FoxPro Reports vs. Crystal .Net Reports

[Auguy]

I am updating an old VFP6 program. I have a couple of options. Pure VFP9, VFP9 using SQL, or VB.Net using SQL. I'm leaning towards the last option but the reporting using Crystal Reports in .Net has me a bit concerned. A few of the reports have more than one memo field and other fields moving up or down on the report based on the size of the memo fields. I also limit the number of detail records on the report to prevent splitting (most of the time) memo fields and other data for each record across pages. I have done quite a few reports in CR in VB.Net but none that require this much hand holding to make them look good. These are estimate & quotation reports sent to customers and must look good. My concern is CR will not work as well as the VFP reports. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[Dan Freeman]

A couple of thoughts.

1. I'd go with .NET too.

2. CR isn't your only option.

I hope Doug Hennig chimes in on this. ISTR he was porting Stonefield Query to .NET and had written extensive code to convert VFP reports to (something else).

3. Memo fields will absolutely always be a bugbear. Just accept that. <g>

 

[Olaf Doschke]

I always tend to use Word automation instead of reports, when in need of special layouts. HTML would be another solution, you can always target to the endpoint of PDF files. That's valid for both VFP or .NET

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

I agree with Dan: Just because you are using VB.NET, that doesn't mean you have to use CR. There are plenty of other options.

like Olaf, I have sometimes used HTML for complex reports, although it is not my favourite solution. I don't often use Word automation, partly because it tends to be slow, and partly because it introduces a new dependency (the presence of Word).

Having said all that, CR is a very capable product. I'm not sure I completely understand what you are trying to achieve with the memo fields, but it's very likely that CR can handle it. And there's plenty of support for it, given the large number of people using it.

As I'm sure you would agree, a lot depends on personal preferences.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Olaf Doschke]

With Word automation you can start from a template, like your report deigns also don't start empty, for sure. There are components not needing Word, eg GemBox.Document.
HTML as text only output surely is faster, but depending on the amount of variable content you don't need to inject lots of text/data into a word.dotx. The same goes for HTML templates, but you need to build some html report engine, which is easy starting from TEXTMERGE.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Mike Lewis]

A couple of other advantages of CR come to mind:

- Reports can be viewed independently of the application. Users who do not have access to the app can still view up-to-date reports.

- Knowledgeable users can create their own reports.

Of course, you might see those as disadvantages - depending on your environment.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[Olaf Doschke]

Another thing available in the context of a SQL Server Backend is Reporting Services. And of course some good third party reporting options for VFP developers are FRX2ANY and ReportSculptor (VFP sepcific) but also List&Label (

https://www.combit.net/en/)

was/is very popular and stand alone, too. Maybe more so in germany than elsewhere.

Bye, Olaf.

 

[Auguy]

Thanks once again to everyone for all of the great comments and advice. I think I will work backwards on this project and use CR to create one of the more intricate reports first instead of doing the reports at the end of the project as I usually do. If I can't seem to get it to look decent I will explore other possibilities.

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[Mike Lewis]

Sounds like a good plan. Let us know how you get on.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[craigber]

If you're using SQL Server, why not go with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)?

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual C# MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com/blog

 

[Auguy]

Thanks, I considered that and have used SSRS before and had issues with MS breaking the printing due to updates although it hasn't happened in a while. Also didn't like having to mess with setting up the reports in SSRS database. I know it's a small thing, but still bugs me. With CR reports I have created I can just copy the report to the server if I make a change that doesn't require any new data.

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[craigber]

SSRS is so simple. Basically, you create "folders" in SSRS then save the report there.

Crystal Reports has some wonky and expensive licensing.

There are, of course other options such as ActiveReports.

Craig Berntson
MCSD, Visual C# MVP,

http://www.craigberntson.com/blog

 

[Auguy]

While we're on the subject I have a book titled "Crystal Reports Encyclopedia .Net 2005/2006" by Brian Bischof that I found to be very helpful. Re-reading some sections right now. I think he has a new one coming out next year but was wondering if anybody could recommend a book for the newer versions of .Net?

Auguy
Sylvania/Toledo Ohio

 

[Mike Lewis]

The books I usually recommend for Crystal are the "Complete Reference" titles by George Peck. I found them very useful for CR versions 10 and XI. I'm not up-to-date with the latest version, so I'm not sure what he has available for .NET. But if he does have one, I would definitely consider it.

Mike

__________________________________
Mike Lewis (Edinburgh, Scotland)

Visual FoxPro articles, tips and downloads

 

[DougHennig]

Since Dan asked ...

Yes, we're about to release Stonefield Query Enterprise, a completely rewritten version of Stonefield Query using C#. It includes a converter to convert VFP reports to DevExpress XtraReports (the reporting engine we're using). If you want to check out a live demo, go to

https://sqweb.stonefieldquery.net.

Doug

 

[clipper01]

My 2 cents, I've used DevExpress suite for a few fox-to-net conversions and I can vouch that the reporting ability is superb. Totally band-based ( like VFP and CR) and totally integrated in the development environment . I've also used SqlServer Reporting Service and although it is simple to use and gives some very powerful cross-tab and drill-down abilities , is very limited on control of layout. I believe you can buy DevExpress XtraReports separately ,although I cannot see why if you are going this route that you would also not use the full suite, the cost is about the same. There are other suites , I believe ActiveReports ( mentioned by Craig Bernston ) is now part of the ComponentOne suite , which along with Infragistics , Telerick etc are the main suites that give an excellent migration path from VFP , you pays your money and takes your choice ,they all cost around the same

http://www.tek-tips.com/