Crystal reports - auto refresh?

[Former Member]

Hi,

I'm an oracle dba working on an SQL 2005 DB and am trying to create a self refreshing report. I know this can be done in SQL reporting services but requires VB code to do - i just dont have the time to learn VB to do this.

As i am learning crystal reports anyway, as most of our reporting is done through Crystal XI, i was hoping there was a nice easy way to get Crystal to suto update the report data.

Basically what i have done is create a stats report based on live data in the SQL DB. I am outputting this report to multiple TV screens around a call center so people c an see how well (or badly) they are doing today with regards their call stats. Obviously i dont want to have someone clicking refresh every few seconds to update the screens so i want the report to do this automatically. I am not using Crystal web services just either cview or Crystal XI to show the report.

Hope someone can tell me there is an easy way!

[former_member292966 · Accepted solution]

Hi Scott,

The only way to have a report auto refresh the data is to either rerun the report manually or creating a front-end application like VB to load the report and a timer. When the report is loaded, call the refresh property after every 30 seconds or whatever interval you set.

I'm pretty sure using a dashboard from Xcelsius would have to have a similar interaction.

Brian

[ido_millet · Accepted solution]

Consider a 3rd-party viewer as a solution. See a list of such viewers at: http://www.kenhamady.com/bookmarks.html

My DataLink Viewer provides auto-refresh functionality (from the GUI as well as via an Auto_Refresh command line argument)..

[Former Member]

Hi Scott,

I am afraid that this will not be possible by ONLY using Crystal reports as the tool does not have a feature where it can keep refreshing the data all by itself.

The only way to refresh the report is to manually hit the refresh button. If you are using Business Objects Enterprise to publish your reports, then there might be a possibility of using a custom application built using JAVA or .NET to have the report refreshed. However, this can be best answered by the Application Development forum group.

Please let us know your thoughts.

Regards,

Abhishek Jain.