Generate Reports
by Ron Schwarz
October 2002 Issue
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Quick Facts
ComponentOne Reports for .NET (part of ComponentOne Studio for .NET)
ComponentOne
Web: www.componentone.com
Phone: 800-858-2739;
412-681-4343
Price: $649.95 for ComponentOne Studio for .NET (one-year subscription)
Quick Facts: A report generation and output library for .NET applications.
Pros: Small footprint; extensive API and documentation.
Cons: Numerous irritating, if minor, glitches; lack of printed documentation. |
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You might wonder whether you need to purchase a third-party report generator, because Visual Studio ships with Crystal Reports. There are two good reasons: ComponentOne Reports for .NET has a much smaller footprint, and it has a fully exposed API. Although it's not as extensive a system as Crystal Reports, it's no slouch. It's an ambitious product, and it integrates nicely with ComponentOne Preview for .NET, which, like Reports, is included in the ComponentOne Studio for .NET package. Reports is an update of ComponentOne's VSREPORTS/VSVIEW package, acquired when VideoSoft merged with APEX to form ComponentOne.
Unfortunately, I ran into numerous issues with this product, including controls—and a utility—that insisted they were trial versions, even though I'd installed a licensed retail copy from the CD. A visit to the news server revealed the company was well aware that release versions of several controls would insist on displaying nag screens advising users to license the tools. However, there was no real resolution other than a suggestion to try editing the license files manually through a fairly circuitous procedure. The frustration level among newsgroup posters experiencing this same problem was palpable.
Other glitches included nits such as highlighted "find" matches that were offset from the text they were supposed to highlight, and object references in the tutorial material that needed to be edited manually before they'd pass muster with the compiler. I attribute these glitches to growing pains and the mad dash to deploy a product. They don't strike me as structural, but for the most part incidental to the core functionality.
Once past the potholes, I found the product to be capable. I could populate a report with virtually any type of data. I could also export reports to PDF, HTML, and text. Three big pluses are the ability to work with Crystal Reports and Access report layouts, the small deployment footprint, and the complete object model exposure. Apart from the glitches, the downside considerations are a separate license fee for Internet applications and the lack of a redistributable report designer. I should point out that the first consideration does not apply to non-Internet applications deployed over the Net. The second is needed rarely, and if it's necessary, you can whip up your own designer, thanks to the rich object model the system exposes.
This is a subscription product (your purchase includes a one-year CD update subscription). If another, less established vendor released this product, I'd hesitate to recommend it. However, ComponentOne is a longstanding vendor with a proven track record, and I fully expect them to iron out the kinks in this product.
About the Author
Ron Schwarz lurks in rural Michigan. When he's not digging out of the mountain of e-mail in his inbox, he maintains his sanity by restoring classic cameras. He welcomes your comments at www.clubvb.com.
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