Report sources

A report source is an object used by the viewer to display the contents of the report. It is a pointer to the report instance that the viewer renders in HTML, and it provides the viewer with the means to query for report data, page information, and other internal report information. The Java Reporting Component is a report source.

With Crystal Enterprise and the Report Application Server, the Page Server and RAS server report sources are available. This allows the viewer to display reports that are accessible through a Crystal Enterprise Page Server or a RAS server. These report sources are not 100% Java-based solutions, as the underlying report rendering facilities are not written in Java. They do, however, provide additional features that are not available with the Java Reporting Component.

Some of the advantages of using a Page Server include support for caching, higher throughput, and greater scalability. Advantages of using a RAS server include support for report creation and modification, as well as additional viewers.