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reporting for winforms apps...

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csharpwinformsbusinessquestion
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  • L Offline
    L Offline
    l a u r e n
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

    "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

    M L C D P 7 Replies Last reply
    0
    • L l a u r e n

      well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

      "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

      M Offline
      M Offline
      Member 96
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      DevExpress XtraReports is well worth the cost. I've used it for years and tried out many others and they weren't as good. I've bitched about Crystal Reports so many times here I perilously close to using up my allotment of serious righteously justified bitching. There is a *lot* of free .net reporting stuff out there but it all quickly breaks down if you go beyond ultra basics.


      "It's so simple to be wise. Just think of something stupid to say and then don't say it." -Sam Levenson

      1 Reply Last reply
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      • L l a u r e n

        well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

        "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

        L Offline
        L Offline
        Lost User
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        I use DevExpress' stuff as well - it's quite good. Not sure if it counts as cheap, but it's definitely good bang for the buck. Cheers, Drew.

        1 Reply Last reply
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        • L l a u r e n

          well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

          "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

          C Offline
          C Offline
          Christopher Duncan
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          Hey, Lauren. I'm not sure what all you need, but if you do an Add New Item and select Reporting on the left, you'll see Crystal Report as an option. I'm not sure if there are things in the full version that aren't here, but will this get it done for you?

          Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

          L 1 Reply Last reply
          0
          • L l a u r e n

            well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

            "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

            D Offline
            D Offline
            David Thielen
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            Yes Windward Reports[^] rocks. You design the reports in Microsoft Office so it's very easy to use. disclaimer - I work for Windward.

            L 1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • D David Thielen

              Yes Windward Reports[^] rocks. You design the reports in Microsoft Office so it's very easy to use. disclaimer - I work for Windward.

              L Offline
              L Offline
              l a u r e n
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              ummmmm $6995.00 ??? :wtf: it may well rock but i'll never know ;)

              "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

              D 1 Reply Last reply
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              • L l a u r e n

                ummmmm $6995.00 ??? :wtf: it may well rock but i'll never know ;)

                "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                D Offline
                D Offline
                David Thielen
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Yep, that is always the question - time saved vs cost. Our customers report that we're about 20 times faster for designing reports (their numbers, not ours). So if a group is designing reports day in and day out, that 7K can save several hundred thousand. On the flip side if you need to spend 2 days to create 1 or 2 reports and that's it, free can be a better price than 7K and only spending 1 hour.

                L 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • D David Thielen

                  Yep, that is always the question - time saved vs cost. Our customers report that we're about 20 times faster for designing reports (their numbers, not ours). So if a group is designing reports day in and day out, that 7K can save several hundred thousand. On the flip side if you need to spend 2 days to create 1 or 2 reports and that's it, free can be a better price than 7K and only spending 1 hour.

                  L Offline
                  L Offline
                  l a u r e n
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  yah the price for your product is more than i'm making for this small job so it doesn't really fit :|

                  "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                  1 Reply Last reply
                  0
                  • C Christopher Duncan

                    Hey, Lauren. I'm not sure what all you need, but if you do an Add New Item and select Reporting on the left, you'll see Crystal Report as an option. I'm not sure if there are things in the full version that aren't here, but will this get it done for you?

                    Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

                    L Offline
                    L Offline
                    l a u r e n
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    i looked at that but it seems you have to embed the reports into the executable which kinda sucks ... i found a thing called "fyiReporting" which is free and based on RDL and seems to work reasonably well :)

                    "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                    C 1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • L l a u r e n

                      i looked at that but it seems you have to embed the reports into the executable which kinda sucks ... i found a thing called "fyiReporting" which is free and based on RDL and seems to work reasonably well :)

                      "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                      C Offline
                      C Offline
                      Christopher Duncan
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Ack. My bad. I'm working on web stuff at the moment, probably an entirely different planet from what they offer on the forms side of the street.

                      Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • L l a u r e n

                        well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

                        "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                        P Offline
                        P Offline
                        PIEBALDconsult
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        I used Active Reports several years ago, but now I just write XML files and use XSLT to produce the final product.

                        1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • L l a u r e n

                          well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

                          "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                          D Offline
                          D Offline
                          Duncan Edwards Jones
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          Maybe the Microsoft.ReportViewer [^]?

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

                          L 1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • L l a u r e n

                            well i have vs2008 pro and discover that is doesn't come with the crystal reports bits WHICH you may tell me is a blessing and from my previous experience with them i would agree BUT the client apparently uses them ... i do however have a crystal reports viewer control that i can drop onto a form (or presumably create dynamically on a form etc etc) and view the existing reports they have yes? is there a decent reporting package out there for free or for cheap? it doesn't have to do anything fancy at all ... basic business reporting ... it just needs a designer for creating new reports and a runtime control i can use to show / print / export them thanks in advance

                            "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                            W Offline
                            W Offline
                            wmerifield
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            the free ms sql 2008 express has reporting services included as advanced services [^] and you can also use the new charting controls[^] along with a related blog[^]. Good stuff sure to impress a client if used correctly! the express edition has limitations[^], like the way it processes multiple indexes on a table, but should be fine for most implementations short of a full enterprise scale solution.

                            No one knows the things of a man except the spirit of that man; likewise no one knows the things of God except the Spirit of God whom we have received. He who is joined to the Lord, is ONE Spirit with him(Jesus) - 1Cor 2:10-16 & 6:17

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • D Duncan Edwards Jones

                              Maybe the Microsoft.ReportViewer [^]?

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

                              L Offline
                              L Offline
                              l a u r e n
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              thats the one that makes you embed the reports in the executable as part of the project ... i want to be able to create new reports and send them off without rebuilding and redistributing the app to all users ;)

                              "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                              D 1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • L l a u r e n

                                thats the one that makes you embed the reports in the executable as part of the project ... i want to be able to create new reports and send them off without rebuilding and redistributing the app to all users ;)

                                "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                Duncan Edwards Jones
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                Well, you could write your own reporting tool[^] if you are feeling brave mad.

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

                                L 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • D Duncan Edwards Jones

                                  Well, you could write your own reporting tool[^] if you are feeling brave mad.

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

                                  L Offline
                                  L Offline
                                  l a u r e n
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  fortunately (for me) someone has already done me the favor with "fyiReporting" :)

                                  "mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"

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