Changing the datasource of a Crystal Report to a local Astra Database

The delivered Astra report .rpt files have been written against a local development server at Ad Astra. The Astra Schedule software is “smart” enough to automatically connect them to a user’s local server at run time, so no setup or configuration is necessary to run the delivered Astra Schedule reports.

 

However, when opening and editing an existing report in Crystal Reports and trying to run a preview, the report will automatically try (and fail) to connect to the last server it was connected to when the .rpt was saved (which is the local development server at Ad Astra).  In order to get a successful preview of a user’s local data, a new connection to the local database must be established.  This document describes how to make a new connection.

 

1.Locate a copy of a report (.rpt file) on the Astra server and open in Crystal Reports.  Search for .rpt files on the application server to find the install path.

 

2.In Crystal Reports, click the Database drop-down menu and choose the Set Datasource Location… option.
 

 

3.In the bottom portion of the Set Datasource Location window, expand the Create New Connection option.  To create a connection to a new MSSQL database, use the “OLE DB (ADO)” option.  To create a new Oracle connection, use the “Oracle Server” option.  Note:  In order to connect to an Oracle database, you must have the standard Oracle client utilities (with the appropriate TNSNAMES.ORA entry) on the computer you are using to edit the report.
 

 

4.If connecting to an Oracle server, skip to step 6.  Otherwise, if connecting to a MSSQL server (using the OLE DB (ADO) option), choose the “Microsoft OLE DB Provider for SQL Server” option on the OLD DB (ADO) window and click “Next”.
 

 

5.Fill in the connection information, including the database Server, User ID, Password, and Database options for your local Astra Database (you may need to get this information from your DBA) and click “Finish”.  The database user should have permissions to view all tables and views in the Astra Schedule database.  Commonly the Astra database owner is used.
 

 

6.If connecting to an Oracle server (using the Oracle Server option), fill in the Connection information including the Service, User ID, and Password options corresponding to the TNSNAMES.ORA for your local Astra database  (you may need to get this information from your DBA) and click “Finish”.  The database user should have permissions to view all tables and views in the Astra Schedule database.  Commonly the Astra database owner is used
 

 

7.Once the new connection is established, highlight the server name in the “Current Data Source” area and the name of your server in the “Replace With” area on the Set Datasource Location window.  Then click the “Update” button.
 

 

8.This should update your Current Data Source with the new report connection.  If you receive any errors or warnings pertaining to missing tables or views, the most common cause is lack of connection to the database, or connecting using a database user that does not have appropriate permissions to the Astra database.  Contact your DBA or system administrator to resolve those issues.
 

 

9.When editing and previewing the report in Crystal Reports (using the Print Preview button), Crystal should now return your local data for testing.