Dynamic Report Creation At Runtime

Question

I am trying to create a dynamic crystal report at run time from Visual Studio 2013 using C#.  My back end database is SQL Server 2005.  The source for my crystal report is a SQL Server stored procedure which takes two parameters, a year (smallint) and a quarter (tinyint).  The stored procedure uses dynamic SQL and creates a dynamic temp table.  It returns the result set from a select on the temp table.  The number of columns in the result set will be determined at run time.  Right now it returns 40 columns.  It can return additional columns in multiples of 6.  All of these columns will need to be displayed on the crystal report at run time.  The C# application will run on 64 bit Windows 7 machines and the SQL Server database is on a 32 bit server.
I have been successful in designing a crystal report within the Visual Studio IDE using this stored procedure and running it and displaying it in the crystal reports viewer from within the C# application.  So when the appropriate application's menu item is clicked, the form with the crystal viewer on it opens and displays the report.  So I know that I can connect to the database and display the report.  However as stated in the preceding paragraph, I need to create the crystal report at run time as the number of columns on the report will be variable.
I have looked at the CrystalDecisions SDK and API and tried without success to do this.  I am getting errors when trying to connect to the DB through the API and am not able to retrieve the data.  I have played with the code for about a week with no success.  I have tried the code in the discussion forums without success.  The documentation for the SDK API's does not provide the level of detail that I need.  The CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.ConnectionInfo class has an attributes property that needs to be set.  I don't know what the proper settings should be.
I prefer to use the OLE DB native client for SQL Server.
Any help would be greatly appreciated.
Martin

Answer 1

Hi Ludek,
I have made some small progress.  I can now login from work as well as get to links.  But it seems I am still blocked for zip files.
I also have the utility working.  But whenever I try to add my dummy crystal report (dummyreport.rpt) to the project, visual studio 2013 hangs up and I have to kill VS.
I added the following code to my form and ran it but I get the following error:
System.Runtime.InteropServices.COMException was unhandled
  HResult=-2147352565
  Message=Invalid index. (Exception from HRESULT: 0x8002000B (DISP_E_BADINDEX))
  Source=CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel
  ErrorCode=-2147352565
  StackTrace:
       at CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.TablesClass.get_Item(Int32 Index)
       at Retail_Incentive_Plan.ReportForm3..ctor() in u:\Incentive\Front_End\Visual_Studio_2013\Projects\Retail_Incentive_Plan - Copy\Retail_Incentive_Plan\ReportForm3.cs:line 123
       at Retail_Incentive_Plan.MDIParent.ShowNewForm(Object sender, EventArgs e) in u:\Incentive\Front_End\Visual_Studio_2013\Projects\Retail_Incentive_Plan - Copy\Retail_Incentive_Plan\MDIParent.cs:line 27
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripMenuItem.OnClick(EventArgs e)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleClick(EventArgs e)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripItem.HandleMouseUp(MouseEventArgs e)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.OnMouseUp(MouseEventArgs mea)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WmMouseUp(Message& m, MouseButtons button, Int32 clicks)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Control.WndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStrip.WndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.ToolStripDropDown.WndProc(Message& m)
       at System.Windows.Forms.NativeWindow.DebuggableCallback(IntPtr hWnd, Int32 msg, IntPtr wparam, IntPtr lparam)
       at System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.DispatchMessageW(MSG& msg)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ComponentManager.System.Windows.Forms.UnsafeNativeMethods.IMsoComponentManager.FPushMessageLoop(IntPtr dwComponentID, Int32 reason, Int32 pvLoopData)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoopInner(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
       at System.Windows.Forms.Application.ThreadContext.RunMessageLoop(Int32 reason, ApplicationContext context)
       at Retail_Incentive_Plan.Program.Main() in u:\Incentive\Front_End\Visual_Studio_2013\Projects\Retail_Incentive_Plan - Copy\Retail_Incentive_Plan\Program.cs:line 18
  InnerException:
The error occurs at this line of code:
boReportDocument.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.SetTableLocation(boTables[0], boTable);
I'm sure it must be something with the attributes that I am setting.  But I'm not sure of what the correct values for some of these attributes should be.  By the way, I am using the RCAPI approach rather than the formulas approach (for now).
Here is my code that is in the form:
public ReportForm3()
//**************************   ChangeConnectionInfo   ******************************************************************************************************************
ReportDocument boReportDocument = new ReportDocument();
//**EDIT** Change the path and report name to the report you want to change.
boReportDocument.Load(@"c:\Retail_Incentive_Plan\DummyReport.rpt", OpenReportMethod.OpenReportByTempCopy);
//Create a new Command Table to replace the reports current table.
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.CommandTable boTable =
new CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.CommandTable();
//boMainPropertyBag: These hold the attributes of the tables ConnectionInfo object
PropertyBag boMainPropertyBag = new PropertyBag();
//boInnerPropertyBag: These hold the attributes for the QE_LogonProperties
//In the main property bag (boMainPropertyBag)
PropertyBag boInnerPropertyBag = new PropertyBag();
//Set the attributes for the boInnerPropertyBag
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Auto Translate", "-1");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Server", "MyServerName");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Connect Timeout", "15");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Data Source", "vancsdb02");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("General Timeout", "0");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Initial Catalog", "Retail_Incentive_Plan");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Integrated Security", "True");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Locale Identifier", "1033");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("OLE DB Services", "-5");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Provider", "SQLOLEDB");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Tag with column collation when possible", "0");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Use DSN Default Properties", "False");
boInnerPropertyBag.Add("Use Encryption for Data", "0");
//Set the attributes for the boMainPropertyBag
boMainPropertyBag.Add("Database DLL", "crdb_ado.dll");
boMainPropertyBag.Add("QE_DatabaseName", "Initial Catalog=Retail_Incentive_Plan");
boMainPropertyBag.Add("QE_DatabaseType", "OLE DB (ADO)");
//Add the QE_LogonProperties we set in the boInnerPropertyBag Object
boMainPropertyBag.Add("QE_LogonProperties", boInnerPropertyBag);
boMainPropertyBag.Add("QE_ServerDescription", "MyServerName");
boMainPropertyBag.Add("QE_SQLDB", "True");
boMainPropertyBag.Add("SSO Enabled", "False");
//Create a new ConnectionInfo object
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.ConnectionInfo boConnectionInfo =
new CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.ConnectionInfo();
//Pass the database properties to a connection info object
boConnectionInfo.Attributes = boMainPropertyBag;
//Set the connection kind
boConnectionInfo.Kind = CrConnectionInfoKindEnum.crConnectionInfoKindCRQE;
//**EDIT** Set the User Name and Password if required.
boConnectionInfo.UserName = "myUserName";
boConnectionInfo.Password = "MyPassword";
//Pass the connection information to the table
boTable.ConnectionInfo = boConnectionInfo;
//Get the Database Tables Collection for your report
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.DataDefModel.Tables boTables;
boTables = boReportDocument.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.Database.Tables;
//For each table in the report:
// - Set the Table Name properties.
// - Set the Command table's command text.
// - Set the table location in the report to use the new modified table
boTable.Name = "Command";
boTable.QualifiedName = "Command";
boTable.Alias = "Command";
//boTable.CommandText = "select country, region, city from customer where country='usa'";
boTable.CommandText = "exec get_branch_ranking_data, 2015, 1";
boReportDocument.ReportClientDocument.DatabaseController.SetTableLocation(boTables[0], boTable);
//Verify the database after adding substituting the new table.
//To ensure that the table updates properly when adding Command tables or Stored Procedures.
boReportDocument.VerifyDatabase();
//return boReportDocument;
//**************************   End ChangeConnectionInfo   ***************************************************************************************************************
I'm sure that "vancsdb02" is incorrect in the Data Source in the code above but I'm not sure what goes there.
All of my assemblies are set in my project as well as in the top of my code.  I just didn't show it here for brevity.
Will pick up again with this on Monday.
Martin