The Plenary the other day didn’t get too deep into new features of 9.4, but I was lucky enough to learn more about report creation in the ArcGIS 9.4 release:
- There is no Crystal Report Wizard in ArcGIS, the only means for creating a report is based on our new reporting engine.
- The Wizard is entirely new and includes options for the layout (default positioning of groups, summary stats, records, header, footer) and style of the report.
- Styles (templates as you call them) are new at 9.4, and you have the ability to create custom styles. Much easier to create a professional looking report.
- There is a Report Designer, where you can easily and interactively design the look and feel of the report layout; easily place graphics and other elements on the report.
- You can export the report out to more formats, including html, xls, pdf to name a few.
- The new reporting tools are a complete upgrade in terms of performance and usability. They are simply easy to work with; as one would expect.
- The biggest improvement in functionality is the ability to load/run a report. At 9.3.1 every report you created was static, you could not open it up to edit it or generate the same report with updated attributes or selections. At 9.4, you can load or run an existing report to make changes or see the changes within your data without having to start from scratch.