CR8.0 Save Data With Report No Longer Working 3

[JEMorrison]

We are using CR8.0 running against MS SQL Server database.
Our underwriting department has been using numerous parameterized reports, for several years, that have been created for monthly and quarterly reporting. Due to regulatory and audit requirements, each instance of the report is saved under a new name with “Save data with report” turned on.
Almost all of the reports generated in the past two years have been viewed on at least a quarterly basis with no issues. However, approximately two weeks ago, one of the underwriters discovered that several of the saved reports were regenerating when opened, even though there had been no modifications to the files since they were originally saved. I.T. has informed us that they have made no modifications to the CR server or software, and nothing has changed on any of the Citrix terminals or PCs since January.
The most baffling part of this is that not all of the instances are doing this. Not even all of the reports from the same report “template”. And, we’ve had some saved report instances that were, literally, holding their data yesterday, and, today, are regenerating. Has anyone ever seen this anomaly, and, do you know what causes (and corrects) the issue?
Thanks in advance for your help -- Jamie.

 

[GJParker]

Hi Jamie

This seems very strange, are you sure that the reports ahve been saved with data ? I would try opening the reports in the designer and don't connect to the database.

HTH

Gary Parker
MIS Data Analyst
Manchester, England

 

[JEMorrison]

Gary,

Thanks for your quick reply. Yes, I have confirmed that all of the reports in question have the "Save data with report" option turned on. As for opening the reports without connecting to the database, I am not familiar with this concept. Although I'm not a complete Crystal newbie (I've been developing reports with it for 2 1/2 years - including some, very complex ones), I am self-taught, and have never disconnected a report from the database. I have occasionally wondered if this was possible, but I’ve never investigated it. How is this done?



        Jamie Morrison
        Health Plan Data Analyst
(Report Developer)
        Clear Choice Health Plans

 

[lbass]

Do you use any record selection criteria that don't have an upper date limit or that use currentdate? I think this will cause a report to run when opened even if it's saved with data.

-LB

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
If the data is truly saved with the report, opening it will show the data..No login to database required..
If it does not, then something ( perhaps as lbass noted, a date) is requiring a refresh..






To Paraphrase:"The Help you get is proportional to the Help you give.."

 

[JEMorrison]

Thanks to lbass and Turkbear for their help.

[tab]In December of last year, per a request from the users, all of the monthly reports were modified to default to the last completed month, but, permit overriding start and end dates to be entered. This solution uses Maximum(LastFullMonth) and Minimum(LastFullMonth) in a formula to establish the date range if a default value is found in the parameter field(s). This would seem to be the cause of the problem, except that it is not occurring in every instance that the default was used. For example, one of our group’s reports for February is regenerating, but the same group’s report for April is not, and I know (by observation) that the underwriter used the default and saved the data in both cases.
[tab]If this is an instability of the “Save data with report” feature in CR8.0, do you know if it has been corrected in later versions (we are considering a corporate-wide upgrade to Crystal XI)? If not, we will either have to save the reports in a different format (e.g., PDF), or we’ll have to remove all of the date defaults. Neither of these options is going to be a satisfactory answer to everyone involved.
[tab]Thanks again for your help,


        Jamie Morrison
        Health Plan Data Analyst
(Report Developer)
        Clear Choice Health Plans

 

[GJParker]

Jamie

Open the report in the designer, when CR prompts you to connect to the database then simply click on cancel. Any data saved with the report should be available at this point. If not then the report was not saved with data teh last time it was saved.

HTH

Gary Parker
MIS Data Analyst
Manchester, England

 

[JEMorrison]

Gary,

[tab]Thanks for the instructions. Unfortunately, our installation of Crystal does not prompt for connection. However, while experimenting with a new test report, I discovered a checkbox in the Data Explorer Options (and in File|Options...|Database tab) called "Reprompt user when connecting", which is not selected by default. Can I assume that this needs to be selected to enable the prompting?

        Jamie Morrison
        Health Plan Data Analyst
(Report Developer)
        Clear Choice Health Plans

 

[synapsevampire]

I agree with Gary, if the report is opened in the designer, and the data was saved, then it whould be there.

Also the report NEVER regenerates until you tell it to.

Once you open one of the reports in designer, check to see if File->Save data is set.

Also, check the size of the file, if it has data in it then it will be a larger file, depending upon how much data is within.

-k

 

[kenhamady]

JE,

Any chance you have the Crystal Solution kit for SAP installed? That changes the way report options behave. If so see the following Link

Ken Hamady, On-site Custom Crystal Reports Training & Consulting
Public classes and individual training.
Guides for Formulas, Parameters, Subreports, VB, .NET, Tips and Tricks

http://www.kenhamady.com/