What version of Crystal Reports should I buy to write or edit reports?
Auditbase uses a runtime version of an older Crystal Reports (CR) version called XI. We have not changed the version used in Auditbase since XI because later versions of CR do not have a runtime we can use; they would require a separate copy of CR to be purchased for every PC running reports.
If using Windows 7, it is safest to buy CR XI r2. However, this version is not supported on Windows 10. If using Windows 10 you will need to buy a version between CR 2011 and CR 2020. These versions bought directly from SAP cost between £412 and £473[1].
Later versions of CR contain more modern features and thus there is the risk of saving reports that are incompatible with Cr XI r2, so will not run in Auditbase. Versions of CR after XI r2 may have errors when using multiple outer joins, please contact Auditdata support if you experience this issue. There are two options when deciding which version to purchase depending on what you are doing with the reports.
- If you want to run the reports in AuditBase, you must not use features that are not available in XI version. We cannot tell you what these features are, but to minimize the risk:
- Only use the features covered in the training.
- Buy CR 2011, the earliest version to work on Windows 10, which has less risk of extra features since XI.
- Frequently save, and test that the report works from AuditBase. If an error occurs roll back using that feature and find another way to do what you need.
- If you only want to run the reports in the full Crystal version that was used for designing the report, then buy any version and do not attempt to run the reports from Auditbase. Where the report is written by, for instance, one Informatics person and run only by the head and deputy head of the department and the writer prefers to use advanced features in CR 2016, you might decide to buy multiple copies of this version to run from multiple PCs.
[1] Costs correct on 1 Sep 2020