CRYSTAL Report License and VS2010 Professional

6
votes

In the past i used to design reports in crystal reports XI and in old versions for .Net (2008) applications and never looked into crystal report tool which comes with VS2008.

-What is the difference b/w Crystal Report XI Software and Crystal Report tool in Visual Studio 2008/2010?

We are designing web based application in .Net 2010 and thinking about using crystal report for designing, viewing and printing reports. Application will be published on server (64-bit) and over 250 users will be accessing this application.

-Do we need to buy 250 licenses or just one license for CR-XI or later version (Not Visual Studio version) ?
-What are the pros and cons of using crystal report which comes with Visual Studio aparat from buying license?

2
c#asp.netvb.netcrystal-reportsreport
Just come across this pdf file for version comparison.fm.sap.com/jump/… – user1263981
We have also got the 5 user license for Business Objects, i don't know if it has something to do with Crystal Report. – user1263981

2 Answers

4
votes

After doing some research and talking to one of the technical guy in SAP i now understand about license term and conditions.

Crystal Report version for VS2010

Visual Studio 2010 doesn’t come with Crystal Report as it was in VS2008. Crystal Report 2011 version for visual studio can be downloaded from the SAP website and it is free to use. There is no license cost for that as long as it is being used for internal applications within .Net (can't be used with third party software’s)

http://www.businessobjects.com/jump/xi/crvs2010/default.asp

Here is the link for license details;

http://scn.sap.com/people/blair.wheadon/blog/2010/04/19/crystal-reports-for-visual-studio-2010-licensing

Is there any difference in designing reports b/w CR2011 and Free version of CR for VS2010

I was told that there is no difference b/w Crystal Report 2011 and Crystal report free version for .Net 2010 but i would download it and will come back to this point later as i doubt it will be same as designing reports in CR 2011 (latest version).

There is only one crystal report designer in my company and we are planning to use crystal report for internal applications. Do we need to buy one license or we need license per view?

In terms of licensing for the viewers: The application is purely for internal users so there is no cost attached (if you were to resell it then please contact me) As long as the reports are embedded within your application then users can view for free. If someone needs to buy Crystal Report 2011 separately just for internal applications then it only requires one user license.

Crystal Report Server

If your users need more:

-Access reports that collect data from various sources,
-Schedule the reports and receive them in their email inbox at specific times
-Access Dashboards
-Access Reports or Dashboards from their mobile device
-Embed reports in existing Excel Spreadsheets or PowerPoint presentation
-Etc

Then you will need to purchase Crystal Report Server.

0
votes

First, here's a blog entry I posted that shows you how the VS versions match up to the full Crystal versions (I was provided these by an SAP rep I spoke with):

http://www.blakepell.com/2012-04-18-crystal-reports-ide-to-crystal-reports-dotnet-sdk-version

Now, it is my understanding that the VS version creates a full fledged Crystal report that can be used with the .Net objects, the full version of Crystal or a Crystal Reports Server. The VS IDE is a much stripped down version of Crystal missing bells and whistles (and sometimes options all together which can be frustrating, but then again, if you don't need those options then it doesn't matter).

On the licensing, I'm not an expert, but if you write your own server code to deploy the reports I think you just need licenses for the client copies (VS version is obviously free though I believe it needs to be registered as a requirement of the free license). We've purchased full copies of the IDE where I work because it was just easier to work with and the time savings was worth it for us. Crystal offers a robust server solution, but you would have to pay for that. If you use the .Net controls to deploy and/or write your own code I don't think there is a cost. SAP has decent phone support, you can call them and verify this information.