Migration from RDC (Crystal Reports for Visual Basic 6) to .NET

Much like all other code migration from Visual Basic 6 to the .NET Framework, recoding is necessary when migrating from the Report Designer Component in Visual Basic 6 to Crystal Reports .NET. This is because of the new .NET APIs, which vary from the COM APIs. However, migration from Visual Basic to .NET offers many benefits that are provided with .NET, such as strong typing and managed code.

Note

For a diagram that demonstrates the relationship between the RDC in Visual Basic 6 and versions of Crystal Reports .NET, see Migration diagram.

The RDC API and the Crystal Reports .NET API

The Crystal Reports .NET API has significant differences from the RDC API. However, the Crystal Reports for Visual Studio documentation provides extensive conceptual information and tutorials to explain how to build powerful reporting applications in Crystal Reports for Visual Studio.

Current Status

Microsoft supports COM in .NET through the use of COM Interop. Although Business Objects does not directly test the RDC in .NET, developers successfully use the RDC in .NET in their applications. Business Objects strongly recommends customers migrate to the applications that have been designed and tested for .NET. These newer products are designed to embed directly into the .NET development environment and take advantage of newer .NET features.

The RDC was deprecated in Crystal Reports XI. As of Crystal Reports 2008 the RDC is no longer supported.

Note

In addition to Crystal Reports for Visual Studio, Business Objects has more powerful .NET reporting applications. For more information, see Upgrade Options.