Subreports are awesome. They can be simple and at the same time they can turn your blah-blah report into something wonderful. They can also be very complex so I will start slow and easy, just like my mornings.

One thing to keep in mind when using subreports with the Raiser’s Edge Custom Reports module: the subreport must use the same “.mdb” data file as the main report. There is no way in Raiser’s Edge to set up a Custom Report with more than one Export and data file. If you will be running the report directly through Crystal Reports then you can use as many data files as you like. For our examples I will assume we will use the Custom Reports module in RE. This will allow your RE users to run the report on their own. Keep this in mind when planning and creating your export and report.

Let’s start the subreport journey by adding a summary of revenue by fund to the report we just “finished.”

With the report open on the Design tab select Subreport from the Insert menu on the top toolbar. This will open the Insert Subreport window.

There are two options here, insert an existing report or create a new subreport. A subreport is just another “rpt” report file that is included in another report. You could create the fund summary report separately (using the same data file as the main report) and then insert it here by selecting “Choose an existing report.” For this example we will select “Create a subreport with the Report Wizard.” Enter a name for the report and click the Report Wizard button. I usually name the subreport the same as the main report with “SUB” and something of a description at the end.

The report wizard will open and should look familiar from when we first created our main report. Since we are already working with our main report, instead of creating a new connection we will use the current connection. Open the Current Connections folder and it should show the data file that is already connected to the main report. Select the mdb file path and click the double-arrow button.

This will copy the file path and database table names to the right side of the screen to the Selected Tables window. Click the Next button which will display the Link window. Again, similar to what was done when we created the main report, change all of the links to Left Outer Join. Click the Finish button to get back to the Insert Subreport window.

There are two types of subreports, linked and unlinked. This subreport will be unlinked so for now we can ignore the Link tab and click the OK button. This will bring you back to the main report Design tab. You will have a box attached to your mouse cursor, this is the subreport waiting to be placed on the report. We want the subreport at the beginning of our main report so position the box in the upper left corner of the Report Header section. Click to place the subreport into the Report Header section.

Right click on the subreport place holder to open the subreport design tab.

This should also look familiar as it is the same as creating a new report. I’ll take a break here and continue with creating the subreport in the next article.