I agree, Chad. Crystal is a great product. I use it exclusively for reporting. With the Web server, users can get at reports easily, they are easy to manage, and can be exported to multiple formats by the end user.
We use version 8.5 without problems for the most part. The only problem I've experienced is while viewing the highly modified POForm from the workstation with 8.5 installed. All other workstations view the report fine.
Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics
We use version 8.5 without problems for the most part. The only problem I've experienced is while viewing the highly modified POForm from the workstation with 8.5 installed. All other workstations view the report fine.
Troy Funte
Liberty Electronics
----- Original Message -----
From: Mark Dupuis
To: vantage@yahoogroups.com
Sent: Tuesday, October 23, 2001 8:08 AM
Subject: RE: [Vantage] Crystal Reports: Ideal for us?
I am curently using Crystal 8.5 developer and am pleased with what it can
do. I was originally told that this version works with Vantage5.0. This is
not entirely true. I have run into problems with the crpe32.dll. The newer
version allows you to create formulas with the coding of a select case
statement. This can be in either basic or Crystal syntax. The select case
will not run in Vantage because Vantage uses the older version of the
crpe32.dll.
I was told by Vantage Tech support to replace the crepe32.dll with the newer
one. I found that Crystal ver7 reports do not print with the newer dll. I
am unfortunately left with two choices, wait for vantage to upgrade their
version of crystal or use nested ifs instead of a select case.
Mark D.
-----Original Message-----
From: Thad Jacobs [mailto:tjacobs@...]
Sent: Monday, October 22, 2001 1:40 PM
To: 'vantage@yahoogroups.com'; 'carmstrong@...'
Subject: [Vantage] Crystal Reports: Ideal for us?
Hello all,
After a thread that ran a month or so ago on Crystal Decisions not catering
to the needs of the small business, and a recent e-mail suggesting that
downgrades might no longer be available, I decided to do some research to
see if an alternate Enterprise reporting solution might be worth looking
into. Figured I'd pass my findings along to the group for comment.
- 1 license of crystal reports 8.5 developer can be purchased along with a
downgrade to any version as far back as 5.0 for well under $500, and comes
with the Web Component Server, and 5 concurrent access licenses, as per a
talk with a Crystal Decisions sales rep this morning.
- Crystal estimates that 5 concurrent access licenses will cator to the
reporting needs of 50 total database users.
- Additional concurrent access licenses in the U.S. cost $2,495 apiece.
Based on crystal's 1 license per 10 users ratio, thats roughly $250 per
actual database user. Not too unreasonable, IMO, even if the cost is
doubled. Of course, when you start making reports available to the entire
internet, costs could get a little out of hand.
- Crystal 8.5 developer integrates with visual basic, making it possible to
distribute crystal reports
ROYALTY FREE, and embed them in your desktop applications, and automatically
export the reports to HTML, and a variety of other formats. Solutions still
cost $ in programming time, and sometimes present client setup issues if
distributed across multiple operating systems.
- The crystal reports print engine can also be automated via 4GL, and any
other Automation compliant programming language.
- Epicor does not support version 8.5 yet, and reccomends sticking with 8.0
for now. I don't see it unreasonable that Epicor would want to stay a
version or two behind, as to make sure they are using a stable product. Plus
8.5 may not have been available in a stable form when vantage 5 was being
created.
Conclusion:
Not to say the Crystal Reports product is absolutely bug free and perfect,
but I believe that the programming time it saves me in generating complex
reports makes it the best available company wide reporting solution for our
particular application, and I don't presently see any significant need to
look into alternatives. Yes, there are complex reports like indented BOM's
that haved required some 4GL or visual basic coding, and some reports that
Report Builder works better for, but for the majority of reports, Crystal
seems to do the job just fine.
Any comments?
Thaddeus
Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have
already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and
Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to http://docs.yahoo.com/info/terms/
Yahoo! Groups Sponsor
Useful links for the Yahoo!Groups Vantage Board are: ( Note: You must have already linked your email address to a yahoo id to enable access. )
(1) To access the Files Section of our Yahoo!Group for Report Builder and Crystal Reports and other 'goodies', please goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/files/.
(2) To search through old msg's goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/messages
(3) To view links to Vendors that provide Vantage services goto: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/vantage/links
Your use of Yahoo! Groups is subject to the Yahoo! Terms of Service.
[Non-text portions of this message have been removed]