How to Use CrystalPower

About CrystalPower

CrystalPower is a free script that creates Crystal reports based on report parameters provided by the user. It interacts with the user or optionally it can run unattended. It uses the Crystal Report Runtime facilties to produce reports in various formats.

To download the latest version visit this safe download site: a small donation will help us continue enhancing CrystalPower.

Prerequisites

CrystalPower requires:

PShellExec utility (included and free)
PowerShell 2.0 (free)
Crystal Reports Runtime (free)

It runs under the following Windows Systems:

- Windows 10 / 8 / 7 / XP
- Windows Servers 2012 / 2008 / 2003

Installation

First time PowerShell users may need to Set-ExecutionPolicy RemoteSigned if prompted during setup.

CrystalPower is distributed as CrystalPower.zip file. Unzip it in a <directory> and run the setup.cmd in your <directory>. This will ensure the proper Crystal Report Runtime (CRBasicVS2008 free) is installed.
Click on the CrystalPower shortcut to run it.

Release notes

Version 1.3.5 - Enables web service for registered ShellCrystal users
Version 1.3.3 - Adds option to send email with attached report
Version 1.3.2 - Maintenance release with enhanced setup
Version 1.3.1 - Maintenance release with fixes
Version 1.3 - Saves report parameters and can run reports in unattended mode
Version 1.2 - Includes a report Drag-and-Drop feature and Help(F1)
Version 1.1 - Bug fixes
Version 1.0 - April 25, 2011.

Examples

The installation includes a sample Energy.rpt file to introduce users to CrystalPower.

Here are some examples of how to start running and using CrystalPower.

How to run from the command line

1) PShellExec CrystalPower.ps1.bin
2) PShellExec CrystalPower.ps1.bin -a:"C:/Reports/myReport.rpt"
3) PShellExec CrystalPower.ps1.bin -a:"C:/Reports/myReport.rpt,-v"

In the first example CrystalPower the user needs to select a report file or a saved configuration.
The second example starts CrystalPower with a myReport.rpt Crystal Report file.
In both examples 1 and 2, the created report is displayed for viewing automatically.

In the third example, the -v argument indicates the resulting report output file is not to be displayed automatically for viewing.

How to run a report with saved parameter values

With version 1.3 of CrystalPower report parameters are saved in a Config sub-directory allowing users to run reports in unattended mode.

1)  PShellExec CrystalPower.ps1.bin -a:"C:/Reports/sample.config" 
2)  PShellExec CrystalPower.ps1.bin -a:"C:/Reports/sample.config,-x"

In the first example, CrystalPower starts with a sample.config file, and uses report parameters saved from a previous report run. A .config file contains parameter values for a given report and it can be renamed later, thus allowing for multiple parameter combinations when needed.

The second example, executes CrystalPower with a sample.config without any user intervention, using the parameter values from the .config file, allowing users to run reports in unattended mode.

How to Email a Report

Users can email their CrystalPower reports by adding an entry to their config files:

  <En>
	<S N="Key">:Email:</S>
	<S N="Value">C:\Docs\Reports\Config\sendCommand.txt</S>
  </En>

The sendCommand.txt text file referenced above, contains an easily formatted Send-MailMessage command ending with an -attachment option, just as shown below:

Send-MailMessage -to "Carl<c.blogg@that.com>" -from "jane<jwill@this.com>"  -subject "Daily status"
		 -body "Project report is attached" -smtpserver "smtp1.local"
		 -attachment

How to Automate Report Delivery

By combining a CrystalPower unattended run and attaching a report file in an email, as shown above, users can schedule automatic report deliveries via the Windows Task Scheduler. A sample task schedule CrystalPowerJobSample.xml is included. It can be imported into the Windows Task Scheduler and modified according to user's requirements.

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