Subreport (Crystal Reports)

E-invoicing in Germany: How to implement the obligation with SAP Business One

On Subreport (Subreport) is a complete Crystal Report that is embedded within another Crystal Report. It allows for the combination of data sources, data views, or outlines that cannot be sensibly mapped in a single query in the main report – for example, if header and line data come from different tables or if an additional block is only to be rendered occasionally.

Context

A subreport is inserted about Insert → Subreport; the main report provides the context via a linking parameter (e.g. DocEntry a draft invoice), the subreport performs its own database queries on it and renders its result at the insertion point. Typical uses in SAP Business One: a subreport per document type under a common header layout template; additional blocks such as payment history for a customer, GTC text in a foreign language, cumulative key figures from another data source; special page logic if a print page is to receive an appendix with a different structure. Subreports are optionally on-demand (User clicks to execute the subreport – saves runtime) or executed inline. For performance, it's important to keep join fields as selective as possible so that the subreport doesn't trigger a heavy query for each record in the main report.

Demarcation

A subreport is not a better join: If data can be cleanly linked via a JOIN or a command object, a single report is generally faster and easier to maintain. Subreports are also not page or group headers – those are sections within the same report. Compared to Cross-Tabs doesn't the subreport concern aggregation, but rather the integration separate data worlds. And opposite UI-API- or Service LayerThe integration remains an internal sub-report: it cannot accept interactive inputs and cannot initiate postings.