Crystal Report API

[Manish]

Hello
I am using crystal report engine api. but my problem is how can I use PEOpenPrintJob method to open a report which is created using designer. Means this report is part of exe not stored as a separate .rpt file.

thanx for your help....Manish

[Jay Rogozinsky]

Although I can't answer that question directly ... During my extensive use of Crystal Reports I determined the best distributable move to take was NOT to use the designer to create EXE's. Crystal Reports works best (when you want to utilize the report in/by your program) when you create a RPT file.

Good Luck. CR is a good tool.

[Manish]

I too think so but have few doubts. Will it affect the performance of reports? what if users change the properties of report?

thanx for your help.

[Jay Rogozinsky]

I would think that the performance is comparable. EXE's are more "difficult" to distribute; they are larger for one thing - many considerations. Which properties are you worried about the user altering - I AM NOT talking about the users having a copy of Crystal Reports on their systems (every user would have to have a lgeal copy) and altering them from there - you simply distribute the RPT with a Visual Basic program which is linked to the appropriate Crystal DLL's. Your VB app controls the report.

[Manish]

my application is an accounting application and over 150 customers. most of the reports are nt directly linked to the datasource all have active datasource(TTX files) now if someone having cr reporter can change the properties like verify database on each print etc..

[Jay Rogozinsky]

If you distribute the RPT files and control them through your VB app, the only things the users will be able to change is the things YOU allow them to change. (( Of course, if they all have a copy of the entire Crystal Reports package, then they can change anything they want. It is unlikelly that you are distributing your entire Crystal Package to your customers as this would not be legal. ))

[Manish]

Thats the problem. We dont gv customize reports so few of our customer hv bought crystal report to make the kind of reports.
as we provide them low level interface with the application where they can access read only dataset and create their own reports.

Anyway thanx a lot for your help.

[Jay Rogozinsky]

I guess I don't really understand the issue then. Let me guess - you create some RPT's. Your clients that need custom ones create their own. You want to protect yours from them using? That's why you want to distribute yours through EXE's? Why not simply encrypt your RPT files and then decrypt them from your program before using.