Other option of reporting for C#

[newbie14]

Dear All,
Besides crystal reports is there any other reporting tool I can used for my C# windows application. I want something which is run time based not design time based. Thank you.

 

[jmeckley]

i would start here.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[newbie14]

Dear Jason,
Thank you for the link but you are sure of any specific one is it? Thank you.

 

[AlexCuse]

Is this for a web application or desktop? I would recommend a little more background for your question.

There is a built in report type in visual studio (file extension .rdlc) that is mostly analogous to SQL Server Reporting Services' .rdl report format, except it is rendered on the client machine. There are some limitations but all things considered its' a very capable reporting tool. I've only used these on web pages before, but it sounds like they will work with the winforms ReportViewer control as well.

Start here:

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms252067.aspx

Hope it helps,

Alex

[small]----signature below----[/small]
The author of the monograph, a native of Schenectady, New York, was said by some to have had the highest I.Q. of all the war criminals who were made to face a death by hanging. So it goes.

My Crummy Web Page

 

[newbie14]

Dear Alex,
I need the report for windows application. The problem is that I want the report to be run time based e.g. where I can add dynamic columns? Do you think this new reporting tool can do this? Thank you for your help.

 

[jmeckley]

why not try it and find out.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[ShankarJ]

Hi!

Have you tried out Stimulsoft.Reports.Net (

http://www.stimulsoft.com/).

I have heard from others that is good and it is reasonably priced as well.

Regards

 

[dinger2121]

Does it have to be a formatted report, or can it be something like an excel spreadsheet?

carl
MCSD, MCTS:MOSS

 

[newbie14]

Dear Shankar,
I am confuse with the costing. So another thing I must renew it on a yearly basis is it? Thank you.

 

[newbie14]

Dear Dinger,
If just excel how do I go about from my windows application? Thank you.

 

[AlexCuse]

If you truly need to dynamically change the column sets (it sounds to me like you are trying to write one report to take the place of many) then I don't think you have much choice.

I'd create a form for showing your "reports" and use a gridview or something like that to display your data. Then you could export it to excel if they needed to save it using something like this:

http://www.carlosag.net/Tools/ExcelXmlWriter/

(I'd caution against using the office interop features, as they get very slow when dealing with a lot of data)

[small]----signature below----[/small]
The author of the monograph, a native of Schenectady, New York, was said by some to have had the highest I.Q. of all the war criminals who were made to face a death by hanging. So it goes.

My Crummy Web Page

 

[jmeckley]

newbie14, you are asking alot of questions, but we haven't seen any effort on your part to determine what you need.

Don't be afraid to spike some code with a trail version of a reporting package. We cannot answer every question concerning your specific project. we can point you in a direction, but you still need to take the lead to determine what solution is best for you.

if you have questions about a specific reporting package contact the vendor for details. They will be able to answer questions about costing, product features, etc. Again, you still need to test the software yourself.

I echo AlexCuse's comment as well. reports are another form of GUI. you do not have 1 webform for every single request (at least I hope not). Why would you want/require a report to do the same? I would bet you are actually creating more work for yourself in the long run with this approach rather than saving time in the future.

There are all kinds of articles on the net about architecture and software design. OOP isn't about resuablitiy. It's about encapsulation. article on the topic

GUI (including reports) should serve a very specific, single, purpose. If it does more than 1 task it will complicate maintenance dramatically. In then end you may end up with 100s of reports. but each report fulfills exactly 1 requirement. you can modify (add, edit, remove) a given report without impacting any other reports.


Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190

 

[dinger2121]

Google Search

If you are looking to keep it really simple, you can just use a StreamWriter and use that to write your data with a comma seperator and save it as a .csv file. This is a VERY simple solution - no formatting or anything like that - but it can be opened using excel.

carl
MCSD, MCTS:MOSS

 

[newbie14]

Dear Jason,
I am sorry for my situation. Actually currently I am using crystal report. So the problem then I saw that crystal report cant fulfil my requirements.So that is why I am lost on how to solve my problem.I am like first searching around what can solve my problem. Yes I also agree I dont want to end up doing 100's of reports. I was wondering is it possible for me to even generate web reports from my windows form. Thank you jason for your concern and sorry too.

 

[jmeckley]

newbie, you don't need to apologize, just apply some problem solving skills and put some effort into research. From your responses in this thread it leaves the impression that you first option did not work so you want someone else to give you the "right" answer.

Don't be afraid to spike a few reporting examples to figure out what works and what doesn't. After all if we do not fail we cannot learn.

Yes I also agree I dont want to end up doing 100's of reports

I'm saying 100's of reports can be a good thing. each one with a specific purpose. common functionality within the reports can be encapsulated using simple OOP patterns, but each report is still unique.

Jason Meckley
Programmer
Specialty Bakers, Inc.

faq855-7190