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  3. Bye, byte Crystal Reports

Bye, byte Crystal Reports

Scheduled Pinned Locked Moved The Lounge
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  • M Marc Clifton

    norm .net wrote:

    I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer.

    If it compared favorable to DevExpress's report writer, I'd buy it! I'd like to divorce myself fro DevExpress as well--so bloated, quirky, and actually rather difficult for an average person to generate reports with, even using the wizard. But so far, it's the best tool I've seen. There's a report writer article here on Code Project, but it just didn't cut it, sad to say. Marc

    Thyme In The Country

    People are just notoriously impossible. --DavidCrow
    There's NO excuse for not commenting your code. -- John Simmons / outlaw programmer
    People who say that they will refactor their code later to make it "good" don't understand refactoring, nor the art and craft of programming. -- Josh Smith

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    Duncan Edwards Jones
    wrote on last edited by
    #10

    I got frustrated using Crystal etc and started to write a replacement here[^] but got distracted when it came to the visual layout side of things. Perhaps i could send you the latest code and you could take it from there?

    '--8<------------------------ Ex Datis: Duncan Jones Merrion Computing Ltd

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    • D Duncan Edwards Jones

      I got frustrated using Crystal etc and started to write a replacement here[^] but got distracted when it came to the visual layout side of things. Perhaps i could send you the latest code and you could take it from there?

      '--8<------------------------ Ex Datis: Duncan Jones Merrion Computing Ltd

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      NormDroid
      wrote on last edited by
      #11

      Looks ok (considering it's VB ;P), but it would be better developing one from scratching consider it would have to know about the report semantics. I'd probably go for a Visual Studio form designer type app. Anyway for now I'm using it to generate our companies reports, because it's not long winded to knock a report out (5-30 minutes) I'd probaby only bother I market it or users want to write their own reports.

      We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

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      • N NormDroid

        I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

        We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

        R Offline
        R Offline
        Red Stateler
        wrote on last edited by
        #12

        Has anybody tried the new Microsoft reporting stuff in VS2005? Is it any good?


        "I make up quotes." -Vincent Reynolds

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        • R Red Stateler

          Has anybody tried the new Microsoft reporting stuff in VS2005? Is it any good?


          "I make up quotes." -Vincent Reynolds

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          NormDroid
          wrote on last edited by
          #13

          It doesn't give you the granularity to create truly bespoke reports, it's always the same with these tools, the people who create/develop them don't actual use them.

          We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

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          • N NormDroid

            I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

            We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

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            Dustin Metzgar
            wrote on last edited by
            #14

            It must be just a programmer thing to naturally type "byte" instead of "bye".


            Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

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            • D Dustin Metzgar

              It must be just a programmer thing to naturally type "byte" instead of "bye".


              Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

              N Offline
              N Offline
              NormDroid
              wrote on last edited by
              #15

              Freudian slip... :~

              We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

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              • N NormDroid

                I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

                We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                N Offline
                N Offline
                Not Active
                wrote on last edited by
                #16

                I was just having a conversation yesterday with a co-worker. In all the organizations we have been in, no one has been able to get Crystal running without problems.


                only two letters away from being an asset

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                • R Red Stateler

                  Has anybody tried the new Microsoft reporting stuff in VS2005? Is it any good?


                  "I make up quotes." -Vincent Reynolds

                  N Offline
                  N Offline
                  Not Active
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #17

                  I have used it and consider it a good tool. Though I don't use it for very complex reports. It is certainly better than Crystal.


                  only two letters away from being an asset

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                  • N NormDroid

                    I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

                    We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                    M Offline
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                    Michael A Barnhart
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #18

                    norm .net wrote:

                    I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer.

                    Looks like you have some interest. When do you plan to have it available?

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                    • N Not Active

                      I was just having a conversation yesterday with a co-worker. In all the organizations we have been in, no one has been able to get Crystal running without problems.


                      only two letters away from being an asset

                      N Offline
                      N Offline
                      netclectic
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #19

                      I remember working for a company where we had been using crystal 7 in our app and it had been working flawlessy for ages until one client decided they wanted to upgrade their version of crystal. Basically the crystal support guy told us that the characteristic which had allowed our app to run flawlessly all this time was actually a bug in crystal which has now been fixed. Sorry, you app doesn't work any more but we won't be can't help you.

                      undefined

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                      • N Not Active

                        I was just having a conversation yesterday with a co-worker. In all the organizations we have been in, no one has been able to get Crystal running without problems.


                        only two letters away from being an asset

                        N Offline
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                        NormDroid
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #20

                        Mark Nischalke wrote:

                        n all the organizations we have been in, no one has been able to get Crystal running without problems

                        Same old story, CR is too black box, trying to make it for dummies.

                        We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                        1 Reply Last reply
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                        • N netclectic

                          I remember working for a company where we had been using crystal 7 in our app and it had been working flawlessy for ages until one client decided they wanted to upgrade their version of crystal. Basically the crystal support guy told us that the characteristic which had allowed our app to run flawlessly all this time was actually a bug in crystal which has now been fixed. Sorry, you app doesn't work any more but we won't be can't help you.

                          undefined

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                          NormDroid
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #21

                          Oh yeah, that's why I wrote my own report engine, after upgrade from .net 1.1 to .net 2.0 things just stopped working, all the programs dependent on CR had to run under 1.1 until I reengineered them.

                          We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

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                          0
                          • M Michael A Barnhart

                            norm .net wrote:

                            I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer.

                            Looks like you have some interest. When do you plan to have it available?

                            N Offline
                            N Offline
                            NormDroid
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #22

                            Dunno I like to run some sample code needed to produce reports past a few people first and gauge a reaction.

                            We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • N NormDroid

                              I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

                              We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                              D Offline
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                              Dustin Metzgar
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #23

                              So, I have a question for you then.  What other reporting engines have you tried?  I've worked with a couple.  Actuate, Accelio, and PostX most recently (although PostX doesn't count).  It seems to me that all reporting engines start with a "cool" idea and then add feature upon feature until there's this big, tangled mess that still doesn't quite do what you want it to.  Even working with simple stuff like XSL:FO has proved limiting.  Has anyone worked with reporting software that they enjoyed working with? And not to rain on your parade, but the single most desirable thing to a business about reporting software is stability.  You may be able to do everything in XSL:FO and make it look good, but if it's not on a solid server with scheduling and failover and has a company behind it that's accountable, business would be wise to not buy into it.


                              Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

                              M L 2 Replies Last reply
                              0
                              • N NormDroid

                                I've managed to engineer out all dependancies to Crystal Reports (I hate it X| ). They've had nearly 10 years to produce a Micrsoft Style Reporting Product and still can't get it right. Well I've written my own engine, which produces output for Laser, PDF, Text, Excel., Html and RAW output to Dot Matrix Line Printers. It's written entirely in .net with a few P/Invokes and a call to GhostWriter. The reports themselves can be written in any .net lingo. I should market it, it's designed for developer by a developer. So bye, bye Crystal can't say it's been great knowing you. :rose:

                                We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                                M Offline
                                M Offline
                                Member 96
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #24

                                Boo Yah! I too had a long and seething hatred for Crystal Reports that you can ony truly appreciate if you have spent years working with the product. Now that we're in the .net world there are oodles of great reporting products that at every point resolve some long outstanding dissapointment I had with Crystal. We use DevExpress, I've tried them all and highly recommend it.

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                                • M Member 96

                                  Boo Yah! I too had a long and seething hatred for Crystal Reports that you can ony truly appreciate if you have spent years working with the product. Now that we're in the .net world there are oodles of great reporting products that at every point resolve some long outstanding dissapointment I had with Crystal. We use DevExpress, I've tried them all and highly recommend it.

                                  N Offline
                                  N Offline
                                  NormDroid
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #25

                                  John Cardinal wrote:

                                  We use DevExpress, I've tried them all and highly recommend it

                                  Just out interest I'll take a look.

                                  We made the buttons on the screen look so good you'll want to lick them. Steve Jobs

                                  1 Reply Last reply
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                                  • D Dustin Metzgar

                                    So, I have a question for you then.  What other reporting engines have you tried?  I've worked with a couple.  Actuate, Accelio, and PostX most recently (although PostX doesn't count).  It seems to me that all reporting engines start with a "cool" idea and then add feature upon feature until there's this big, tangled mess that still doesn't quite do what you want it to.  Even working with simple stuff like XSL:FO has proved limiting.  Has anyone worked with reporting software that they enjoyed working with? And not to rain on your parade, but the single most desirable thing to a business about reporting software is stability.  You may be able to do everything in XSL:FO and make it look good, but if it's not on a solid server with scheduling and failover and has a company behind it that's accountable, business would be wise to not buy into it.


                                    Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

                                    M Offline
                                    M Offline
                                    Member 96
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #26

                                    In the .net world there are dozens of CR replacements, all without exception much better from my perspective although none are truly aimed at the end user. We use DevExpress.

                                    1 Reply Last reply
                                    0
                                    • D Dustin Metzgar

                                      So, I have a question for you then.  What other reporting engines have you tried?  I've worked with a couple.  Actuate, Accelio, and PostX most recently (although PostX doesn't count).  It seems to me that all reporting engines start with a "cool" idea and then add feature upon feature until there's this big, tangled mess that still doesn't quite do what you want it to.  Even working with simple stuff like XSL:FO has proved limiting.  Has anyone worked with reporting software that they enjoyed working with? And not to rain on your parade, but the single most desirable thing to a business about reporting software is stability.  You may be able to do everything in XSL:FO and make it look good, but if it's not on a solid server with scheduling and failover and has a company behind it that's accountable, business would be wise to not buy into it.


                                      Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

                                      L Offline
                                      L Offline
                                      led mike
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #27

                                      Dustin Metzgar wrote:

                                      Even working with simple stuff like XSL:FO has proved limiting.

                                      limiting how?

                                      "Alot of the people on this forum are incredibly stupid, thinking that the internet is real"
                                      Score: 1.0 in the Soap Box

                                      led mike

                                      D 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • L led mike

                                        Dustin Metzgar wrote:

                                        Even working with simple stuff like XSL:FO has proved limiting.

                                        limiting how?

                                        "Alot of the people on this forum are incredibly stupid, thinking that the internet is real"
                                        Score: 1.0 in the Soap Box

                                        led mike

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        Dustin Metzgar
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #28

                                        Well, one thing we have to do is print out letters that are stuffed into envelopes by rather large and expensive machines.  On each page is a different folding mark to indicate to the machine where that page belongs.  Once you create the FO, you're pretty much static.  You can use markers to determine how many pages there are total, but there's nothing in FO that can conditionally draw a line depending on the page number (or anything, for that matter).  So, you're essentially stuck.


                                        Logifusion[^] If not entertaining, write your Congressman.

                                        1 Reply Last reply
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