Datasheet
Tight Visual Studio .NET Integration
From within Visual Studio, accessing a new report is as easy as selecting Project → Add New Item and
then selecting Crystal Report. There is no need to open a separate application to design reports, and all
of the reporting features are available to you, allowing you to programmatically control the look and feel
of a report, how it is processed and viewed, and so on.
Windows and Web Report Viewers
For a feature-rich report viewing experience, Crystal Reports .NET includes a report viewer for Windows
Forms, which has been built using the Windows Forms Classes and provides all of the functionality users
have come to expect from Crystal Reports, including drill-down, search, exporting, and so on. In addition
to a robust report viewer for Windows Forms, Crystal Reports .NET also includes a thin-client report
viewing control for ASP .NET, providing most of the functionality found in the Windows viewer in a
zero-client (meaning no client is downloaded or installed) DHTML environment, with no additional
plug-in or viewer to download.
Easy Deployment
Crystal Reports .NET includes a number of merge modules to make creating setup projects easier.
Instead of manually determining the required
.dlls and other Crystal-related components, you can
simply add one of the merge modules listed here to a setup project:
❑
Crystal_Managed2003.MSM
For installing the Crystal Reports .NET managed components, including:
❑
CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.dll
❑ CrystalDecisions.Web.dll
❑ CrystalDecisions.Windows.Forms.dll
❑ Crystal_Database_Access2003.MSM
For installing all of the database drivers and all non-managed components (Charting, Export
Formats)
❑
Crystal_Database_Access2003_enu.MSM
For installing select language-specific components
❑
REGWIZ.MSM
For tracking registration details and license keys
One of the most common errors when deploying a Crystal Reports .NET application is forgetting to change
the
LicenseKey property in your setup project. This must be set or an error involving keycodev2.dll
may occur.
In addition to the merge modules listed earlier, you may need to include the
VC_CRT and VC_STL modules
if you are reporting from ADO recordsets, as the Crystal Reports database driver
crdb_adoplus.dll
relies on the files within these modules.
15
Crystal Reports .NET Overview
01 557300 Ch01.qxd 3/24/04 9:37 AM Page 15