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Using Crystal Report with Visual Studio 2005 - by George Peck
As with past versions of Visual Studio .NET, Crystal Reports is an integral part of the latest version. Perhaps the most beneficial new Crystal Reports feature in VS .NET 2005 is the ability to finally preview a report in a Preview tab right in the VS.NET Integrated Development Environment, much as you do in standalone Crystal Reports. You no longer need to design a Windows or Web form to hold the report and run the application to see a report preview. There are other new Crystal Reports features in the 2005 version as well.

And, as with past versions, there are multiple ways of using Crystal Reports with Visual Studio .NET. The “out of the box” version from Microsoft includes a bundled version of Crystal Reports. But, as with past versions, you’ll find additional capabilities available within your .NET environment if you purchase a standalone copy of Crystal Reports Developer Edition (note that you only get additional .NET features with the Developer Edition of Crystal Reports—the Standard and Professional Editions don’t provide these features). It’s very important to note, however, that the only version of Crystal Reports Developer that will work with VS .NET 2005 is Crystal Reports XI Release 2. Crystal Reports XI Release 1 or earlier won’t add any additional features to VS .NET 2005.

If you have recently purchased a copy of Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition, the CD media may contain the Release 2 version. However, if you only have Release 1 on CD, you may be able to obtain a Release 2 CD from Business Objects if you purchased software maintenance or have a special software purchase agreement. If not, you can download a version of Crystal Reports XI Release 2 from the Business Objects web site (be forewarned – it’s very large download that can run slowly and can frequently stall, requiring restarting the download from the beginning). Go to:
www.businessobjects.com/products/reporting/
crystalreports/compatibility_vs2005.asp
for details.

Use your existing Crystal Reports XI Developer Edition keycode to install Release 2.

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