ADO.NET Cookbook

7.16. Dynamically Creating Crystal Reports

Problem

You need to define a DataTable at runtime and bind it to a Crystal Report.

Solution

Create a DataAdapter and use it to fill a DataTable with a subset of records (specified by a range of OrderID values, from the Orders table joined to Order Details records from the Northwinds sample database demonstrated in the following example). Create a new report document and set its data source to the DataTable. To display the report, set the source of the report view to the report document.

The C# code is shown in Example 7-32.

Example 7-32. File: CrystalReportsForm.cs

// Namespaces, variables, and constants using System; using System.Configuration; using System.Windows.Forms; using CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine; using CrystalDecisions.Shared; using System.Data; using System.Data.SqlClient; private CrystalDecisions.Windows.Forms.CrystalReportViewer crv; // . . . // Get the user entered OrderID range. int orderIdFrom, orderIdTo; try { orderIdFrom = Convert.ToInt32(orderIdFromTextBox.Text); orderIdTo = Convert.ToInt32(orderIdToTextBox.Text); } catch (Exception ex) { MessageBox.Show(ex.Message, "Dynamic Crystal Reports", MessageBoxButtons.OK, MessageBoxIcon.Error); return; } Cursor.Current = Cursors.WaitCursor; // Create a DataAdapter and fill the table. String sqlText = "SELECT * FROM Orders " + "JOIN [Order Details] Order_Details ON Orders.OrderID = " + "Order_Details.OrderID " + "WHERE Orders.OrderID BETWEEN " + orderIdFrom + " AND " ...