Export Crystal Reports to PDF or MAPI - Howto??

[jaustill]

In Macola 7.6.300 SQL what is the minimum required to be able to export a Crystal Integrated report from Macola to a PDF or MAPI?

Do you have to install Adobe Acrobat or are there dlls that can be downloaded & registered to run pdf and mapi exports of the integrated Crystal Reports.

 

[keain]

I don't think that Crystal 8.5 will natively distill to pdf. You need some sort of pdf distiller.

MAPI has nothing to do with pdf, you merely need an email client.

On the criteria selection screen, you need to select the output tab and make your choices there.

 

[dgillz]

When you export the report, just pick the .pdf format. If you do not have it download the latest crystal service pack from Business Objects. (If it is still available for v8.5).

Visual CUT is another great tool for this, which can not only export to .pdf, you can schedule, burst and email reports. Check out

http://www.milletsoftware

for details.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[dgillz]

Note: here is the link for the service pack downloads:

http://support.businessobjects.com/downloads/updates/service_packs/crystal_reports.asp

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[MacolaHelp]

I do this w/crystal 8.5. There are 2 dlls I needed to download from Business Objects, you must manually register them on the workstation & you must also have installed a distributed report on the workstation to get some basic dlls crystal looks for. It works great. Your email client must be open for the mapi output to work at the time you export the report. We use it extensively for sending quotes, invoices, etc.

 

[jaustill]

MacolaHelp,
Could you tell me which DLL's are needed.

I have since found that installing Adobe Acrobat does not enable the PDF export.

However, If I install Crystal on the workstation I can then export the reports in PDF format, but I then need to buy more Crystal licenses. All I need is the PDF export ability.

 

[kscheeler]

One thing I've done is install Crystal 8.5 on a client using the custom install. Then set the crystal designer to install on first use or run from CD. You would do this on the workstations that you want all of the export functionality but don't want to be able to design crystal reports on.

If the user tries to run crystal from the icon, it will look for the CD to install the remaining components which it won't find.

Kevin Scheeler

 

[stravis]

If you want to distribute the components legally you will need to have Crystal 8.5 Developer Edition, then you will download and install the Crystal Distribution Export here

http://support.businessobjects.com/communityCS/FilesAndUpdates/scr8_distr_expert.exe.asp.

Then all you need to do is choose to distribute a report and choose all the export libraries you want to distribute using the wizard. kscheeler's method will work, but if you read the license this is not a legal method of distributing components. I had to hash through this when I encountered an administrator/law student who required everything to be to the letter of the law.

Scott Travis

http://www.infospring.net

 

[MacolaHelp]

I am using the 8.5 crystal from macola, but I don't think it is the developer edition. I did as Scott indicated to run the scr8_distr_expert.exe. I also downloaded the crxf_pdf.zip to get the export dlls. I included this dll in the export package I created for a compiled report from a workstation on which the full version of crystal 8.5 is located. I then run the setup for a compiled crystal report from a workstation on which 8.5 is not installed. Here is how you register the necessary dlls to export to pdf on a workstation:

WIN2k:
regsvr32 "c:\winnt\system32\exportmodeller.dll"

XP:
regsvr32 "c:\windows\system32\exportmodeller.dll"

Win2k:
regsvr32 "c:\winnt\system32\crtslv.dll"

XP:
regsvr32 "c:\windows\system32\crtslv.dll"

This is all legal & covered within the 8.5 licensing guidelines. Unfortunately, Business Objects doesn't support compiled reports after 8.5, so I'm having to explore other solutions for future crystal versions. My understanding is that macola is now selling version 10 (or will be soon), so I'll have to see what we can do there.

 

[dgillz]

MacolaHelp,

There is now ZERO need to ever have a compiled report, nor has there been for a long while. This has been a major frustration for me that Exact has been stuck on crystal 8.5, which is nearly 6 years old. If you cannot already tell, this is one of my pet peeves

I have had clients on Crystal 9 for YEARS, and 10 and XI as well. (9, 10 and XI and all backwards and frontwards compatible by the way, except for a few functions). You do need to be aware of the modified ICR issue however, which is currently at version 8.5 and soon to be 10 I would assume.

A report viewer will do the trick for anyone who wants to view, print or export crystal reports without having access to a compiled report or to the crystal reports designer. Just point to the .rpt file and path, and click on refresh. If you know VB you can write one yourself in short order, or there are several available for sale for under $50. A google search will reveal plenty of solutions for you.

Software Sales, Training, Implementation and Support for Macola, eSynergy, and Crystal Reports

http://www.gainfocus.biz

 

[jaustill]

I use version 8.5 of Crystal, but it is not installed on the workstations.

I also have not done any modifications to the Macola default ICR's and I believe they are Version 8.5, How can I tell for sure?

But Again, some workstations load the ICR's very fast and others load the ICR's Very slow.

 

[jaustill]

Sorry, posted the above in the wrong thread