Setting your data source

To connect to your database and retrieve fresh data for your report, details about how to access your data source are needed. The database connection details are used by your web server to access your database. Neither the connection details nor the login credentials provided on this screen are transmitted through the network to the client web browser. Since the database connection details are never sent to the client, they can’t be observed by third parties or by users who are viewing reports.

Using connection properties stored in the .rpt file, ReCrystallize Pro will correctly pre-fill the database connection details for the database that was used to create the report. Because the password is not stored in the .rpt file, it is never pre-filled. If the database requires a password, it must be entered on this screen.

!The pre-filled database connection details will be correct for the data source with which the report was designed. It is normal in some cases for one or more fields to be left blank. For Oracle databases, the Database/Table field is normally blank and should not be filled in.

Unless you are sure you need to run a report using a different data source, don’t change the pre-filled values except to provide a password if one is required by your database.

ReCrystallize Pro can independently set and override database connection details for each table that is used in the report and its subreports. You may change the pre-filled values in order to point the report to a different database, provided that it has an identical structure as the original database (for example, moving from a development database to a production database). Use caution in making any changes since any incorrect changes will cause the report to fail. If your report fails to run correctly on the web after changing this information, try again using the default pre-filled values.

“Set only the username and password which are the same for all tables” will allow the web pages to log in to the database using the simplest method available. Selecting this option is recommended if it is available because it is least likely to introduce any errors into the database connection process. This option will not be selectable if ReCrystallize Pro determines that it may produce incorrect results for the specific report file.

“Set the same values for all tables in this report and its subreports” will cause the web pages to set the connection details for all tables in the report and its subreports so they will use the same values provided on this screen for the first table. Selecting this option can save time by skipping additional database connection screens when a report has numerous tables that all use the same connection and login details. If ReCrystallize Pro determines that using this option is likely to produce incorrect results, it will not be selectable.

“Prompt for the username and password with the Crystal Reports viewer” will cause the Crystal Reports .NET Viewer to prompt each user viewing the report for the database username and password. The database connection details will not be pre-set. This option is not recommended in most cases, but could be useful in cases where each web user viewing the report has a unique account login in the database and can access information under the unique database account.

“Set the username and password provided for web server authentication” will cause the web pages to attempt to log in to the database using the same username and password that each web user supplies during web server authentication. This option is not recommended in most cases, but could be useful in cases where each web user viewing the report has a unique account login in the database and can access information under the unique database account. For this option to work correctly, the IIS web server must be set to require Basic Authentication which prompts the web user for a username and password.