Choosing a Report-Deployment Technique

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mastering crystal reports 9
Chapter 16 - Deploying Your Report
Mastering Crystal Reports 9
by Cate McCoy and Gord Maric
Sybex 2003

Crystal Reports offers many report-deployment techniques. Each has its pros and cons. To help you to identify the best deployment technique for the report, we’ve listed some questions you should ask yourself and explained them below. Remember to ask yourself these questions for each report and each end user because they may all have different requirements.

Will the user be happy with a fax or printed report? In the world of sophisticated Internet technology and desktop tools, we may forget that sometimes the simplest solution is best. Does the user merely want a monthly sales report? If so, then printing the report or faxing the report may meet your user requirements.

Does your end user have Crystal Reports? If the end user has a copy of Crystal Reports installed, then deploying the report may be as simple as sending the user a copy of the RPT file or providing access to the RPT file on a shared network server. You will need to verify that the end user’s computer has the same connectivity configured as the computer where the report was developed. See the section “Deploying the Crystal Report” below.

Can the report be static, that is, a snapshot of the database? If the information the end user requested is not time-sensitive, such as a monthly sales report, your deployment choices are these:

  • Printing or faxing the report

  • Exporting to a different format such as Word (DOC), Excel (XLS), or Adobe’s Portable Digital Format (PDF)

  • Sending the RPT file with data to the end user

  • Exporting the report to HTML format

Should the report contain real-time information? If the information the end user requested is time-sensitive, such as current sales data or stock market information, you will need to deploy the report in a way that lets the user run the report. In this case the report will require a live connection to the database. The report can be deployed on the user’s computer, and the user can refresh the report as needed.

You can also deploy the report on a web server, and the user can request the current report. Crystal Reports 9 includes the Report Application Server, which is an entry-level version of Crystal Enterprise. The Report Application Server allows you to deploy the report to a web server and users can run the report to view real-time information. In addition, the Report Application Server provides a Software Development Kit that can be used to provide users with the ability to create, modify, and view reports. The Report Application Server is discussed in Chapter 24, “Report Application Server.”

You can also develop a custom windows or web application to allow users to view reports. These options are discussed in Part 4, “Application Development with Crystal Reports,” and Part 5, “Enterprise Reporting.”

How often will the report need to be updated? How often will the RPT file need to be changed? If the users will frequently ask for changes in the report, such as adding fields or changing the report structure (of course this never happens!), you must keep in mind how many places you will need to update the RPT file to deploy it. If the report is going to be changed often, it might be better to deploy the report to a central server or a web server.

How big is the report? The answer to this question will impact the processing time of the report, the load on your database when the report runs, or even how much paper it needs to print. If the report is too large, you may want to think about splitting the report into several smaller reports and a summary report.

Do I want the user to retrieve the report? If you have a large user base, you may be able to ease your deployment task by placing the report in a shared network location where the users can pick up the report themselves. Using a web server also makes this task easier; when the user requests the web page, the report is displayed.

Is the report developed with objects from the Crystal Repository? The Crystal Repository is a new feature in Crystal Reports version 9. The repository is a database that can contain report objects such as images, text objects, report functions, and SQL commands. These are copied into the report when they are included in the repository. However, when you make a change to the repository, you want the reports that are using those objects to reflect those changes. The objects in the reports can be updated only if the report has access to the repository. If the report does not have access to the repository, then the changes will not be reflected in the report. The report will still run, but this defeats the purpose of the repository.

Do you need to schedule or archive reports? Scheduling a report allows you to run the report during off-peak hours, such as when the database is not busy. If the users don’t require up-to-the-minute information and they can view the last-run report, this will save a lot of traffic on the database server—especially if the report is large. Unfortunately, in version 9 of Crystal Reports, Crystal Decisions did not include any tools for scheduling and archiving reports. You will need to purchase another Crystal Decisions product called Crystal Enterprise for scheduling and archiving reports. In Part 5 of the book we discuss what Crystal Enterprise is so you can decide if you need this tool for report deployment. Or you can develop your own application; in Part 4 we cover Visual Basic, ASP, and .NET development.

By answering the preceding questions, you can get a good idea of your deployment requirements. You can break the requirements into two major categories:

  • Users who need real-time data

  • Users who are happy with a static report

But these are only broad requirements. There are many other factors that need to be considered before you can decide on the proper method of deployment. Using Crystal Reports, you have many options for delivering these reports to the users. Further, you also have at your disposal other Crystal Decisions products, such as Crystal Enterprise and ePortfolio, which are designed for report deployment. Table 16.1 is a summary of the types of deployment, based upon end-user requirements.

Table 16.1: Summary of Deployment Methods

Type of Deployment

User Requirements

Comment

Real-Time Data

  

Crystal Report File (RPT) on each user’s computer

Each user must have Crystal Reports installed.

Developer can use e-mail to distribute RPT file to many users. Each user must have access to database. Crystal Report savvy users can change the report. May need to train users how to work with Crystal Reports.

Crystal Reports running on a web server, using ASP (Active Server Pages) or .NET technology

User must have a web browser.

Covered in Part IV.

Crystal Reports deployed via Report Application Server, or Crystal Enterprise

User must have a web browser.

Covered in Part V. Use Crystal Enterprise when performance or administration using ASP or .NET is an issue, or you have a large user base.

Static Deployment

  

Crystal Report with saved data

Each user must have Crystal Reports installed.

User can refresh the report to get real-time data.

Compiled reports with saved data

User needs compiled report to be installed.

Currently not available for version 9, see “Compiled Reports” later in this chapter.

Print or fax report

Simple Paper Deployment

User can print report manually if user has Crystal Reports.

Export to an application format such as DOC, XLS, PDF, etc.

User without Crystal Reports can use a different application to view the report.

Developer can export report manually if user does not have Crystal Reports. Depending on export format some report formatting will be lost.

Export to HTML

User must have web browser.

Loss of report formatting

Crystal Enterprise archived reports

User must have web browser.

Must purchase a copy of Crystal Enterprise.

We’ve addressed many of these types of deployment in this chapter, but we’ve saved others to discuss with more advanced topics later in this book. For example, custom desktop application, or web server deployment, requires Visual Basic, ASP, or the .NET platform, all of which are covered later in Part 4. Then, in Part 5, we’ll cover the Report Application Server, and ePortfolio lite, which is a packaged web-based application that uses Crystal Enterprise services to provide report deployment. Now let’s start deploying a Crystal Report.

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Mastering Crystal Reports 9
Mastering Crystal Reports 9
ISBN: 0782141730
EAN: 2147483647
Year: 2005
Pages: 217

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