Report

A Report represents a single source report (Crystal Reports .rpt file) that you want Report Commander to process.

To add a new report to a project, click the Add Report button () in the main toolbar, and browse to select the report. Then use the settings on the Report Properties Panel to configure basic settings for the report.

You will then add an Output Group to the report and begin configuring file and print outputs for the report.

Updating the Project to Reflect Report Changes

If you modify the Crystal Reports file and change any of the data sources or parameters for the report, you need to reload the report in the Project Editor. Otherwise, the connection and parameter information Report Commander has may not match up with the report at runtime, resulting in errors.

To reload the report, close all open property panels, then right-click the report name in the Project Navigator and select the Reload () command. After you do this, be sure to review the Data Sources on the Report Properties Panel and the Parameters on all the Output Groups for the report to make sure they are still correct.

Report Properties Panel

To reach this panel, select the report name in the Project Navigator and click the Settings () button in the main toolbar.

Settings on the Report Properties panel apply to all Outputs that get produced for this report.

General

The General tab contains basic settings for the report.

Report File

The Report File shows the name of the .rpt file. Initially this is set to the full path/name of the report file you selected. You may want to change the path if the report will not always be in the same place, or if the Project may be run on another computer.

For example, you could use a variable as a placeholder for the path.

If you change to point to a different report file than you originally used, or a different version of the original report, be sure to reload the report (see above) so the Project is updated with the correct data source and parameter information.

Convert to relative path

When you click the Convert to relative path link, Report Commander will replace the absolute path to the report file with a path relative to the project location. That way even if you move the project and report to another folder or computer, Report Commander will still be able to find the report, as long as the relative path remains valid.

Force refresh of report data when printing or exporting

If your report file has data saved in it (in Crystal Reports, the Save data with report option is checked on the File menu), check the Refresh option to tell Report Commander to discard the saved data and refresh the report from the database.

If there is saved data and you do not check this box, the output will contain only the saved data.

If there is no saved data in the report, this option has no effect.

Enabled

Check this box to enable processing for the report. If you want to temporarily stop processing outputs for this report without deleting it from the project, uncheck the box. All outputs in the report will be skipped if the Enabled option is not checked.

ID Code

The ID Code is used to identify this item when filtering is applied on the Project Runner command line.

Data Sources

The Data Sources tab contains information about the data sources found in the report.

If this list does not match what you expect to see, try reloading the report as described above.

For each data source you can review and override the connection information to set the database login credentials or override the connection to point to a different database. Click the Edit button for a data source to open the Data Source Properties window.