Using Crystal Connectivity Kit with Crystal Reports XI Server Edition

A Data Access Worldwide White Paper
by Marcia Booth

June 22, 2005
Last Edited: July 07, 2005

The goal of this white paper is to help you configure Crystal Reports XI Server Edition to successfully run reports that access DataFlex tables.

Contents

 

Required Software

You will need the following products in order to be able follow the steps described in this white paper:

  1. Crystal Reports XI Server Edition
  2. Crystal Reports Connectivity Kit 11

 

Installing Crystal Reports XI Server Edition

Some things you should make sure before you start installing the Server:

  1. The machine you are planning on installing on meets the minimum specification set by Business Objects in the technical document on supported and tested platforms (http://support.businessobjects.com/communityCS/TechnicalPapers/cr_server_xi_supported_platforms.pdf.asp)
  2. You are logged in as the Administrator or a user with equivalent rights
  3. You stopped any antivirus software so XI Server can copy files and update the registry as needed.

Once those 3 requisites are met, just follow the steps described in http://support.businessobjects.com/communityCS/TechnicalPapers/cr_server_quick_install.pdf.asp in order to get the Server installed.

After the original product is installed, download and apply the latest hot fixes available for Crystal Reports XI from ftp://ftp1.businessobjects.com/outgoing/EHF/commonXIwin_en.zip and ftp://ftp1.businessobjects.com/outgoing/EHF/crXIwin_en.zip, or download the latest Monthly Hot Fix (if available).

Setting Up Crystal Reports Connectivity Kit 11

In order to publish and run reports that access DataFlex tables, you will need to have the Connectivity Kit available in the Server's common directory, i.e. C:\Program Files\Common Files\Business Objects\3.0\bin (default).

The necessary Connectivity Kit files should be copied to the common directory and then you should configure your system so those files can be found when needed.

First, copy the following files to the bin directory under Common Files:

 

XI Server LOCATION

CommonDir\Bin\crdb_p2bdfapi.dll
CommonDir\Bin\crdb_p2bdfapi_res_en.dll

CommonDir\Bin\p2bdfapi.dll

CommonDir\apidll.dll

CommonDir\df_collate.cfg

where CommonDir, by default, is C:\Program Files\Common Files\Business Objects\3.0.

Second, adjust the PATH environment variable, adding CommonDir to it so all the files can be found when needed. Note that in order for the new value of PATH to take effect, Windows might need to be restarted after changing that setting.

To change the PATH:

  1. Open Control Panel | System
  2. On the Advanced tab, click on Environment Variables
  3. Look for PATH in the list and highlight it
  4. Click on Edit
  5. Press Home to go to the beginning of the string
  6. Type: C:\Program Files\Common Files\Business Objects\3.0\Bin; -- don't forget to include the semicolon
  7. Press OK until the System panel gets closed

If any of the files are missing, you may get the following error displayed when trying to run a report:

CrystalReportViewer

Error in File <reports file name>: Failed to load database information.

Unable to retrieve Object.
Error in File custlstXI: Failed to load database information.

 

Saving Reports that will be Published

The datasource location specified in the reports (set through Database | Set Datasource Location) is of critical importance. If that location is not correct or is inaccessible, chances are that the XI Server will ask for a Database logon when trying to open the DataFlex tables displaying the following message when running the reports:

The report you requested requires further information.

Database Logon

In order to avoid that:

If the directory name saved to the report is on the same machine as where the XI Server is, it is possible to use a path (like C:\MyPublishedReports) to determine where the DataFlex tables are located. However, this is not recommended. 

Publishing Reports that use DataFlex Tables

Scenario

In this white paper, we use the following scenario: Developers create new reports on their local machines and copy them to a directory on the server when the reports are ready to be published. The tables used in the reports are located on a file server -- different from the server where Crystal XI Server is running -- that can be accessed from both the Developers' machines and the Crystal XI Server machine. The path to the tables saved in the report are in UNC format pointing to the data directory in the file server.

The described scenario is just an example of how you can set up an environment to have a work-in-progress report on the Developers' machines independent of a tested copy of the same report that is ready to be published and used by other users. This way, Developers can make a report available to other users and then fine-tune and re-publish an updated version of the report. By the same token, if Developers need to go back to the public version of the report, they can copy the report back from the server and work on that version of the report.

Other needs could trigger the creation of different environments -- like publishing reports to a server straight from the Developers' machines using Crystal Reports Designer 'Save As' option or having Crystal Reports Designer installed on the same machine as the server or ... -- but these environments are beyond the scope of this white paper.

Getting the Reports Ready to be Published

  1. Create a directory on the XI Server machine that will have the publishable copy of the reports, e.g. C:\PublishedReports
  2. Copy the reports from the developer's machine to this directory -- remember that the reports need to have their datasource location set to use UNC name
  3. Change the service Crystal Reports Page Server to run under an account with rights to access the shared folder where the DataFlex tables are -- the one specified in the reports -- and restart the service

 

Publishing the Copied Reports

You can choose to publish reports in many different ways: using the Publishing Wizard, the Central Management Console, the InfoView or even the Crystal Reports Designer (to save objects directly to the server). For this white paper we will be using the InfoView. You can find more information on publishing reports using the other tools in the Business Objects Enterprise Getting Started Guide (http://support.businessobjects.com/library/docfiles/cps10/downloads/en/boexi_Getstarted_en.pdf).

To publish reports using the InfoView:

  1. Start InfoView (http://<webserver>/BusinessObjects/enterprise11/, where <webserver> should be replaced with the name of the machine where XI Server was installed ) and log on as administrator. For example:

System: MyServerName

User name: administrator

Password:

Authentication: Enterprise

  1. Click on Public Folders and leave it highlighted
  2. Select New | Folder from the menu
  3. For Folder Name type: Reports using DataFlex Data
  4. Click on OK
  5. Highlight Reports using DataFlex Data on the tree
  6. Select New | Document from local computer.. | Crystal Report from the menu
  7. Enter a title for the report you need to publish; for filename, browse the directory containing the publishable reports (in our case, C:\PublishedReports); select Reports using DataFlex Data from the Location tree
  8. Click on OK -- the report will be listed on the page of available reports in the Reports using DataFlex Data folder

 

Verifying the Published Reports

To verify the published reports, select the Reports using DataFlex Data folder on the tree and click on the name of one of the published reports. The request should be processed and the report should be displayed where the list of reports was shown.

Additional Reading

 

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