michaelheffernan
asked on
Compatibility issues with CR Runtime across versions?
In contemplating upgrading CR for our IT dept's light report generation, I am wondering what the issues might be with distributed reports between Ver. 7/8 reports, and v10. Currently, to run CR 7/8 compiled reports, a CR Runtime engine must be installed on the target workstations. Is this case with CR 10 and 2008?
Also, if CR 10 or 2008 uses a local runtime engine to execute distributed reports, will the newer version runtime execute older, non-updated reports as well?
Thanks...
Also, if CR 10 or 2008 uses a local runtime engine to execute distributed reports, will the newer version runtime execute older, non-updated reports as well?
Thanks...
Kurt Reinhardt
Well, for version 10, there's no such thing as a compiled report. That functionality went away with version 9. Business Objects, as a company, really wants people to serve up reports in a managed environment, preferably through one of their Enterprise products (Crystal Reports Server, BusinessObjects Edge or BusinessObjects Enterprise).
ASKER
Yeah, so would I but there's the issue of these 100s of reports we have and continue to get from our programming unit. So I guess we're stuck with v9.
Were there at least some improvements to v9 over v8?
Were there at least some improvements to v9 over v8?
ASKER
Addendum: I cannot see doing the enterprise solution for two guys in a small IT department. Question: reports done with stand-alone v10 or v11, are they in some way distributable?
Okay, no executable, but a .rpt file. What do we do with an .rpt file unless some runtime engine is installed to run it?
Thanks...
Okay, no executable, but a .rpt file. What do we do with an .rpt file unless some runtime engine is installed to run it?
Thanks...
My mistake - the compiled report feature went away even earlier than 9. Also, I don't know if you can even download the Report Distribution Expert for CR 8.5 anymore, so it might be a moot point. There are third party viewers that let you run reports. Check out http://kenhamady.com/bookmarks.html.
How many users do you anticpate running these reports, both total and the maximum concurrency?
How many users do you anticpate running these reports, both total and the maximum concurrency?
ASKER
Hm. Good question: up to 100 individual users, prob never more than 50 concurrent....
ASKER
Of course, what is a "viewer"? Many of these reports feature user-defineable fields (date span, fleet ID, etc.). Do these third party viewers facilitate this?
At minimum, a viewer is a small application that lets one open and view a Crystal Report (with saved data), without needing to actually have Crystal Reports installed. It is to a Crystal Report as the Adobe Acrobat is to a .pdf document.
There are several viewers, however, that not only let you view a static report (one that has already been run), but actually run reports within them. Any one of these might replace the functionality of a compiled report, however, the user will need to have access and permissions to the database in order to run the reports. Ido Millet's DataLink Viewer (http://www.milletsoftware.com/DataLink_Viewer.htm) is very functional, for example.
There are several viewers, however, that not only let you view a static report (one that has already been run), but actually run reports within them. Any one of these might replace the functionality of a compiled report, however, the user will need to have access and permissions to the database in order to run the reports. Ido Millet's DataLink Viewer (http://www.milletsoftware.com/DataLink_Viewer.htm) is very functional, for example.
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ASKER
Thank you; invaluable insights.
ASKER
I believe you are "Ken"? May I ask, where *should* I go to get questions like these about CR answered... I tend not to contact BO as I am not looking to spend 1000s on something we don't need (we are just supplementing the reams of reports from the prog. group). I hate to keep pestering you with these trivial questions....