remiWare

Report Scheduler for Crystal Reports, SSRS Reports and more.

Top 5 Reasons PDF Bursting Is Better Than SSRS Data-Driven Subscription

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As defined by Microsoft, this is what an SSRS Data-Driven subscription is:

A data-driven subscription provides a way to use dynamic subscription data that is retrieved from an external data source at run time. A data-driven subscription can also use static text and default values that you specify when the subscription is defined. You can use data-driven subscriptions to do the following:

– Distribute a report to a fluctuating list of subscribers. For example, you can use data-driven subscriptions to distribute a report throughout a large organization where subscribers vary from one month to the next, or use other criteria that determines group membership from an existing set of users.

– Filter the report output using report parameter values that are retrieved at run time.

– Vary report output formats and delivery options for each report delivery.

PDF Bursting is similar to data-driven subscriptions in what it achieves as the end result however it is completely different in how it goes about getting the job done.

PDF and Excel Bursting is better than SSRS Data-Driven subscription in many ways

Here are the top 5 reasons PDF Bursting, and by extension, Excel Bursting, is better than SSRS Data-Driven Subscriptions.

  1. Considerably Cheaper: In order to use SSRS Data-Driven subscriptions, you must be using SQL Server Reporting Services Enterprise Edition and the cost for that tier is at minimum $3717. It will cost more if want to host it on a server with more CPU cores. In contrast, remiCrystal with PDF/Excel Bursting costs only $999.
  2. More Efficient: If your report has to be data-driven for 1000 rows of data, in the SSRS scenario, the report will need to be run 1000 times and each time taking up database, processing and network resources. For PDF Bursting, the report is run only once and then using our algorithm split up and bursted into separate reports for delivery.
  3. Much Faster: As the SSRS Report is run only once for PDF Bursting, the entire process is unbelievably faster. When we compared running a data-driven subscription of 100 records with that for PDF Bursting, the latter was up to 230% faster.
  4. Access To In-Report Variables and Formulas: When using PDF Bursting in remiCrystal, all you need to do is add a special bursting tag that will be read by the the application at run time. You can therefore include any formula or variable into the bursting tag so that it can be accessible by remiCrystal without having to recreate it outside the report.
  5. Data Consistency: When running a data-driven subscription, the report’s data is fetched for every report run and what this means is that if you are using a very active transactional dabatase as the source, the results may differ between the first record and the 1000th. With PDF Bursting, the report is run only once and the data represents a real snapshot of that moment in time regardless of whether it is the first or 1000th record being processed.
  6. Bonus: Easier Maintenance: When dealing with SSRS Data-Driven subscriptions, you have to maintain 2 sets of data; one or more for the report itself and another for the data-driver. You must always always make sure that these 2 sets of data correlate at all times otherwise you could run into unforeseen issues. Making changes to the report also means that you have to consider its effect of the data-driver recordset. With PDF Bursting on the other hand, you only need to worry about the datasets in the report itself.

As you can see, PDF (and Excel Bursting) can save you and your organization money, time and resources in real meaningful ways. To get started and see what a difference it will make, download the free unlimited trial of remiCrystal today.

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How to Password Protect Excel Files from Crystal Reports and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS)

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Microsoft Excel is one of the oldest and most powerful software packages that is still widely used today and the Excel formats (XLS and XLSX) is only second to PDF as the most common output format from Crystal Reports and SSRS Reports.

After all, Excel is used by the average person, businesses, government institutions, and millions of other folks all over the world.

remiCrystal now allows you to add password protection to both XLS and XLSX Microsoft Excel formats so that the data in your exported Crystal Reports or SSRS Reports remains secure and is only accessible by the right parties.

To illustrate this functionality, lets use an example where you have several project managers (employees) in your organization that you would like to send password protected Excel reports to and then follow up with a separate email containing the access password.
The Employees database table woud look like the following:

First, open remiCrystal and click the Create External Data Task button

from the remicrystal home screen, select external data task

Provide a name and description for the task and then go to the External Data tab

Connect to your database containing the Employees table using an ODBC DSN and then enter the query to select the employees data required

create your SQL selection criteria to data-drive your crystal reports and SSRS reports

Once the query is set, select the Primary Key column (the column that uniquely identifies each row in the Employees table). In this case, it is the EmployeeID column

Add your Crystal Report or SSRS Report by going to the Reports & Actions tab and clicking on the relevant button at the bottom.

Set up the report parameters as well as the login credentials and then go to the Output format tab and select any Excel format.

you can populate parameters with data-driven values

You will be presented with some Excel file format options, one of which will be the ExcelWorkbook password.

You can type in the desired password or you can pull it in from your Employees database table by going to the Function Picker window, selecting External Data from the dropdown and then dragging and dropping the ExcelPassword database field into the Excel Workbook Password field.

populate the excel password with data-driven value
You can drag and drop the password from the Employees table

Click Save to save the settings and return to the main screen.

Now that we have the report set up to export to Excel with password protection, we need to set up an Action to email the employees with their passwords.

Select Send Email from the Actions menu

Fill in the details of the email and Save. Once again, you can use fields from the Employees database table to populate all the emails fields

email custom action

You may now save the remiCrystal task and run it. Every employee in our SQL selection query will be emailed their report in Excel format and the file will be password protected. They will also receive a separate email containing their unique password to use to access the Excel file.

To get started with security your Excel reports from Crystal Reports and SSRS Reports, download remiCrystal today and enjoy the unlimited 14 day trial.

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Exciting Times Ahead for remiCrystal

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First of all, we would like to take this opportunity to thank you for choosing us as the solution provider for your report distribution needs. We value our partnership with you very much.

As we approach the end of the year, we think it is a good idea to share with you a few of the exciting updates that we are planning for remiCrystal in 2019.

Upgrade to Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x

Currently, remiCrystal runs on the Microsoft .NET Framework v3.5. This version of .NET is very mature and stable and has allowed remiCrystal to remain compatible with older operating systems such as Windows XP and Windows Server 2003.
However, in order to continue to offer innovative new features, better security and faster performance, we are going to shift and base remiCrystal on Microsoft .NET Framework 4.x. This change will mean that future versions of remiCrystal will require Windows Server 2008 R2 Service Pack 1 or above.

The first version of remiCrystal to be based on .NET 4.x will be version 5 and is slated to be released in Q1 2019.

Some of the features that will be enabled by this migration to .NET Framework 4.x include

  • higher level of password encryption for Zip and PDF files for better security
  • better parallel execution of reports and tasks will lead to faster performance
  • better UI responsiveness
  • better UX design 
  • higher application stability

remiCrystal Server Edition

One of the most distinguishing and innovative features of remiCrystal is that all the tasks are stored as individual self contained files (.rctx). These self-contained files are easy to manage since they can be treated like any other file on your PC and as they are all self-contained, there are reduced points of failure.

One feature that has been requested a lot by our users, is a way to have a central management application for all remiCrystal tasks. I am excited to tell you that we have began developing this central management application, remiCrystal Server, and plan to launch it in Q2 2019.
remiCrystal Server Edition will be a FREE add-on to all our existing Advanced Edition customers.

remiCrystal Server Edition

More Cloud Integrations

As you are probably already aware, the world of technology has shifted to a cloud-centric approach for almost everything. As more and more of our users utilize cloud services, we are going to be building more integrations into cloud services such as Slack, Google Sheets, Dropbox and more.

Thanks to you, the future of remiCrystal looks brighter than ever and I can’t wait to get all the exciting new features into your hands.

Prevent Blank SSRS Subscription Reports From Being Sent

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One of the most common challenge that SSRS subscription users face is that their reports are sent out on schedule regardless of whether or not they contain data. As you are aware, SSRS reports are typically based on one or more datasets and sometimes these datasets can be empty. When using normal or data-driven subscriptions, the reports are executed and delivered even when the report is blank. This is undesirable as time is wasted by end-users who opens up these reports only to find that there is no data present.

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Getting Started with remiCrystal

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Getting Started with remiCrystal

We are very proud of is how easy it is to get started with remiCrystal. Once you have downloaded and installed the app, you can open it by going to the Start Menu, select “All Programs” and then choose “remiCrystal” under the “remiWare” menu.

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How to Embed a Report in Your Emails

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A picture is worth a thousand words. A graphic can relay your information and be consumed by its audience in seconds instead of minutes. It is therefore important that your reports contain a mix of charts and more detailed information. Any reporting tool is measured by how well and how easy it is to create compelling analytical charts and graphs.

One of the challenges that users face when distribution reports, whether manually or automated, is to have the report embedded as the body of the email so that the recipient views the data as soon as they open it. remiCrystal allows you to pick which of your report in a remiCrystal task you can have embedded in your email as the message body. The report can be embedded either as plain text or as standard HTML where any images and links in your reports are preserved as part of the email.
Embedding your report into an email is a simple one step process.

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What is the Difference Between Crystal Reports and SSRS Reports

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When users are faced with reporting software options, there will most likely have to decide whether to go with SAP’s Crystal Reports or Microsoft’s SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Services) Reports.

At remiWare, we have extensive experience working with both Crystal Reports and SSRS Reports. We have built hundreds of reports using both tools and integrated them into remiCrystal. It is with this understanding that we feel we can help in deciphering the major differences between the two reporting platforms. [Read more…]

 remiCrystal is Reliable

remiCrystal utilizes the Windows Task Scheduling system for all its automation. This means that your reports will be delivered as long as Windows is running. No ifs or buts.

 remiCrystal is Easy To Use

With remiCrystal, you do not have to spend money on training your staff on how to use the software. We believe that if you can use MS Word, then you can use remiCrystal.

 remiCrystal is Cost-Effective

When you purchase remiCrystal, you will begin to realize the return on investment immediately. You will save time money and human resources. Automating your processes will reduce errors in your reporting immensely.

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