"Accessing Data" phase while running a report

[kxramse]

I am curious about the phase "Accessing Data" that occurs between the time I log into the database and the time that the report says it is "Reading Records". I'm speaking about the words in the bottom left hand side of Crystal. When I run this report from a remote location away from the database it takes up to 45 minutes to go through the accesssing data phase. The funny thing is, I checked the SQL Server 2005 activity logs and found something.

(Background info: Running XP locally, MS 2003 server for the DB operating system, XI Crystal with MS SQL 2005 database using the OLE DB ADO: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server - Driver)

Each time I run the report I get three sets of errors one tells of the login failure and the other tells you the state.

1. When I kick off the report:

Login failed for user "crystal" [Client: xxx.xx.x.x} where X represents my IP addy. Then the activity log also records: ERROR: 18456, Severity 14, State 8.

State 8 is = to "The password is incorrect."

2. About 40 minutes after I kick off the report I get:
Login failed for user "crystal" [Client: xxx.xx.x.x} where X represents my IP addy. Then the activity log also records: ERROR: 18456, Severity 14, State 5.

State 8 is = to "User ID is not valid."

3. I get one more error RIGHT as its about to actually go into the reading records phase. This time its the same error as #2.

The thing is, I'm not entering my user id/password over and over again, I enter it once, and Crystal does its thing. For some reason, its banging its head against the wall and then resolving itself. Had it actually been a bad user ID or password, it wouldn't run.

Does anyone have any ideas how to resolve this or improve my performance? Is there a better driver to use? Any thoughts or ideas?

 

[synapsevampire]

What does "When I run this report from a remote location away from the database" mean? How is this being run, what software, etc.?

-k

 

[kxramse]

(Background info: Running XP locally, MS 2003 server for the DB operating system, XI Crystal with MS SQL 2005 database using the OLE DB ADO: Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server - Driver)

I'm at a different location than my servers which are stored by a third party company whom we have a dedicated "pipe" with.

I'm using the fat client of XI. How do I run it, I hit the refresh button which then prompts me for my db login info, then asks me for my parameter data, which then goes into the accessing data phase.

 

[synapsevampire]

I guess that the fat client means that you're using some edition of Crystal Reports XI directly? Sorry, missed that you were using XI, but this doesn't clarify how you're running the report. Never heard of any of their products referred to as fat or thin clients, there are various viewers and the Crysdtal development products.

I would be suspicious of the network connectivity, but you might try switching to ODBC just to make sure that it isn't related to OLE DB.

-k

 

[kxramse]

XI Crystal Reports Developers Edition.

Fat client might be an old school term meaning its not a viewer, and its not a web client and its not the Business objects Enterprise Edition since that's a web client.

 

[kxramse]

Apparently it likes ODBC better. I just connected and experienced the accessing phase as 11 minutes.

I guess that tells me its both the network connectivity and the driver. Changing the driver reduced my time tremendously, but its still excessive in my mind. My last job had SQL 2000 and XI developer version and I never even noticed there was an "accessing data" phase to the report generation because it went so fast. Granted both the db server and my PC were on the same network, but still, at this new job, we have a dedicated pipe over to this server. Another interesting thing is that the errors went away in the activity log.

Any ideas what I tell my network admin to look at?

 

[kxramse]

Ok... I just spoke with my boss. Apparently there is a ton of politics involved with getting our internal server people to fix our connection to our externally hosted servers. I guess my only hope is to somehow come up with the exact solution to present to our server team. My boss told me that she connects from home with VPN to our externally hosted servers and connects lightning quick!

So my revised question would be does anyone know how to find the exact settings my server people can tune so that I can connect to my database and avoid the politics? Apparently its a firewall issue internally. Thanks for any advice.
Keith

 

[synapsevampire]

Hard to say, complex issue.

Perhaps they can allow you tp VPN into a box behind the firewall and then you can execute the reports locally to their network, should be as fast as it can get.

Fat client is a common term today as well, usually used to state that you have a proprietary client with all of the files required locally (hence fat) as opposed to having some server side processing and minimal files installed locally.

-k