May 27, 2010 at 3:33 am
Hi. I have been asked to review the merits of Crystal Reports over SSRS.
I have a couple of questions.
The database the user wishes to report on has no views (i.e. user must code t-sql).
I intended to install SSMS Express + Visual Studio on selected user machines to enable report development and grant datareader role to AD Group.
The user who is pushing Crystal thinks Crystal simplifies this approach by allowing direct access to the SQL DB tables then allowing users to drag and drop fields (Crystal creates the links).
I am not sure this is the case. I would expect the user would still need to understand the table relations.
Any advice on how Crystal works would be appreciated (+ opinions on SSRS over Crystal or vice versa).
Kind Regards,
Phil.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A neutron walks into a bar. "I'd like a beer" he says. The bartender promptly serves up a beer. "How much will that be?" asks the neutron. "For you?" replies the bartender, "no charge."
Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, 'I think I've lost an electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first says, 'Yes, I'm positive... '
Tommy Cooper
May 27, 2010 at 6:12 am
Hi,
I think this very much depends on what type of databases you will reporting on in your organization and the reporting requirements.
If most of your databases are sql server then Reporting services will be suitable. Crystal does have a drag and drop designer but that does not mean that the linking will be done automatically. It will guess the links, which most of the time are incorrect.
With crystal you will have to bring in the tables and then create the joins and then you can create the filters within the report, so in theory you may not need to write any sql.
There are differences between the rs and crystal but reporting services is very much there as an alternative and can do some things a lot better.
RS Pros
1 Export to Excel - Rs does this so much better as it uses the same grid size as Excel whereas crystal uses a different grid sixe so the columns are all over the place.
2 Cascading and General Prompting is a lot better
3 Dynamic scheduling of reports with dynamic recipients - data driven subscriptions
4 Less formatting required for quick reports
5 Ability to Link one report to another with parameters
6 Web Archive report format - deliver reports within email body
7 Cost to the firm - a lot cheaper than crystal
8 Deploy reports to a customized sharepoint page
Crystal Reports Pros
1 Export to word format - rs 2008 option only
2 Page breaks for groups - rs 2008 option only
3 Editing reports within the preview tab - rs does not allow you to edit a report in preview mode
4 Filters - crystal report adds an additional layer to a datasource such as a table or view and allows you to put additional filters.
5 Reports are saved to the enterprise system, so an developer can access an existing report which has been deployed. With rs a report which has been deployed will need to be saved locally and then opened in an existing solution.
I have just created a quick list based on my experiences for more info see the link
May 27, 2010 at 7:26 am
Many thanks for your response.
Kind Regards,
Phil.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A neutron walks into a bar. "I'd like a beer" he says. The bartender promptly serves up a beer. "How much will that be?" asks the neutron. "For you?" replies the bartender, "no charge."
Two hydrogen atoms walk into a bar. One says, 'I think I've lost an electron.' The other says 'Are you sure?' The first says, 'Yes, I'm positive... '
Tommy Cooper
Viewing 3 posts - 1 through 2 (of 2 total)
You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply