Crystal Reports on a domain, DB server is not

[Former Member]

I am getting the dreaded ORA 12154 - TNS could not resolve the connect identifier blah blah. Here's the scenario;

The DB server is on a WORKGROUP, the workstation running Crystal Reports XI is on a DOMAIN. ALSO, the workstation is running WINDOWS7-64 bit.

DB server is running Oracle 10G, and I have installed the ORACLE CLIENT 32-bit 10G on the workstation that I want CR to run on (the 64-bit WIN7).

I CAN CONNECT using the Oracle Client configuration tools.

I CAN SET UP AN ODBC connection using ODBCAD32 in the SYSWOW64 folder in Windows.

All connections seem to be functioning, yet I still get this error when trying to establish the connection in Crystal Reports.

Here is my TNSNAMES:

# tnsnames.ora Network Configuration File: C:\oracle\product\10.2.0\client_MedX\network\admin\tnsnames.ora

# Generated by Oracle configuration tools.

SPECTRA =

  (DESCRIPTION =

    (ADDRESS_LIST =

      (ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL = TCP)(HOST = 172.128.32.25)(PORT = 1521))

    )

    (CONNECT_DATA =

      (SERVICE_NAME = SPECTRA)

    )

  )

If I make any change to TNSNames - i.e. change the server IP to the server DNS name, it fails. As long as I keep THIS configuration, it works from Client 10G and from ODBCAD, but not Crystal Reports.

Why won't Crystal Reports connect?

Greg Ski in Jersey

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Greg,

You can refer to the following SAP Knowledge Base Article for the error observed:

1204916 - Error: "ORA-12154" when connecting to Oracle from a Windows 64-bit platform

The Note has the following information:

Sympton:

In BusinessObjects Enterprise XI Release 2, when connecting to an Oracle database from a Windows 64-bit platform, the following error message appears:

"ORA-12154".

Cause:

The error message occurs because Enterprise is installed in a directory similar to "<installation directory>:\Program Files (x86)\...". Oracle cannot process parentheses in the path.

Resolution:

To resolve the error message, install BusinessObjects in a directory without parentheses in the path.

Alternately, apply an Oracle patch for this issue. The following patches have been released on Windows:

Windows 32-bit

• 9.2.0.7.0 Patch 6: Apply Patch 4928723 or later
• 10.2.0.1.0 Patch 4: Apply Patch 4923768 or later
• 10.2.0.2.0 Patch 5: Apply Patch 5383042 or later
• 10.2.0.3.0: Apply Patch 5337014 or later

Windows 64-bit AMD64 and INTEL EM64T

• 10.2.0.1.0 Patch 4: Apply Patch 4923787 or later
• 10.2.0.2.0 Patch 5: Apply Patch 5388871 or later
• 10.2.0.3.0: Apply Patch 5337014 or later

If possible, use a version of the Oracle software that contains the fix for Bug 3807408.

Hope this helps.

Regards,

Renu Gajwani

[abhilash_kumar]

Hi Greg,

I see that CR is installed on a 64-bit machine. Have you also installed the 64-bit client drivers for Oracle? And is the 32-bit client in the same HOME as the 64-bit?

I also remember of an Oracle issue, especially with the 10g drivers, that it cannot communicate with applications that are installed in a folder that has brackets in its path. For e.g: C:\Program Files (x86)\

This is an Oracle issue and can be resolved by upgrading to Patch 6 or higher for the Oracle 10g client.

At the same time, you can also try upgrading the CR designer to CR XI R2 SP6.

-Abhilash

[Former Member]

Abhilash

I was under the impression that I had to install EITHER the 32-bit or the 64-bit client, not both. Also, I was under the impression that Crystal Reports IX DID NOT SUPPORT client-64 and that I HAD to install 32-bit.

Are these basic assumptions incorrect?

Greg

[abhilash_kumar]

You're right:

a) I thought you had both the 32-bit and 64-bit HOMES in there. That's fine we just need the 32-bit.

b) CR does NOT support a 64-bit client even now, so again you just need the 32-bit drivers.

Did you check if upgrading the client drivers resolved the issue?

-Abhilash