Frequently Asked Questions

For file report, there are no special requirements.

For database report, you need to have a database with data. In some cases you need to have a database engine installed and/or drivers (please, refer to next question).

Both tools, Reportizer and Database Tour Pro, use the same report engine (vlReport). The report templates of these tools usually compatible and can be edited by both tools.

But there are also important differences between these tools. While Database Tour Pro is a general database tool, where database reporting is one of the many features, Reportizer шs designed for reporting purposes only. Each of them has its own advantages, but Reportizer in most cases provides more powerful and convenient way to design database reports, which achieved by including the following features:

- Opportunity to work with report collections (folders or databases with reports).
- Ability to disable report editing by the application administrator (with password protection), which is necessary sometimes when the application is used by several people and some of them are not advanced users and have permissions only to print reports, not edit.
- Ability to edit reports not only in visual designer, but also in text mode.

Reportizer Viewer is a small reporting tool. It is free for personal use. Buyers of Reportizer or Database Tour Pro may use it also for commercial use without additional charge.

Unlike Reportizer, Reportizer Viewer allows previewing, printing, and exporting only. So, it is useful for using on those computers, where reports should not be modified, but should be used only for printing (or exporting).

Reportizer Viewer can be associated with report files for easy opening them from Windows Explorer. It also supports many command line parameters for printing, database access, passing parameter values etc.

Choosing which version to download and install is the question of compatibility between Reportizer software and: 1) your operating system (OS); 2) other database components the application works with.

Compatibility with OS

You can use Reportizer 32-bit on Windows 32-bit and Windows 64-bit, but Reportizer 64-bit should be used only on Windows 64-bit.

Compatibility with other database components

Let's look at a few examples...

If you want to work with dBase (.dbf) files, Reportizer can use different ways to open such files. No matter what way you choose, all involved database components (drivers, OLE DB providers, and Reportizer) have to be of the same bitness. For example, when you will work with those files through an ODBC driver, the bitness of Reportizer must match the bitness of the ODBC driver.

Similarly, if you need Reportizer to work with .accdb databases (Microsoft Access 2007 and above), the Reportizer bitness must match the bitness of the ACE OLE DB provider or Access ODBC driver depending on what component (OLE DB or ODBC) you choose.

To work with Oracle, SQL Server, PostgreSQL, Firebird, MySQL, and other server databases, the bitness of Reportizer should be the same as the bitness of the corresponding client; if you plan to work with such databases via ODBC, the bitness of Reportizer should be the same as the bitness of the corresponding ODBC driver.

And if you need to work with databases via old BDE, you should install 32-bit version of Reportizer.

Anyway, on Windows 64-bit, if you do not want to dive into these details, you can install both Reportizer (Viewer) 32-bit and 64-bit at the same time and switch between them whenever you need.

Note, that you may use your purchased product on the amount of computers, which is allowed by purchased license.

For example, if you purchased one license, you may use the application on one computer only, as it is described here.

In your case, it means you have already activated Reportizer with your serial number on other computer(s) and you are trying to activate it on extra computer. So, you should uninstall Reportizer on some other computer(s) and try again. If the problem still exists, please contact us with specifying your serial number.

The activation of Reportizer is done within two steps: validation of your serial number, and the activation itself.

You usually should not have problems with first step, if you have valid serial number.

The second step (activation) is used to prevent casual piracy. Note, that you may use your purchased product on the amount of computers, which is allowed by purchased license. Activation just ensures that your serial number was used in compliance with Reportizer license; in other words, it ensures, that amount of computers, where your serial number is used, is not larger than amount of copies purchased.

For example, if you purchased one license, you may use the application on one computer only, as it is described here.

Activation is usually done automatically behind the scene, after you enter your serial number and if you have Internet connection.

In your case, it seems, the serial number validation passed successfully, but activation failed due to either your serial number is used on other computer(s), or you have not Internet connection on your computer.

If you have not Internet connection on the computer where you want to use Reportizer, you should obtain the activation code using another computer, which has Internet connection, and then enter it in the application; just follow instructions, which appear after unsuccessful activation.

Yes. You can export reports to TXT, HTML, XLSX, XLS documents, or image formats.

It is also possible to export your report to a static report (with STT extension). This format contains an exact copy of the prepared report and can be opened in Reportizer, Reportizer Viewer, and Database Tour Pro.

Reportizer already has a beta version of PDF exporting.

There are some known issues and limitations:

- Only standard PDF fonts are used;
- No Unicode support;
- Text scaling is not perfect.

Here are some recommendations on how to avoid most of problems when exporting reports to PDF:

• In your reports, that needs to be exported as PDF, use only Arial, Courier, or Times New Roman fonts;
• Leave enough room for the text report objects to be sure that text fits the object bounds either in Reportizer or in exported document.

Reportizer reports support the following graphic formats: PNG, BMP, ICO, EMF, WMF, JPEG, GIF.

To show a static image, add an Image object to your report and load the image from a file.

To show dynamically loaded images, add Database Image object (it shows images from the database) or File Image object (it shows images from files). Point the objects to appropriate database fields or files.

Reportizer comes with many report examples, where you can find different types of images.

Reportizer supports three levels of grouping. Each group can have its own header, footer and group totals.

To create a group, set a grouping expression for Report object, then add the group header and/or group footer.

Reportizer comes with several report examples, which use the grouping of records.

Note, that in current version Auto stretching property of Data band object should be set to No for multi-column reports.