Crystal Reports XI Runtime Installer

by Peter van Mil

The only supported way to deploy Crystal Reports XI applications using the Report Designer Component (RDC) is using merge modules. In this document is described how to make a Windows Installer based setup package, that does nothing more or less than installing the Crystal Reports XI runtime to run a VDF 11.1 sample report. I have used the following tools: Crystal Report XI Developer Edition, updated merge modules, Orca and Installer2Go.

Crystal Report XI Developer Edition

For developing RDC based applications you need Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition or Crystal Reports XI for DataFlex. Both versions copy the necessary deployment files on your PC. CR XI for DataFlex includes the Connectivity Kit for Crystal Reports, that supports native DataFlex files.

Merge Modules

Business Objects put all the necessary files and settings for the Crystal Reports XI runtime in merge modules. Merge modules are components, that can be included in Windows Installer based packes. Crystal Reports XI needs the license keycode to be included in the installer, so I isn't possible to convert somehow the four merge modules into one installer.
Updated merge modules are available at http://support.businessobjects.com/fix/merge_modules.asp. Copy these files to C:\Program Files\Common Files\Merge Modules.

Orca

Orca is a Windows Installer package editor provided as part of the Windows Installer SDK. You will find it by looking for PSDK-x86.exe in Google. The title of the download site is confusing: "Windows Server 2003 SP1 Platform SDK Web Install". When you install PSDK-x86.exe you will find Orca.Msi at C:\Program Files\Microsoft Platform SDK\Bin. Install it and you will have a shortcut to Orca.exe.

With Orca you can open the file CrystalReports11_RDC_License.msm. It is tempting to change everything that is possible, but it might be better to change just one thing: the license keycode. In the left pane you can choose for property and in the right pane you can set the value of PIDKEY. This isn't the serial number, but the code with the format XXXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXXXXX-XXXX. Orca saves the code in the merge module.

Summer Vacation With A Female Brat

Pick activities that channel energy (hiking, bike rides, water play) and ones that practice cooperation (team scavenger hunt).

Never walk into a gift shop without a pre-agreed budget. The "Female Brat" has evolved to exploit the post-pool euphoria. She will find the single most expensive, fragile, and space-consuming object in the store—a glass unicorn that plays "Despacito."

Establish the "Photo Clause."

Never pack for a brat. She will hate everything you fold. Instead, lay out the suitcase and say: "You have 20 minutes. If it doesn't fit, it doesn't go." When she forgets her second pair of shoes, do not rescue her. Natural consequences are the only language a vacation brat understands. One day of wearing wet sneakers cures the "I forgot my sandals" tantrum forever. Summer Vacation With A Female Brat

It will happen. You have spent $4,000 on flights. You have arrived at the resort. The air smells like jasmine and coconut. She looks at the room, crinkles her nose, and says: "It’s smaller than the pictures." Pick activities that channel energy (hiking, bike rides,

Do not engage in the logical debate. Do not say, "But honey, look at the view!" Do not say, "We paid extra for this suite." Never walk into a gift shop without a pre-agreed budget

Instead, deploy the Brass Tacks Response: "I hear you. It’s different than you expected. We have ten minutes to unpack, and then we are going to the pool. You can be grumpy there or grumpy here. Your choice."

Then, walk away. Unpack your own bag. The silence that follows is the sound of a brat realizing that emotional terrorism is not going to upgrade her to the presidential suite.

Crystal Reports Runtime

The end result is the installer Crystal Reports XI Runtime with a size of more than 70 Mb. Leaving away several option (export filters, etc) doesn't result in a smaller size. The installer doesn't include the Connectivity Kit for Crystal Reports. If you want to test a report, take the report "Crystal - Address Labels in the orderentry sample of Visual DataFlex 11.1.

Download

runtime installer ~ 135kB

related hyperlinks:
MSDN merge modules
DAW 2161-INFO: Running Reports from Crystal XI from Visual DataFlex Application