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Crystal Reports 8.0 Coming Up on End-of-Life Cycle

By David McAmis
Tue, 11 May 2004
  

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All good things must come to an end and support for software is no different. Originally released on January 31, 2000, Crystal Reports 8.0 will reach the end of its support life cycle on June 30, 2003. If you haven't done so already, you should make plans to upgrade your installation to a more current version.

Making the Switch
Crystal Reports 8.0 was the last release of Crystal Reports before the integration with Crystal Enterprise and the last version to include a stand-alone reports web server. Since that time, Crystal Reports has been through three versions and the current version is 10.0. In addition, Crystal Enterprise has also grown to become the standard distribution framework for distributing reports over the web.

So if you are planning to upgrade from Crystal Reports 8, there are two areas that you need to consider. First, the reports you have created with Crystal Reports 8 are fully compatible with Crystal Reports 10. The only compatibility issue you may encounter is that the Crystal Reports format moved to Unicode with the release of v9 so once you save a report with Crystal Reports v10, you will not be able to open it with v8.

In addition, there are a number of features that have been introduced between v8 and v10 and you may want to consider these features to enhance and improve your report design. You can find a list of all of the new features introduced from v6 to v10 in this PDF file available on the Business Objects web site.

The other key area you need to consider is in the distribution of reports. If you used the standalone web server to distribute reports via a web browser, you will need to come up to speed with Crystal Enterprise and the different development options that are available to you. You can find an overview of the different Crystal Enterprise versions from a PDF available here.

And finally, if you are worried if the product you upgrade to will be supported in the future, don’t be. Business Objects clearly posts their support policies for their products on their support web site and each version of Crystal Reports is supported for at least 30 months into the future. Even after that date a number of knowledge base articles, downloads and technical documents are still available, both on the Business Objects and other web sites, ensuring that you won’t be left out in the cold!

Applies to: Crystal Reports 8.0


© Copyright 2006 by Crystal Developers Journal

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Copyright© 2006 | Crystal Developers Journal is an independent publication. It is not owned or controlled by Business Objects. Crystal Developers Journal is the trademark or registered trademark of CXM Media. Crystal Reports, Crystal Analysis, Crystal Enterprise, and Crystal Decisions are the trademarks or registered trademarks of Business Objects, Inc. All other trademarks referenced are the property of their respective owners.