VB6 Crystal App installed, on pc with diff version of Crystal

[Joffies]

We currently have a vb 6 app installed which uses the crystal 8.5 ocx component. If this app is installed on a workstation with and older or newer crystal component;

1. will this overwrite the existing component or break any other applications?
2. Can different versions be installed side by side?

Thanks

[Hack]

We currently have a vb 6 app installed which uses the crystal 8.5 ocx component. If this app is installed on a workstation with and older or newer crystal component;

1. will this overwrite the existing component or break any other applications?

If the name of the component is the same between versions, and I believe it is, it will overwrite the existing file. The effect that it will have on existing applications/reports depends on the backward compatibility of the component. I would suggest testing this on a test machine prior to actually installing it on a development machine or an end user machine.

2. Can different versions be installed side by side?

Possibly if the components are installed in different folders. Again, I would not attempt this on a developer machine or an end user machine without first testing it on a test box.

[Joffies]

Thanks for the reply Hack.

I have not got the exact version details yet..but I suspect the user has another application installed which uses pre crystal 8.5 ocx components...so my application might break the reports from the older application?

Shouldnt crystal be backwards compatible? or could some of the functions that were used in the older version not be available anymore and throw exceptions?

What would be the work around if any? Let the client upgrade their out of date product? Not that 8.5 is the latest