Server-side processing
Server-side processing allows you to set up a report that performs the majority of its processing on the server and pushes only relevant details to your computer.
Server-side processing provides you with a number of benefits:
- less time connected to the server
- less memory needed to process the report on your computer
- lower transfer time from the server to the client.
Here's how server-side processing works: by using SQL pass-through technology to send an SQL statement to the database server and retrieve an initial set of data, Crystal Reports off-loads much of the data retrieval and sorting work onto the server system, thus freeing up local memory and resources for more important tasks. That is why server-side processing works only for reports that have been sorted and grouped; if a report has not been sorted and grouped (for example, if it is a simple list report), then there is no processing to push to the server. You should also note that server-side processing works only for reports based on SQL data sources (you could not, for example, use server-side processing for a report based on a query, since a query is not an SQL data source).
Keep in mind that in order to perform the grouping on the server, your report must conform to the following conditions:
Note:
- When you drill-down on a hidden section of a report, with the processing being done on the server, connection to the server will be automatically initiated. If the client is disconnected from the server (for example, if you download a report onto your laptop and you work on it from a remote location), then drilling-down on data will produce an error since the database is not available.
- If you save a report that has been partially processed on the server using the Save Data with Report option, the program will save only those records that have been transferred to the client side. In other words, if you have drilled-down on a hidden section and there is a tab for that data in Crystal Reports (indicating the data has been transferred), those records will be saved with the report.