Publishing overview

Publishing is the process of adding objects such as Crystal reports to the Crystal Enterprise environment and making them available to authorized users. The objects that you publish may be individual reports created with Crystal Reports, analytical applications designed with Crystal Analysis, other objects that you've created using Crystal Enterprise plug-in components, or directories containing multiple objects.

When you publish an object to Crystal Enterprise, an entry is made in the Automated Process Scheduler (APS) database. The File Repository Server stores the new object below the \Enterprise\FileStore\Input\data\ directory. When a user schedules an instance of any object, Crystal Enterprise checks the APS database for the location of the object file; the appropriate server component then retrieves and processes the object file from the File Repository. The processed instance is stored by the File Repository Server below the \Enterprise\FileStore\Output\data\ directory.

You can publish objects to Crystal Enterprise in three ways:

• Use the Crystal Publishing Wizard when you:
  • Have access to the locally installed application.
  • Are adding multiple objects or an entire directory.

    For details, see Publishing with the Crystal Publishing Wizard.

• Use the Crystal Management Console (CMC) when you are:
  • Publishing a single object.
  • Taking care of other administrative tasks.
  • Performing tasks remotely.

    For details, see Publishing with the Crystal Management Console.

• Save directly to your Enterprise folders when you are:
  • Designing reports with Crystal Reports.
  • Creating other objects with Crystal Enterprise plug-in components such as Crystal Analysis.

    For details, see Saving objects directly to the APS.

Note:    Crystal Enterprise supports reports created in versions 6 through 8.5 of Crystal Reports. Reports will appear in version 8 format when they are launched from Crystal Enterprise.

For information about your publishing options, see Publishing options.