How about the Open Source FyiReporing and its forks?

[geek648]

Firstly, is this subforum purely for "Crystal Reports, Access and Data Report Designer" or are other options welcome?

I noticed that there was an Open Source RDL-based reporting option called FyiReporting, which appeals to me as a simple and Open option.

Although FyiReporting apears to be dormant since 2009, it has been 'forked' a number of times.
http://www.fyireporting.com/ - forum continues as best place to discuss forks?

Does anyone have any experience of these, comments or advice about going down that path? And where would be the best places to ask questions to that little open source 'community' of Devs? I tried to register on the fyireporting.com forum but haven't been accepted by the moderator.

As so often happens, Open Source projects let themselves down by appearing to be dormant (have a homepage with updates if nothing has happened for a few months!) or appearing to be a poor choice due to lack of support options - no active forums to ask for help.

Forks ...
It can be real detective work trying to figure out what's worth using!

My-FyiReporting - Still active (2013)
By "majorsilence" (Peter Gill) http://www.majorsilence.com/
https://github.com/majorsilence/My-FyiReporting/

NReports
http://nreports.codeplex.com/ (NET 3.5) dormant since early 2011?

ReportFU - current? Forum spammed to heck and back
http://reportfu.org/

ReportingCloud - dormant?
http://sourceforge.net/projects/reportingcloud/

[wes4dbt]

If you know the limitation of something like FyiReporting then why use it? Why not Crystal, RDLC, SSRS or something more main stream?

[geek648]

Because when an Open Source project gathers enough momentum it becomes something better than (or equal to) commercial offerings. From the well known heavyweights like a little thing called Linux... Firefox, Open/Libre Office... all the way down to countless small niche utilities, the code quality can be superb with dedicated teams of enthusiasts doing all they can to win market share, backed up by legions of fans all chipping in with the valuable support that lively forums can offer. It just can't be beaten in so many ways, and I use Open Source wherever possible.

But here I am using MS for a living, fairly happily too because while it's at the opposite end of the 'free' spectrum, there's also sufficient development momentum and support. It's the rubbish in the middle that I avoid - where the outlook, documentation and support is poor.

I like to feel I'm not wasting my time learning to use software, that it seems to have a fairly secure future, that bugs get fixed and if I have problems there will be assistance. Once it becomes clear that these requirements are met, well featured software projects gain followers very quickly.

If a simple reporting solution can meet these needs, I'll be thrilled. If the FyiReporting (forks) crowd can demonstrate on-going commitment and at least one good supportive forum, why shouldn't it catch on?

I shudder at the memories of Crystal Reports and pulling my hair out in frustration, so I'm avoiding that.
And, trying to develop on the cheap with the Express version of VS, it doesn't appear that I can use the MS flavour of their RDL technology either, as the controls can't be bolted in....?
( http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...ualStudio-2010 )

[wes4dbt]

Good luck

[geek648]

Thanks.

I thought My-FyiReporting deserved its own thread after this prelim round of looking at the other forks...
http://www.vbforums.com/showthread.p...y-FyiReporting