Establishing connection between Crystal Reports and ALMComplete

Hi Ben,



I did start a ticket to get help on this and I got an email back with detailed instructions. I think you should post a 'How-To' guide in this thread so that other people who went through similar issues won't have to go through the same process that I did. I haven't had time to work on the 'How-To' document, otherwise, I would have done it  myself.



Thanks,

Rabin

I came across this thread. Has this information been posted anywhere on the procedure for connecting Crystal Reports to the ALMComplete database out side of SmartBear so you can do development work?

Hi Brian,



Are you talking abou connecting to the SoftwarePlanner database for ALMComplete so that you can create your own custom Crystal Reports?



Thanks,

Rabin

Yes. I'd like to be able to develop a report in Crystal Reports (CR) and test it out prior to uploading it into ALMComplete. So basically it is the procedure for connecting CR developer to the SoftwarePlanner database that I need.

Ah, okay.  Here are the steps that worked for me.

1. Make a new ODBC(RDO) connection. If you go to the Database Expert, it's listed under 'Create New Connection' in Standard Report Creation Wizard or Database Expert, it's listed there.

2. Select data source as agSPEnt.

3. Ask your data admin for user name and password to access the SoftwarePlanner database. Enter those fields in there.

4. Click finish and you should be able to access all the tables from the SoftwarePlanner database.



Good luck! It was very frustrating for me when I first started this process due to lack of documentation. Hopefully, this will make it a tad bit easier for you.



Rabin

Perfect! This is what I needed to confirm the procedure for doing this. I had downloaded an existing report and looked at the database connection and it did have the data source as agSPEnt. I just need to get the account credentials from the DBA. Thanks for your help Rabin.

Actually, I just noticed I was looking at an existing report's connection that had agSPEnt in it, but it couldn't resolve the connection because I don't seem to have that ODBC connector available. Do I have to create an ODBC connector from the Windows Control Panel called agSPEnt? The only ODBC options I have are dBase Files, Excel Files, and MS Access Database from the New Connection ODBC (RDO) option.

Sorry, I forgot to include the preceding steps before you try to create a connection from Crystal Reports. Here are the steps.

1.1) Open Windows Explorer on the server hosting Crystal Reports.



1.2) Navigate to C:\Windows\SYSWow64 directory, locate odbcad32.exe, right-click on the file and select Run as Administrator.



1.3) Navigate to the System DSN tab in the ODBC Data Source Administrator and select the Add... button.



1.4) Enter agSPEnt in the Name field, specify the server where your SoftwarePlanner DB is located in the Server field and click Next.



1.5) Select the option to use SQL Server authentication, enter psUSer in the Login ID field and the user's password in the Password field and click Next.



1.6) Select the Change the default database to: option, use the drop down to select the SoftwarePlanner database and click Next.



1.7) Click Finish and then the Test Data Source... button to ensure a successful connection to the database then OK 3 times to exit the program.

Thanks Rabin. You have been very helpful.