Just found a crystal subreport with 33 shared variables. For those who don't know what that is (lucky), they're super global variables that exist everywhere.

Please send help. I'm supposed to refactor this...

Use fastreport.net their Manuals suck but they allow „base“ reports and scripting with c# or vb.net

@Giswald You assume my PM and her boss have given me access to a general programming language. Nada. Crystal all the way.

Granted I do work with HIPPA data and I'm an intern so there's that. Trying to convince them to let me redo the darn thing in python since its not a report but a glorified data dump template.

Forget about crystal, forever.

@ennerperez I wouldn't go that far. It has it's uses and I don't want to remake 30some reports

First time I see a crystal reports related post here. I feel your pain, doing crystal reports for 10 months straight right now.

Today I've got to modify a report, so it prints itself twice if a specific field is filled. Man, this is so exhausting

@Stahlbart I don't even know if that's possible to be honest
EDIT: Wait, it is. You'd have to make the whole thing a subreport and suppress the second instance of the same subreport based on a shared variable across to the main report

Yes, you are absolutely right. The problem was, that the original report already cointained subreports. I had to replace the original subreports, since crystal reports only allows one level of subreports. :(

This whole thread is giving me anxiety. I'll stay away from whatever that is. Thanks, byeee

@Stahlbart the one depth limit is because the optimization when going into subreports is absolutely atrocious. That's actually the issue that I'm doing with my company where they're having me clean out all of this jumping through hoops to put things into stop reports because the amount of time it takes to run just isn't worth it

@Stahlbart LMK how that goes. I'm emotionally invested now

@Techno-Wizard crystal is an eternal pain move to another stuff like razor and web view, I don't know. Whatever.

@ennerperez It's a really bad platform. I keep debating with my manager to move to a latex sever and some python.

@Techno-Wizard Well, what exactly you need to refracto to. Try to make the varaibles inherit from the parent report.

@Techno-Wizard
the subreport luckily contained only a detail section, wich has to be printed later than the main details and with some filtering through data selection formula.
So i had to replace that subreport through a formula with a string array and an output formula for representing that string array at the desired location :)

@Stahlbart oh God I wish my reports were that straight forward. I'm up to 90 shared vars now. Basically told my boss "screw it, this can never be fixed. This should be a py script with an oracle connection." "Think that's a good use of your time? Won't it take longer than fixing it?" "At this rate, no. I'm better off starting from scratch. This kind of work is not what crystal is designed for."

Exactly, Crystal was made for make you suffer and put a stick in you ass.

@ennerperez the GUI violates almost all of the 8 golden rules.

.

@Techno-Wizard

oh screw that, 90 shared vars? Damn mate, thats a pain in the ass. The problem in my company is, that developers, who barely do reporting, are designing all reports at the first stage. Thats why they sometimes miss essential things like joining tables via left outer join, so they have to implement tons of subreports to pass non consistent fields.

I will print your design rules notes and pin it on my wall, thanks for this, hahaha