The Crystal Repository allows users to increase productivity and usability when designing reports by offering a single location to house reusable report objects.

The Crystal Repository is the central location to store and manage report objects. Data definitions, such as custom functions and SQL commands, can also be stored and maintained in the Crystal Repository. The Crystal Repository can store bit maps such as map images from ArcView, ArcEditor, or ArcInfo. The objects are then accessible to users and report developers for use in new reports that can be distributed throughout the company. By storing objects such as map images in the Crystal Repository, users will dramatically increase their report creation and design productivity by pulling existing images into a new report or automatically updating map images in one central location.

Our Crystal Reports articles and tools will help you shine. Crystal Reports is a great Business Intelligence tool, but you've probably noticed it has some holes that cost you time and money.

That's where we come in. For example:

• Do you need to schedule your Crystal Reports, rather than manually run them over and over again?
• Are you having network overload problems?
• Do you need to allow others to view your Crystal Reports, even if they don't have a CR license?
• Do you need to process the report against live data?
• Do your users demand more than you can deliver with your present Crystal Reports software limitations?

The crystal report writer is an add-in program that comes with visual basic. You use the Crystal Report Writer to create custom reports, lists, labels and form letters using datga from an existing database. However, most of the time- the Crystal Report Writer is used to create reports.

The crystal report writer can be used with the following programs:

IDAutomation.com provides several products and options for implementing barcodes in Crystal Reports with flexible license agreements to meet a variety of needs including single user licenses and royalty-free developer licenses. The following chart may be used to determine the best product needed:

In this section of the tutorial we:

• create a new project named CrystalReport

• add PickDP ADO.NET controls (PickDPConnection, PickDPCommand and PickDPDataAdapter) to the new form

• set the connection properties for the report to point to your Pick database server

• create a new query string for the PickDPCommand control

• assign the PickDPDataAdapter SelectCommand property to the new PickDPCommand