BusinessObjects Board

Difference between Crystal Reports and Business Objects?

general discussion
#1

Hi,

I am beginner in BO and new to this forum.

Can some one explain the difference between Crystal Reports & BO 6.5?

Advance Thanks for your reply,

regards,
mike

beginner_199 (BOB member since 2005-12-27)

#2

Well, without writing a book on this, in a nutshell, they are products of two different companies…Crystal Reports is by Crystal Decisions and BO6.5 is of course by Business Objects. Crystal Reports is probably the most widely used reporting tool in the world. Business users who have never heard of Business Objects usually know what a Crystal report is. BO6.5 is a big improvement from the BO5.1.x. And the strength of Business Objects is to hide the complexity from the business users who are technically challenged. On the other hand, Crystal is a very powerful tool but it requires personnel with application development knowledge.

After the acquisition of Crystal Reports, version XI is the first attempt by Business Objects to integrate the two reporting tools into one single platform. If you are brand new to BO, I strongly suggest you not to get into version 6.5. You should be using XI instead.

Hope this helps.

substring :us: (BOB member since 2004-01-16)

#3

Click here

Taurean (BOB member since 2005-08-15)

#4

Hi!
I am new to CR. For that matter, I don’t quite know what it is. Am familiar with BO instead.

My questions is: Is there any such thing as compatibility between a CR version and BO version?

Any info appreciated.

Zach (BOB member since 2006-01-11)

#5

Welcome to B:bob:B!

In short, no. Crystal Reports is a totally separate technology. All of the content types (Crystal, Desktop Intelligence, OLAP Intelligence, and Web Intelligence) can be delivered using the Business Objects Enterprise platform. Development is another story … each is very separate, and has it’s own niche. OLAP Intelligence is self-explanatory. Crystal is better suited for complex, highly formatted, enterprise types of reports. Web Intelligence is better suited for ad hoc, analytical type of reporting. Desktop Intelligence has a blending of both enterprise and analytical capabilities, but is not part of the future enhancements of the product line.

Dwayne Hoffpauir :us: (BOB member since 2002-09-19)

#6

Thanks Dwayne!

That answers my first doubt.

Since CR is similar to BO reporter, can a report created in CR be opened in BO Full Client or vice-versa? no need to refresh, just open.
Are the formats same?

I would also like to know if both products can be installed on one machine without any issues.

I also heard about BCIP(BO Crystal Integration Pack). Is it the same as having CR and BO installed separately on a PC with links between them OR
Is it another product deployment altogether?

Please advice.
Thanks in advance!

Zach (BOB member since 2006-01-11)

#7

No

Yes

I think the BCIP is no longer useful. It was a first attempt to bring the pre-XI BusinessObjects Infoview and Crystal Enterprise portals together. As of XI, it is no longer needed.

Dwayne Hoffpauir :us: (BOB member since 2002-09-19)