Can grow text boxes export to Word with too much white space

[kesterl]

There appears to be one post relevant to my issue (http://scn.sap.com/thread/1217333), but it has been marked as answered, and the answer doesn't help me.  I've installed service pack 3 for Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010, so a service pack is not the solution.

Our web application uses the Crystal Report Viewer provided by the 64-bit version of Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010 runtime.  If a user exports a report that includes can grow text boxes to Word, the text boxes pad the last line of text with the equivalent of about 4 lines of white space:

I've checked the line spacing, and it is set to a multiple of 1.  So that is not the issue.  Instead somehow the frame in Word is getting set to an exact size rather than using auto height.  Of course, the user can change the frame height, but that doesn't help move up all the other frames on the page!

This white space poses a significant problem for us as we are using formulas to generate text for receipts and need the text boxes to be able to grow but also lack the real estate to have so much unnecessary white space.  We use several "can grow" text boxes throughout the report, and the resulting extra white space can cause our receipts to be longer than one page.  We did not have this problem with the viewer provided by Crystal Reports XI R2.

We have to be able to export to Word for a variety of reasons including that our Gift Records folks need the ability to easily edit the receipts before sending them out.

I'm submitting this post in hopes that someone has found a solution or, if not, that SAP takes notice and does something to fix the issue.

Many thanks,

Karen

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Hello Karen

I just did a couple of tests and I do see the issue in CR 2011 (14.x) as well as Crystal Reports for Visual Studio 2010.

I also tested this same report using CR 2008 (12.x) and .NET 2008. The result there is even worse...

I also noted that export to MS Word - Editable, does not have this issue, though the formatting is a bit different (just an FYI)

I am not sure about CR 11.5 as this product is now out of support and I do not have an image of that available.

I can escalate this issue for a fix, however, the next available Service Pack (SP 5) will not be release until October, perhaps later.

- Ludek

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[kesterl · Accepted solution]

Thanks, Ludek. 

I wish we could use MS Word - Editable, but that's not a viable solution either.  As you note, you lose formatting, and our report has a fair amount of formatting that doesn't make it through on that kind of export.

Please do escalate for a fix.  I recognize that the next service pack may not be ready for a while (won't it be 4, not 5?), but at least there will be help on the horizon.

In the meanwhile, I think we're going to have to create multiple sections, put different text in each, and then use suppression formulas to determine under which conditions which text will appear.  Using a single formula in a can grow text box had been a much easier approach!

Thanks again,

Karen

[former_member183750 · Accepted solution]

Hello Karen

I will do the escalation and update this thread once I get a tracking number from R&D.

BTW., I do understand the formatting thing (I figured as much).

Re. Service packs. SP4 is closed now (ETA July(?)). So, SP5 may be it - if we keep our fingers crossed.

- Ludek

[former_member11696 · Accepted solution]

Hi Karen,

Can you do a few more tests just to rule out the complexities?

Create a new report, no formating formula or other variables and then export and see what happens?

Just to comparing outouts...

Don

[ido_millet · Accepted solution]

If you need an immediate solution, one of the 3rd-party Crystal Reports desktop schedulers (see list at http://kenhamady.com/bookmarks.html) allows you to automate the process of using a Word document as a master copy with references (formatted text as well as tables), replacing these references (while maintaining formatting) with data from the Crystal formulas, saving the result to a new file, and emailing the resulting file if needed.

A single grouped report can trigger this process once for each group in a single pass.

[former_member11696 · Accepted solution]

Hi Karen,

It appears this was actually fixed in CR 2008 also back in 2009. I have no idea why this was never made public but I or Ludek will be kbasing it...

I'm checking with Dev to verify if this works for DOC type also and if not then can we add it.

Here's how to:

APAPT01675531 , There is a registry key in either of the two paths :

• HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE\Software\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\RTF
• HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\SAP BusinessObjects\Suite XI 4.0\Crystal Reports\Export\RTF

,the key name is ReduceFontSizeBy . ValueType is string.

It’s default if that Key doesn’t exist is to reduce the font size by 0.5.

Users can add this registry key ,and set value.

• - If it’s set to 0,the exporter will not reduce the font size when exporting to Word.
• - If it’s set to a positive number ,the export will reduce the font size by the number when exporting to Word.

Thank you

Don