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BigRetina
Posting Yak Master
144 Posts |
 Posted - 2003-07-17 : 05:43:26
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| Salute...What is the BEST reporting tool to be used with VS.NET from your experience??Thanks In AdvanceEdited by - BigRetina on 07/17/2003 06:53:22 |
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Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-17 : 06:29:23
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| VS.NET is an IDE not a platform.VS.NET is an IDE not a platform.VS.NET is an IDE not a platform.VS.NET is an IDE not a platform.VS.NET is an IDE not a platform.Sorry, just needed to get that off my chest.But speaking of VS.NET, Crystal Reports comes bundled, it's a bit of an industry standard. Why not use that ? Or maybe give a tiny bit of info of what you need to report on.Damian |
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BigRetina
Posting Yak Master
144 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-17 : 06:57:12
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| First...I know VS.NET is an IDE while .NET is a platform!..how did I mix that??..i can not see!!Second...Thanks For your reply..Third...I use Crystal Reports but I faced too many bugs...or shall i just say PROBLEMS.. that i went looking after something else..i came across Active Reports for .NET and I really fell in love with it in about 1 hour of trails in the evaluation copy!. Its magic comes from its SIMPLICITY!!That is for me...what about U, friends..? |
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Merkin
Funky Drop Bear Fearing SQL Dude!
4970 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-17 : 07:09:10
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It's amazing how many people think that Visual Studio is the platform they are programming for, bugs me a LOT  MS have released a nice looked charting starter kit at www.asp.net. I am about to do some playing with that. Depends on what your reporting requirements are I guess.Damian |
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SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-18 : 11:30:31
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I do a lot of programming in the Visual Studio platform  Damian, I just can't help myself.What's the URL for Active Reports? I'd like to have a look.Sam |
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MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-18 : 12:13:06
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| Crystal is buggy and costs way too much IMHO.I use Activereports.net (http://www.datadynamics.com). It's not perfect, but if you need to do some fairly simple things it's pretty darn nice, and the price is right. They also have a very active newsgroup. Download the fully functional demo and try it out.They even have a way, albeit difficult, to convert a Crystal report into an active report. I think it only gets the layout of the report, but that's usually the time consuming part anyway.Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-18 : 19:24:28
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| And if you don't have to make a purchase within the next 6 months, you may want to hold out for Reporting Services. It is basically free as long as you have a SQL Server license, and it is intended to be as powerful as Crystal Enterprise and as easy as MS Access. It is in beta right now but is scheduled to be released for SQL 2000 at the end of this year. And when Yukon is released, it'll be even more powerful and just as free. |
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kannipraveen
Starting Member
13 Posts |
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SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-19 : 10:26:00
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| Rob,Any beta documentation on this product?Sam |
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robvolk
Most Valuable Yak
15732 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-19 : 10:36:30
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| http://www.microsoft.com/sql/evaluation/bi/reportingservices.aspIt's being packaged with the Yukon beta, but that's all I know for now. I had heard from a recent SQL user group meeting that they are planning on releasing it for 2000 by the end of the year, I've seen it elsewhere too. The MS guys who were speaking at the user meeting were VERY enthusiastic about it, and recommended that everyone try to get the beta to play with it. |
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Arnold Fribble
Yak-finder General
1961 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-19 : 12:49:46
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| http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2003/Jun03/06-02ReportingServicesPR.asp |
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SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-19 : 16:27:34
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| Hi Arnold,Should be an interesting beta.Sam |
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nr
SQLTeam MVY
12543 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-19 : 17:06:33
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| SQL Server reporting services was meant to be part of yukon but with the delay Microsoft have separated it and it is due to be released this year.Saying that, I think Crystal Reports is a fine product now. I used to hate it because it was so buggy but the latest versions seem quite reliable.==========================================Cursors are useful if you don't know sql.DTS can be used in a similar way.Beer is not cold and it isn't fizzy. |
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BigRetina
Posting Yak Master
144 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 03:32:52
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| Salute..This reporting services seems quite interesting...i played a little with the evaluation copy of ActiveReports For .NET and it seemed NICE. Its simplicity really attracted me!I think that Crystal Reports is a powerful product but with a lot of BUGS!!..at least the version that comes with VS.NET...dont u think so?Can u list big differences between Active Reports and Crystal Reports?for those who used both!! |
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MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 10:27:48
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| Ask that question in the Active Reports .net Newsgroup, You'll get a pretty good response methinks. I hang out in that group too :)News Server: news.datadynamics.comNews Group: support.activereports.netI think the biggest differences are 1. pricing and licensing2. .Net code behind support3. Scripting language is c#, not a propritary Crystal languageBugs exist in both, as the news group will show you, but I've not really run into any of those bugs yet. Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
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SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 10:36:36
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| My report needs are pretty well met using a .NET datagrid, (VBscript, not C#), what are the additional features of using Active Reports?Sam |
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MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 11:57:13
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| Well, I use it on the web to output "printable" reports. If you just use the datagrid, it might print funny sometimes. If you use active reports and tell it to export the report to one of the many export formats, like PDF, you can get something that looks nice and has a high quality final print. Due to these export formats, you can write one report, and give the users a pick list of how they want to export the report (PDF, XLS, TIFF, etc).Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
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SamC
White Water Yakist
3467 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 12:17:36
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| - pdf choices would be nice.I'm going to give it a try.What else? Graphical pie charts? |
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MichaelP
Jedi Yak
2489 Posts |
Posted - 2003-07-23 : 13:47:45
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| That's actually another difference. I think Crystal has charts and graphs built in, but AR.Net does not. They reccomend a 3rd party app, and putting those graphs in the report doesn't always work quite right according to the newsgroup. I think they reccomend ChartFX Lite. Depending on your charting and graphing needs, you could create the image using the System.Drawning namespace and then just put the image that you output onto the report.Michael<Yoda>Use the Search page you must. Find the answer you will.</Yoda> |
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Best Reporting Tool for .NET