cView IMAGE Testing, Installation, and Troubleshooting

cViewIMAGE makes a great impression on users and their clients alike. This should be no surprise. But sometimes, folks have problems they attribute to a flaw in cViewIMAGE. The information here will help you solve those problems.

How it works

cViewIMAGE uses a COM data driver to create a recordset you can use in your Crystal Report to include a dynamic image in your report.

cViewIMAGE includes a SingleIMAGE driver that takes an image file name and presents it in a recordset to use in your report. This will work well inside a subreport. There is also an ImageFolder driver that will return all the pictures from a folder.

cViewIMAGE requires Crystal Reports 8.5 or higher to process the recordset. And, yes, it works with  CR8.5, 9.0, 10.0 and XI.

While XI does support dynamic images using its own mechanism, it still supports cViewIMAGE. The ImageFolder driver in cViewIMAGE brings in all the pictures from a folder--something XI can't do.

• Click here for an example of how to include a single image in a report.

• Click here for an article on images in a report.
• Click here for cViewIMAGE: How to Use It
• Click here for cViewIMAGE FAQs.
• Click here for instructions with database demo.

Installation

First, install the free trial version. You can find that via a link on the Pricing page. When you get your activation code upon purchase:

1. Open the cViewCONNECT utility that comes with cViewIMAGE.

2. Create the XML file that is actually your license.

3. Copy the license to the same directory where you installed the trial file.

4. Move the license from where you created it to a safe backup location.

More, below....

Troubleshooting

The information here will help you solve problems you have with your cView installation.

Problem #1: cViewIMAGE doesn't work, under test.

Analysis: You can't just try cViewIMAGE and say it failed your test because it didn't work.

Solution: Install the latest version of cViewIMAGE. Then, check that the Crystal Reports COM data driver is installed. Use cViewIMAGE with some real data. Use cViewIMAGE in a real environment. We already know it works, because of the huge installed base on hundreds of machines in various environments.

Problem #2: cViewIMAGE produces a poor image.

Analysis: This is not a cViewIMAGE problem. The problem is with your image.

Solution: Check the original image. Ensure it is sized properly, both in terms of resolution and dimensions.

Also, consider the image type:

• If you have saved an embedded image from a Word file, it is now bitmapped and will exhibit display problems in most subsequent use situations. 

• A large image file that has been shrunk to fit into a thumbnail size will undergo some image reduction. It may be more effective to use an image editing program to change the image size prior to including it in a report.

Problem #3: cViewIMAGE won't display the image at all.

Solution: Don't expect cViewIMAGE to find the image without being told where the image is. Check the path. cViewIMAGE needs to know the full drive/path and file name of the image. It currently supports JPG, BMP, TIFF, WMF and PNG image formats.

Problem #4: cViewIMAGE is really slow.

Analysis: cViewIMAGE is not the problem. File size and transfer rates are the problem.

Solution: We already know cViewIMAGE is not a bottleneck for report performance. So, the problem lies elsewhere, and it will be in one of two places.

1.  If your source file is very large, it will slow down the display and printing of the report. It may completely overwhelm the RAM in the video card and cause refresh problems when you scroll through the report. Your network may also have insufficient bandwidth for the large image. Ditto, if you are referencing a large number of images.

2. If cViewIMAGE makes your report seem slow no matter what, the problem is in the local machine. Check system resources from Task Manager, and see how much RAM you are using. You may need a RAM upgrade. Other causes include too many programs loaded and resident in memory, Microsoft Office Find Fast is on, disk defragmentation is running in the background, hard drives are excessively fragmented, and so on. You may need to evaluate the machine.

3. cViewIMAGE will work faster if the images are on a local drive and folder rather than on a network drive. Consider using a local copy of the images.

Problem #5: The cViewIMAGE COM driver won't load.

Analysis: There are no cViewIMAGE COM drivers. cViewIMAGE uses your CR COM driver.

Solution: Make sure this is installed and you do not have some security setting or other problem keeping your CR report from accessing it. The drivers for each version of Crystal Reports are included in a \Drivers subfolder. Follow the instructions there to add this driver to your Crystal Reports. Look under the CR heading "data source." These instructions do not work for Crystal Reports 8.0 or earlier.

Problem #6: Report recipients are complaining the images don't give them the right information, and they can't make adjustments to fix that.

Analysis: The problem is not with cViewIMAGE. This program allows you to include images from a file. It does not control that image. Think of it as a window to your image. If you build a house overlooking a garbage dump, it isn't the fault of the window that you see garbage.

Solution:  Find out what end-users really need, and make sure you have good images on file.