Newbie Question - Retrieving Data

[artyk]

I am very new to Crystal Reports and I am trying to set up reports for a VS 2005 app. I create the report using the fields I need, but when I preview the report or browse the data I either get blank values or some made-up data. I'm using the wizard to tell the report what I want. Is there something obvious that I'm doing wrong or something I should look for? Thanks.

 

[synapsevampire]

Crystal won't "make up data".

Perhapsyou'repointing at the wrong datbasae, but there are no data gremlins (tho sometimes voodoo) tossingoutdata foryou, you're hitting a database that contains those values.

You don'tmention your software version, databasae, connectivity, all of the obvious key components required in researching data issues, and then youchat about what yousee insteadofgiving examples.

Try posting facts.

-k

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,
Copnfused by your statement:

some made-up data

Crystal is smart ( not really) but it cannot make up data..

Please provide:

Version of CR
Version of Objects used - (the .NET assemblies)
Database used
Connection method
Query used to get data or parameter names,values and the selection criteria.










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

 

[artyk]

What I mean by made-up data is that it plugs in dummy data to show how the report would look with data in it. But I never get the data from my database. I'll try to get some more info.

 

[Turkbear]

Hi,

it plugs in dummy data to show how the report would look with data in it

What? What plugs in data..Not Crystal...

Do you mean the sample page that shows on the Design tab for the page containing the report object?
Did you set the datasource as directed by the docs?
Can you access that datasource from your web server?

Once again:
What Database
What Connection method?
What version?

Help us help you...







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

 

[artyk]

I'm not sure of the CR version. It's whatever comes with Visual Studio 2005. I'm using a plain SQL Server 2005 Express database (also came with VS). I'm connecting using SQLClient via a connection string located in my app.config file. I'm not doing any connecting on the fly or anything. I used the CR wizard to specify which fields I wanted. It picked up the database, tables, field names, and data types fine, but not the data.

 

[artyk]

When I preview the report at design time, there is data in it. Only it is not my data. I'm not sure where the data is coming from, but I can only assume it is there to give an idea of the look of the report since my data doesn't seem to be getting pulled into the report. Also, I'm not using a web server. I am still designing my app and would like to verify my report before I move on to the next one.

 

[synapsevampire]

It is your data, probaly from another database or table that you're unaware of.

As you've heard repeated here, CrystalwillNOT fabricate data, even though that would be ausefulfeatureat times, it does not.

The diffiulty is your understanding of the dataa I think.

-k

 

[artyk]

No, there are no other databases on this computer. This is my private machine and this is my first database. I understand the data just fine. That is not the problem. I do not understand Crystal Reports as of yet, though. I think you might be missing what I'm saying about the data that is inserted in the report preview.

 

[Turkbear]

OK..

Assuming you used the Crystal Report application template in VS2005:

Did you create a report from scratch or insert an existing one?

What is shown in the properties list as the Datasource for the Report?

Are you looking at the Main Report, the Main Report Preview or the Form Design page when seeing this 'phantom' data?

The Viewer and Report objects all will show version # when mouse hovers over the object in the toolbox..

What shows for yours..







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

 

[artyk]

I used the wizard to create a report from scratch. I'm not seeing an actual "datasource" for the report itself. I know what you are talking about, but I don't see one listed. The data appears in the Main Report Preview, but sometimes it doesn't show up, like if I refresh or something. It seems to be CR version 10.