Crystal reports 8.5

Troy,
Just the information I was looking for. From the looks of things,
it would probably be our best bet to install IIS on our file server instead
of our Vantage / Exchange server. The fact that creating web pages to
distribute is a plus, not that I mind writing web pages, but that's one less
layer between the user and their report.
The only reports that would take 4 or 5 minutes would be for the
Operations or Accounting Managers, who will have the ODBC client on their
machine.
This is sounding more and more like the way to go.

Thanks again,

Thaddeus


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 8:48 PM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


#1: The most time for me (not knowing a thing about NT or IIs or Web
Component when I started) was the initial setup. Follow the directions
closely that you got with Crystal 8.0. There is a little booklet separate
from the main book for Crystal that is dedicated to the Web Component. ODBC
is a bit different on NT for setting up the environment variables. Once ODBC
is working, then install IIs. This was the most confusing for me, never
having done it. You set aside a special directory (using IIs) that is
shared across the network for reports.
Lastly, there is the looping logon problem when you first try view a web
report from Progress. It is a problem unique with Progress that is hard to
track down, but there are some old eGroups messages you can look up that
give the solution. 1. Solution is to run the Crystal Page server as a
Process rather than a service. 2. There is a specific setting you can
change (refer to the eGroups messages) whereby you can run the Page Server
as a Service like it was designed to do. Once you're past that stage,
you're home free (in my experience). The Web Component Server is very
maintenance free after that. You can even use it for other tasks (like
Vantage, etc) and it doesn't seem to effect Crystal at all. Reports that
take longer than 4 or 5 minutes to load the initial records in Crystal
probably won't work via Web Component server, as the browser that views the
reports will "time out".

#2: I don't even use web design (html) to distribute reports. I browse the
directory where the reports are on the NT station that has been set to
share. I can either click on the .rpt file while browsing, or copy the link
and email it to a user. They can click the link from the email message.
This is report distribution at it's most rudimentary stage. Adding a new
report is a matter of sending the link to the user. Takes literally
seconds.

#3: There is a Vantage user who has Web Component running on the Vantage
server, but I can't speak for him. I tried it, but had trouble with ODBC
conflicting with Vantage. I could get ODBC working, but then if the server
needed to be restarted, something in the environment variables caused
Vantage ProControl to not be able to start up. After making our network
administrator very nervous, I decided to ditch the idea of using the Vantage
Server. If you can get ODBC working on the Vantage Server, you can get Web
Component working too. I don't think it would slow things down much if you
have a decent dual processor server. That would be your cheapest bet, since
your server probably has NT Server on it which comes with IIs (it did in our
case, anyway).

I'm sure when you get to specific bumps in the road, there will be users on
eGroups to help you get through the trouble spots.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Thad Jacobs
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 12:20 PM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Troy, Anton, (any other web reporters out there)

first of all, thanks for shedding more light on this web reporting thing.
It's starting to look like something worth looking into more. Since I've
heard of it, I've been of the opinion that setting up a web server just so
less than ten users can read reports sounds a little like overkill.

Some more questions:

1) How much time and cost would you say is involved in setting up an
intranet for use with crystal?

2) How much maintenance is involved on the web server that requires
logging
onto the server itself once the crystal web components and IIS are
installed? How much administration is involved in adding reports?

3) Has anyone successfully used the same Vantage server for the web
server?
Would you reccomend / discourage this?

Thank you very much for your comments, and thanks in advance for any
answers
to any of these questions.

Best Regards,

Thaddeus Jacobs
Assistant LAN Technologist / Vantage Support
Kinematic Automation, Inc
mailto:tjacobs@...


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:54 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the
web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run
it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit
of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of
related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up
Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or
been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine
has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as
a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask
why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web
server
-
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the
interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they
need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will
do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there
are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and
invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of
automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded.
If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the
Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with
a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.



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To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already
linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.
I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.






Yahoo! Groups Sponsor

<http://rd.yahoo.com/M=168002.1477935.3051340.2/D=egroupmail/S=1700007183:N/
A=624147/*http://mojofarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/990-1736-1039-2?bn=MaximusDVD4
68> Click for Details
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00007183:N/A=624147/rand=978213838>

To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.> Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices. I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation, you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.






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68> Click for Details
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Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
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already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already
linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
I was able to do a compiled report using 8.5 two weeks ago (Vantage 5.00.322 and Merant 3.5). It was only one report, but it worked.

Two problems I've had with CR 8.5. Modified CR Vantage reports (ie. Userform\POForm.rpt) gets 'funny' results when run from the machine that has CR 8.5 on it. It works fine on all other machines (points to a dll problem which I tried to fix, but only made things worse).

Second problem is with Crystal Enterprise. It's not really a PROBLEM persay, because it's a new feature that doesn't work. ... But with CE I can't 'schedule' reports for web use. I get an SQL error. CE does work fine for regular web report distribution however, and has a few enhancements over 8.0's Web Component Server (such as being able to use date ranges, and giving you a calendar to select dates). I guess I would call the 5-user license limit in CE 8.5 a third problem, but we rarely run into a conflict. As soon as a report is finished running it releases the license, even if the report is on the screen.

Just my 8 1/2 cents.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 1:58 PM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.






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<http://rd.yahoo.com/M=168002.1477935.3051340.2/D=egroupmail/S=1700007183:N/
A=624147/*http://mojofarm.mediaplex.com/ad/ck/990-1736-1039-2?bn=MaximusDVD4
68> Click for Details
Click for Details

<http://us.adserver.yahoo.com/l?M=168002.1477935.3051340.2/D=egroupmail/S=17
00007183:N/A=624147/rand=978213838>

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Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.> Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


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To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server -
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites - effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices. I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation, you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.
Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server -
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites - effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices. I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation, you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.



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l/S=1700007183:N/A=590948/rand=167131417>

To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.> Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie. passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server -
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites - effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices. I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation, you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.



Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



www.


<http://us.adserver.yahoo.com/l?M=201903.1443829.3021311.1268964/D=egroupmai
l/S=1700007183:N/A=590948/rand=167131417>

To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.> Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]
Troy, Anton, (any other web reporters out there)

first of all, thanks for shedding more light on this web reporting thing.
It's starting to look like something worth looking into more. Since I've
heard of it, I've been of the opinion that setting up a web server just so
less than ten users can read reports sounds a little like overkill.

Some more questions:

1) How much time and cost would you say is involved in setting up an
intranet for use with crystal?

2) How much maintenance is involved on the web server that requires logging
onto the server itself once the crystal web components and IIS are
installed? How much administration is involved in adding reports?

3) Has anyone successfully used the same Vantage server for the web server?
Would you reccomend / discourage this?

Thank you very much for your comments, and thanks in advance for any answers
to any of these questions.

Best Regards,

Thaddeus Jacobs
Assistant LAN Technologist / Vantage Support
Kinematic Automation, Inc
mailto:tjacobs@...


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:54 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server
-
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.



Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



www.



<http://us.adserver.yahoo.com/l?M=201903.1443829.3021311.1268964/D=egroupmai
l/S=1700007183:N/A=590948/rand=167131417>

To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
<http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.> Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of
<http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/> Service.




[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


Yahoo! Groups Sponsor



To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already
linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.



[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]


To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already
linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Todd,

have you got an NT Workstation there?

You can use that for your web server, that's all I use here, works well
until I can get it on a proper server. Also if your company becomes reliant
on the web server for reports, it's then easier, in the future, to justify
having it on a server...


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd


------------------------------------------------
Message: 5
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 08:34:32 -0500
From: Todd Caughey <caugheyt@...>
Subject: RE: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server -
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites - effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices. I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation, you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved. 8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed via

web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $ and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.
Troy,

Have you got Dreamweaver or Frontpage?

Work out what you can put on your intranet, then design a simple menu and
index page (can just be text), throw a little colour in... that's all our
intranet is.

Not everybody uses it as yet, as it's mostly just reports, which they can
get to from desktop shortcuts. But it does give a choice, and starts us on
the road to building a more meaningful intranet.


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd




---------------------------------------------------------------------------
Message: 7
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:54:26 -0400
From: "Troy Funte" <tfunte@...>
Subject: Re: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web
server -
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.
Thad,

Good questions. Here goes.

1) Cost in setting up an intranet.
-----------------------------------
It depends how complex you want your intranet to be. If it's just for
reporting purposes, a day or two in Frontpage or Dreamweaver would do the
trick for the novice. For someone who has built websites before, a couple of
hours will do.

2) Web server maintenance (relates to Crystal 8.0)
--------------------------------------------------
zero. Sleeps like a baby.
adding reports - 2 minutes - boot up dreamweaver/frontpage, add a link to a
page, save it, job done.

3) Vantage server as Web Server
-------------------------------
I wanted to, but my IIS on SBS server is behaving oddly. So I use an NT
Workstation with an old version of IIS (v2 I think).

If you've only got 10 users, I wouldn't think that would add a great load to
your Vantage server, but this will depend on:-

(a) complexity of your reports
(b) how often they are accessed

For us, both of these are quite low, so if I could get mine to work on my
SBS/Vantage server I'd do it until I could justify the purchase of a new
server to handle some functions.



Hope that helps.

Anton




--------------------------------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:20:20 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

Troy, Anton, (any other web reporters out there)

first of all, thanks for shedding more light on this web reporting thing.
It's starting to look like something worth looking into more. Since I've
heard of it, I've been of the opinion that setting up a web server just so
less than ten users can read reports sounds a little like overkill.

Some more questions:

1) How much time and cost would you say is involved in setting up an
intranet for use with crystal?

2) How much maintenance is involved on the web server that requires logging
onto the server itself once the crystal web components and IIS are
installed? How much administration is involved in adding reports?

3) Has anyone successfully used the same Vantage server for the web server?
Would you reccomend / discourage this?

Thank you very much for your comments, and thanks in advance for any answers
to any of these questions.

Best Regards,

Thaddeus Jacobs
Assistant LAN Technologist / Vantage Support
Kinematic Automation, Inc
mailto:tjacobs@...


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:54 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server
-
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.
Anton,

Thanks, this is just what I wanted to know. It sounds like the way to go if
we are to do any serious crystal report distribution. We will already have
an NT workstation setup with an ODBC connection for doing automated exports
for our Solidworks / Vantage integration project, once we upgrade to V5 in
September.

Question: Has anyone used the web browser interface successfully for
printing labels and envelopes and non A size prints?

-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Friday, June 22, 2001 3:17 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thad,

Good questions. Here goes.

1) Cost in setting up an intranet.
-----------------------------------
It depends how complex you want your intranet to be. If it's just for
reporting purposes, a day or two in Frontpage or Dreamweaver would do the
trick for the novice. For someone who has built websites before, a couple of
hours will do.

2) Web server maintenance (relates to Crystal 8.0)
--------------------------------------------------
zero. Sleeps like a baby.
adding reports - 2 minutes - boot up dreamweaver/frontpage, add a link to a
page, save it, job done.

3) Vantage server as Web Server
-------------------------------
I wanted to, but my IIS on SBS server is behaving oddly. So I use an NT
Workstation with an old version of IIS (v2 I think).

If you've only got 10 users, I wouldn't think that would add a great load to
your Vantage server, but this will depend on:-

(a) complexity of your reports
(b) how often they are accessed

For us, both of these are quite low, so if I could get mine to work on my
SBS/Vantage server I'd do it until I could justify the purchase of a new
server to handle some functions.



Hope that helps.

Anton




--------------------------------------------------------
Message: 11
Date: Thu, 21 Jun 2001 09:20:20 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

Troy, Anton, (any other web reporters out there)

first of all, thanks for shedding more light on this web reporting thing.
It's starting to look like something worth looking into more. Since I've
heard of it, I've been of the opinion that setting up a web server just so
less than ten users can read reports sounds a little like overkill.

Some more questions:

1) How much time and cost would you say is involved in setting up an
intranet for use with crystal?

2) How much maintenance is involved on the web server that requires logging
onto the server itself once the crystal web components and IIS are
installed? How much administration is involved in adding reports?

3) Has anyone successfully used the same Vantage server for the web server?
Would you reccomend / discourage this?

Thank you very much for your comments, and thanks in advance for any answers
to any of these questions.

Best Regards,

Thaddeus Jacobs
Assistant LAN Technologist / Vantage Support
Kinematic Automation, Inc
mailto:tjacobs@...


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:54 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server
-
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.


To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please go to:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/. Note: You must have already
linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access.

Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
As our company utilizes both Vantage and Solidworks, too, I would be
interested in learning more about what you are doing with your
Solidworks/Vantage integration project. Can you share any details? You
can e-mail me directly if you wish.
Nora

-----Original Message-----
From: Thad Jacobs [SMTP:tjacobs@...]


"for our Solidworks / Vantage integration project, once we upgrade to V5
in
September."
Question: Has anyone used the web browser interface successfully for
printing labels and envelopes and non A size prints?
#1: The most time for me (not knowing a thing about NT or IIs or Web Component when I started) was the initial setup. Follow the directions closely that you got with Crystal 8.0. There is a little booklet separate from the main book for Crystal that is dedicated to the Web Component. ODBC is a bit different on NT for setting up the environment variables. Once ODBC is working, then install IIs. This was the most confusing for me, never having done it. You set aside a special directory (using IIs) that is shared across the network for reports.
Lastly, there is the looping logon problem when you first try view a web report from Progress. It is a problem unique with Progress that is hard to track down, but there are some old eGroups messages you can look up that give the solution. 1. Solution is to run the Crystal Page server as a Process rather than a service. 2. There is a specific setting you can change (refer to the eGroups messages) whereby you can run the Page Server as a Service like it was designed to do. Once you're past that stage, you're home free (in my experience). The Web Component Server is very maintenance free after that. You can even use it for other tasks (like Vantage, etc) and it doesn't seem to effect Crystal at all. Reports that take longer than 4 or 5 minutes to load the initial records in Crystal probably won't work via Web Component server, as the browser that views the reports will "time out".

#2: I don't even use web design (html) to distribute reports. I browse the directory where the reports are on the NT station that has been set to share. I can either click on the .rpt file while browsing, or copy the link and email it to a user. They can click the link from the email message. This is report distribution at it's most rudimentary stage. Adding a new report is a matter of sending the link to the user. Takes literally seconds.

#3: There is a Vantage user who has Web Component running on the Vantage server, but I can't speak for him. I tried it, but had trouble with ODBC conflicting with Vantage. I could get ODBC working, but then if the server needed to be restarted, something in the environment variables caused Vantage ProControl to not be able to start up. After making our network administrator very nervous, I decided to ditch the idea of using the Vantage Server. If you can get ODBC working on the Vantage Server, you can get Web Component working too. I don't think it would slow things down much if you have a decent dual processor server. That would be your cheapest bet, since your server probably has NT Server on it which comes with IIs (it did in our case, anyway).

I'm sure when you get to specific bumps in the road, there will be users on eGroups to help you get through the trouble spots.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Thad Jacobs
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 12:20 PM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Troy, Anton, (any other web reporters out there)

first of all, thanks for shedding more light on this web reporting thing.
It's starting to look like something worth looking into more. Since I've
heard of it, I've been of the opinion that setting up a web server just so
less than ten users can read reports sounds a little like overkill.

Some more questions:

1) How much time and cost would you say is involved in setting up an
intranet for use with crystal?

2) How much maintenance is involved on the web server that requires logging
onto the server itself once the crystal web components and IIS are
installed? How much administration is involved in adding reports?

3) Has anyone successfully used the same Vantage server for the web server?
Would you reccomend / discourage this?

Thank you very much for your comments, and thanks in advance for any answers
to any of these questions.

Best Regards,

Thaddeus Jacobs
Assistant LAN Technologist / Vantage Support
Kinematic Automation, Inc
mailto:tjacobs@...


-----Original Message-----
From: Troy Funte [mailto:tfunte@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 8:54 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: Re: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


We found an older version of WinNT 4.0 (Service Pack 3 or something) and
updated the patch to 6a from the web. We installed it on a P450, increased
the RAM (which does help), and put on an older IIs Web server. With the web
server, I can simply email the report link to someone, they can click the
link and run the report. If they add it to their favorites, they can run it
from there the next time. Or (I'm thinking of doing this, but it's a bit of
work), you can design simple html web pages with links to groups of related
reports and send them the link to that.

Advantages of Web reporting over Compiled Reports:
1. Web has the "Tree View" structure and "Find" features to look up Groups
and data while viewing the report.
2. Includes full exporting features.
3. Reduces the need for ODBC on multiple workstations.
4. With CE 8.5 there is the potential for security on reports (ie.
passwords).

Disadvantages of Web reporting:
1. Can't handle larger reports that 'timeout' the browser.
2. Slower than running a report in Designer, but probably same speed as
compiled reports.

Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics

----- Original Message -----
From: Todd Caughey
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 9:34 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Thanks for the info. Without running a web server I had not tried or been
aware of printing functionality for forms. I think our NT-SBS machine has
IIS but it is so overloaded now running Exchange I don't dare use it as a
web server. Maybe if I can ever upgrade to a new machine I can use the
current one for a web server.

I had a seperate tech support issue with a Crystal (PO form) and Ben at
Vantage Tech. Support said definitely not to go to 8.5. I did not ask why
since I did not intend to use 8.5 anyway.

-Todd C.


-----Original Message-----
From: it@... [mailto:it@...]
Sent: Thursday, June 21, 2001 4:06 AM
To: Vantage Mailing List
Subject: [Vantage] RE: Crystal reports 8.5


Hang on.

1 - You can still print your report if you're using the crystal web server
-
it's not a screen print, there's a print button built into the interface.

2 - You can create shortcuts on users' desktops to the URL of the report
on
the web server

3 - These shortcuts can be added to users' Vantage Favourites -
effectively
a shortcut to a shortcut


To me this stops 3 things happening:-

1 - ODBC on every machine (expense, lack of security)
2 - Running data exports
3 - Whining users struggling to find the reports they need when they need
them

and adds

1 - control of Vantage data
2 - easy access to reports
3 - effectively adds three distribution options
(a) your intranet site
(b) desktop shortcuts
(c) vantage favourites menu


You can set this up if you have:

1 - A Windows NT box with Option Pack (for old version of IIS that will do
the trick as your web server)


My comments cover 8.0 and 8.5. I don't use 8.5 yet as I'm aware there are
some issues, although I'm not aware exactly what they are! Can anyone
summarize?


Anton Wilson,
Systems Analyst,
Deanestor Ltd



----------------------------------------------
Message: 8
Date: Wed, 20 Jun 2001 11:33:57 -0700
From: Thad Jacobs <tjacobs@...>
Subject: RE: Crystal reports 8.5

In talking with Epicor, they strongly reccommended sticking with 8.0. I
didn't bother to ask them why.

8.0 has a web interface, though 8.5 has some added features in that
department.

The web report thing looks great if you have alot of different people
reading reports, and don't want them to have an ODBC connection, but is
very
cumbersome for production documents such as labels, orders, and invoices.
I
want a standalone EXE I can run from the command line or Vantage Basic
button, without having to interface with a web browser.

Of course, to eliminate the ODBC connection on the end user workstation,
you
can only report off of exports, for which you need some sort of automated
export procedure.

Unfortunately, it looks like Crystal is catoring more to the needs of a
large business Enterprise than to the average machine shop.

my 20 thou,

~Thaddeus



-----Original Message-----
From: Todd Caughey [mailto:caugheyt@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 12:59 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


I too uninstalled 8.5 but for a reason not likely to ever be resolved.
8.5
will not run the 8.0 report distribution add-in (downloaded from Crystal
Decisions web site). Even if it is re-installed after 8.5 is loaded. If
you depend on report distribution, which C-D urges you to abandon, then
you
are stuck at 8.0. We have several "reports" that can not be distributed
via
web. They are customizations of forms such as Job Traveler and Purchase
Orders and must be printed. In one case they are job labels from the Job
Traveler data and the line-up in the laser printer requires more
consistant
printer control than a web screen print can provide.

I am also assuming web reports would require setting up an Intranet with a
server and some serving software (IIS ?) all of which would mean more $
and
in the current business climate that ain't gonna happen.

Tip - If you uninstall 8.5 you must also delete the whole Seagate folder
tree because the uninstall leaves most of the 8.5 files there including
some
.dll's that prevent report distribution from working until 8.0 has been
ininstalled from scratch.

-Todd Caughey
Harvey Vogel Mfg. Co.

-----Original Message-----
From: Dan Shallbetter [mailto:dans@...]
Sent: Wednesday, June 20, 2001 10:16 AM
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal reports 8.5


Have the problems with 8.5 been resolved yet? I uninstalled it a few
months
ago due to inconsistent report results.

Thanks
Dan Shallbetter
States Electric Mfg.



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