Crystal Reports for .net 2003

PixelTrawler

Has anyone done much with this. We are starting a project soon at work and are having all manner of problems getting going.

We basically have to use the version that comes with vs2003 ( 2005 and XI arent an option for us for various reasons ).

Basically we have vs installed locally and work on a remote web server but can;t get any reports going. Just wondering has anyone else worked with this setup and what did you deploy on the server to run the reports.

ressem

You've included the merge modules in your project's deploy package?
http://support.businessobjects.com/fix/merge_modules.asp

PixelTrawler

yeah, sort of have it working.
Seems very unstable and slow though.
Was having no luck at all with the pull method.

Switched to the push method and made some progress.

Did a simple cross tab report. Data feds into it in about 4 seconds ( measured the dataset fill ) but its taking about a minute to display the report.

Is this version of Crystal any good? Notice sometimes i load the page i get login failure and other times it works without making any changes.

Its a shame we cant use 2005/XI because both seem much better. At least in vs2005 you get proper export options

amen

crystal reports is horrible
prone to crashing, reports can be slow
and trying changing db in code
horrible

but there isn;t much more out there

PixelTrawler

Thats what im finding. Reports work one minute, fail the next and are very slow ( mind you XI and 2005 definitely seem faster from what little ive tested them )

we've spent 4 frustrating days on this so far and all we've gotten so far is one kind of working report

Any experience of Sql Reporting Services or Brio?

PixelTrawler

amen wrote:

and trying changing db in code
horrible

... god yes

Mutant_Fruit

If you push in too much data to CR, it crashes. If your document is likely to exceed 100 pages (it varies depending on the amount of data being created) you are best off creating two seperate documents, or coding an upper limit on the amount of data going in.

DC5_ITR

amen wrote:

crystal reports is horrible
prone to crashing, reports can be slow
and trying changing db in code
horrible

but there isn;t much more out there

i don't find it that bad, but it is bad! you're right - in terms of alternatives, there isn't much else really - short of writing your own tailored reports engine

PixelTrawler

tried that one before... definitely not worth effort...nearly broke me heart:)

PixelTrawler

Mutant_Fruit wrote:

If you push in too much data to CR, it crashes. If your document is likely to exceed 100 pages (it varies depending on the amount of data being created) you are best off creating two seperate documents, or coding an upper limit on the amount of data going in.

this is definitely a problem for us...
its a very large datasource

TempestSabre

We used it with .net but I dunno what version it is. (I don't use it myself). We don't have problem with it, but we don't pull large amounts of data into it. Its mainly used, for online forms etc. Never found it to be slow. We also use Word and VBA for other reports which while many people might scoff, can be knocked up easily enough and made very reliable. We pull lots of data into these. In the fast I've built Word VBA templates that pulled in large amounts of financial data with no real problem. You can code the VBA into an ActiveX for online use aswell. Which is what I've done. Only trick with VBA/Word is you need to know to optimise the code, as if you not careful you can make it very slow. I find it a decent alternative to Crystal. Granted you have to write it yourself, but it is basically just VB.

amen

I've used SQL Reporting server. Its not bad and can be quick. Some quirky stuff though with multiple result sets. you need to be careful.

I've always though about finishing my own custom reporting engine (and selling commercially). Does anyone have a list of features they would like to see ?

PixelTrawler

Number 1. Ease of use.../ easy connectivity to data sources

don't have time to write any more right now but thats gotta be the main prority.

Beyond that decent charts with multiple export options ( xls, pdf, doc ). I guess a fast engine too would be high on anyones list

If you can provide a credible alternate to Crystal that doesnt have the teething problems associated with it you could be on to a winner

PixelTrawler

Hang on before i forget this...

Include solid help system with code samples. This is a major problem with crystal.. very hard to get proper help / code samples ( at least with 2003, they've addressed this with vs2005 but I think thats more a microsoft initiative rather then crystal )

PixelTrawler

Finally got the pull method working to a remote db...
if anyone wants the bit of code let me know