Question

I am using the Crystal Reports designer that came with Visual Studio 2008. My report’s data source is tied to a .Net class from my project (i.e. Database Expert > Project Data > .NET Objects). I’ve updated my .Net class with an additional property that I would like to use in my report.

When my report’s data source is tied to a database table, I normally use the “Verify Database” feature which causes the Crystal Reports to see the additional fields in my table. However, I’m not sure how this is done with .Net objects.

Here is what I am doing:

1. I choose “Verify Database”
2. A dialog titled “ADO.NET” appears and asks for a “File Path,” “Class Name,” and an option to “Use DataSet from Class.” “Class Name” is pre-populated with the name of the .Net class that my report’s data source is tied to.
3. At this point, I’m not sure what to fill in for “File Path.” Clicking “Finish” will bring up a dialog titled “Crystal Reports ActiveX Designer” that reads: “Logon failed. Details: crdb_adoplus: To access classes in your project at design-time, please build your project first, and then try again.” (note: My project has already been built)

What should I be doing?

Not so exciting update: Just trying random things out, none of which are working. I pointed the “File Path” at the compiled project’s xml and dll files in bin/debug, neither of which helped. For the xml file, I got a dialog called “Remove Table” that reads: “The database table ‘[NAME OF MY .NET OBJECT]” cannot be found. Proceed to remove this table from the report?” For the dll file, I got a dialog that read “Invalid Argument provided.”

Answer 1

Rename the class. Open the report in the designer > database menu > Set datasource location. Point to the renamed class, save the report, refresh, and it should pick up the update. You can rename the class back after this and point the report back at it.