For those of you who do VB development, there are several choices for creating an installation file. The main commercial tools are InstallShield and Wise, but there is also a free tool (donations accepted) called Inno Setup, by Jordan Russell.

For those of you that create VB applications incorporating Crystal Reports, you should check out Inno Setup. One of the main advantages (besides being free) is that you can use a great little script generator for Inno Setup called InnoScript by Randem Systems.  InnoScript isn’t free but is a great deal for $25.

InnoScript is designed for VB developers and generates complete Inno Setup scripts directly from the VB project file. Best if all, InnoScript now provides full and automatic support for Crystal Reports versions 8.5 thru 11(XI). Randem Systems even maintains an archive of the Crystal redistributable files. You can download the correct Merge Modules in an installable MSI format. To quote Will Fastie, a freelance IT management consultant:

“This is a brilliant piece of work that is available nowhere else, at least as far as I know. I’m using this system now. Flawless.”

And thanks to Will for pointing out these tools.

Speaking of viewers, Business Objects has just released Crystal Reports Viewer 2008. This is very similar to CR Viewer XI with 2 significant additions:

1) You can now use the interactive parameters and sort controls of CR 2008.
2) You can refresh reports - but only if the reports are already hosted in BO Enterprise or CR Server.

I haven’t tried it.  Nor have I explored the mechanics of how Continue Reading »
Crystal Reports Viewer 2008

There is a new viewer available from Origin Software and the developer is looking for people to try it and provide feedback. The product is called the Crystal iViewer. All new users get a 45 day free trial of the full version of the software. If you decide not to purchase it after 45 days it, downgrades automatically to the ‘free’ version. This means you lose refresh capability and a few other features. Along with the ability to run reports without Crystal Reports installed you can also: Continue Reading »
New free viewer looking for user feedback

Crystal Reports 2008 (v12) has a handful of new features that affect parameters. There is now an Interactive parameters panel that allows the user to change parameter choices interactively, without requiring the user to refresh the data. There are also sort controls that allow the sorting and grouping order to be changed by the user in preview mode.

I have just updated the Expert’s Guide to Subreports, Parameters and Alerts with a short addendum that explains how to use these new features. If you recelty purchased the guide and you are using CR 2008 (v12) drop me a note and I will send you a copy of the addendum at no charge.

As I mentioned last month, the promotional price of Crystal Reports Server XI was a clear indication that CR Server 2008 was about to be released. The official release of Crystal Reports Server 2008 came on 7/16 and there is a 30 day free trial now available on the Business Objects web site.

The main improvement Continue Reading »
Crystal Reports Server 2008 (& prices)

I just found a handy link that lists all of the “Free Trial” software available from the Business Objects web site. You can download trials for both CRXI (v11) and CR 2008 (v12), although you do have to register to get the download and key. These are fully functional versions that can be used for 30 days. They can then be converted to full licenses by using a key from purchased software.

Business Objects is running a promotion for their entry level web portal, Crystal Reports Server XI. Crystal Reports Server doesn’t allow you to create reports but allows you to make reports available on a network server to users who log in through a browser. The promo price is $2,495 for five named users. The normal retail version is still $7,500 for 5 concurrent users which doesn’t seem like much of a promotional value to me. I seem to remember 5 named users being a free offer at one point but apparently that is no longer true.

But the real news isn’t the promotion itself. It is that promotions like this usually happen just before a significant product release. In this case it is probably CR Server 2008, but nothing will be announced until after the promotion has expired. If anyone has any insight into what is coming next, drop me a line.

Update - 5/21/08:
I heard from one of my readers who is a BO partner and they confirmed that Crystal Reports Server 2008 is to be expected in July 2008.

I have had 3 customers (so far) who have called me to fix their Crystal Reports for PeachTree 2008. These are reports that worked fine under previous versions of PeachTree but ‘break’ when run against 2008. And in 2 of the 3 cases the customer had been assured by PeachTree sales that the upgrade would not affect custom reports. That might be true as long as you aren’t using any balances from the CHART table or the billing address from the Customer table.

All of the balance fields in the CHART table have been renamed although the number of fields and their order seems to be exactly the same. Also the CUSTOMER table has lost the billing address fields which have been moved to another table.

If you need help with custom reports for PeachTree 2008, or any other version, give me a call.

One of my most visited pages is my list of third party products and many of you are either using them or have tried them. In January three of these vendors released upgrades that you should be aware of: Continue Reading »
Recent upgrades available for popular third party utilities

SaberLogic of Wadsworth, OH has developed a new Crystal Reports viewer. It allows reports to be refreshed, scheduled, exported, printed and even sent out via Email. It is called Logicity and is compatible with all versions of Crystal from 8.5 through XI. They have released both a free version and a PRO ($45) version. The free version has most of the capabilities of the PRO version and doesn’t have any ads, SPAM or spyware.

The PRO version comes with installation support and adds features like user logging, and password protection for reports. A site license (for very large installs) is available for $4,500. If you decide to purchase Pro before the end of the year you can get a 10% discount by using my discount code, which is CRU (as in the Crystal Reports Underground).

If you decide to try it and find anything you like or don’t like, please let me know. And if you purchase the PRO version don’t forget to claim your discount.