Dos error

[cathyg18]

I'm using Crystal 7 and have a particular report that begins well, but eventually stops giving me a 'dos error' message. Any ideas why I'm getting that, and how I can get rid of it?

Thanks,

Cathy

 

[smcnulty2000]

Fill us in on a couple of things;

What was the dos error?

How do you mean it 'begins well'? Is it displaying some pages? How many records does it get through before it crashes?

What database is it going against?

What version of OS is it running in?

 

[cathyg18]

It just says 'Dos error' and stops.
It goes though about 2 million records before it crashes.
It's going against a SQL database.
We're running SQL server 2003, and Windows XP.

Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Cathy

 

[Madawc]

Does it work OK if you process less records? Crystal 7 is very old: if you can't afford an upgrade then you might need to split the report into several reports each covering a range.

I've no idea of the specifics, but something that used to work has probably been spolied by a software upgrade.

Madawc Williams (East Anglia, UK). Using Windows XP & Crystal 10

 

[smcnulty2000]

I'd consider Madawc's suggestions. This sounds like running out of memory, pure and simple. Assuming that is the problem splitting the data set in some way makes sense.

Possibilities I'd consider as secondary;
-DOS environment not set up right, since this is XP running with a DOS shell.
-Database returning memo fields or special characters that formerly the report didn't have to handle. New data with foreign characters could cause an issue like this.
-Security changes

Or a combination, of course.

For the second one you might check the menu 'File'/'Report Options' and see whether you have 'Translate DOS Strings' and 'Translate DOS Memos' checked.

Whatever Icon you have running this, (assuming this is a shortcut) you could right click on it, go to properties and look for the compatibility tab. Then change the compatibility to something other than what it is set to.

Also; Madawc's comment about 7 being old- critical point. Most of us have never even worked with 7, including me. So our hands are kind of tied on helping out. You might consider suggesting to management that although a version change might not fix this specific problem, that future problems will be better supported, and newer features aren't just fancier bells and whistles. They're willing to pay for XP, and SQL Server upgrades, crystal should be part of their software cycle maintenance. Next version of windows you might even be unable to run this.

Hey, though, good luck. Let us know if you get any more information; such as a more explicit error message on a future run.