Recommendations for reporting solution -- shared hosting friendly
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Hey, guys. I'm running web projects in both VS 2005 and 2008. For my reporting needs, the built in Crystal Reports gets the job done nicely - until it's time to deploy. All of my projects run in a shared hosting environment, which means that I don't have access to the server to run an install program (or any other .exe), and they wouldn't let me if I did. That's the nature of shared hosting. If you've tried to deploy Crystal in this type environment, you'll understand why I'm looking for a different product. Fortunately, I'm not yet heavily invested in reports written in Crystal, so I'm looking for an alternative solution that's a) wysiwyg report development ala Crystal and b) simple to deploy in a shared hosting environment, i.e. just copy files to the bin folder and be done with it. Anyone have suggestions of products that meet these needs? I don't mind spending a hundred bucks or two, but much more than that would be beyond my budget.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Hey, guys. I'm running web projects in both VS 2005 and 2008. For my reporting needs, the built in Crystal Reports gets the job done nicely - until it's time to deploy. All of my projects run in a shared hosting environment, which means that I don't have access to the server to run an install program (or any other .exe), and they wouldn't let me if I did. That's the nature of shared hosting. If you've tried to deploy Crystal in this type environment, you'll understand why I'm looking for a different product. Fortunately, I'm not yet heavily invested in reports written in Crystal, so I'm looking for an alternative solution that's a) wysiwyg report development ala Crystal and b) simple to deploy in a shared hosting environment, i.e. just copy files to the bin folder and be done with it. Anyone have suggestions of products that meet these needs? I don't mind spending a hundred bucks or two, but much more than that would be beyond my budget.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
Have you looked at DevExpress' XtraReports? Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
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Have you looked at DevExpress' XtraReports? Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
Well, given the price of other solutions, $350 without source / $500 with isn't out of line, though more than I was hoping to spend. Actually, since I'd been under the assumption that I could use the tools that ship with my compiler (i.e. Crystal), I'm irritated about having to spend any money at all, but that's a different conversation. Have you deployed XtraReports to shared hosting servers where you didn't have the ability to run an install program? In other words, do they support a simple file copy installation via ftp?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Well, given the price of other solutions, $350 without source / $500 with isn't out of line, though more than I was hoping to spend. Actually, since I'd been under the assumption that I could use the tools that ship with my compiler (i.e. Crystal), I'm irritated about having to spend any money at all, but that's a different conversation. Have you deployed XtraReports to shared hosting servers where you didn't have the ability to run an install program? In other words, do they support a simple file copy installation via ftp?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
Christopher Duncan wrote:
Have you deployed XtraReports to shared hosting servers where you didn't have the ability to run an install program?
No, I haven't done that, I've only installed the WinClient designer which worked fine without having to run an installer, just copied the dll's. Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
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Have you looked at DevExpress' XtraReports? Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
I'm using their ASPxGridView, and find it very suitable for web reporting. I tried telerik, but I found it too agnostic of whether it's rendering to WinForms or WebForms. The ASPxGridView is pure web indulgence, and while some things are tricky, their support is very good, and the price is lower than XtraReports; so much so I'm going to buy my own license, and not request it from the consultant hiring me to do the reports.
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Hey, guys. I'm running web projects in both VS 2005 and 2008. For my reporting needs, the built in Crystal Reports gets the job done nicely - until it's time to deploy. All of my projects run in a shared hosting environment, which means that I don't have access to the server to run an install program (or any other .exe), and they wouldn't let me if I did. That's the nature of shared hosting. If you've tried to deploy Crystal in this type environment, you'll understand why I'm looking for a different product. Fortunately, I'm not yet heavily invested in reports written in Crystal, so I'm looking for an alternative solution that's a) wysiwyg report development ala Crystal and b) simple to deploy in a shared hosting environment, i.e. just copy files to the bin folder and be done with it. Anyone have suggestions of products that meet these needs? I don't mind spending a hundred bucks or two, but much more than that would be beyond my budget.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
fyireporting.com :cool:
"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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I'm using their ASPxGridView, and find it very suitable for web reporting. I tried telerik, but I found it too agnostic of whether it's rendering to WinForms or WebForms. The ASPxGridView is pure web indulgence, and while some things are tricky, their support is very good, and the price is lower than XtraReports; so much so I'm going to buy my own license, and not request it from the consultant hiring me to do the reports.
Have you tried installing it in a shared hosting environment where all you're able to do is copy files?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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fyireporting.com :cool:
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Hmmm, looks interesting, and of course Free is always good. :) I see that there's an msi file to install it locally. To deploy to a shared hosting environment, is it as simple as copying RdlViewer.dll and RdlEngine.dll to the bin directory and uploading to the web site, or is there more to it than that?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Christopher Duncan wrote:
Have you deployed XtraReports to shared hosting servers where you didn't have the ability to run an install program?
No, I haven't done that, I've only installed the WinClient designer which worked fine without having to run an installer, just copied the dll's. Marc
Available for consulting and full time employment. Contact me. Interacx
The shared hosting deployment is pretty much the heart of the matter and could be a show stopper if not supported. Maybe I should try giving them a call on Monday.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Hmmm, looks interesting, and of course Free is always good. :) I see that there's an msi file to install it locally. To deploy to a shared hosting environment, is it as simple as copying RdlViewer.dll and RdlEngine.dll to the bin directory and uploading to the web site, or is there more to it than that?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
afaik its a simple copy and the reports are RDL files :)
"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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afaik its a simple copy and the reports are RDL files :)
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Grooviness. Thanks!
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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fyireporting.com :cool:
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
Doesn't appear to support stored procedures (Sql Server)?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
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Hey, guys. I'm running web projects in both VS 2005 and 2008. For my reporting needs, the built in Crystal Reports gets the job done nicely - until it's time to deploy. All of my projects run in a shared hosting environment, which means that I don't have access to the server to run an install program (or any other .exe), and they wouldn't let me if I did. That's the nature of shared hosting. If you've tried to deploy Crystal in this type environment, you'll understand why I'm looking for a different product. Fortunately, I'm not yet heavily invested in reports written in Crystal, so I'm looking for an alternative solution that's a) wysiwyg report development ala Crystal and b) simple to deploy in a shared hosting environment, i.e. just copy files to the bin folder and be done with it. Anyone have suggestions of products that meet these needs? I don't mind spending a hundred bucks or two, but much more than that would be beyond my budget.
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
I am using MS ReportViewer 9.0 for that. It's just a matter of copying something like 3 or DLLs (around 5 MB) and it works (I think -- I am not 100% sure about web but I have done it personally with WinForms; I'll have to ask my coworkers about web).
Luis Alonso Ramos Intelectix Chihuahua, Mexico My Blog!
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Doesn't appear to support stored procedures (Sql Server)?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
ummmmm RDL report files have a "query" inside them that can easily exec a stored proc ... what else would you need?
"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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Have you tried installing it in a shared hosting environment where all you're able to do is copy files?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
Yes, but there's the rub. Many of its designers etc. require it installed in the GAC, so you need to include the following in your deployment procedure: 1. Change all the strong names in 'Register' page directives. Quite easy. just lop off everything but the assembly name, and search and replace on all aspx pages. 2. Copy the required assemblies from the DevEx installation directory to your bin folder. 3. Remove all 'Compile' entries in web.config for the above assemblies. 4. Deploy. It's really about ten minute's work, regardless of your project size.
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I am using MS ReportViewer 9.0 for that. It's just a matter of copying something like 3 or DLLs (around 5 MB) and it works (I think -- I am not 100% sure about web but I have done it personally with WinForms; I'll have to ask my coworkers about web).
Luis Alonso Ramos Intelectix Chihuahua, Mexico My Blog!
when i looked at the ms report viewer thingy it appeared that the reports have to be compiled into the app which made it less than useful for me ... or is that not the case?
"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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fyireporting.com :cool:
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
We are stuck with fyi on our core application, and am sorry we have invested so deeply in it. Its just not on the same level as the other products mentioned in this thread.
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Hmmm, looks interesting, and of course Free is always good. :) I see that there's an msi file to install it locally. To deploy to a shared hosting environment, is it as simple as copying RdlViewer.dll and RdlEngine.dll to the bin directory and uploading to the web site, or is there more to it than that?
Christopher Duncan Author of The Career Programmer and Unite the Tribes www.PracticalUSA.com
That's it.
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when i looked at the ms report viewer thingy it appeared that the reports have to be compiled into the app which made it less than useful for me ... or is that not the case?
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
You can either include them as embedded resources or specify an external
.rdlcfile.Luis Alonso Ramos Intelectix Chihuahua, Mexico My Blog!
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fyireporting.com :cool:
"mostly watching the human race is like watching dogs watch tv ... they see the pictures move but the meaning escapes them"
I was looking at fyiReporting and it looks promising. One thing I don't like too much about ReportViewer is that for web it requires installing an ActiveX control, and that might be overkill for simple reports. This one can generate HTML output (I saw the demos for simple reports, but I'd need to try it with more complicated ones.)
Luis Alonso Ramos Intelectix Chihuahua, Mexico My Blog!