Here's how I rank the various options for Crystal Distribution. I am assuming these are 'from scratch' crystal reports, not the ones that Vantage uses (as mentioned in other emails, these use .dbf tables that are exported from Vantage, and thus do not need ODBC drivers, in general).
BEST OPTION:
Use the Web Component Server of Crystal
ADVANTAGES:
1.. No need for ODBC except on your Web Server. This saves $100 a crack for the ODBC licenses you would need on each workstation running the report.
2.. More powerful reporting options, such as Group Tree view, On-demand subreports, etc. Basically you can manipulate the view of the report almost as powerfully as when you are in Crystal Designer.
3.. Very low CPU & software requirements on workstations to view the reports. All you need is Internet Explorer or Netscape.
4.. Once CWS is installed on the server, adding new reports is as simple as adding a line to the HTML file that the user will be looking at.
DISADVANTAGES:
1.. More complicated to set up on server initially (than compiling reports), but worth the work.
2.. May need a dedicated server, thus some extra hardware and possible server software, but still cheaper than a bunch of ODBC licenses. (Vantage doesn't recommend puting WCS on the Vantage Server, but it has been done - to varying degrees of success. This would save some hardware cost.)
3.. Slightly slower than running report right from Crystal Designer.
4.. You have to know a bit of HTML code to set up the web pages to view the reports. Not hard to pick up, however.
SECOND OPTION:
Use Crystal's Report Distribution/Compiler
ADVANTAGES:
1.. More simple than doing the Web Component Server.
2.. Once a number of workstations have been through the installation process for one compiled report, adding addtional compiled reports to that workstation is as simple as adding a shortcut to the compiled crystal report.
DISADVANTAGES:
1.. Extra cost of having ODBC on each workstation that runs a compiled report (about $100 each if you're legal about it).
2.. CPU of workstation is a factor in speed of report processing. Slower than Crystal Designer.
3.. Fewer report viewing features than Crystal Designer or Web Component Server.
4.. Major design changes in the original report may require a recompile. (Smaller changes, such as adding a field or moving a few things around shouldn't need a recompile.)
5.. Each new workstation that needs a compiled report means installing ODBC on that workstation. Means more work.
6.. Installing Compiled reports on various workstations with different operating systems can sometimes cause errors. Seagate can walk you through these. Crystal 8 seems a bit more bug-free in this area than Crystal 7, in my opinion.
SUMMARY:
If you can do it, and use the powerful and flexible Web Componenet Server. Otherwise, the Compiled report feature is dandy.
Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics
BEST OPTION:
Use the Web Component Server of Crystal
ADVANTAGES:
1.. No need for ODBC except on your Web Server. This saves $100 a crack for the ODBC licenses you would need on each workstation running the report.
2.. More powerful reporting options, such as Group Tree view, On-demand subreports, etc. Basically you can manipulate the view of the report almost as powerfully as when you are in Crystal Designer.
3.. Very low CPU & software requirements on workstations to view the reports. All you need is Internet Explorer or Netscape.
4.. Once CWS is installed on the server, adding new reports is as simple as adding a line to the HTML file that the user will be looking at.
DISADVANTAGES:
1.. More complicated to set up on server initially (than compiling reports), but worth the work.
2.. May need a dedicated server, thus some extra hardware and possible server software, but still cheaper than a bunch of ODBC licenses. (Vantage doesn't recommend puting WCS on the Vantage Server, but it has been done - to varying degrees of success. This would save some hardware cost.)
3.. Slightly slower than running report right from Crystal Designer.
4.. You have to know a bit of HTML code to set up the web pages to view the reports. Not hard to pick up, however.
SECOND OPTION:
Use Crystal's Report Distribution/Compiler
ADVANTAGES:
1.. More simple than doing the Web Component Server.
2.. Once a number of workstations have been through the installation process for one compiled report, adding addtional compiled reports to that workstation is as simple as adding a shortcut to the compiled crystal report.
DISADVANTAGES:
1.. Extra cost of having ODBC on each workstation that runs a compiled report (about $100 each if you're legal about it).
2.. CPU of workstation is a factor in speed of report processing. Slower than Crystal Designer.
3.. Fewer report viewing features than Crystal Designer or Web Component Server.
4.. Major design changes in the original report may require a recompile. (Smaller changes, such as adding a field or moving a few things around shouldn't need a recompile.)
5.. Each new workstation that needs a compiled report means installing ODBC on that workstation. Means more work.
6.. Installing Compiled reports on various workstations with different operating systems can sometimes cause errors. Seagate can walk you through these. Crystal 8 seems a bit more bug-free in this area than Crystal 7, in my opinion.
SUMMARY:
If you can do it, and use the powerful and flexible Web Componenet Server. Otherwise, the Compiled report feature is dandy.
Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics
----- Original Message -----
From: Jill Seath
To: 'vantage@egroups.com'
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2000 9:03 AM
Subject: [Vantage] crystal Report Distribution
Could someone let me know the outcome of the debate on the best way to
give users access to specific reports in Crystal?
Do Crystal and ODBC need to be installed on each work station?
Where should I set up shortcuts to each report? etc
Thanks
Sophie
eGroups Sponsor
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