Here is a summarized set of highlights of CR 10. Our cView and other products that work with CR 9.0 also work with CR 10.0.

Crystal Reports developer improvements

• A 100% java based reporting component. This means you can use any java compliant platform to do report delivery. This makes great use of java as a platform independent report delivery mechanism.
• Simplified .NET merge modules
• Closer integration with Crystal Enterprise.
• Improved integration with the Report Application Server .

Report designer improvements

• A format painter (similar to the format painter in Microsoft Office)
• Improved navigation and management of the repository.
• Charts have been improved with the addition of "Funnel Charts." These are useful for sales prospecting reports.
• Data Access has been simplified to use "Business Views." This will remove the need to redefine reports as the underlying data structure changes.
• Automatic file compression seems to be part of CR 10, but there is no documentation for this.
• CR 10 has added back the ability to disable "Smart Linking" ( bug they call a feature). With CR9, the ability to disable this was removed. It's now coded back in, but you have to do a registry tweak to execute the disable! Obviously, this is in the HKEY_CURRENT_USER hive. Go to the Software\Crystal Decisions\10.0\Crystal Reports\DatabaseOptions and you'll see where to make the change.

Some issues

In his 20APR2004 CR newsletter, Ken Hamady identified some issues with the CR 10 upgrade. Basically, he was complaining about the loss of the repository when upgrading from 9.0 to 10.0. Before upgrading to 10.0, discuss the implications with your CR sales rep. and get an agreement in writing. Failure to do so could be very costly.

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