Connecting to data-sources

When generating/previewing a report, fields are replaced with data. Therefore, a report needs to have access to data in order to be displayed. A report can either have data saved in itself, in such case it does not need to have access to a data source/database to be generated. If data is not saved in the report file, it needs data access to be previewed.

After opening a source report, a connection dialog box will appear:

 

You have three options:

Whatever option you select, the design view will always be available. The difference between the preview and the design view is that the preview is exactly what the user would see because it is generated by the Crystal Reports engine while the design view is an approximation computed by Crystal Translator and may not be fully exact. For instance, the design view shouldn't be used to determine if texts will appear truncated or not, only the preview can provide such information. However in case where it is not possible to connect to the data-sources, the design view helps the translator by providing an overview.

 

"Save these parameters in an .ini file for re-using them the next time you open this report":
If this option is selected, the value of these connection properties will be saved in a .ini file and reloaded automatically the next time you open this report so you don't have to input them again. The .ini file created is stored in the same folder than the source report and has the same filename. If the connection properties of the source report change, for example when adding a sub-report, then all the saved values for this report will be discarded. The properties values will be saved only if you click on "Connect" and open the report.


If saved values have been loaded from an .ini file, you can discard them by right clicking and selecting the option "Restore original parameters" in the popup menu.

 

"Restore the original connection settings when closing the translated report":
To be able to preview a report while translating, you may have to change the database path, username, password... If this option is selected, the original values (found in the source report) of these connection properties will be restored in the translated report when you close the translated report. Therefore the translated report will have the same connection properties values than the source report. If this option is not selected, then the translated report will contain the connection properties values you selected in this dialog box. Please keep in mind that the connection settings are restored only when closing the translated report, not when saving it, because after the restore, it would no longer be possible to preview the translated report. This option doesn't do anything if you use the "Use Save Data" or "Design view only" button.

The CHM file was converted to HTML by chm2web software.