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cViewTEXT Testing, Installation and Troubleshooting

cViewTEXT 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 cViewTEXT. The information here will help you solve those problems.

How it works

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

This file can be formatted as Rich Text, HTML or plain text.  Using the “Text Interpretation” feature of Crystal Reports, cViewTEXT can display the file with its original formatting.

The current version includes a TextFile driver that takes the contents of a text file and presents it in a recordset to use in your report. This will work well inside a subreport.  There is also a TextFolder driver that selects multiple files and includes those in individual records.

cViewTEXT 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 cViewTEXT. The ImageFolder driver in cViewTEXT brings in all the pictures from a folder--something XI can't do.

A free trial version is available for evaluation on our download page. Please bookmark this page, download the free version, and test-drive this outstanding product.

 

Installation

First, install the free trial version. You can also 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 cViewTEXT.

  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 cViewTEXT installation.

 

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

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

Solution: Install the latest version of cViewTEXT. Then, check that the Crystal Reports COM data driver is installed. Use cViewTEXT with some real data. Use cViewTEXT in a real environment.

 

Problem #2: cViewTEXT doesn't display formatted output.

Analysis: This is not a cViewTEXT problem. The problem is with your Crystal Report.

Solution: Select the field in the report.  Check the field is set to “Can Grow.” You will also need to set “Text Interpretation” to HTML or RichText. You may also need to modify your section format to be not “Keep Together.”

 

Problem #3: cViewTEXT won't display the text at all.

Solution: Don't expect cViewTEXT to find the file without being told where the file is. Check the path. cViewTEXT needs to know the full drive/path and file. It currently supports TXT, HTML and RTF formats.

 

Problem #4: cViewTEXT is really slow.

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

Solution: We already know cViewTEXT 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 files.

2. If cViewTEXT 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. cViewTEXT will work faster if the files are on a local drive and folder rather than on a network drive. Consider using a local copy of the files.

 

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

Analysis: There are no cViewTEXT COM drivers. cViewTEXT 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.

 

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