Topic: Migrating from VB6 and Crystal RDC to .Net Posted: 28 Sep 2007 at 9:29am
We have a VB6 application which uses the Crystal RDC (v 8.5) and, using a table driven approach, allows users to select data for inclusion in their reports with a huge amount of flexibility. The code generates a SQL where clause which we use to modify the SQLQueryString in the crystal report and produce the report output. We would like to migrate to Crystal XI and .Net but have come up against a brick wall because we can't access the SQLQueryString in .Net with any crystal product. I have read that this can be done using the RAS SDK but we don't need the facilities of a report application server and so it would be a very costly route.
Using an ADO dataset for the reports which can be modified at runtime would mean rewriting all the reports (hundreds of them). Passing parameters isn't an option because the selection of data is too wide and varied and neither is changing the record selection formula at runtime because we are often selecting data based on sub-selects from tables which are not included in the report.
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Posted: 28 Sep 2007 at 10:35am
I don't know if this will work for you, but with the new licensing in XI R2 Developer edition, they now give you access to the full object model like you have with RAS. But you DON'T have to be using RAS. It's just the same licensing and Report Creation API. Download the 30 trial version of XI R2 Developer and let us know if this takes care of your problem! Oh yeah - since you already own .NET, it's only a $99 upgrade.
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Posted: 28 Sep 2007 at 11:01am
Please do. I'm going to be writing about this in my next book and I have A LOT of research to do on it over the next few months. So any words of wisdom you can pass on will be appreciated.
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Sorry to report I haven't got very far with this. There is a document on the Business Objects web site "Migrating Applications from the RDC to the .NET assemblies" which states on page 62 that SQLQueryString is supported in the ReportClientDocument object model provided with RAS. I have looked in all the classes which were installed with the Developer version but can't find it anywhere. Does anyone else know where it might be in the object model?
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Posted: 30 Sep 2007 at 2:36pm
Well, that's certainly disappointing. Do you have R2? I was under the impression that R2 supports the RAS object model. I'm surprised that they have ANOTHER object model that you have to learn.
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Yes, I downloaded R2. BusinessObjects say that SQLQueryString is supported in the RAS object model and pointed me to the online documentation. The only reference I can find to SQLQueryString is in the Report Designer Component documentation. It's not mentioned in the RAS documentation at all. We want to move on from the RDC and use the .Net components but it looks as though that will involve us in a major redesign of our reports interface. It's both disappointing and frustrating.
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Posted: 04 Oct 2007 at 11:41pm
That's bad news. I get irritated with how they keep telling you to upgrade from RDC to .NET and then leave out functionality. Where's the logic?
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