Running Reports & Passing Parameters

[jsblakley]

I have several reports that require the ability to run at different/multiple times each day. These reports are not "viewed" online, they only need to be executed, exported to PDF then transmitted via fax or email to different customers.

How do I programmatically run a report then export the report to my desired format?

We are deploying a thin-client solution using ASP.NET and SQL Server. Ideally, we would like to use a SQL Server stored procedure to execute, export then transmit the report.

Any suggestions using SQL Server and/or VB?

Thanks!
Jeff

 

[synapsevampire]

Depends on your version of CR.

There are 3rd party products for scheduling and distribution:

http://www.kenhamady.com/bookmarks.html

There's Crystal's solution: Crystal Enterprise

Or you might write code to do this.

Or you might even use a macro recorder on a schedule to perform this operation.

An SP might not make sense to do this as Crystal does not support command line parms.

-k

 

[jsblakley]

What is available through Crystal Enterprise to help me do this?

Jeff

 

[synapsevampire]

Crystal Enterprise (8.5 and above) is the replacement for Seagate Info, and allows you to schedule reports to various formats and destinations.

I use it here to distribute 100's of reports daily to 100's of users, in various formats (mainly Excel and PDF). It even allows users to schedule and distribute reports.

It sorely ain't cheap though...

-k

 

[jsblakley]

When you say Enterprise, what exactly allows you to schedule reports? We have the following; 8.0 Enterprise, 8.5 Developer 9.0 Developer. Not sure what I need to be able to get this done.

 

[synapsevampire]

8.0 Enterprise was the teaser version, not quite ready for primetime.

In 8.5 they rolled in scheduling, email and more export formats.

Your 8.5 and 9 Devs aren't Crystal Enterprise, they're Crystal Reports.

-k

 

[IdoMillet]

If all you need is the ability to trigger Crystal Report exporting/e-mailing, several 3rd-party solutions (see the "Report Manager" category at:

http://www.kenhamady.com/bookmarks.html)

may offer a cheaper and simpler solution than Crystal Enterprise.

At least some of these tools can be triggered via command line arguments (providing the option for integration with Stored Procedures or any other environment that can call command lines or batch files).

Cheers,
- Ido

CUT, Visual CUT, and DataLink Viewer:
view, e-mail, export, burst, distribute, and schedule Crystal Reports.

http://www.MilletSoftware.com