Running a crystal report

[kss444]

Hello, we are using crystal 8. If I install just the runtime files on someones pc will they be able to double click on a report and run it?

We have a situation where we have a 3rd party application that currently will load the report, but it takes 5-7 minutes, and I can run the report in 2 minutes through crystal.

So I was wondering if I can have our user install the runtime and be able to double click on the report to run it.

Thanks,
KSS

Ordinary Programmer

 

[hilfy]

No, that won't work. But you might be able to use the Crystal Viewer application to do this - I'm pretty sure the most recent version will work with reports from Crystal 8. Also, at one point in time there was a separate download available for Crystal 8 & 8.5 that would compile individual reports into an executable that could be run on any Windows machine. I don't know if this is still available, but you might try looking for it online.

-Dell

DecisionFirst Technologies - Six-time SAP BusinessObjects Solution Partner of the Year

http://www.decisionfirst.com

 

[RTag]

Which 3-rd party application? You should ask their technical support to resolve the issue.
Third party apps will use crystal reports components to run the reports and the speed should be similar if not the same as the speed when you run the report in the designer.
Do you have subreports ? I remember having issues with Crystal Reports 8 with subreports. Also did you optimize the report for a specific printer and do you have this printer on the second machine?

If you don't have subreports and the printer is not a problem - try to use another application. Just grab one of the others available on the market and check if it will be able to run the report faster. All the viewers have at least 2 weeks trial period so you don't have to spend money on this. If another viewer is able to run the report faster then you should contact your vendor - most likely your viewer is not setting correctly the connection to the database.
Try also to export the report from the viewer to a rpt file (the viewer should support it). And try to run the new report file in the viewer. The exported file will be the same version as the one supported by the viewer and you will be sure that the delay is not coming from the conversion of Crystal 8 report to the higher version of the viewer (although this conversion should be almost instant)

http://www.R-Tag.com

Viewer, scheduler and report manager for Crystal reports and SSRS.
Send your report everywhere.

 

[kss444]

The 3rd party app is Avantis. Yes the report does have subreports and grouping but it's not optimized to use any printer.
the script runs fast in ssms, and the report takes about 2 mintues sometimes less, but when using the viewer from Avantis the report takes 5 minutes, sometime with in a minute or 2, the report will display in the viewer, but the viewer becomes unresponsive untill the elapsed time 5 minutes sometimes longer.

Ordinary Programmer

 

[hilfy]

Are you using Page N of M or the TotalPageCount in the report? If so, that's at least part of your problem, especially if the report is long. Normally when you view a Crystal report, it will render each page as it is viewed. This includes running the subreports as the page they're on is viewed. If you have Page N of M or TotalPageCount, ALL of the pages, including the subreports, have to be rendered before the report can be viewed. Every time a subreport is processed, it does a separate connection to the database to run the query - for example, if you have a subreport in a details section, the subreport will connect to the database and run its query for EACH detail record. So, if you're using either of these, changing viewers will probably not make any difference in how fast the report is rendered.

-Dell

DecisionFirst Technologies - Six-time SAP BusinessObjects Solution Partner of the Year

http://www.decisionfirst.com

 

[RTag]

I don't think this is related to the viewer. Looks like a timeout.

Right click on each of the subreports and select menu "Format Subreport ...", then select tab "Subreport" and check if "Re-import when opening" is checked.
If it is checked the report will try to reimport the subreport in runtime. The path to the subreport might exists on your developers machine and that is why the reportg works fast there, but on the client machine it will try to access the subreport until it timeouts and then it will use the existing copy. Either uncheck the option or create the folder structure to make the subreport available.
If this is not the case then check if your report is trying to read a file ( for example an image file) from a network path or using a printer which exists on your developer machine but not on the client machine.

http://www.R-Tag.com

Viewer, scheduler and report manager for Crystal reports and SSRS.
Send your report everywhere.