Like many Crystal developers I get asked if I can put a specific crystal report on a web server so the users can refresh it “live.” I have been using crystal for a while now and with all the advances in Visual Studio, I was eventually able to do it. Soon after, I got moved to another group that had crystal licenses but no web development tools. I downloaded the web developer express and tried to get them to work together. I couldn’t do it directly so here is the work-around I found.

On the Business Objects web site is a server install file for the version of Crystal reports you are using. Pick the latest version and install that on your web server. Then create a new website on the server using visual web developer express.

Import/create a couple of files from an existing crystal web site (web.config and your aspx page.) Then customize it to your liking using visual web developer express.

A few fun facts to know.

This only works on the primary web server. So let your administrator know that’s what you need.

Always get the latest version of Crystal to develop with. So if you have XI then get the XI release 2 with the latest patches before you develop. If you have crystal 2008, just get the latest patches.

The intellisense feature will not work with any of the crystal items. You will have underlines all over your code where you refer to crystal.

Microsoft usually has a version of the full blown visual studio you can get to evaluate … will your boss invest some money in buying this great tool after you show him what it can do? Try telling him you now need it to maintain the site.