Business Views in Crystal Designer 2013

[Former Member]

Hi,

I know this never goes down well, but apologies up front as I am very new to Crystal Reports/Server. I have a background in Java & SQL, but my Crystal knowledge is that of a beginner.

Anyway, I have a task to move a suite of Crystal 2008 reports onto a new 2013 server. I have installed the server & designer fine & configured it to authenticate via my LDAP server.

A number of the old reports I have to port over use a Business View, so I exported that from my 2008 server & imported it into the 2013 server. I got a couple of errors at teh end of the import that I cant work out :

CrystalEnterprise.MetaData.BusinessCompositeFilter:  User or Group Not Found. Cannot set rights for User: "Contractor" on Object: "ContractorFilter" while importing from XML.

CrystalEnterprise.MetaData.BusinessCompositeFilter:  User or Group Not Found. Cannot set rights for User: "Contractor" on Object: "ContractorFilter2" while importing from XML.

CrystalEnterprise.MetaData.BusinessCompositeFilter:  User or Group Not Found. Cannot set rights for User: "Contractor" on Object: "ContractorFilter" while importing from XML.

I can see the 'Contractor' user in Apache Directory Studio just fine, so Im not sure what is causing that error?

Generally though, I can see via the Business View Manager that my Business View has imported :

The issue I have is that I need my reports to use the CIB datasource, which comes from the Business View, but I cannot work out how to get that as a an available datasource.

When I open the Database Expert for my Report, I can see the DB connections I set up (from my repository) & I can see that the CIB Data Source is listed, although Im not sure how it got into 'My Connections'

If I try to expand the CIB Data Source in 'My Connections' then it opens the Data Source Selection dialog and that should (I think) give me the option to pick from my available data sources, which on the old system were: BIAS & CIB

Can anyone tell me what I have missed and how I can get my Business View in as an available Data Source?

Hope that all makes some sense, thanks for any help.

Paul

[abhilash_kumar · Accepted solution]

Hi Paul,

Go to the Database Expert > Repository. This is where all the Business Views are listed as a datasource.

-Abhilash

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Abhilash,

Thanks for the quick response.

I assume you mean via the 'Create New Connection' option? I tried that (thats how I have my other DB connections), but there is nothing in there for my CIB Business View

I originally thought this was where my issue lay, but I have checked other systems that were set up before this (and the staff have left) which have access to the Business View, but it is not listed in the repository either. Their repository just looks the same as mine above.

Its almost like I have missed a step that links the Business View or something.

Thanks again

Paul

[abhilash_kumar · Accepted solution]

Hi Paul,

You quoted above that "I can see via the Business View Manager that my Business View has imported".

When I look at the screenshot you posted, I see that 'BIAS' and 'VATC' are the only Business Views listed in the Business View Manager - that is also what is listed in Crystal Report's Repository explorer.

What you've highlighted is actually the Data Connection and the Data Foundation that is used by either of the two or both Business Views (BIAS and VATC).

-Abhilash

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Thanks Abhilash & apologies for the confusion Ive caused.

I got my terminology wrong, but your explanation helps a lot.

Im probably not explaining myself very well here then, but on our live server if I double click on my connection object for CIB then I get taken directly to a logon screen. If I click the Back button then it displays the data sources screen with BIAS & CIB listed :

On the server that I am trying to build, that list is empty (see original post). How do I register these Data Sources. I thought it may have been a System DSN for the Server, but that doesnt have them in the live server.

Thank again,

Paul

[abhilash_kumar · Accepted solution]

This is how it works:

1) The Business View (Which is on the Server) is based off of a Business Element which is based off of a Data Foundation which itself is based off of a Data Connection.

2) This Data Connection can be based off of an ODBC Connection or a Native Connection using the 'Oracle Driver' or any corresponding database driver. In your situation it seems to be an ODBC connection

3) The same ODBC connection needs to be present on the Client Machine to be able to report off of the Business View

4) When you go to Create New Connection > Repository > Choose the Business View > Internally, CR tries to locate the ODBC that the BV's Data Connection is created against.

5) So, if you log on to the Server that hosts the BV and open the 32-bit ODBC Administrator, you should most certainly find the ODBC connections. You would need to create the same 32-bit ODBC connections on the Server that you're trying to create the report from.

6) Also, when creating the report you DO NOT choose the ODBC as the datasource - you need to choose the Business View that is listed under 'Repository' as the datasource for the report.

-Abhilash

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

All my crystal software is currently installed on the same PC(Windows Server 2008 64 bit).

i.e. Both Server, Business View Manager & Designer are all installed on the same box

I tried creating a System DSN previously:

but that doesnt get picked up by the report designer anywhere. The above screenshot is from my new server, but all DSN's exactly match that from my LIVE server. I have tested that Data Source connection and it works.

I have also tested the connection from the Business View Manager & it states that the 'data source name is not found'

So I think my core issue is that Crystal is not picking up my ODBC data source for some reason.

Can you offer any advice on why that may be? Ive obviously missed something simple & fundamental, so any more help is again appreciated.

Regards,

Paul

[abhilash_kumar · Accepted solution]

If you look at the screenshot you posted from the Business View Manager above, it lists the DSN as 'CIB'

Does the Server have a DSN called 'CIB'?

If not - you'll need to create a redo the connection in the Business View Manager.

P.S: Since you're using SQL Server as the database, it is recommended that you use the SQL Server Native Client 10.0 or 11.0 driver.

-Abhilash

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Abhilash,

Your previous post pointed me to the solution.

I had been setting my data sources via the Windows Administrative Tools menu. When you said the '32bit ODBC Connections' you got me thinking & I noticed that there is a Crystal specific ODBC Data Source Administrative tool in the Crystal Server 2013 Start menu.

I added my 2 data sources there and my report runs!! woo hoo.

Thanks for all your help & patience.

Although this only gets me as far as having my server configured. The purpose for that was to look into another bug Im getting when viewing report data via the Management Console - but Ill raise a separate Question on that.

Thanks again

[abhilash_kumar · Accepted solution]

There is no such thing as 'Crystal specific ODBC Data Source Administrative tool' .

CR needs the ODBC to be 32-bit and hence on a 64-bit machine, the 32-bit ODBC is found under:

C:\Windows\SysWow64\odbcad32.exe

CR's folder under the start menu simply points to the odbcad32.exe at this location.

-Abhilash