Chapter 18. Crystal Reports Server

In This Chapter

  • Understanding Crystal Reports Server architecture

  • Data connectivity for Crystal Reports Server

  • Using the Repository

  • Exploring Crystal Reports Server platform services

  • Using Crystal Reports Server web and application services

  • Finding report viewers

Crystal Reports Server XI isn't a single product but rather a collection of tools that work together to provide reporting services to meet the needs of small-to-medium-sized businesses. It covers the gamut from data access through report design to report management and delivery, as well as integrating with web portals and enterprise applications.

The components of the Crystal Reports Server XI system include

  • Data access services

  • Crystal Reports XI

  • Report publishing, security, and processing services

  • Management tools

  • Application services for integration with applications

  • Web services for integration with portals

  • A simplified user interaction tier

In this chapter, I give an overview of Crystal Reports Server XI, for the sake of completeness, even though it doesn't include Crystal Reports 2008 and indeed doesn't run in conjunction with Crystal Reports 2008. If you work for a small to medium-sized business that has between five and twenty users on your local area network, you might have to deal with Crystal Reports Server, either the current XI version or the 2008 version when it appears.

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