Using Crystal Reports in Visual Studio 2005 (C# .NET Windows App)

Question

I need to create reports in a C# .NET Windows app. I've got an SQL Server 2005 database, Visual Studio 2005 and am quite OK with creating stored procedures and datasets.

Can someone please point me in the right direction for creating reports? I just can't seem work it out. Some examples would be a good start, or a simple How-to tutorial... anything really that is a bit better explained than the MSDN docs.

I'm using the CrystalDecisions.Windows.Forms.CrystalReportViewer control to display the reports, I presume this is correct.

If I'm about to embark on a long and complex journey, what's the simplest way to create and display reports that can also be printed?

Answer 1

Crystal is one possible option for creating reports. It has been around a long time and a lot of people seem to like it.

You might want to take a look at SQL reporting services. I have used both but my preferance is SQL reporting services. Its pretty well integrated into studio and works similar to the other microsoft projects. Its also free with the sql express etc.

This is a good article on beginning reporting services: http://www.simple-talk.com/sql/learn-sql-server/beginning-sql-server-2005-reporting-services-part-1/

Answer 2

I second alex's recommendation to look at sql reporting services - if you have a sql developer license, then you probably already have reporting services

i don't like crystal reports, too much tedium in the designer (editing expressions all the time) too many server-deployment issues (check those license files!)

Answer 3

SRSS looks interesting, but do I have to install IIS to use it? Can I embed some sort of viewer control into my application instead?

I'm writing a stock control system, and the reports are going to be used to generate delivery notes and invoices once the user has gone through a series of dialogs, building up their order. So having them need to start up a browser to look at the report wouldn't work too well.

Answer 4

I use Crystal. I will outline my method briefly, but be aware that I'm a one man shop and it may not translate to your environment.

First, create a form with a CR Viewer. Then:

1) Figure out what data you need, and create a view that retrieves the desired columns. 2) Create a new Crystal report using the wizard giving your view as the source of the data. 3) Drag, drop, insert, delete, and whatever to rough your report into shape. Yes, it's tedious. 4) Create the necessary button click or whatever, and create the function in which to generate the report. 5) Retrieve the data to a DataTable (probably in a DataSet). You do not have to use the view. 6) Create the report object. Set the DataTable to be the DataSource. Assign the report object to the CR Viewer. This is one part for which there are examples.

Comments:

If you lose the window with the database fields, etc (Field Explorer), go to View/Document Outline. (It's my fantasy to have Bill Gates on a stage and ask him to find it.)

The reason for setting up the view is that if you want to add a column, you revise the view, and the Field Explorer will update automatically. I've had all sorts of trouble doing it other ways. This method also is a work-around for a bug that requires scanning through all the tables resetting which table they point to. You want to hand Crystal a single table. You do not want to try to get Crystal to join tables, etc. I don't say it doesn't work; I say it's harder.

There is (or was) documentation for the VS implementation of Crystal on the Business Objects web site, but I believe that it has disappeared behind a register/login screen. (I could stand more info on that myself.)

I've had trouble getting Crystal to page break when I want, and not page break when I don't want, etc. It's far from the best report writer I've ever used and I do not understand why it seems to have put so many others out of business. In addition, their licensing policies are very difficult to deal with in a small, fluid organization.

Edited to add example:

AcctStatement oRpt = new AcctStatement() ;
oRpt.Database.Tables[0].SetDataSource(dsRpt.Tables[0]);
oRpt.SetParameterValue("plan_title",sPlanName) ;
crViewer.ReportSource = oRpt ;

Answer 5

You can use the report viewer with client side reporting built into vs.net (ReportBuilder/ReportViewer control). You can create reports the same way as you do for sql reporting services, except you dont need sql server(nor asp.net). Plus you have complete control over them(how you present, how you collect data, what layer they are generated in, what you do with them after generating, such as mailing them, sending to ftp, etc). You can also export as PDF and excel.

And in your case building up a report from data and user input, this may work great as you can build up your own datasource and data as you go along. Once your data is ready to be reported on, bind it to your report.

The reports can easily be built in Visual Studio 2005 (Add a report to your project), and be shown in a Winforms app using the ReportViewer control.

Here is a great book i recommend to everyone to look at if interested in client side reports. It gives a lot of great info and many different scenarios and ways to use client side reporting.

http://www.apress.com/book/view/9781590598542

Answer 6

I found the following websites solved my problems. Included here for future reference.

CrystalReportViewer Object Model Tutorials for the tutorial on how to make the whole thing work. And also Setting up a project to use Crystal Reports and specifically preparing the form and adding the control

Answer 7

I strongly recommend trying an alternative reporting solution - I have a lot of experience with Crystal, and have managed to do some funky things with it in .Net, but quite honestly the integration of Crystal and .Net is an absolute pig for anything but the simplest cases.

Answer 8

I have managed to make this work now.

Brief Overview

It works by having a 'data class' which is just a regular C# class containing variables and no code. This is then instantiated and filled with data and then placed inside an ArrayList. The ArrayList is bound to the report viewer, along with the name of the report to load. In the report designer '.Net Objects' are used, rather than communicating with the database.

Explanation

I created a class to hold the data for my report. This class is manually filled by me by manually retrieving data from the database. How you do this doesn't matter, but here's an example:

DataSet ds = GeneratePickingNoteDataSet(id);
foreach (DataRow row in ds.Tables[0].Rows) {
    CPickingNoteData pickingNoteData = new CPickingNoteData();

    pickingNoteData.delivery_date = (DateTime)row["delivery_date"];
    pickingNoteData.cust_po = (int)row["CustomerPONumber"];
    pickingNoteData.address = row["CustomerAddress"].ToString();
    // ... and so on ...

    rptData.Add(pickingNoteData);
}

The class is then put inside an ArrayList. Each element in the arraylist corresponds to one 'row' in the finished report.

The first element in the list can also hold the report header data, and the last element in the list can hold the report footer data. And because this is an ArrayList, normal Array access can be used to get at them:

((CPickingNoteData)rptData[0]).header_date = DateTime.Now;
((CPickingNoteData)rptData[rptData.Count-1]).footer_serial = GenerateSerialNumber();

Once you have an arraylist full of data, bind it to your report viewer like this, where 'rptData' is of type 'ArrayList'

ReportDocument reportDoc = new ReportDocument();
reportDoc.Load(reportPath);
reportDoc.SetDataSource(rptData);
crystalReportViewer.ReportSource = reportDoc;

Now you will need to bind your data class to the report itself. You do this inside the designer:

1. Open the Field Explorer tab (which might be under the 'View' menu), and right-click "Database Fields"
2. Click on 'Project Data'
3. Click on '.NET Objects'
4. Scroll down the list to find your data class (if it isn't there, compile your application)
5. Press '>>' and then OK
6. You can now drag the class members onto the report and arrange them as you want.

Answer 9

check with the following link , it will help you.

http://csharp.net-informations.com/crystal-reports/csharp-crystal-reports-tutorial.htm

bolton.

Answer 10

hi, i think this may help you out http://infynet.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/crystal-report-in-c/