I’m in the process of not only learning VS 2005 and .Net but also SF. One thing I’ve found myself doing by reading these posts is making a list of other tools for my transition to this platform, one is a report writer. Coming from MS Access report writing was and is an easy and powerful tool.

My question is do I really need a 3rd party tool to get the same power or can I accomplish this by using VS 2005’s crystal report?

I’ve also noticed that I may also need a better data grid, deployment tool, help developer, etc. and It seems to be adding up…so much for a quick and painless transition.

so much for a quick and painless transition.

Aye, it does stack up rather quickly. 

As for your Crystal Reports question, yes, you can probably accomplish everything you need to with Crystal Reports, but I think the reason that we avoided using them was because when Trent looked into it, they have a runtime licensing component... so you have to pay to distribute it to your users.  I'm not positive on that, but I'm pretty sure.

On a lighter note, with .NET several tools developers package several components into one package, for example, DXperience (DevExpress suite) contains reporting, controls, and a grid all in one package.  So, if you do your research and buy right, you can save yourself a little bit of money.

Hi Ben, Thanks for you reply.

Crystal report gives you a free runtime license for distribution on “Thick Clients” when the engine is installed along with the app. This changes in a server/web scenario. So I’ll go this route to initially cut cost since my app will initially run as a “thick client” but eventually I’m looking at making it a SaaS smart app so I'll probably look into purchasing Report-Shooter that you guys recommended.

Here is the licensing information for Crystal Report if others need it:

And yes I’m looking at purchasing DevExpress in part because you can buy it peace meal cutting my upfront expenses plus they include their XtraEditors Library with some control so that just makes it more tempting.

Thanks again, JC

-Larry

I'm currently using Sharp-Shooter. I bet the guys will post a sample, but this might get you going.

I assume you have donwloaded and installed the trial (http://www.perpetuumsoft.com/)

To use a SF Business Object as a datasource:

Public Class MyBOReportBBS
    Inherits MicroFour.StrataFrame.Business.BusinessBindingSource
#Region " Constructors "
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Default Constructor
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub New()
        Me.BusinessObject = New MyBO()
    End Sub
#End Region
#Region " Public Methods "
    ''' <summary>
    ''' Populate the data source
    ''' </summary>
    ''' <remarks></remarks>
    Public Sub Fill()
        If Not Me.DesignMode Then
            CType(Me.BusinessObject, MyBO).FillTop100()
        End If
    End Sub
#End Region
    
End Class

Now, that will be your datasource. Of course, it is just a sample, you can grow from there. I'm usually inheriting the BO first, and then wrapping it with the BBS, so if I need to do anything specific to the report, I will do it in the inherited BO.

After that, on a form, drop a Report Sharp-Shooter ReportManager. Also drop your MyBOReportBBS.

Double click your ReportManager and on the Reports Tab, Add a new InlineReport. On the Data sources Tab, add a new data a new data source, name it as you wish.

Back on your Reports Tab, click the InlineReport you created and click Run Designer. Go to File / New and create a new Standard Report.

In the Standard Wizard, click on the Plus sign and add a DataSection. On the right, you will find a Data Source textbox, click the ... button an choose yours. Add the fields and play with it.

Hope I could make some sense with this...

(*)by AltaVista - Babel Fish Translation

Rogério

http://blog.licitec.com.br

Rogério Mauri

-Larry