Crystal Report Component/Visual Studio .Net 2003 Profosional 2

[Bensta]

I am really confused, and I can't seem to find an answer: I searched every on the net.
I hope someone can be kind enough help me here.
I purchased Visual Studio .Net 2003 Professional Edition.
I am unable to locate Crystal Report under Add New Item list. I thought Crystal Reports came with VS 2003.
2) If it is the case; Do I have to have the Crystal Report Engine CREngine.dll installed on my IIS (web server) in order to be able to run the reports from the ASP.net app?
I will appreciate any help.
Thank you in advance
Bensta

 

[dvannoy]

crystal does come with VS 2003. first off forget IIS server for now. Once you create your reports you will then deploy your application to your IIS server which will then install the Crystal modules etc. There are step by step instructions on how to do this. Then you must think about what types of reports and how complex they are. This will then let you decide if you wll use the "push" or "Pull" method. There are tons of examples on this site as well as the net. Try searching google with "Push crystal reports asp.net" and see what it comes up with. once you get going, post any problems you have along with your code and someone here will help you. I have been there before with crystal and once you get the hang of it, it very very easy.

hope this helps

 

[Bensta]

Thank you so much dvannoy for your help.
If I understand correctly, once I deploy the application to the IIS server, the run-time files necessary to run the CR reports from a web browser will be installed automatically. That's is I don;t need to have CREngine.dll installed on the web server? Right?
the report are not going to be complex. There is only one report parameter, all the other ones are really simple.
I will definetely look into the Push and Pull methods on the net.
Now do you think I should reinstall Visual Studio .net because I still can see Crytal Report as an add-in module?
Thank you again
Bensta

 

[jbenson001]

Don't reinstall, just click Change/Remove for vs2003 from Control Panel. You can then change the installed components for vs2003. Click Add or Remove Features. Then add the CR components.

Jim

 

[IT4EVR]

The push method, which I tend to prefer, involves basing your report on a dataset of the data you are collecting.

The pull method involves creating an instance of a generated class for that specific report. This method is more complex sometimes because you have to also supply logon information if you are connecting with sql server.

If you really want to get sophisticated, you can use the Crystal Reports Engine.



The wisest people are those who are smart enough to realize they don't know it all.

 

[Bensta]

Thank you GR8Solutions for your assistance. But could you please tell me if I need to have CREngine.dll installed on the web server to be able to run the reports from my asp.net app? Or does the deployment package install the run-time files need?
I also heard that if you upload your asp.net app to a web server you may need to have a server-license, is that correct?
Thank you in advance?
Bensta

 

[jbenson001]

Look on BusinsessObjects.com. There are artilces there that explain how do deploy an asp app with CR. It is in a .pdf doc.

Jim

 

[Bensta]

Thank you guys for the response. I did check BusinessObjects.com web site, but could not located anything that talks about how to work around the limitations. Now my understanding is that by default the Crystal Decisions components are not registered in the remote server's machine Global Assembly Cache. They are registered under local machine's Global Assembly Cache only. That's why the CR that comes with VS 2003 is for evaluation and only works on the local development
Here is how you work around this issue according to this article: Just wanted to share this info with you all.

http://aspalliance.com/672

Bensta

 

[dvannoy]

Bensta, I don't think that's correct. I don't know what version of VS you have but mine comes with CR. The reason it works on the development machine is because that's where the application resides. You mus deploy your application correctly and INSTALL you application onto your IIS server. I think that's where alot of people get confused. You need to INSTALL you application not just copy the pages to your virtual directory. in order for CR to run correclty you need to install your app like any other windows app.

heres your link to the deploy.

http://support.businessobjects.com/communitycs/technicalpapers/crnet_deployment.pdf

 

[Bensta]

dvannoy, I am using VS 2003 Professional. Right now I only have CR that comes with VS 2003. THe Web server has no CR installed on the it. Will this cause problems when I deploy the application? That is, do I have to have CR installed on the Web Server where the ASP.net app will reside? I think you are right about the fact that that's where a lot of people get consufed.
Now, with Visual Basic Application (window based application) in order to be able to run Crytal Report from the client app, you have to have CREngine.dll intall on the machine.
Bensta

 

[dvannoy]

You have the Bundled version of CR that comes with VS. There is no need to have CR installed onto your server. that's what the deployment does for you. it doesn't actually install CR on your server it installs the modules etc. that are required to view your CR reports in the web browser. If you follow the instructions using the link I sent you, you will see what I mean.


also as jbenson001 said, look on there website for help and info. there are lots of good articles that walk you through different issues.

 

[jbenson001]

check out this .pdf. It tells you how to deploy cr with viusal studio apps:

http://support.businessobjects.com/communityCS/TechnicalPapers/crnet_deployment.pdf