Workgroups gain report writers. (Seagate Technology's Crystal unit's Crystal Reports Standard Edition 4.0, Crystal Reports Pro 4.0 and Report Server enhancement; Cognos' Impromptu upgrade) (Brief Article) (Product Announcement)

Report writers from Crystal and Cognos Inc. are about to gain workgroup features that will make reports easier to manage and relieve PCs of the burden of running long reports.

Crystal, the Vancouver, B.C., unit of Seagate Technology Inc., is pouring more speed, graphing capability, a query expert, and "data drill" tools into its $195 Crystal Reports Standard Edition 4.0, due to ship in the fourth quarter.

The $395 Crystal Reports Pro 4.0, also due in the fourth quarter, will include a new OLE Custom Control, SQL database drivers, and improved administration features.

Subsets of Crystal's report writer are bundled in popular Windows products, including …