Summary

This article discusses issues you may encounter when using Report Commander 1.x in a 64-bit environment.

Version Note

Beginning with version 2.0, Report Commander is available in a 64-bit version that avoids the problems described below.

More Information

Because the Crystal Reports runtime components that Report Commander uses are only available in a 32-bit version, Report Commander installs and runs as a 32-bit application when it is installed on computers running 64-bit versions of Windows.

This can have implications for database client installation and configuration, as discussed in the following sections.

ODBC Aliases

Windows maintains separate ODBC configuration information for 32-bit and 64-bit applications. When you run the default ODBC administrator from the Windows Control Panel, this configuration only applies to 64-bit applications. Any ODBC aliases defined here will not be available to Report Commander, causing Report Commander to issue a "failed to open connection" error.

If your report uses an ODBC connection, you must configure your ODBC alias using the 32-bit version of the ODBC configuration tool. To run this tool, run "c:\windows\sysWOW64\odbcad32.exe" from Start/Run or a command prompt. Then configure the alias as required.

Oracle Client

If your report connects to an Oracle database, you must install the Oracle database client on the computer where Report Commander runs. For Report Commander to work on a 64-bit computer, you must install the 32-bit version of the Oracle client.

It is possible to install both the 32-bit and 64-bit clients on the same computer. If both are installed, your environment must be correctly configured to use the 32-bit version before you run Report Commander. To do this, the ORACLE_HOME environment variable must be set to the 32-bit home directory, and the PATH environment variable must include the "bin" directory below the 32-bit home directory.

Some customers have reported that Report Commander fails when run against the 32-bit Oracle 10.2 client. In these cases, Report Commander has worked successfully after installing the 32-bit Oracle 11g client.

Other Database Drivers

Many database drivers (such as SQL Server) do not require any additional software installation or configuration.

For drivers that do require client installation or configuration, be sure to install the 32-bit version of the client software. If the database driver requires any Registry-based configuration, the configuration must be set in the 32-bit Registry, not the default 64-bit Registry.