Schulz Consulting

Consulting and Upgrades

Crystal Reports Schedulers for Sage 100cloud

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One of the questions that we’re often asked surrounds how to automatically extract data from Sage 100 / Sage 100cloud on a regular basis without needing to manually run a program or report.

While there are a few ways to do this ( Visual Integrator, ODBC ), the typical way many consultants approach this is with Crystal Reports.

Crystal Reports is a report writer included with Sage 100 and the starting point they use for creating a report which can export data.

However, standard Crystal Reports usually rely on someone manually starting the report and running it on a regular basis.

Thankfully, there are numerous scheduling tools that work to automatically run a Crystal Reports at a preset time on a regular schedule.

In some cases you also use Windows Task scheduler to create the automation. The degree with which you manually create this task schedule varies based on the product used.

The two products that I’ve used the most are Visual Cut and Logicity. Both are affordable ( under $500 ) and support most of the recent versions of Crystal Reports.

The website Crystal Reports Underground has a review of both desktop and server-based scheduler programs.

Desktop Crystal Report scheduling tools reviewed include:

  • Crystal Delivery by Groff Automation
  • Smart Report Organizer 2018 by DataZimmerman
  • Logicity Pro by Saber Logic
  • Report Commander by Arcana Development
  • cViewMANAGER by Chelsea Technologies
  • Softline Crystal Scheduler by Softline Solutions France
  • R-Tag Crystal Scheduler Light by R-Tag
  • Visual CUT by Millet Software

Server Crystal Report Scheduling tools reviewed include:

  • ReportServer by InfoFabrik GmbH
  • R-Tag Crystal Scheduler by R-Tag:
  • Navarre Report Scheduler by PCS Programming
  • cViewSERVER by Chelsea Technologies
  • CrystalKiwi Scheduler by CrystalKiwi Ltd
  • Softline Crystal Scheduler by Softline Solutions France
  • Liaison Messenger EDD by Liaison Software Corp
  • rePORTAL SCR by rePORTAL Software
  • Report Runner Batch Enterprise by Jeff-Net

The next time you are wondering if there is a better way to automatically run a Crystal Report at a preset time – consider using one of the report schedulers reviewed above. And remember that Crystal Reports can be set to print a report as well as export data which can be handy if paired up with an FTP service scheduled to automatically upload a file on a set schedule.

Crystal Compatibility and Sage 100

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Have you recently started an upgrade from an earlier version of Sage 100 to Sage 100cloud or Sage 100 version 2018 and run into this Crystal Reporting error?

 

Crystal Report Windows Forms Viewer

“Unable to cast COM object of type”
‘CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.Controllers.ReportSourceClass’ to interface type
‘CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.Controllers.ISCRReportSource’. This operation failed because the QueryInterface call on the COM component for the interface with IID ‘{98CDE168-C1BF-4179-BE4C-F2CFA7CB8398}’ Failed due to the following error: No such interface supported (Exception from HRESULT: 0x80004002 (E_NOINTERFACE)).

Here’s the reason that you are encountering the error and the way to fix it.

Example: Sage 100 or Sage 100cloud STANDARD upgrade from 2016 to 2018

  1. Install 2018 to SERVER
  2. Run 2018 workstation setup on a WORKSTATION which also has 2016 installed
  3. This breaks Crystal Printing on that 2018 workstation (at this point 2016 workstations can still print)
  4. To fix the 2018 printing, copy the Pvxwin32.exe.Config file from the 2018 SERVER “..\MAS90\Home” directory where Sage 100 2018 is installed, into the 2016 SERVER “..\MAS90\Home” directory of the previous version(s) where the error is experienced.
  5. The issue resolves for 2018 TEST WORKSTATION – BUT …
  6. However, because you copied the config files to the 2016 folder you break printing for 2016 LIVE WORKSTATIONS NOT YET UPGRADED WITH 2018 WKSETUP
  7. Unless those 2016 LIVE WORKSTATIONS (a) also install 2018 WKSETUP (or presumably you remove the Pvxwin32.exe.Config from above which breaks your 2018 workstation but lets 2016 without 2018 installed print ) AND you’ve moved the config described in (4) above.

Business Issue:

  • Generally not a big issue if you are doing an upgrade in one day because you can uninstall 2016 and install 2018 wksetup and everyone can print
  • The problem appears when a customer wants to test over the course of several days/weeks and wants to run 2016 and 2018 on the same workstation(s) in a production environment.
  • You can’t just give one person 2018 wksetup (and move the config to the 2016 folder) without doing the whole company or the fix above breaks the 2016 people who don’t have 2018 wksetup
  • While this may not seem like a huge issue it is problematic in large installs with 20+ user counts, shipping, receiving because of the time it takes to travel from workstation to workstation and debug minor issues,

Possible workaround on this would be:

  • Install 2018 for testing to a standalone workstation that is not used for any prior version
  • Test on this workstation that has no other Sage version(s)
  • When ready run wksetup on remaining workstations and remove prior Sage version
  • The issue with this workaround is other users can’t test various workstation issue such as printing, credit cards, etc

The Sage KB entry which more fully describes the resolution can be read online at – Error: “Unable to cast COM object of type” when printing in prior Sage 100 versions after installing Sage 100 2018

Sage 100 and Sage 100c Version 2018 Available Now

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Sage 100 and Sage 100c v2018 now available for download from the Sage portal  – https://goo.gl/PLo9W1

Technical documents related to Sage 100 and Sage 100c are now available online – https://goo.gl/YpCu7n

What’s New in Sage 100 and Sage 100c 2018?

Note: Some of these features are available to Sage 100c only

  • A redesign of the Job Cost and Payroll modules to improve performance and usability
  • Spell checking in several areas including comments, memos, and messages that print on forms (Sage 100c only)
  • Inactive and restricted statuses for warehouses (Sage 100c only)
  • Mobility for Bar Code (upgrade of Bar Code module) (Sage 100c only)
    • EZ Import for data collected on mobile devices
      • Inventory EZ Import for Physical Count Entry, Count Card Entry, receipts, issues, adjustments, alias entry, and job issues.
      • Sales Order EZ Import for Invoice Data Entry and Shipping Data Entry
      • Purchase Order EZ Import for Receipt of Goods
      • Bill of Materials EX Import for Production Entry
  • New Crystal Reports 2016 (requires uninstalling prior version )
  • Service notifications for Sage service status (Payroll)
  • Improvements to the renamed Mobility for Bar Code module, including a simplified import process to extend support for mobile apps
  • Important: There is a new Crystal Runtime shipping with Sage 100 v2018 which is NOT compatible with earlier versions of Sage 100. The SAP Crystal runtime included with Sage 100 2018 is not backward compatible with previous releases of Sage 100
  • See the Sage KB 86964 for full details on resolving Crystal Reports Runtime conflicts with Sage 100

If you are also using Sage Fixed Assets 2018 you’ll need to make some additional fixes due to potential conflicts with the version fo Crystal included with SFA 2018 – Sage KB 86606 has the details.

In addition, a product update for Sage 100 v2017 – Sage 100 2017.3 is now available for download  – https://goo.gl/HSFyjd

What Version(s) of Crystal Reports Are Required for Sage 100c? (Updated October 2017)

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When Sage 100 2018 is released in late October 2017 it will use a newer version of Crystal Report Writer than prior Sage 100 releases.

This updated Crystal Report version will come on the system download that you’ll use to install Sage 100 onto your computer. You can generally find the full installation of Crystal Reports for Sage on your Sage 100 program disks which you download from the Sage knowledgebase.

Important: Crystal Reports 2017 is NOT backward compatible with earlier versions of Sage 100.  If you receive the error:

Unable to cast COM object of type” when printing in prior Sage 100 versions after installing Sage 100 2018

 

You will need to follow these steps if you intend to run two versions of Sage 100 which do not use the same Crystal version.

In most cases, install the full version of Crystal Reports onto any workstation that will be making edits to forms or reports. Crystal Reports is the tool used to modify forms and reports in Sage 100.

 

Sage 100 2018 – Crystal Reports 2016 for Sage 100 + Sage 100c
Sage 100 2017 – Crystal Reports 2011 for Sage 100 + Sage 100c
Sage 100 ERP version 2016 – Crystal Reports 2011 for Sage 100 + Sage 100c
Sage 100 ERP version 2015 – Crystal Reports 2011 for Sage
Sage 100 ERP version 2014 – Crystal Reports 2011 for Sage
Sage 100 ERP version 2013 – Crystal Reports 2011 for Sage
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.50 – Crystal Reports XI Release 2 for Sage (11.5)
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.40 – Crystal Reports XI Release 2 for Sage (11.5)
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.30 – Crystal Reports 10.0 for Sage
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.20 – Crystal Reports 10.0 for Sage
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.10 – Crystal Reports 10.0 for Sage
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 4.00 and 4.05 – Crystal Reports 8.5 for Sage
Sage MAS 90 or 200 version 3.70 and 3.71 – Crystal Reports 8.5 for Sage

 

If you find you don’t have the original disks for your Sage 100 version you can contact Sage to request a copy.

Sage 100c Includes 2 Crystal Reports Designers In All Bundles

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sage100c_pricingSage has made a subtle change in how it prices Sage 100c. This new subscription offering for Sage 100 is now including 2 Crystal Reports Designer licenses. Previously the Crystal Reports Designer had been a subscription of $720/year per license.

 

Old Sage 100c Add-on Pricing – Crystal Reports

sage100c_old_addon_pricing

New Sage 100c Add-On Pricing – Crystal Reports

sage100c_pricing

 

 

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