Spawning a New Window for Each CrystalReportViewer

Update to this post: I have found a bug in the CrystalReportViewer that I address here.

In creating a ASP.NET Web Forms site for viewing Crystal Reports, I needed to open multiple dates for the same report to compare values. The previous setup I used would not allow this; only one report could be open at a time. To remedy this, I changed the way reports would be loaded, and made a separate window for each one.

Excerpt of the home page code:

<table style="border-width:0px; border-spacing:1px; border-collapse:collapse;">
    <tr style="vertical-align:top;">
        <td class="fcel1">
            
<strong>Report</strong>
                <asp:DropDownList id="ddlReports" runat="server" AutoPostBack="True" />
            
        </td>
       <asp:panel id="pnlreportdate" runat="server">
            <td class="fcel1">
                
<strong>Report Date</strong>
                    <asp:TextBox id="txtSingleDate" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
                    <ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender
                        ID="CalendarExtender1" runat="server" TargetControlID="txtSingleDate">
                    </ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender>
                
            </td>
        </asp:panel>
        <asp:panel id="pnlstartenddates" runat="server">
            <td class="fcel1">
                
<strong>Begin Date</strong>
                    <asp:TextBox id="txtBeginDate" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
                    <ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender
                        ID="CalendarExtender2" runat="server" TargetControlID="txtBeginDate">
                    </ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender>
                
            </td>
            <td class="fcel1">
                
<strong>End Date</strong>
                    <asp:TextBox id="txtEndDate" runat="server"></asp:TextBox>
                    <ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender
                        ID="CalendarExtender3" runat="server" TargetControlID="txtEndDate">
                    </ajaxToolkit:CalendarExtender>
                
            </td>
        </asp:panel>
        <td class="fcel1" style="vertical-align:middle;">
            <asp:Button id="btnGenerate" runat="server" Text="Generate"></asp:Button>
        </td>
    </tr>
</table>

…and its code behind:

Imports AjaxControlToolkit
Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine
Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared
Imports CrystalDecisions.Web
Imports System.IO

Partial Class _Default
    Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

    Protected Sub Page_Init(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Init
        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
            txtSingleDate.Text = Now.Date()
            txtBeginDate.Text = Now.Date()
            txtEndDate.Text = Now.Date()
        End If
    End Sub

    Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
            Dim dirpath As String = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("ReportFolder")
            Dim thedir As DirectoryInfo = New DirectoryInfo(Server.MapPath(dirpath))
            Dim filenames As FileInfo() = thedir.GetFiles()

            ddlReports.DataSource = filenames
            ddlReports.DataBind()

            For Each report As ListItem In ddlReports.Items
                Dim reportFileName As String = report.Value
                Dim reportText As String = reportFileName

                reportText = Replace(reportText, ".rpt", "")

                report.Text = reportText
            Next
        End If
        ShowPanels()
    End Sub

    Protected Function SetParameters() As String
        Dim strOnClientClick As String
        Dim BeginDate As String
        Dim EndDate As String
        Dim SingleDate As String
        Dim RptName As String

        BeginDate = txtBeginDate.Text
        EndDate = txtEndDate.Text
        SingleDate = txtSingleDate.Text
        RptName = ddlReports.SelectedValue
        strOnClientClick = "window.open('Pages/Reports.aspx?guid=" & newGuid().ToString & "&rpt=" & RptName
        If pnlstartenddates.Visible Then
            strOnClientClick += "&begin=" & BeginDate & "&end=" & EndDate
        ElseIf pnlreportdate.Visible Then
            strOnClientClick += "&single=" & SingleDate
        End If
        strOnClientClick += "','_blank');"
        Return strOnClientClick
    End Function

    Protected Sub ShowPanels()
        Dim strSelectedValue As String
        Dim bSingleDate As Boolean
        Dim bMultiDate As Boolean

        bSingleDate = False
        bMultiDate = False

        strSelectedValue = ddlReports.SelectedValue.ToString()

        Dim arrSingleDate() As String = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("SingleDate").Split(",")
        Dim arrMultiDate() As String = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("MultiDate").Split(",")

        If Array.IndexOf(arrSingleDate, strSelectedValue) <> -1 Then
            bSingleDate = True
            bMultiDate = False
        ElseIf Array.IndexOf(arrMultiDate, strSelectedValue) <> -1 Then
            bSingleDate = False
            bMultiDate = True
        End If

        pnlreportdate.Visible = bSingleDate
        pnlstartenddates.Visible = bMultiDate
    End Sub

    Protected Function newGuid() As Guid
        Dim guid As Guid
        guid = guid.NewGuid()
        Return guid
    End Function

    Protected Sub btnGenerate_Click(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles btnGenerate.Click
        Dim strOnClientClick As String = SetParameters()
        Page.ClientScript.RegisterStartupScript(Me.GetType(), newGuid().ToString(), strOnClientClick, True)
    End Sub
End Class

The reports.aspx page that is used for all reports:

<%@ Page Language="VB" AutoEventWireup="true" CodeFile="Reports.aspx.vb" Inherits="Pages_Reports" %>

<%@ Register Assembly="CrystalDecisions.Web, Version=13.0.2000.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=692fbea5521e1304"     Namespace="CrystalDecisions.Web" TagPrefix="CR" %>

<meta http-equiv="X-UA-Compatible" content="IE=9,chrome=1" />

</pre>
<form id="form1">
<div>

</div>
</form>
<pre>

…and the code behind for reports.aspx:

Imports CrystalDecisions.Shared
Imports System.IO
Imports CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine

Partial Class Pages_Reports
    Inherits System.Web.UI.Page

    Protected strQueryString As String

    Protected Sub Page_Init(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Init
        strQueryString = Request.QueryString.ToString()
        Page.Title = Replace(Request.QueryString("rpt").ToString(), ".rpt", "")
        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
            'Do nothing
        ElseIf Session(strQueryString) IsNot Nothing Then
            Me.CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = Session(strQueryString)
            CrystalReportViewer1.DataBind()
            UpdatePanel1.Update()
        End If
    End Sub

    Protected Sub Page_Load(sender As Object, e As System.EventArgs) Handles Me.Load
        If Not Page.IsPostBack Then
            Dim strReportName As String = Request.QueryString("rpt")
            Dim strSingleDate As String = Request.QueryString("single")
            Dim strBeginDate As String = Request.QueryString("begin")
            Dim strEndDate As String = Request.QueryString("end")

            Dim bSingleDate As Boolean = False
            Dim bMultiDate As Boolean = False

            Dim arrSingleDate() As String = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("SingleDate").Split(",")
            Dim arrMultiDate() As String = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("MultiDate").Split(",")

            If Array.IndexOf(arrSingleDate, strReportName) <> -1 Then
                bSingleDate = True
                bMultiDate = False
            ElseIf Array.IndexOf(arrMultiDate, strReportName) <> -1 Then
                bSingleDate = False
                bMultiDate = True
            End If

            Dim connInfo As New ConnectionInfo
            Dim rptDoc As New ReportDocument

            'setup the connection
            connInfo = GetConnectionInfo()

            'load the Crystal Report
            rptDoc.Load(Server.MapPath( _
                  Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("ReportFolder") _
                  & strReportName))

            'add required parameters
            If bSingleDate Then
                rptDoc.SetParameterValue("REPORT_DATE", strSingleDate & " 23:59:59")
            End If

            If bMultiDate Then
                rptDoc.SetParameterValue("BEGIN_DATE", strBeginDate & " 00:00:00")
                rptDoc.SetParameterValue("END_DATE", strEndDate & " 23:59:59")
            End If

            'apply logon information
            For Each tbl As CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.Table In rptDoc.Database.Tables
                Dim repTblLogonInfo As TableLogOnInfo = tbl.LogOnInfo
                repTblLogonInfo.ConnectionInfo = connInfo
                tbl.ApplyLogOnInfo(repTblLogonInfo)
            Next

            'Set, bind, and display Crystal Reports Viewer data source
            Session(strQueryString) = rptDoc
            Me.CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = Session(strQueryString)
            CrystalReportViewer1.DataBind()
        ElseIf Session(strQueryString) IsNot Nothing Then
            'Dim rptView As CrystalReportViewer = FindControl("rptViewer_" & report.Text)
            Me.CrystalReportViewer1.ReportSource = Session(strQueryString)
            UpdatePanel1.Update()
        End If
    End Sub

    Protected Function GetConnectionInfo() As ConnectionInfo
        Dim connInfo As New ConnectionInfo

        'setup the connection
        With connInfo
            .ServerName = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("ServerName_" & Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("Environment"))
            .DatabaseName = ""
            .UserID = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("UserID_" & Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("Environment"))
            .Password = Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("Password_" & Utilities.AppSettingsFunction.getValue("Environment"))
        End With
        Return connInfo
    End Function
End Class