 and not Crystal Reports for Enterprise for reporting
When you are willing to use the custom SQL query using a Command Object or SQL Expression
When you want to access stored procedures, tables and views directly