Crystal Reports For Visual Studio 2005

Web or Windows Deployment Tutorials

Web or Windows Deployment Tutorials

2004 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Version 1.0

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Web or Windows Deployment Tutorials

Web or Windows Deployment Tutorials

The procedures in the following sections create deployment projects for Web Sites or Windows applications for Visual Studio 2005. Requirements Deploying Web Sites Deploying Windows Applications Note For more information about deployment in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003, and Crystal Reports 10, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. CrystalReportViewer binding scenarios for Crystal Services uses Crystal Reports for Visual Studio or Crystal Reports 9. In this case, you need to use slightly different deployment procedures than the procedures in this tutorial. For more information about deployment in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio and Crystal Reports 9, see http://support.businessobjects.com/search/. For more information about the report binding scenarios, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005.

Requirements
To successfully deploy a Web Site or Windows application, you must complete Appendix: What Needs to be Installed? and Appendix: Project Setup. Check that the following requirements are met: Visual Studio 2005 is installed. See Appendix: What Needs to be Installed?. Web Sites or Windows applications have been created with one or more report binding scenarios. Please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005.

In addition, you must either use merge modules or the Server Installer (.msi file) to complete the deployment. One of the following procedures must be completed: Download the Crystal Reports merge modules from http://www.businessobjects.com/products/dev_zone/net/VisualStudio2005Beta, and then save the .msm files in C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules folder of your local directory. You need to overwrite the files that already exist in this folder. For more information, see Appendix: Crystal Reports Merge Modules for Visual Studio 2005. Or, download the Server Installer (.msi file) from http://www.businessobjects.com/products/dev_zone/net/VisualStudio2005Beta, and then install the files on the target machine. The Server Installer installs the Crystal Reports runtime and the merge modules that are required by a deployment project. The Server Installer is available for x86, AMD64 and IA64 machines.

Deploying Web Sites

To deploy your Web Sites, you must create a Web Setup Project as instructed in the sections that follow, and then add the necessary components to your project.

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Creating a Web Setup Project

In this section, you create a Web Setup Project from the deployment projects that are available in Visual Studio. You must have a completed Web application that uses at least one of the report binding scenarios. To create a deployment project for Web applications 1. In Visual Studio, open your Web Site. 2. On the File menu, point to Add, and then click New Project. 3. In the Add New Project dialog box, select Setup and Deployment Projects in the Project Types pane, and select Web Setup Project in the Templates pane. Click OK. 4. When the File System tab appears, expand Web Application Folder on the left pane. 5. In the Properties window, set the DefaultDocument property to the start page (a .aspx file) for the Web Site. The VirtualDirectory property has been set to the default project name, "WebSetup1." The default project name must remain "WebSetup1."

Adding Components to the Web Setup Project

You must add the content files from your Web Site and merge modules to the Web Setup Project. Merge modules must be added to the setup project, if you do not plan to install the Server Installer on the target computer. To add components to the Web Setup Project 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click WebSetup1, point to Add, and then click Project Output.... 2. In the Add Project Output Group dialog box, select Content Files. 3. In Solution Explorer, right-click WebSetup1, point to Add, and then click Merge Module.... 4. In the Add Modules dialog box, select the merge modules that are required for your Web Site. For a description of which merge modules to use for different machines, see Appendix: Crystal Reports Merge Modules for Visual Studio 2005.

Building and Deploying the Web Setup Project

Building the Web Setup Project creates an installer that you can deploy to other computers. Note When you deploy to other computers, always ensure that the computer already has the .NET Framework installed. For more information about the .NET Framework, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. To build and deploy the Web Setup Project 1. From the Build menu, click Build WebSetup1. The build process creates installer files: setup.exe and WebSetup1.msi (name of your deployment project).
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2. Navigate to the directory where your deployment project has been saved. 3. Double-click the WebSetup1 folder. 4. Open the Debug folder to find the built files from the Web Setup Project. 5. Copy all the files to the target computer. 6. Distribute the Crystal reports that are used in the Web application. For more information about which binding scenarios need to distribute report files, see Appendix: Report Files. 7. On the target computer, double-click Setup.exe or WebSetup1.msi to install the Web application. 8. To view the Web application in deployment, start Microsoft Internet Explorer, and type http://localhost/WebSetup1.

Deploying Windows Applications

To deploy your Windows applications, you must create a Setup Project and add the necessary components to your project.

Creating a Setup Project for Windows Applications

In this section, you need to create a Setup Project from the deployment projects available in Visual Studio. You need to have a completed Windows application that uses at least one of the report binding scenarios. Please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. To create a deployment project for Windows applications 1. In Visual Studio, open your Windows application. 2. On the File menu, point to Add Project and then click New Project. 3. In the Add New Project dialog box, select Setup and Deployment Projects in the Project Types pane and select Setup Project in the Templates pane. Click OK.

Adding Components to the Setup Project

You must add output files from the Windows application, and merge modules to the Setup Project. To add components to the Setup Project 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click Setup1, point to Add, and then click Project Output.... 2. In the Add Project Output Group dialog box, select Primary output. When Primary output is added to your project, the Crystal Reports assembly files are added automatically. 3. In Solution Explorer, right-click Setup1, point to Add, and then click Merge Module.... 4. In the Add Modules dialog box, select the merge modules that are required for your Windows application. For a description of which merge modules to use for different machines, see Appendix: Crystal Reports Merge Modules for Visual Studio 2005.
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Building and Deploying the Setup Project

Building the Setup Project creates an installer that you can deploy to other computers. Note When deploying to other computers, always ensure that the computer already has the .NET Framework installed. To build and deploy the Setup Project 1. From the Build menu, choose Build Setup1. The build process creates installer files: setup.exe and Setup1.msi (name of your deployment project). 2. Navigate to the directory where your deployment project has been saved. 3. Double-click the Setup1 folder. 4. Open the Debug folder to find the built files from the Setup Project. 5. Copy all the files to the target computer. 6. Distribute the Crystal reports that are used in the Windows application. For more information about which binding scenarios need to distribute report files, see Appendix: Report Files. 7. On the target computer, double-click Setup.exe or Setup1.msi to install the Windows application. 8. To view the Windows application in deployment, navigate to the installed location, and then double-click the Windows application .exe file.

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Appendix: Crystal Reports Merge Modules for Visual Studio 2005

Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 uses merge modules to ensure the correct report components and assemblies are installed with your deployment project. Each merge module is designed for different deployment scenarios. Note Adding more merge modules to the deployment project than what is specified in the scenarios may cause deployment problems. For the specified machine and project type, you must add the correct merge modules to the project. Machine type x86 Project type Windows applications Merge modules required x86 Web Sites AMD64 Windows applications AMD64 Web Sites IA64 Windows applications Crystal_Database_Access.msm Crystal_Database_Access_enu.msm Crystal_Managed.msm Crystal_Database_Access.msm Crystal_Database_Access_enu.msm Crystal_Managed.msm Crystal_Webformviewer.msm Crystal_Database_Access_A64.msm Crystal_Database_Access_enu_A64.msm Crystal_Managed_A64.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_ATL_AMD_RTL_X86_--.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_MFC_AMD_RTL_X86_--.msm Crystal_Database_Access_A64.msm Crystal_Database_Access_enu_A64.msm Crystal_Managed_A64.msm Crystal_Webformviewer.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_ATL_AMD_RTL_X86_--.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_MFC_AMD_RTL_X86_--.msm Crystal_Database_Access_I64.msm Crystal_Database_Access_I64_enu.msm Crystal_Managed_I64.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_ATL_IA_RTL_X86_--.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_MFC_IA_RTL_X86_--Copyright 2004 Business Objects Page 7

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.msm IA64 Web Sites Crystal_Database_Access_I64.msm Crystal_Database_Access_I64_enu.msm Crystal_Managed_I64.msm Crystal_Webformviewer.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_ATL_IA_RTL_X86_--.msm _VC_80_WinSxS_MFC_IA_RTL_X86_--.msm

The merge modules can be downloaded from http://www.businessobjects.com/products/dev_zone/net/VisualStudio2005Beta. Note For more information about merge modules in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003, and Crystal Reports 10, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005.

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Appendix: Report Files

Crystal report binding scenarios use either embedded or non-embedded reports. In Visual Studio applications, embedded reports are compiled into the deployment project. Deployment projects can then be distributed and deployed without having to distribute report files separately. For applications that use non-embedded reports, the report files are not compiled into the deployment projects. The report files must be distributed with the projects. For more information about embedded and non-embedded reports, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. The following table describes what you must do to successfully distribute and view deployment projects that use specific reporting binding scenarios. Report binding scenarios Binding to a File Directory Path in Code Binding to a File Directory Path Through the Properties Window Binding to a Non-embedded Report Class Loaded into ReportDocument Binding to a Non-embedded Report Class Loaded into a Cache Management Utility Class Binding to a Report Web Service URL No need to distribute report files; report files are compiled into the Report Web Service project. No need to distribute report files; report files are compiled into the project. Requirements Distribute the report files with the deployment project. On the target computer, save the report files in the path directory that is used in the Web or Windows application.

Binding to an Embedded Report Class Binding to an Embedded Report Class Upcast to ReportDocument Binding to a Cached Embedded Report Class Binding to Crystal Enterprise (Crystal Reports 10) Binding to Report Application Server (Crystal Reports 10) Binding to Unmanaged RAS Using ReportDocument.Load() Method (RAS 10) Binding to Unmanaged RAS Using ReportDocument.FileName Property (RAS 10) Binding to Unmanaged RAS Using ReportClientDocument.Open() Method

No need to distribute report files; report files are accessed through the unmanaged RAS server. The unmanaged RAS server that is used in the binding scenarios needs to be running on the network. Report binding scenario in Binding to Unmanaged RAS Using ReportClientDocument.Open() Method (RAS 9 and up) needs Report
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(RAS 9 and up) Binding to ReportSource (Crystal Enterprise 10) Binding to Managed RAS Using ReportDocument.Load() Method (RAS within CE 10) Binding to Managed RAS Using ReportDocument.FileName Property (RAS within CE 10) Binding to Managed RAS Using ReportAppFactory.OpenDocument() Method (RAS within CE 9 and up)Binding to InfoObject Cast as Report

Application Server to be installed on the target computer. No need to distribute report files; report files are accessed through the managed RAS server. The managed RAS server that is used in the report binding scenarios needs to be running on the network. Report binding scenario in Binding to ReportSource (Crystal Enterprise 10) needs Crystal Enterprise .NET SDK and Crystal Enterprise Publishing Wizard to be installed on the target computer.

Note For more information about each binding scenario, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005.

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Appendix: Project Setup

This section is a key learning point for both advanced and intermediate developers. It demonstrates the recommended best practices to follow to create and configure a new Windows project or Web project/site with Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003, and Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005. Visual Studio Versions Project Setup requires different procedures for Visual Studio .NET 2002 and 2003, as compared to the Project Setup procedures for Visual Studio 2005. Click the appropriate link to jump to the section that corresponds to your version of Visual Studio: Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 Visual Studio 2005

Project Setup in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

In Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003, both Web and Windows applications are built from a common structure: A Web project. A Windows project.

Therefore a common set of instructions can be given for setting up your project, with only minor variations for the Web or Windows versions of the project. The procedures in this section must be completed in succession: Creating a New Web or Windows Project Applying Standard Project Settings Preparing the Web or Windows Form Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control

Creating a New Web or Windows Project in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003
Before you create a Web or Windows project, verify that Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 has been installed on your system. See Appendix: What Needs to be Installed?. Note Use a Pascal naming convention: set the first letter of the project name to uppercase (because the project name also becomes the namespace name for the assembly generated from the project).

Creating a New Web Project in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

To set up a Web project in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. Launch Visual Studio. 2. From the File menu, select New, and then click Project. 3. In the New Project dialog box, click either Visual C# Projects or Visual Basic Projects from the Project types list.
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4. From the Templates list, click ASP.NET Web Application. 5. In the Location field, replace the default project name with the name of your project. The sample below assumes that your server name is http://localhost.
[Visual Basic]

http://localhost/MyProjectNameVBNET
[C#]

http://localhost/MyProjectNameCSharp 6. Click OK.

Creating a New Windows Project in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

To set up a Windows project in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. Launch Visual Studio. 2. From the File menu, select New, and then click Project. 3. In the New Project dialog box, click either Visual C# Projects or Visual Basic Projects from the Project types list. 4. From the Templates list, click Windows Application. 5. In the Name field, replace the default project name with the name of your project. 6. Click OK.

Applying Standard Project Settings in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

A few minor modifications must be made to the project settings to configure the project to work with the tutorials in this documentation. Note Flow layout uses plain html without pixel placement instructions. This generates thinner, more readable html code. The use of flow layout has been adopted in all tutorials and sample code that are supplied with the help documentation. To modify project settings for a Visual Basic project in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. In your Visual Basic project, right-click the project name (the name in bold that is just below the solution name in Solution Explorer), and then select Properties. 2. In the Property Pages dialog box, expand the Common Properties folder, and click Build. 3. On the OptionStrict list, click On. Note As a best practice, it is recommended that you enable OptionStrict at the start of any Visual Basic project. When you write code, it forces the use of best practices with strongly typed variable declarations and valid casting, both of which are checked at compile time. Compile-time checks that are strictly enforced can reduce run-time exceptions.
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4. In the same folder, select Designer Defaults. On the Page Layout list, set the value as follows: In a Windows project, set the value to Grid. In a Web project, set the value to Flow.

To modify project settings for a C# in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. In your C# project, right-click the project name (the name in bold that is just below the solution name in Solution Explorer) and click Properties. 2. In the Property Pages dialog box, expand the Common Properties folder, and click Designer Defaults. On the Page Layout list, set the value as follows: In a Windows project, set the value to Grid. In a Web project, set the value to Flow.

Preparing the Web or Windows Form in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003
In this section, you prepare the Web or Windows Form in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003.

Preparing the Web Form in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

Traditional ASP websites typically defined a default page under the name default.asp. In keeping with that pattern in an ASP.NET Web project, you create a new Web Form named Default.aspx (and delete the auto-generated Web Form, WebForm1.aspx). To prepare the Web Form in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. Delete the WebForm1.aspx page that is generated when the project is created. 2. From the Project menu, click Add Web Form. 3. In the Add New Item dialog box, in the Name field at the bottom, enter the name Default.aspx. 4. Click Open. The Default.aspx Web Form (also called a page) appears in Solution Explorer and the form opens in the main window. 5. From the View menu, click Code. The code-behind class for the Default.aspx Web Form (_Default class) appears, which contains a Web Form Designer generated code region. Next, you add a private helper method that is used as the designated location for all the code that configures Crystal Reports for the class. To add a private helper method for Crystal Reports configuration code 1. At the bottom of the class, add a new private scope helper method, with no return value, named ConfigureCrystalReports().
[Visual Basic]

Private Sub ConfigureCrystalReports()

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End Sub
[end] [C#]

private void ConfigureCrystalReports() { }

[end]

Next, you put a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() method from within an event method, so that the ConfigureCrystalReports() method runs automatically when the form loads. The ConfigureCrystalReports() method enables users to interact with the report at runtime. It also controls programmatic interaction with the report. Note The Page_Load event method is typically used to enter Web Form configuration code in a .NET Web application. However, Page_Load is not the recommended event method to use with Crystal Reports. For more information, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. 2. Click the + symbol on the Web Form Designer generated code region to expand and display its contents. It is usually best to keep this region collapsed, because it contains auto-generated content that you rarely modify. However, you must add one line of code to this region before you collapse it again. 3. Within the "Page_Init" [Visual Basic] or "OnInit" [C#] event method, and below the method call to InitializeComponent(), enter a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() method.
[Visual Basic]

ConfigureCrystalReports()
[end] [C#]

ConfigureCrystalReports();
[end]

4. Click the - symbol on the Web Form Designer generated code region to collapse the contents of this region. 5. In Solution Explorer, right-click Default.aspx, and then click Set As Start Page. This page is now the first page to load when the website is accessed. 6. From the File menu, click Save All.

Preparing the Windows Form in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

Traditional Visual Basic 6 Windows applications typically defined a default form under the name Form1. In keeping with that pattern in a Windows project, you use the same default form name, Form1 with a .cs or .vb extension that depends on the language you use. To prepare the Windows Form in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003
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1. If Form1 is not already displayed in the main window, double-click Form1 in Solution Explorer to open it in Design view. 2. From the View menu, click Code. The code view of the Form1 class appears. The display of this class is dependent on whether your Windows application is coded in Visual Basic or C#. In C#, the Form1 class displays the following: A class-level variable declaration (the components variable). A constructor (Form1). A Dispose() method. A Main() method. A Windows Form Designer generated code region.

In Visual Basic, the Form1 class displays only a class signature and the Windows Form Designer generated code region. Next, you add a private helper method that is used as the designated location for all code that configures Crystal Reports for the class. To add a private helper method for Crystal Reports configuration code 1. Add to this Form1 class a new private scope helper method with no return value, named ConfigureCrystalReports().
[Visual Basic]

Private Sub ConfigureCrystalReports() End Sub

[end] [C#]

private void ConfigureCrystalReports() { }

[end]

Next, you put a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() method from within the class constructor, so that the ConfigureCrystalReports() method runs automatically when the form loads. Note The class constructor for Visual Basic, New(), is contained within the Windows Form Designer generated code region. You need to expand this region temporarily in Visual Basic to have access to the class constructor. After you have finished your modification, it is recommended that you collapse this region and place your code within the ConfigureCrystalReports() method. 2. Within the class constructor New() [Visual Basic] or Form1() [C#] and below the method call to InitializeComponent(), enter a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() method.
[Visual Basic]

ConfigureCrystalReports()
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ConfigureCrystalReports();
[end]

Note If you use Visual Basic, you can now collapse the Windows Form Designer generated code region. 3. From the File menu, click Save All.

Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003

You are now ready to add a CrystalReportViewer control to your Web or Windows Form, to enable you to display reports on the form. To add a CrystalReportViewer control in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003 1. Open the Web or Windows Form in Design view. 2. From the Toolbox, locate the CrystalReportViewer control. Note The CrystalReportViewer control is generally located at the bottom of the list of controls. You may have to scroll down to find it. 3. Drag and drop the CrystalReportViewer control onto the form. Note When you add the CrystalReportViewer control, the References folder in Solution Explorer expands to show that a number of Crystal Reports assemblies have been automatically added to the project. 4. Click the CrystalReportViewer control to select it. 5. From the Properties window, set the ID or Name property: For Visual Basic projects, set the ID property (Web Form) or Name property (Windows Form) to myCrystalReportViewer. For C# projects, set the ID property (Web Form) or Name property (Windows Form) to crystalReportViewer.

6. For either Visual Basic or C#, if you are working in a Windows project, from the Properties window set the Dock to Fill (either by selecting the middle square of the Dock selection graphic, or by typing "Fill" into the field). Note This causes the CrystalReportViewer to fill the entire Windows Form. 7. From the File menu, click Save All. 8. From the View menu, click Code. The code-behind class for the Web or Windows Form appears. Next, you declare a namespace, to provide access to the SDK. 9. Above the class signature, add an "Imports" [Visual Basic] or "using" [C#] declaration to the top of the class for the CrystalDecisions.Shared and CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine namespaces.
[Visual Basic]

Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared

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using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine; using CrystalDecisions.Shared;

[end]

Note To access various classes for Crystal Reports without a namespace prefix, you must declare those namespaces at the top of the class. You have now completed the procedures to create a Web or Windows project in Visual Studio .NET 2002 or 2003.

Project Setup in Visual Studio 2005

In Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005, the structure of Web and Windows applications is no longer parallel: Web applications are no longer built as projects. They are now built as Web Sites. This means that for Web applications the project metaphor is gone. The contents of a Web Site folder are now simpler than that of a Windows project. In particular, the configuration information previously spread across project and global files has either been removed altogether or else relocated to the Web.config file. Windows applications continue to be built as projects. Web Site Setup Windows Project Setup Click the appropriate link to jump to that section:

Web Site Setup in Visual Studio 2005

This section is a key learning point for both advanced and intermediate developers. It demonstrates the recommended best practices to follow when you create and configure a new Web Site with Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005. This section demonstrates Web Site Setup using a coding model. As part of this setup, you will go into the code-beside class and enter code. This code-based Web Site that you create serves as a prerequisite for the coding tutorials that are provided with this online help. The procedures in this section must be completed in succession: Creating a New Web Site Preparing the Web Form Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control

Creating a New Web Site in Visual Studio 2005

Before you create a Web Site, verify that Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 has been installed on your system. See Appendix: What Needs to be Installed?. To set up a Web Site in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. Launch Visual Studio 2005. 2. From the File menu, select New, and then click Web Site.

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3. In the New Web Site dialog box, select a language folder for C# or Visual Basic from the Project Types list. 4. From the Templates list, click ASP.NET Web Site. 5. In the Location field, replace the default project name, C:\WebSites\WebApplication1, with the name of your project. C:\WebSites\MyProjectName 6. Click OK.

Preparing the Web Form in Visual Studio 2005

When you create a new Web Site, a Default.aspx page is automatically generated. This Default.aspx page defaults to the inline code model used by traditional ASP. While familiar to ASP users, this model prevents the separation of the presentation layer from the business logic. These instructions guide you to use the alternative model where code is placed in a separate file. To prepare the Web Form in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. Delete the Default.aspx page that is generated when the project is created. Note You need to delete the Default.aspx page so that you can recreate your own version of this page, with the code stored in a separate file. 2. In Solution Explorer, right-click on the bold Web Site name and select Add New Item. 3. In the Add New Item dialog box, select Web Form in the Standard Templates list. 4. In the Name field, enter the name Default.aspx. 5. Select Place code in separate file. 6. Click Add. The Default.aspx Web Form is added to Solution Explorer. The form opens in the main window in Source view. 7. From the View menu, click Code. The code-beside partial class for the Default.aspx Web Form (Default_aspx) appears. 8. If you develop in Visual Basic, type "Option Strict On" at the top of the code view. Note As a best practice, it is recommended that you set Option Strict On at the start of every Visual Basic class in your Web Site. When you write code, it forces the use of best practices with strongly typed variable declarations and valid casting, both of which are checked at compile time. Compile-time checks that are strictly enforced can reduce run-time exceptions. Next, you add a private helper method that is used as the designated location for all code that configures Crystal Reports for the class. To add a private helper method for Crystal Reports configuration code 1. Within the class, add a new private scope helper method, with no return value, named ConfigureCrystalReports().
[Visual Basic]

Private Sub ConfigureCrystalReports()

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End Sub
[end] [C#]

private void ConfigureCrystalReports() { }

[end]

The ConfigureCrystalReports() method enables users to interact with the report at runtime. It also controls programmatic interaction with the report. Next, you create the Page_Init event method to call the ConfigureCrystalReports() method. This event method guarantees that the ConfigureCrystalReports() method runs when the form loads. Note The Page_Load event method is typically used to enter Web Form configuration code in an ASP.NET Web application. However, Page_Load is not the correct event method to use with Crystal Reports. For more information, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. 2. At the top left drop-down list of the Code view, select Page [C#] or Page Events [Visual Basic]. Note This causes the top right drop-down list to be populated with all available events for this control. 3. From the top right drop-down list, choose the Init event. The following method signature is created in your code-beside class:
[Visual Basic]

Private Sub Page_Init(ByVal sender As Object, ByVal e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Init End Sub
[end] [C#]

private void Page_Init(object sender, EventArgs e) { }

[end]

4. Within the Page_Init event method, enter a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() helper method.
[Visual Basic]

ConfigureCrystalReports()
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ConfigureCrystalReports();
[end]

5. From the File menu, click Save All.

Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control in Visual Studio 2005

The CrystalReportViewer control enables you to display reports on the Web Form. When you add the CrystalReportViewer control, several assemblies are added as references to the web.config file. In Visual Studio 2005, the web.config file is not added by default to a Web site. Therefore, before you add a CrystalReportViewer control to your Web Form, it is crucial that you add a web.config file first. To add a web.config file to the Web Site in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click on the bold Web Site name and select Add New Item. 2. In the Add New Item dialog box, select Web Configuration File from the Standard Templates list, and then click Add. You are now ready to add the CrystalReportViewer control. To add a CrystalReportViewer control 1. Open the Default.aspx page. 2. From the View menu, click Designer. 3. From the Toolbox, open the Crystal Reports node to locate the CrystalReportViewer control. 4. Drag and drop the CrystalReportViewer control onto the Web Form. The CrystalReportViewer control displays a new GUI feature known as a Smart Tag panel on the upper-right corner of the control. Note This is part of the reduced-code development model provided with ASP.NET version 2.0. The Smart Tag panel for the CrystalReportViewer control simplifies configuration of functionality such as report binding and control layout using GUI settings. Any selections that you make in the Smart Tag panel are then auto-generated as tag-based settings within the ASPX page. Since you are currently working with the code-based development model, the Smart Tag panel is not used during this setup. To learn more about the Smart Tag panel, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. 5. If the Smart Tag panel "Common CrystalReportViewer Tasks" is open, press Esc on your keyboard to close it. 6. Click the CrystalReportViewer control to select it. 7. From the Properties window, set the ID property: For Visual Basic Web Sites, set the ID property to myCrystalReportViewer. For C# Web Sites, set the ID property to crystalReportViewer.

8. From the File menu, click Save All.

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In Visual Studio 2005, the .aspx page, and its corresponding code-beside class compile together into a single class to share members. This is possible because a new feature of Visual Studio 2005, called partial classes. For example, when you add a CrystalReportViewer control to the Default.aspx page, at compile time, the page becomes the Default_aspx partial class. The controls on the .aspx page are converted to class-level variable declarations. Because the code-beside class is also a partial Default_aspx class, the .aspx page can access the properties and methods of the CrystalReportViewer variable as a member of its own class. Also, controls on the .aspx page can access methods in the code-beside class. For example, a Button control can reference a click event method that is available in the code-beside class from its OnClick property. To add Imports/Using statements to reference namespaces 1. In Solution Explorer, open the Web.config. 2. In the <assemblies> node, verify that the following Crystal Reports assemblies have been added: CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine CrystalDecisions.Shared Note The references are automatically added to the Web.config file when you drag and drop the CrystalReportViewer control onto the page. If for some reason the references have not been added, you must open the Add Reference dialog box and manually add the two assemblies listed above. 3. Click OK. 4. Select the Default.aspx page. 5. From the View menu, click Code. The code-beside class for the Web Form appears. 6. Above the class signature, add an "Imports" [Visual Basic] or "using" [C#] declaration for the namespaces of the assemblies that are listed above.
[Visual Basic]

Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared

[end] [C#]

using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine; using CrystalDecisions.Shared;

[end]

Note The classes of these two assemblies are commonly used in all tutorials. For any additional assemblies that you may occasionally require in specific tutorials, you will be directed to add them during that tutorial. You have now completed the procedures to create a Web Site in Visual Studio 2005.

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Windows Project Setup in Visual Studio 2005

This section is a key learning point for both advanced and intermediate developers. It demonstrates the recommended best practices to follow to create and configure a new Windows project with Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005. This section demonstrates Windows project setup using a coding model. As part of this setup, you will go into the Form1 class and enter code. This code-based Windows project that you create serves as a prerequisite for the coding tutorials that are provided with this online help. The procedures in this section must be completed in succession: Creating a New Windows Project Applying Standard Project Settings Preparing the Windows Form Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control

Creating a New Windows Project in Visual Studio 2005

Before you create a Windows project, verify that Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 has been installed on your system. See Appendix: What Needs to be Installed?. To set up a Windows project in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. Launch Visual Studio 2005. 2. From the File menu, select New, and then click Project. 3. In the New Project dialog box, select a language folder for C# or Visual Basic from the Project Types list. 4. From the Templates list, click Windows Application. 5. In the Name field, replace the default project name with the name of your project. 6. Click OK.

Applying Standard Project Settings in Visual Studio 2005

You must make a minor modification to the project settings in a Visual Basic project, to configure the project to work with the tutorials in this documentation. To modify project settings for a Visual Basic project in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. In Solution Explorer, right-click the bold project name that is below the solution name, and then select Properties. 2. In the Properties view, click the Compile tab. 3. On the OptionStrict list, click On. 4. Close the Properties view. 5. From the File menu, click Save All. Note As a best practice, it is recommended that you enable OptionStrict at the start of any Visual Basic project. When you write code, it forces the use of best practices with strongly typed variable declarations and valid casting, both of which are checked at compile time. Compile-time checks that are strictly enforced can reduce run-time exceptions.
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Preparing the Windows Form in Visual Studio 2005

Traditional Visual Basic 6 Windows applications typically defined a default form under the name Form1. In keeping with that pattern in a Windows project, you use the same default form name, Form1 with a .cs or .vb extension that depends on the language you use. To prepare the Windows Form in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. If Form1 is not already displayed in the main window, double-click Form1 in Solution Explorer to open it in Design view. 2. From the View menu, click Code. The code view of the Form1 class appears. The display of this class depends on whether your Windows application is coded in Visual Basic or C#. In C#, the Form1 class displays the following: The class signature. A constructor (Form1). The class signature (a Form1 class). Note Additional methods and variables of the Form1 class are contained in a separate "partial" class. (This is true for both C# and Visual Basic.) Partial classes are explained later in Windows Project Setup. Next, you add a private helper method that is used as the designated location for all the code that configures Crystal Reports for the class. To add a private helper method for Crystal Reports configuration code 1. Add to this Form1 class a new private scope helper method with no return value, named ConfigureCrystalReports().
[Visual Basic]

In Visual Basic, the Form1 class displays the following:

Private Sub ConfigureCrystalReports() End Sub

[end] [C#]

private void ConfigureCrystalReports() { }

[end]

Next you create an event method, and then put a call to ConfigureCrystalReports() within that new event method. This will cause the ConfigureCrystalReports() method to run automatically when the form loads. 2. From the View menu, click Designer. 3. Double-click on Form1. You are returned to Code view. Because you double-clicked on Form1, a Form1_Load event method is automatically generated in the Form1 class.
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4. Within the Form1_Load event method, enter a call to the ConfigureCrystalReports() method.
[Visual Basic]

ConfigureCrystalReports()
[end] [C#]

ConfigureCrystalReports();
[end]

5. From the File menu, click Save All.

Adding a CrystalReportViewer Control in Visual Studio 2005

To display reports on a Windows Form, you add a CrystalReportViewer control. To add a CrystalReportViewer control in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 1. Open Form1 in Design view. 2. From the Toolbox, open the Crystal Reports node to locate the CrystalReportViewer control. 3. Drag and drop the CrystalReportViewer control onto the form. The CrystalReportViewer control displays a new GUI feature known as a Smart Tag panel on the upper-right corner of the control. Note This is part of the reduced-code development model provided with .NET version 2.0. The Smart Tag panel for the CrystalReportViewer control simplifies configuration of functionality such as report binding and control layout using GUI settings. Since you are currently working with the code-based development model, the Smart Tag panel is not used during this setup. To learn more about the Smart Tag panel, please refer to the online help in Visual Studio 2005. 4. If the Smart Tag panel is open, click the arrow toggle on the upper-right corner of the CrystalReportViewer control to close the Smart Tag panel. 5. Click the CrystalReportViewer control to select it. 6. From the Properties window, set the ID property: For Visual Basic Windows project, set the ID property to myCrystalReportViewer. For C# Windows project, set the ID property to crystalReportViewer.

7. From the File menu, click Save All. 8. From the Build menu, click Build Solution. 9. From the View menu, click Other Windows, and then click Object Browser. 10. In the Object Browser, expand the [project name] node, then the [project name] namespace node, and then click on the Form1 class. The members of the Form1 class are displayed, which include both the CrystalReportViewer variable (from the Form1.Designer.cs partial class) and the ConfigureCrystalReports() method (from the Form1.cs partial class). In Visual Studio 2005, Form1 and its corresponding Form1 Designer class compile together into a single class that shares their members. This is possible because a new feature of Visual Studio 2005, called partial classes.
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For example, when you add a CrystalReportViewer control to Form1, Visual Studio 2005 regards that addition as a class-level variable declaration in the Form1.designer.cs (or .vb) partial class. Because the code-beside class is also a partial Form1 class, Form1 can access the properties and methods of the CrystalReportViewer control. Also, controls in one Form1 partial class can access methods in the other. For example, a Button control in the Form1 Designer class can reference a click event method that is available in the Form1 code-beside class from its OnClick property. To add Imports/Using Statements to reference namespaces 1. If the References folder is not visible in Solution Explorer, on the Solution Explorer toolbar, click Show All Files to display all project files. 2. In Solution Explorer, expand the References folder. 3. Verify that the following Crystal Reports assemblies have been added: CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine CrystalDecisions.Shared

4. Select Form1, and then from the View menu, click Code. The Code view of the Form1 class appears. 5. Above the class signature, add an "Imports" [Visual Basic] or "using" [C#] declaration to the top of the class containing the following Crystal Reports namespaces.
[Visual Basic]

Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared

[end] [C#]

using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine; using CrystalDecisions.Shared;

[end]

Note To access various classes for Crystal Reports without a namespace prefix, you must declare those namespaces at the top of the class. You have now completed the procedures to create a Windows project in Visual Studio 2005.

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Appendix: What Needs to be Installed?

You need to install Crystal Reports for Visual Studio before you can create Web or Windows applications that use Crystal reports.

Visual Studio Versions

Crystal Reports is available for purchase as a separate application, or as an OEM version that is installed as part of most versions of Microsoft Visual Studio. If you intend to use the OEM version of Crystal Reports with Visual Studio, you must verify that the version of Visual Studio that you have installed ships with Crystal Reports for Visual Studio. Visual Studio is available in the following versions: Version Visual Studio .NET 2002, Standard (C#, Visual Basic, or C++) Visual Studio .NET 2002, Professional or higher Visual Studio .NET 2003, Standard (C#, Visual Basic, or C++) Visual Studio .NET 2003, Professional or higher Visual Studio 2005, Professional or higher The Crystal Reports Component By default, the Crystal Reports component is installed as part of your Visual Studio .NET installation. If you must install the Crystal Reports component, relaunch the Visual Studio .NET installer and follow directions to add enterprise development tools. Crystal Reports included? No Yes No Yes Yes

Crystal Reports Versions

Multiple versions of Crystal Reports .NET are available. Many of the procedures in this document are version-specific. To best use this document to your advantage, determine first which version of Crystal Reports you have installed. To determine which version you are currently using 1. Go to the GAC (Global Assembly Cache) at: C:\WINNT\assembly or C:\Windows\assembly 2. Look for files in this assembly folder whose prefix begins with CrystalDecisions. 3. Locate the CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine file. Note If you have installed more than one version of Crystal Reports, you have multiple versions of these files in the Global Assembly Cache. The CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine file is selected, because this file is included with every version of Crystal Reports.
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4. Note the Version column shown in the window. This is the "Assembly version." 5. Locate the highest number for a particular assembly. 6. Right-click the file, select Properties, and then click the Versions tab within the Properties window. 7. Compare the file version against the version number in the chart below. Note If you are using Crystal Reports version 9.0 with Microsoft Visual Studio .NET 2003, the maintenance release for CR 9.2 (available as the CR 9.2 upgrade CD) must be installed. Crystal Decisions supports only CR 9.2 in Visual Studio .NET 2003. If Borland C# is installed after Visual Studio .NET 2003, it updates the assembly versions. Product Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2002 (patched) Crystal Reports 9 Crystal Reports 9 (patched) Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2003 Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET 2003 (patched) Crystal Reports 10 Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2005 Crystal Reports for Borland C# Hot Fix Applied? no yes Optional Add-Ons none none Assembly Version 9.1.3300 9.1.3300 File Version 9.1.9360 9.1.9466

no yes no yes

RAS 9 RAS 9 none none

9.2.3300 9.2.3300 9.1.5000 9.1.5000

9.2.9466 9.2.9500 9.1.9800.x 9.1.9800.x

no no no

RAS 10 none none

10.0.3300.0 9.7.3500.0 9.1.5000

10.0.9500.x

9.1.9800.x

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