Crystal Report Viewer need?

[Former Member]

Hi all,

I went through Crystal Report Viewer and have few doubts about it.

1. Its Real Use.

2. If it is made for viewing reports then why can't we use Crystal Report Designer/Enterprise to view the reports. What makes Crystal Report Viewer different?

3. If it is made for offline use then what about refreshing and scheduling the reports.

Should Crystal Server be installed on BI Platform only or whether it can be installed independently without relying on BI.

Thanks and Regards

Mithilesh Prasad

[former_member226669 · Accepted solution]

Hi Mithilesh,

Crystal Reports Viewer can be used for only viewing the reports one cannot make any changes to the report as in Crystal Reports Designer.

For refreshing the report you must have the BI or BO Server installed. You can also view the report saved in the repository.

Thanks,

Nrupal

[abhilash_kumar]

Hi Mithilesh,

1) CR Viewer is a 'free' standalone Viewer that can view Crystal Reports that are 'saved with data'. This is extremely useful when users don't have any third-party tools on their machines to view cystal reports.

2) CR is a per user license and it doesn't make sense to install the CR designer on each user's machine just to 'view' reports

3) It cannot 'schedule' reports - you have InfoView (LaunchPad)/CMC for that. It can refresh reports when connected to the BI Platform

4) CR Server cannot be installed on the BI Platform - they're two similar products for separate audience. CR Server, in a way, is just a stripped down version of the BusinessObjects Server product that is used in environments that only have Crystal Reports.

-Abhilash

[Former Member]

Hi Abhilash,

Thanks for the reply!

Can you please elaborate the fourth point in little more detail. I mean the differences, limitations, need etc.

Thanks

Mithilesh

[DellSC]

CR Server only let's you work with reports that have been created in Crystal or Crystal for Enterprise.  The full BI Platform also includes the ability to work with tools such as Web Intelligence, Dashboards, Design Studio, Explorer, etc.

-Dell

[ido_millet]

Another option is a 3rd-party viewer. They can all Refresh data, and some can schedule reports:

Crystal Reports Viewers, Schedulers and Related Products