Architecture of Crystal Reports in .NET

To understand the architecture of Crystal reports,we have to look at the following features as given below:-

1. The embedded Crystal Reports Designer
2. Report Viewer control
3. Object models

I will explain each features one by one.First we will learn about The embedded Crystal Reports Designer GUI application.If you yet not installed Crystal Reports,you can install it from Here . 

The embedded Crystal Reports Designer

 The embedded Crystal Reports Designer is a GUI application used to create or modify report.The embedded Crystal Reports Designer provides the facility of the drag and  drop features like other controls in visual studio 2010. We can drag a report object, such as a database field or text object, from the toolbox drop it on designer. We can use the properties window or a shortcut menu to format the object.You can load the embedded crystal reports designer by double clicking the CrystalReport1.rpt file in the Solution Explorer window.
When you add Crystal reports to a web page or create Crystal Reports website using the ASP.NET Crystal Reports Web site template, the two controls are automatically  added to the designer of the Default.aspx page as given below:- 

• CrstalReportViewer
• CrystalReportsource

Note :- The Field Explorer Window is a part of the embedded Crystal Reports Designer .It is used to insert,modify,or delete fields in Crystal Reports.
Features of the Crystal Reports Designer :-
There are following features of Crystal Reports Designer as given below:-

• Support for Experts tool
• Support for Report controls
• Support for Report Sections

1.) Support for Experts tool :-This is helpful to create Crystal Reports quickly based on your development needs as follows:-

• It is helpful to select from many layout options,ranging from standard report to form letters,or creating your own report from scratch.
• It is helpful to display charts in reports,which you can drill down and view with other details of the report.
•  It calculates summaries, and percentages on grouped data.
• It is used to display TopN or BottomN results of data.
• It is helpful to formatting text and rotating text objects conditionally. 

2.) Support for Report controls :-
This uses drag and drop approach similar to the controls used in visual studio.You can drag the formula fields or charts control from the toolbox and drop them on the designer ,and use the properties window to format the control.Some report control that you can add and format in a report according to your requirement include Database fields,formula fields, Group Name,Running Total fields,Summary fields, Parameter fields,charts and Sub report. 
3.) Support for Report sections :-
This is used to divide the designer into multiple sections for your Convenience , so that you can make changes in specific sections without disturbing the other sections.The data that appears in the final report depends on the design-time choices. Report data varies depending on the sections where you insert the report objects.
Example:-If you place any controls in the Report Header section,that will appear only once at the beginning of the generated report and provide summary of whole report.
Role of the Embedded Crystal Reports Designer :-
The Embedded Crystal Reports Designer plays following important role in the architecture of Crystal Reports as given below:-

• It plays an important role in creating report files for the Crystal Reports tool in visual studio 2010.
• The Display of report and interaction with report,which occur at run time ,are performed by the Crystal Reports software Development kit (SDK).The Crystal Reports SDK is a set of tools used to build applications that include Crystal Reports

ReportViewer Controls:- 
Crystal reports for visual studio includes standard web form controls.These controls appear in the Toolbox and are used to view the report.Each control encapsulates complex report layout information into a graphics user interface (GUI) object within the Toolbox.

• The CrstalReportViewer Control :- It displays the report in a page -based layout,with the ability to move between pages
• The CrstalReportPartsViewer Control:- It displays report summary information in a small portal like window.We can easily drag and drop this control from the toolbox on to the web form to display a report.