Millet Software has just released a new version of their DataLink Viewer using the runtime engine for Crystal Reports 2011. As far as I know this is the first third-party viewer to incorporate the newest runtime engine. With this version of DLV you can export to 2 new file formats supported by CR 2011:

XLSX – which allows you to export more than the 65,000 rows available in a classic XLS file.

RPTR- which allows you to deploy a report that users can run, without giving them the ability to open or edit the RPT in Crystal reports.

You can request a free trial of DataLink Viewer by sending an Email message to: dlv@kenhamady.com

PC World has a pretty good article describing the soon-to-be-released Crystal Server 2011 and BO Edge 4.0.  It is always nice to see someone write an article that includes product pricing.

SAP is positioning these products for small to medium sized businesses.  The idea is that when they grow the can seamlessly upgrade to the full BO Enterprise product line.  According to the article, that is why Crystal Reports Server no longer has the word “Reports” in the name.  It is seen as an entry level BI platform and more than just “reporting”.

Techtarget.com also has an article with a slightly different emphasis.

I have written several posts regarding Zebra printers and the problems they have had with labels that rotate when they shouldn’t.  I read that this was fixed in CR 2008 with a recent service pack, but it isn’t clear if this was fixed for CR XI.   I just learned that Seagull Scientific provides free printer drivers for many zebra printers (and others).  These do not seem to have the problems with rotation that have been described, so that is another potential solution for some of you.

I recently wrote about the disappearance from SAP’s website of most of the prior versions of CR, leaving only CR 2008 and CR 2011.  I am happy to report that version XI is now again available for sale.

What I didn’t notice at the time was that the XI maintenance releases were also taken down for both XIr1 and XIr2.  These have now been replaced by a single maintenance release called XIr2A.   You can read about this on the SAP Blog.  The impression that you get is that they are simply trying to consolidate the updates.  However, the update probably reflects whatever changes were required to deal with the ‘open source issues’ that forced SAP to discontinue the older versions.  If anyone gets more details on what the ‘open source issue’ is please let me know.

And thanks to David Hopaluk at Here2Help Solutions for pointing out the restored maintenance releases.

If you were considering purchasing cViewMANAGER then you might want to do it soon.  They have dropped the price from $599 to $399 for a limited time.  If you are not familiar with cViewMANAGER you can read about it in my comparison page for scheduling and Emailing  engines.

Ido Millet of Millet Software has added another powerful feature to an already feature rich product called Visual Cut.  Users now have the ability to automatically generate an Excel Pivot Table based on an exported (Data Only) excel worksheet.  If you use pivot tables then you might want to see this feature in action.  Ido has produced a video that shows how it works.

If you want to compare the features of Visual Cut to similar products you can read my comparison.

Or, you can try Visual Cut for free by sending an Email request.  Millet Software will respond with a download link and instructions.  Please let them know that you have read about Visual Cut in my Blog.

We have waited 3 years for a new version of Crystal Reports, so you might be a bit disappointed at the list of new features.   They are the ability to:

1) Export to XLSX format which gets you past the 65K limit on rows.
2) Export to RPTR format, a format that can’t be opened in the Crystal Designer, but can only be run in one of the report viewers. This lets your users run your reports without giving them access to any proprietary information contained in the RPT file.

For an explanation of which viewers can run RPTR files you can read this article.
For an explanation of why there are so few features you can read this SAP blog post.

Also note that this is officially version 14, not version 13. Version 13 is the developer engine in Visual Studio 2010.

I have already written about the handful of minor changes in CR 2011.  So when I tried it last week there were no surprises in the actual product.  I was surprised a bit by the license, but probably should not have been surprised.  Crystal product managers and I have a tradition that we follow with every new product release:

1) Whoever happens to own Crystal that week puts in excessive restrictions.
2) I point out that the restrictions are excessive.
3) They have a serious internal discussion.
4) Things (usually) change for the better.

This time the issue was the restrictions in section (7).  If you strip it down a long legal paragraph you get Continue Reading »
Crystal Reports 2011 license changes

I have just updated my comparison of server-based scheduling tools for 2011.  These tools are similar to the desktop-based scheduling tools I wrote about in March, but these are designed to be run on server.  This allows multiple people to schedule reports for automated delivery by Email, FTP or network folder.

There are 2 new products on the list this year, bringing the count up to 8.  Their is a brief overview of each product and a feature matrix that compares roughly 70 features.  There is also a feature glossary that defines all the terms.  So if you need a short course in automating Crystal Report delivery, you have come to the right place.

For those of you who always want to be on the bleeding edge, Crystal Reports 2011 is finally out there. I am not in any hurry to upgrade because there are only a few new features but will be reviewing it in my newsletter later this month.

If any of you try it and want to share your thoughts you can comment here, or on this Tek-Tips thread, or just send me an Email.  The Tek-Tips thread also has a link that explains why SAP has 2 versions of CR 2011, and what happens with them going forward.

And thanks to Gordon Portanier of Crystalize in Canada for the heads up on the release.