[RESOLVED] Generating reports without Crystal reports in vb.net

[sanju4kk]

How can we create a report in vb.net without using any crystal reports

Regards
Sajina

[.paul.]

you could create your own custom report form

[jmcilhinney]

I'm not 100% sure what the support is in VB Express but in VS you can install SQL Server Reporting Services, which comes as part of the Advanced Services edition of the free SQL Server Express, and then build reports in VS. It think that previous version only supported report creation in VWD Express and not C# or VB Express but I'm not sure about 2010.

[sanju4kk]

can i generate the report output in html format

[.paul.]

you can create an html document in code.
where is your data coming from + what sort of output are you looking for?

[sanju4kk]

data coming from SQL server database
my report is kind of mark list which is showing first column as subject second column as first term marks third column as second term marks.

[.paul.]

here's a simple example using a datatable + outputting an html table in a webbrowser:

Public Class Form1
 
    Dim dt As New DataTable
 
    Private Sub Form1_Load(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles MyBase.Load
 
        dt.Columns.Add("c1")
        dt.Columns.Add("c2")
        dt.Columns.Add("c3")
        dt.Columns.Add("c4")
        dt.Columns.Add("c5")
 
        For r As Integer = 1 To 10
            dt.Rows.Add(New Object() {"r" & r.ToString & "c1", "r" & r.ToString & "c2", "r" & r.ToString & "c3", "r" & r.ToString & "c4", "r" & r.ToString & "c5"})
        Next
 
    End Sub
 
    Private Sub Button1_Click(ByVal sender As System.Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Button1.Click
        Dim strBuilder As New System.Text.StringBuilder
        strBuilder.Append("<table border='1' cellpadding='10' cellspacing='0'>")
        For x As Integer = 0 To dt.Rows.Count - 1
            strBuilder.Append("<tr>") 'Start the row 
            strBuilder.Append(String.Format("<td>{0}</td><td>{1}</td><td>{2}</td><td>{3}</td><td>{4}</td>", _
                          dt.Rows(x).Item(0).ToString, dt.Rows(x).Item(1).ToString, dt.Rows(x).Item(2).ToString, dt.Rows(x).Item(3).ToString, dt.Rows(x).Item(4).ToString))
            strBuilder.Append("</tr>")  'Finish the row 
        Next
        WebBrowser1.DocumentText = strBuilder.ToString
        'alternatively you can save strBuilder.ToString as html + show it in ie
    End Sub
 
End Class

[sanju4kk]

i have tried it with crystal reports but its showing first term marks on top of the page and secnd term marks as just below of the first term marks. but i want to display all in same level. i tried select expert but if i put a condition the all exam marks will goes for the same condition. pls help me out

[sanju4kk]

ok let me try HTML code first

[sanju4kk]

its showing error webbrowser1 is not declared

[sanju4kk]

yes i resolve the issue now i want to try it with my db

[Max Peck]

How can we create a report in vb.net without using any crystal reports

Regards
Sajina

Well, dunno if this is the kind of answer you're looking for but to avoid Crystal you might want to consider Active Reports. It's about $600 for a developer version but it is way slick. I bought my copy to go with VS2008 Standard and SQL Server 2008R2 (Express). Between those three things and a good icon and text editor I can make just about anything I want to.

Otherwise, yeah, you can generate HTML but it will require a lot more work to get the report to look the way you want it to. Still ... HTML would be a competent solution.

-Max