How do I point Crystal Reports at a new database

Question

I have a Crystal Reports 2008 user that has over 100 custom developed reports  The reports all query Sql Server databases  SQL 2005   This database server is getting replaced with a new system  running SQL 2008 R2  and the existing databases will be moved to the new server  The new database server will have a different name  which I can address via the Crystal Reports Connections    however  one of the applications is also being upgraded at the same time   The old database  DB A  will be restored on the new server for historical reporting and a new database  DB B  will be created  The new DB B will have a very similar schema  so I would expect that most of the Crystal Reports should be able to run against the new DB B with little or no modification other than pointing the report definition at the new DB B    Of course  the majority of my users custom developed reports query against DB A   My question is   How do I modify existing Crystal Reports files to point at the new database name  DB B  instead of the old database  DB A

User · Answer

Choose Database   Set Datasource Location     Select the database node  yellow-ish cylinder  of the current connection  then select the database node of the desired connection  you may need to authenticate   then click Update   You will need to do this for the  Subreports  nodes as well   FYI  you can also do individual tables by selecting each individually  then choosing Update

User · Answer

Use the Database menu and  Set Datasource Location  menu option to change the name or location of each table in a report   This works for changing the location of a database  changing to a new database  and changing the location or name of an individual table being used in your report   To change the datasource connection  go the Database menu and click Set Datasource Location    Change the Datasource Connection   From the Current Data Source list  the top box   click once on the datasource connection that you want to change  In the Replace with list  the bottom box   click once on the new datasource connection  Click Update   Change Individual Tables   From the Current Data Source list  the top box   expand the datasource connection that you want to change  Find the table for which you want to update the location or name  In the Replace with list  the bottom box   expand the new datasource connection  Find the new table you want to update to point to  Click Update  Note that if the table name has changed  the old table name will still appear in the Field Explorer even though it is now using the new table   You can confirm this be looking at the Table Name of the table s properties in Current Data Source in Set Datasource Location  Screenshot http   i imgur com gzGYVTZ png  It s possible to rename the old table name to the new name from the context menu in Database Expert -  Selected Tables   Change Subreports   Repeat each of the above steps for any subreports you might have embedded in your report  Close the Set Datasource Location window   Any Commands or SQL Expressions   Go to the Database menu and click Database Expert  If the report designer used  Add Command  to write custom SQL it will be shown in the Selected Tables box on the right  Right click that command and choose  Edit Command   Check if that SQL is specifying a specific database   If so you might need to change it  Close the Database Expert window  In the Field Explorer pane on the right  right click any SQL Expressions  Check if the SQL Expressions are specifying a specific database   If so you might need to change it also  Save and close your Formula Editor window when you re done editing     And try running the report again   The key is to change the datasource connection first  then any tables you need to update  then the other stuff   The connection won t automatically change the tables underneath   Those tables are like goslings that ve imprinted on the first large goose-like animal they see   They ll continue to bypass all reason and logic and go to where they ve always gone unless you specifically manually change them   To make it more convenient  here s a tip  You can  Show SQL Query  in the Database menu  and you ll see table names qualified with the database  like  Sales   dbo   Customers   for any tables that go straight to a specific database   That might make the hunting easier if you have a lot of stuff going on   When I tackled this problem I had to change each and every table to point to the new table in the new database

[crystal-reports] How do I point Crystal Reports at a new database

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