SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

1678471 - Unable to create groups in MS Excel on reports that were exported to MS Excel format from Crystal Reports

Symptom

  • Unable to create groups.
  • In MS Excel, unable to create groups.
  • When opening a file in MS Excel that have been exported from Crystal Reports to MS Excel format, it is not possible to create groups on the spreadsheet.

Environment

  • SAP Crystal Reports 2008
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2011
       
  • SAP Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Open or create a report in Crystal Reports
  2. Export the report to MS Excel
  3. Open the exported report in MS Excel 2007 or MS Excel 2010
  4. Create a group on the MS Excel spreadsheet
    • In MS Excel, under the menu “Data”, click on “Group”
    • In the “Group” window, click “OK”
  5. Notice that nothing happen, when we expect to see a group being created on the MS Excel spreadsheet.
        
    In MS Excel, if you create a new spreadsheet, and enter some data, or even copy information from the exported spreadsheet, it is possible to create groups.
    The issue only occurs when the MS Excel spreadsheet is generated by exporting a report from Crystal Reports to MS Excel format.

Cause

  • This behavior has been tracked under ADAPT01586682

Resolution

  • The issue is resolved in the following product udpate:
      
    • For Crystal Reports 2008
      • Fix Pack 4.2
      • Fix Pack 5.1
      • Service Pack 6 and higher
         
    • For Crystal Reports 2011:
      • Support Pack 05
            
    • For Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010:
      • Service Pack 3
          
  • If you cannot apply a product update for some time, then the following workarounds will enable you to create groups in MS Excel:
    • In MS Excel, copy the data to a new sheet, and you will then be able to create groups on your data; or
    • In Crystal Reports 2011, export the report to the following format: Microsoft Excel Workbook Data-only; or
    • In Crystal Reports 2008, export the report to the following format: Separated Values (CSV)

Keywords

KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , Bug Filed

Product

Crystal Reports 2008 V0 ; Crystal Reports 2008 V1 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2011, feature pack 03