Hi,
We have a requirement to export all our crystal reports into a text file, while maintaining the original format. That is, if we export a crystal report to a text file and print it out (from notepad/wordpad), it should be in the exact same format as the original crystal report print out would have been.
Can this be done?
Thanks!
This Question has been solved and asker verified All Experts Exchange premium technology solutions are available to subscription members.
Experts Exchange has been collecting answers to technology questions since 1996…3 million and counting! If you have a question, chances are we already have your answer.
If you can't find the exact answer you're looking for, ask our exclusive community of 50,000 experts. You’ll get a personalized answer from a trusted professional.
Thousands of free tech tips, tricks, how-to’s and tutorials are available in our peer reviewed articles section. See for yourself how smart our experts are, no login required.
Save solutions to your questions, answers you’ve discovered through searching plus helpful articles in your personal knowledgebase for easy future access.
Access the answers to your technology questions today.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Members of the expert community talk about why the experience at Experts Exchange is different than what you will find anywhere else.
Try it out and discover for yourself.
30-day free trial. Register in 60 seconds.
Join the community of experts here and help other tech pros by answering question in your area of expertise. You can earn FREE access to all Experts Exchange's premium features and resources.
Yes well the replies won't be as quick now...
This is going to very laborious so you really need to see if you can't find another way.
Can't your mainframe machine read csv or excel format or some other common currency?
To create an output relecting the layout you will have to to one or both of these:
1) convert every object on the report to a formula field which pads the value with the correct nuber of spaces.
Ensure that the objects have no white space between them on the report layout.
2)Convert all objects too fixed length fields using formula fields in place of database fields.
Add text controls containing spaces to fill in all the white space between objects.
I'm not convinced either of these will work properly but there I am not aware of anything built-in to CR to give you the sort of output you are asking for.
The closest I have seen is the 'Record' output in CRXI which will give you a properly spaced detail line but doesn't include any report or page headings.
Pete
I had a government client for whom this was a requirement - all reports (900+) needed to be exported to ASCII Text format, because their archive solution only accepted text files. Through a lot of trial and error, these are the steps we took to accomplish the task:
1) Set the font for all fields to a fixed-width font like Courier. If you don't have this font available, then install a printer (it can be virtual, for the sake of paginating the document) that supports the font. Also, you should install the printer to which the report will ultimately be printed.
2) Paginated Text exporting only supports text. It also doesn't support formatting. Remove all bolds, underlines, italics, graphics, etc...
3) Set the Characters Per Inch to 12. When you export the report, you should be given this option (it's a pop-up form). If you aren't, then you need to check your registry for the following keys:
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software
4) Remove all margins - they are irrelevent when exporting to paginated text. Make all margins 0.00.
5) Since the font is fixed width, you can resize the fields to exactly the number of characters required per field. No more guessing. Btw, within Crystal you need to limit the number of characters on a landscape page to 132.
6) Suppress all extraneous sections. Fit all other sections to remove spacing issues, which is most likely causing your problem with creeping.
7) Avoid using text-wrapping. Some text wrapping may work, but its inconsistent. Multi-line text boxes, column headers, etc.. should be broken into multiple text boxes.
8) Check the Snap to Grid option (File|Options|Layout). This will help immensely
9) # Avoid using Center and Right justification. Instead use Left Justification and position the field accordingly.
Hope this helps,
Kurt
Business Accounts
Answer for Membership
by: peter57rPosted on 2005-08-16 at 07:27:03ID: 14682928
Hi samitt,
What is the aim here?
Text files contain NO formatting information so what you are asking is not possible.
Pete