Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET

Transcription

1 Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET Export and Print a Crystal Report Overview Contents This white paper will walk you through creating a.net Windows application using Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET. In the first section, you will create a basic Visual Basic.NET Windows application that loads a report and previews it in the CrystalReportViewer control. The next section explains how to export the report to a portable document file (PDF) through code. The final section explains how to print the application s report to a printer through code. INTRODUCTION... 2 CREATE A SIMPLE APPLICATION...2 Add a Crystal Report to the Project...3 Run the Project...4 EXPORT THE REPORT TO PDF...5 Add an Export Button...5 Add Exporting Code...5 Run the Project...6 PRINT THE REPORT TO A PRINTER...6 Add a Print Button...6 Add Printing Code...7 Run the Project...7 FINDING MORE INFORMATION...8 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 1

2 Introduction Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET extends the powerful reporting capability of Crystal Reports on the Microsoft.NET platform. You can use the Crystal Report Designer in Visual Studio.NET to create a new Crystal Report or modify an existing Crystal Report. You can then keep the report on a local computer, as is the case with this example, or publish it as a Report Web Service on a web server. You can host the report with the CrystalReportViewer control. Create a Simple Application 1. Open the Visual Studio.NET IDE. 2. On the File menu, click New then click Project. 3. The New Project dialog box (Figure 1) opens. In the Project Types pane, click Visual Basic Projects and in the Template pane click Windows Application. At the bottom of the dialog box, in the Name field type, ExportAndPrintReport and keep the default path for the Location field. Click the OK button to create the project. Figure 1 The default path for the location of the project is: C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\My Documents\Visual Studio Projects where <user> is the name of the user currently logged into the machine. 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 2

3 Add a Crystal Report to the Project Now that you have a blank project started, continue to build a sample application that uses Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET. 1. In the Toolbox, double-click CrystalReportViewer to insert it into the form. 2. In the Properties window (Figure 2), click Dock. Set this property to Fill. This allows the viewer to resize with the form. Figure 2 3. On the Project menu, click Add Existing Item. 4. In the Add Existing Item dialog box (Figure 3), browse to: C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio.NET\Crystal Reports\Samples\Reports\ General Business\ 5. Change the Files of Type: drop-down box to All Files (*.*), click World Sales Report.rpt then click the Open button. Figure 3 6. In the Solution Explorer, double-click Form1.vb to display the form. Right-click the form then click View Code. 7. Click on the + sign next to Windows Form Designer generated code to expand the rest of the code. 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 3

4 8. At the top of the code view, type the following in code: Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine 9. Above the existing code: #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code " add the following line of code: Dim crreportdocument As World_Sales_Report 10. After InitializeComponent() in the form s constructor, type the following code: CrReportDocument = New World_Sales_Report() CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = crreportdocument Run the Project 1. On the Build menu, click Build Solution. This will compile the project and build the assembly, which in this project, is an.exe file. The Output window shows the results of the building process. If the compiler found any errors/warnings in the project, a task is created for each item, and the Task List window will list all the tasks (errors/warnings). 2. On the Debug menu, click Start Without Debugging. This loads the project and runs it without loading any of the debugging features. The application runs faster if the debugging controls are not loaded. The CrystalReportViewer control used to be called the Windows Form Viewer. When the application is run, you will see the World Sales Report in the CrystalReportViewer control (Figure 4). Figure 4 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 4

5 Export the Report to PDF To export the report to a portable document file (PDF), take the application, add a button to the form and add code. You can either start a new application or build on the existing application from the previous section. The following steps assume you are building on the existing application. Add an Export Button 1. In the Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click Form1.vb then click View Designer. 2. In the Toolbox, click Button then drag-and-drop this button onto the form. 3. In the Properties window for this button change the Text property to Export to PDF (you may need to widen the button to see all this text). Change the Name property to ExportToPDF. Figure 5 To avoid confusion you may want to disable the export button on the CrystalReportViewer. To do this, in the Properties window for the CrystalReportViewer, change the ShowExportButton property to False. Add Exporting Code 1. Add the following code at the top of the code page (non-italicized code already exists, add italicized code only): Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared 2. Above the line of code: #Region " Windows Form Designer generated code " Add the following code: Dim crreportdocument As World_Sales_Report Dim crexportoptions As ExportOptions Dim crdiskfiledestinationoptions As DiskFileDestinationOptions 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 5

6 3. Double-click the button on the form. This will create an ExportToPDF_Click event in the code. Add the following code: CrDiskFileDestinationOptions = New DiskFileDestinationOptions() CrDiskFileDestinationOptions.DiskFileName = C:\exported.pdf CrExportOptions = crreportdocument.exportoptions With crexportoptions End With.DestinationOptions = crdiskfiledestinationoptions.exportdestinationtype = ExportDestinationType.DiskFile.ExportFormatType = ExportFormatType.PortableDocFormat CrReportDocument.Export() MessageBox.Show ( Report Exported ) As you enter the ExportFormatType you will see a drop-down list of all the possible export formats. Try exporting to these other formats as well. Remember to change the extension of the DiskFileName value to the appropriate extension. For instance is you choose the Excel format type, change the DiskFileName value to C:\exported.xls. Run the Project 1. On the Build menu, click Build Solution. 2. On the Debug menu, click Start Without Debugging. 3. When the report appears, click the Export to PDF button. A message box will appear saying, Report Exported and the PDF file will be saved to the root of your C drive. Print the Report to a Printer To print the application s report to a printer through code you need to insert another button onto the form then add code to that button s click event. Add a Print Button 1. In the Visual Studio Solution Explorer, right-click Form1.vb then click View Designer. 2. In the Toolbox, click Button and drag-and-drop this button onto the form. 3. In the Properties window for this button change the Text property to Print and change the Name property to Print. 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 6

7 Figure 6 To avoid confusion you may want to disable the print button on the CrystalReportViewer. To do this, in the Properties window for the CrystalReportViewer, change the ShowPrintButton property to False. The arguments for the PrintToPrinter method are: number of copies, collated, start page and end page respectively. Add Printing Code 1. Double-click the Print button you added in the previous steps. This creates a Print_Click event in the code. 2. Add the following code to the Print_Click event: CrReportDocument.PrintOptions.PrinterName = <PrinterName> CrReportDocument.PrintToPrinter(1, True, 1, 1) Run the Project 1. On the Build menu, click Build Solution. 2. On the Debug menu, click Start Without Debugging. 3. When the report appears, click the Print button and the report will print to the printer specified in the PrinterName property. 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 7

8 Finding More Information For more information and resources, refer to the product documentation and visit the support area of the web site at: You can also learn how to create a.net Windows application using Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.NET by following our sample applications. Search for the files: vbnet_win_samples.exe and vbnet_web_samples.exe at: Business Objects owns the following U.S. patents, which may cover products that are offered and sold by Business Objects: 5,555,403, 6,247,008 B1, 6,578,027 B2, 6,490,593 and 6,289,352. Business Objects, the Business Objects logo, Crystal Reports, and Crystal Enterprise are trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects SA or its affiliated companies in the United States and other countries. All other names mentioned herein may be trademarks of their respective owners. Product specifications and program conditions are subject to change without notice. Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. 1/27/2005 1:54 PM Copyright 2005 Business Objects. All rights reserved. Page 8