How do I schedule a crystal report to run automatically?

Crystal Reports in and of itself cannot schedule a report or a set of reports for auto execution or batch processing. However there are a number of way to accomplish this.

If your report has no parameters, you can use MS Schedule, a part of windows, to schedule your report daily, weekly, monthly, etc. You must compile the report first as MS schedule only runs an executeable.

If your report has parameters, you could save several different versions of the report, modified to "hard code" the desired answers to the parameter fields, then schedule those reports with MS Schedule.

Unfortunately, in both of the above cases, a compiled crystal report will sit there waiting for you to press the "print" button. There is a freeware tool called PTFB (Press the Freakin' Button, which you can download at http://www.bobos.demon.co.uk/par/PTFB.htm) which solves this problem.

There are also several 3rd party scheduling tools out there, with Crystal Desk being the one I am most familiar with. These will allow the execution of the report, as well as various export options and support for parameters. No PTFB is needed.

Finally, Crystal Decisions has 2 products, Crystal Info and Crystal Enterprise, that support scheduling reports, parameter fields and exporting reports.

Please be advised that any "automated delivery system" that you create that is distributed to 50 or more users may be in violation of the Crystal Broadcast License and subject to royalties. Please contact Crystal Decisions for clarification if you suspect you may fall into this category.