Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .

NET
Application Deployment

Overview
This document discusses how to create an application deployment project to
allow you to seamlessly deploy Crystal Report for Visual Studio .NET on a
client or server computer.

Contents
INTRODUCTION ............................................................................................ 2
DEPLOYING REPORTS IN .NET APPLICATIONS ............................................. 2
DEPLOYING CR FOR VS .NET..................................................................... 2
Report Files (.RPT)......................................................................................3
Merge Modules ............................................................................................3
Runtime ........................................................................................................4
DEPLOYING A WEB/WEB SERVICES APPLICATION ........................................ 4
DEPLOYING A WINDOWS APPLICATION ......................................................... 7
DEPLOYING TO A CLIENT/SERVER COMPUTER ............................................ 11
CONTACTING CRYSTAL DECISIONS FOR TECHNICAL SUPPORT .................... 11

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 1
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

Introduction
Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET extends the powerful reporting
capability of Crystal Reports on the Microsoft .NET platform. You can use the
Crystal Report Designer in Visual Studio .NET to create a new Crystal report or
modify an existing Crystal report. You can then keep the report on a local
computer, or publish it as a Report Web Service on a web server. Depending on
whether you develop a Windows or web application, you can host the report
with either the Windows Forms Viewer or the Web Forms Viewer respectively.

For additional .NET information and updates, please visit one of the following
sites:

http://www.crystaldecisions.com/net

http://www.crystaldecisions.com/getinthezone

Deploying Reports in .NET Applications

When reports are added to a .NET Windows or Web applications, they are
added by default as an “Embedded Resource” for the application. What this
means is that the report will be compiled into the assembly’s manifest, and will
not be loaded from a separate report file (.RPT).

This allows .NET applications to be distributed and deployed without having to

distribute report files separately. The advantage of doing this is that applications
do not have to deploy external report files and end users cannot modify them.
The disadvantage is that if a report needed to be modified, the entire application
will need to be recompiled and redeployed for the report changes to be saved.

To avoid reports being compiled into the assembly’s manifest as an embedded

resource, change how the report is added to the project. After adding a report to
a project, highlight the report in the Solution Explorer window and from the
Properties Windows change the Build Action property from Embedded
Resource to None. Building this project will not compile the report into its
assembly and reports will have to be loaded from disk.

When deploying applications that do not embed report files, the report files must
be manually added to the Setup projects. The advantage of keeping reports
outside of the assembly is that reports can be easily modified and redeployed
without having to recompiled and redeploy the entire assembly. The
disadvantage is that strongly-typed report objects cannot be used in the
application and the reports must be loaded from disk.

Deploying CR for VS .NET

There are a few components to add to Setup projects for distributing and
deploying .NET applications using Crystal Reports for Visual Studio .NET (CR
for VS .NET).

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 2

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

• Report Files (.RPT)

• Merge Modules
• Runtime

Report Files (.RPT)

Report files (.RPT) need to be distributed when a .NET application is deployed.
How the report files are deployed depend on the need and architect of the
application. Refer to the previous section, ‘Deploying Reports in .NET
applications’ for details on deploying report files.

Merge Modules
CR for VS .NET provides merge modules in setup projects to make deployment
a simple task. The merge modules are installed to the following folder, by
default:

C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules\

There are four merge modules that need to be included in a setup project to
deploy reports.

• Managed.MSM
• Database_Access.MSM
• Database_Access_enu.MSM
• REGWIZ.MSM

The mananged.msm merge module is used to install all the CR for VS .NET
managed components, such as CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.DLL,
CrystalDecisions.Web.DLL, and CrystalDecisions.Windows.Forms.DLL.

The database_access.msm merge module is used to install all database drivers

the report uses to connect to various types of data sources. This merge module
also installs export destination and format drivers, which are used to save report
is different file formats, such as RTF and HTML. In fact, this merge module is
used to install all non-managed runtime components for CR for VS .NET,
including charting components.

Database_access_enu.msm is used to install language specific (localized)

components. Some of the localized charting and exporting (like PDF)
components are installed by this component. Each language the product is
released in will have a specific version of this merge module.

In order to track licensing information, regwiz.msm is used to configure

registration information on deployed computers (server or client). When
building setup projects using this merge module, it is important to provide the
license key for it.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 3

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

When regwiz.msm is added to a setup project, it exposes a LicenseKey property

that must be set before building the setup project. The 19-digit license key is
emailed when the product is registered. This key is also available from the VS
.NET Help | About… dialog, under the installed products list. The license key
must be entered into the LicenseKey property for the regwiz.msm merge
module.

If the license key is not set for the regwiz.msm merge module, an error will
occur when building the project. If the setup is installed on a target computer
without specifying the license key for the merge module, various
“keycodev2.dll” errors will occur.

For more information, go to http://support.crystaldecisions.com/kbase and

search for knowledge base articles: c2010681 and c2011205.

Runtime
Since CR for VS .NET is based on the .NET Framework, the framework must
also be distributed and/or installed on the target computer. When a setup project
is created, usually the framework merge modules will be automatically included.

There are two other merge modules that may need to be included depending on
the report(s). If any of the report files are based on ADO.NET dataset objects,
the VC_CRT and VC_STL merge modules need to be included in the setup
project.

These two merge modules are required because the database driver,
crdb_adoplus.dll, is dependent on the files, MSVCR70.DLL and
MSVCP70.DLL (which the merge modules install).

NOTE The files from these merge modules must be installed in the application folder. For
example, if the executable for a Windows application is not in the same folder as these
files, runtime errors will occur when trying to process reports. For an ASP.NET Web
application, these files must be installed in the application’s root folder (where the .ASPX
pages are).

Deploying a Web/Web Services Application

The following procedures assume that you already have a web application or
web services application ready for deployment. To deploy a Web/Web Service
Application:

1. In VS .NET, open your web application and go to the View menu and select
Solution Explorer. From the Solution Explorer, right click your web
application solution and from the pop up menu, select Add then click New
Project

2. The Add New Project dialog box appears. Select Setup and Deployment

3. Projects in the left pane and select Web Setup Project in the right pane.
Click OK.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 4

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

4. In the Solution Explorer, right click the Web Setup Project and select Add
then click Project Output…

5. The Add Project Output Group dialog box appears. Select Primary
Output and Content Files to be added to your Web Setup project.

When the Primary Output is added to the project, the dependencies

dotnetfxredist_x86_enu.msm, and managed.msm will be added
automatically.

6. In the Solution Explorer, right click the WebSetup project and select Add
then click Merge Module…

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 5

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

7. The Add Modules dialog box appears. Select the merge modules
Database_Access, Database_Access_enu and regwiz to add to your
WebSetup project. Click OK.

NOTE If you deploy a Web Application that uses an ADO.NET Dataset, you also need to include
the VC_CRT, and VC_STL merge modules. See the ‘Runtime’ section for more
information.

8. From your WebSetup project, select the Regwiz.msm to display the regwiz
properties.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 6

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

9. Expand the MergeModuleProperties and enter a valid license key the in

License Key Properties box. The license key is the alphanumeric string you
receive when registering Crystal Reports. Please note that this is not the 10-
digit registration number.

This is mandatory whenever you deploy a Crystal Reports for Visual

Studio .NET application.

NOTE A license key will be given to you once you have registered Crystal Reports for Visual
Studio .NET.
You can also find the license key by opening VS .NET and going to the 'Help' menu and
selecting 'About…'. Under the 'Installed application list' is the license key for Crystal
Reports for Visual Studio .NET.

10. To build your Web Setup application, highlight your deployment package
(websetup1) in the Solution Explorer, right-click and select Build. You are
now ready to deploy your web/web services application.

Deploying a Windows Application

The following procedures assume that you already have a Windows application
ready for deployment. To deploy a Windows Application:

1. In VS .NET, open your Windows application and go to the View menu and
select Solution Explorer. Right click your Windows application solution
and from the pop up menu, select Add then click New Project
2. The Add New Project dialog box appears. Select Setup and Deployment
Projects in the left pane and select Setup Project in the right pane. Click
OK.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 7

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

3. In the Solution Explorer, right click the Windows application and select
Add then click Project Output…

4. The Add Project Output Group dialog box appears. Select Primary
Output to add to your Setup project.

When the Primary Output is added to the project, the dependencies

dotnetfxredist_x86_enu.msm, and managed.msm are added
automatically.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 8

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

5. . In the Solution Explorer, right click the Windows application and select
Add then click Merge Module…

6. The Add Modules dialog box appears. Select the merge modules
Database_Access, Database_Access_enu and regwiz to add to your Setup
project. Click Open.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 9

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

NOTE If you deploy a Windows Application that uses an ADO.NET Dataset, you also need to
include the VC_CRT, and VC_STL merge modules. See the ‘Runtime’ section for more
information.

7. From your Setup project, select the Regwiz.msm to display the regwiz
properties

8. Expand the MergeModuleProperties and enter a valid license key the in

License Key Properties box.

This is mandatory whenever you deploy a Crystal Reports for Visual

Studio .NET application.

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 10

crnet_deployment.pdf
CR for VS .NET Application Deployment

NOTE A license key will be given to you once you have registered Crystal Reports for Visual
Studio .NET.
You can also find the license key by opening VS .NET and going to the 'Help' menu and
selecting 'About…'. Under the 'Installed application list' is the license key for Crystal
Reports for Visual Studio .NET.

9. To build your Setup application, highlight your deployment package

(setup2) in the Solution Explorer, right-click and select Build. You are now
ready to deploy your Windows application.

Deploying to a Client/Server Computer

When deploying to a client or server computer, always ensure that the computer
already has the .NET Framework installed. The .NET Framework can be found
on the Visual Studio 7 Windows Components Update CD or from the
Microsoft’s web site at www.microsoft.com.

Contacting Crystal Decisions for Technical Support

We recommend that you refer to the product documentation and that you visit
our Technical Support web site for more resources.

Self-serve Support:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/

Email Support:
http://support.crystaldecisions.com/support/answers.asp

Telephone Support:
http://www.crystaldecisions.com/contact/support.asp

3/13/2003 2:41 PM Copyright  2002 Crystal Decisions, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Page 11

crnet_deployment.pdf