Why the Parameter Dialog not invoked with OpenReport RDC SDK?

Question

Hai,
  I am working in Crystal Reports XI Release 2 with Visual studio .Net 2003 (VC++).I am using RDC SDK
OpenReport  function to create report.The report is generating without any fail.But the parameter dialog not invoked though the report is designed with parameter .
Here is the code snippet i used to generate
OnInitDialog()
    CoInitialize(NULL);
    IApplicationPtr  m_Application;
    IReportPtr   m_Report;
    HRESULT hr = m_Application.CreateInstance("CrystalRuntime.Application");
    m_Report = m_Application->OpenReport("Sample.rpt");
    m_Viewer.SetReportSource(m_Report);
    m_Viewer.ViewReport();
It creates report in ActiveX viewer but the parameter dialog not invoked before showing in viewer.
But in my another project i have used Crystal report 8 and CRPE32 dll(8 version) API PEStartPrintJob
It invokes parameter dialog automatically before showing report in Viewer.
Thankyou,
SatheeshKumar
Edited by: SatheeshDharmaraj on Mar 18, 2009 12:29 PM

Answer 1

Please note:
The RDC is specifically designed around the COM technologies and is intended for use Visual Basic 6 developers; therefore, it is not recommended, nor tested, for use in a .NET application. This limits the support offering for the RDC in a .NET application; however, because COM is a supported technology in .NET the RDC is known to function as expected in a .NET application.
To support any issue encountered with the RDC in a .NET application, these issues need to be reproducible in a supported COM-based development tool (such as VB6).
Also, the RDC is a retired technology, no longer shipping in the current version of CR - CR 12.x:
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/80bd35e5-c71d-2b10-4593-d09907d95289
this may have implications to your applications lifecycle as CR XI r2 will be out of support June 10 of this year. See the following for more details:
Business Objects Product Lifecycles [original link is broken]
I'd recommend you forget about RDC in .NET and use the CR Assemblies for .NET.
Nevertheless, if you absolutely must stay with the RDC in .NET, the error suggests that you are either not using any database logon code, or the code is incorrect. To connect the report to a database, you must use the connection properties bag. More information on the connection properties bag is [here|https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/sdn/go/portal/prtroot/docs/library/uuid/00635998-751e-2b10-9cba-f50ee1e4ef81]
C++ code could look something like this:
bstrt bstrReportPath("C:
Documents and Settings
Mujeeb
Desktop
VC++
RDC_VCPP_CR10
Report1.rpt";);
m_Application.CreateInstance("CrystalRuntime.Application.10";);
m_Report = m_Application-->OpenReport(bstrReportPath, vtTempCopy);
m_Report-->DiscardSavedData();
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->DeleteAll();
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->Add("Provider","SQLOLEDB.1";);
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->Add("Data Source","10.10.17.30";);
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->Add("User ID","sa");
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->Add("Password","excellence");
m_Report>Database>Tables>GetItem(1)>ConnectionProperties-->Add("Database","Northwind");
m_Report>Database>Verify();
m_Viewer.SetReportSource(m_Report);
m_Viewer.ViewReport();
Now, you do not have to use the deleteAll property and simply log on to the database. Unfortunately only code I have handy for that is as described in the above doc. The code woudl be something like this in VB:
(ODBC)
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("DSN") = "the DSN"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("user ID") = "the user ID"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("database" = "the database name"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("password") = "the password"
(if using OLE DB)
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("data source") = "the server name"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("user ID") = "the user ID"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("initial catalog") = "the database name"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("password") = "the password"
(if using native connection)
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("server:) = "the server name"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("user ID") = "the user ID"
report.database.tables(1).connectionProperties("password") = "the password"
I also recommend searching our notes database for more resources:
https://www.sdn.sap.com/irj/scn/advancedsearch?cat=sdn_ossnotes&query=&adv=true
The downloads section may also contain C++ sample code, but I am not sure if there will be anything that uses the connection properties bag. E.g.; do not use deprecated methods such as
.LogOnserver, .SetNthTableLogOnInfo, etc.
Ludek