Crystal Runtime 10.5 for Visual Studio 2008 - viewer/full version support

[Former Member]

Hi - can reports developed in VS 2008 (CR basic 10.5) be run externally using a full or viewer version ?  If so, is there a restriction on which versions can be used for this (2008 / 11 / 13 etc) and whether the version must be full vs viewer ?

The background is that we have an old asp.net 3.5 system that is being migrated from Windows 2008 / IIS 7 to Windows 2012 / IIS 8 - the app runs fine but it seems the 10.5 runtime is no longer supported.  Recompilation using VS 2010 isn't an option so I was looking at client-side solutions if possible to run the reports outside of the .net app - preferably using a free viewer as the reports will not be re-designed.

I'm hoping this is a straightforward question but I've checked a few sites/forums and this isn't very clear.  Grateful if someone can advise or point me to a site which clearly covers this.

Thanks.

tmdev

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

I don't know if you are looking for a web or win viewer, but as you are mentioning servers, I assume you are looking for some sort of a web viewer(?). And there is no such thing. There is a Windows viewer:

http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-29774.

CR 10.5 is supported - will be until Dec. 31, 2018:

However there are no fixes planned. Additionally CR 10.5 does not support WIN 2012. CR 2008 (v. 12.x) is supported in VS 2008 and when updated to Service Pack 7, you will get support for WIN 2012. See

So, in a nutshell; upgrade the app to CR 2008, SP 7 and all should be fine.

- Ludek

Senior Support Engineer AGS Product Support, Global Support Center Canada

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[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Ludek - you're right that it's a web app running on the server.  From what you say, it sounds like I could drop the CR2008 runtime on the server, change the refs to point to 12.x and it should run via the browser without any local install.  I will still need at least one upgrade product to get this though, so I might check out the Win viewer option first - it's only a handful of users so it's not a major hassle.

For the win viewer then, can I use the latest 2013 version for 10.5 reports or am I tied to the 2008 version ?  And do I need to have the 10.5 runtime installed locally too as well as the viewer for the reports to run ?

Thanks again.

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Kinda... You will have to upgrade the app in VS 2008 to use 12.x references. This should actually be automatic once VS finds that there are version 12.x CR references installed - which they would be by virtue of installing the CR designer on the dev box. Then deploy the app and the CR 12 runtime.

The viewer is Win, not Web, so not sure if that will work for you. The upgrade to CR 2008 is not that expensive and the upgrade is usually painless...

And yes, you can use CR 2013 viewer to view any reports. Yo can not change the db source though. E.g.; you will only be able to connect to the db the report was created off of. No 10.5 runtime needed for the CR 2013 viewer. It installs it's own runtime.

- Ludek

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

The Win viewer should do the job - I think 2013 viewer is already packaged up for deployment here so if this works for 10.5 reports then we're all good - the db source will stay as-is and it will save on doing another recompile and release of the app if we go down the CR 2008 route.

Thanks

tmdev

Update:

The 2013 viewer can open the 10.5 report but then asks for the file to be saved with report data.  The report in question has start/end date parameters.  Does this mean the viewer cannot accept these input parameters and dynamically refresh data from the database (even if the datasource has not changed) ?  If so, this would seem to be a major limitation of the viewer.  Perhaps someone can confirm if this is expected behaviour.

Message was edited by: tm dev

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Ludek,

Apologies for the necropost...Are there any official documents stating that Crystal Reports Basic Runtime for Visual Studio 2008 (version 10.5.0.0) is not supported on Windows 8.1 / Windows Server 2012 R2?

I tried searching everywhere but I only see documents stating that SP7 is supported for Windows 8.1 / 2012. I couldn't find any document saying 10.5.0.0 is not supported on 8.1 / 2012.

Your help would be very much appreciated.

~Christian

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Hi Christian

I have this wiki which you may or may not consider "official":

Crystal Reports v. 9.1 to SAP Crystal Reports 2013, Runtime Distribution and Supported Operating Sys...

Also, keep in mind that CR 10.5 bundled with VS 2008. So what ever VS 2008 supported (or not) should be a ditto for CR 10.5. Here is a link to VS 2008 Supported Platforms.

- Ludek

Message was edited by: Ludek Uher