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10,000 + records on html to render quickly

Now this is going to be a very absurd question. But what can I do, it's the client's requirement. Basically, we have a grid (master-detail type) that goes up to about 15 thousand plus rows (has the potential to go up to 30-50 thousand rows in a few years time).
My client does NOT want any paging, does not want any data cropped as well. Also he isn't exactly using the latest hardware so rendering on browsers is a big issue. He wants to view everything by printing it out or looking through it on the browser. (You may all think how insane that sounds, and it sure is).
Now I want to resolve this issue by rendering html quickly. At the moment its a simple asp.net grid view w/o paging. That essentially renders HTML tables. My options that I think are:
- Manually rendering html using div (for quick loading)
- export it to pdf or excel (is there any way to export without the need to resort to third party controls?)
- give the finger (to the client :D j/k)
So to sum up, whats the best way to show 10,000 plus records of data on html?

consider using the "Scroller" plug-in for Datatables..
As part of DataTables 1.8 release a new plug-in called "Scroller" was
introduced as part of the download package. Scroller is an
implementation of virtual scrolling for DataTables, which presents a
vertically scrolling table, scrolling the full height of the table,
but drawing only the rows which are necessary for the visible display,
leading to a huge performance increase. This is quite an exciting
plug-in for DataTables not only for the performance increase, but also
because it effectively provide a new user interaction with the table,
allowing full scrolling of very large data sets.

I know this is almost a year late, but in case it helps someone.
Use SlickGrid - It uses divs instead of tables, which gives so much more performance in IE. Check this example

He wants to view everything by printing
This is imho the only viable solution to view all information. PDF or Excel is much better at handling a large number of rows.
Doing the rendering is quite easy. Just set the excel mime type and return a HTML table.
http://www.designdetector.com/archives/05/07/HTMLToExcelTheEasyWay.php
When it comes to PDF, you probably have to use an external library like PDFSharp.

You should do the paging - it does not mean that you need to show only one page of data at a time but rather you should retrieve and render pageful of data at a time (and keep continuously fetching pages one after one till data is finished).
For example, send the first page of data from the server in the initial request. Setup a js timer and use AJAX requests to retrieve subsequent pages of data and load that into the browser. You can have multiple (say 3-4) AJAX requests going on simultaneously for retrieving pages - only thing would be to achieve the ordering correctly in such approach.
I will personally avoid grid-view and render the html table using manual java-script (with help for jquery) or use some java-script template engine. I will use JSON for retrieving the data from the server.

Print multiple copies in same sheet. Crystal Reports. .NET

Using Crystal Reports and .NET I have a requeriment where I need to print 2 copies of the same report on each sheet. I´m able to do this using two subreports setting CanGrow to false, but this doesnt work cause my report may have more than one page, and CanGrow will just crop the rest of the report. Setting CanGrow to false will cause the two reports to overlap, or print one after another. I also tried making a double report, Header - details - footer, and Header - details - footer again (repeating the same information), but crystal reports doesnt allow me to have multiple details sections(with header footer sections between them).
I´m able to reproduce what I want using MsWord, in the printing settings changing the printer setting "print multiple copies" to 2, and then typing and setting Page range to "Page: 1,1,2,2,3,3,4,4... " but the printing API from Crystal Reports won´t let me adjust these settings, not even printing APIs from .NET, so I though of using Native Win32 API, but even if I´m able to do this with Win32 I don´t know how to tell Crystal Reports to use my printing functions.
I´m pretty new to crystal reports so maybe there is a simple solution for this. If someone can help.

I think you'll need to keep your subreport the way you have it, with the report details you want copied, but you can't place the two instances of the subreport in the same section and expect them to space themselves correctly. You'll need to use a second detail section in your main report for your second subreport, then they shouldn't overwrite each other. The detail sections both need cangrow = true set.
OK, all you should need is 2 reports, one formatted the way the customer wants (headers, footers, etc.) to use as the subreport, and one without any headers or footers, but 2 detail sections with cangrow=true and an instance of the subreport in each detail section. I'm not sure why you want a new page after 5 records, but try taking that out and see if you can print the same subreport twice within a main report.

I think I kind of solved it. I created two reports: Orignal, and Copy, and supressed all sections except details section and added a group using the workaround mentioned here:
http://www.c-sharpcorner.com/UploadFile/mahesh/SubReportPH10062006160749PM/SubReportPH.aspx
to be able to use headers that would repeat on every page.
I put all my header information on the group header, and the report footer information on the group footer(other sections can´t be used since they wont respect the spacing I need, that´s the major drawback of this workaround), and limit the details section to a number of records that will fill only half of the page. In the copy version I added a space in the header equal to half of the page. Then I created the report that will hold both subreports with all sections supressed and only one detail section, and added both subreports there one on top of another. This will print the second subreport at the bottom of the page leaving the space from its header for the first subreport to print on top, I still don´t know how to repeat footing section on every page by now but I think I don´t need it.

Crystal 2008 - Can I access the SQL statement programatically at runtime?

We've created a Crystal Report viewer application to house all of our company reports. It's built in such a way that any time we add, modify or delete a report, the viewer application itself does not need to change. The viewer app is completely driven by an XML configure file that tells it what reports are available, where they are, connection information etc. We want to keep it this way too. When we add a new report, we don't want to have to update everyone's viewer application.
The problem is that Crystal talks to our DB directly and we would prefer it didn't. Therefore, for each report, the viewer needs to query the database to retrieve the data each report needs. The problem is that many of our reports allow the user to enter a large number of filter criteria. Ideally, what we would like to be able to do is to have Crystal prompt the user to enter their filter criteria, like it currently does, and then be able to somehow get the SQL statement it would send on to the DB, pass it on to the DB ourselves, and tell Crystal not to. the viewer would then supply the report with data.
Does anyone know if this can be done? An alternative we've considered is to have the viewer prompt the user for the filter criteria, and then build the SQL statement. However, then each report becomes a C# coding project with an update to the viewer. We're trying to avoid that.
Thanks.

Interesting approach. I have only ever done the opposite.
Normally people like to build their own reports using a Crystal client. The report connects to a datasource specified in the report itself.
Using .NET to query the reports needs, set parameters and formulas then view the report is a piece of cake.
Anyway, there are only two methods that I know of called "pull" and "push". Pull is what I just described above. Push is what you described as a solution that you considered but it would involve coding for each report.
I'm afraid what you are trying to do has never been done before. However, I would recommend the "pull" method. It has worked very well for me with a client with dozens of users and hundreds of reports.

How To Speed Up Loading DataSets

When Using SQL Server Reporting Services (client Reports), whenever a Client (rdlc) report Opens Visual Studio Loads entire application datasets,
how to speedup loading this all datasets or how to change the process to only load specific Dataset to use in Report ?

Bulk Insert (or the bcp utility) is your Friend for speedy data imports. Your probably going to have to write a data loader in some language though.

database snapshot could be an option
http://www.sql-server-performance.com/articles/dba/sql_server_database_snapshot_p1.aspx

I may be understanding you question wrong, but on Win Forms I've been loading the needed data sets manually. I basically have a method that loads the proper data from my database, attach the needed data sets to my report viewer using Me.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.DataSources.Add, then I just display my report using Me.ReportViewer1.LocalReport.ReportEmbeddedResource. My reports are embedded resources, but you can load it from a file too, I just can't remember off the top of my head. Once everything is loaded, call RefreshReport, and the report displays. Well, those are the main points, I don't have my code to look, but I know those are the basic steps.
Currently I have been researching how to load data sets on the fly as the user navigates through the report. My work around for this at the moment is to capture the ReportError event, check what report is trying to be displayed from the sender (this is the report viewer object), and load the dataset using the above. The only issue that I am having is that I don't have a loading screen when I am loading the dataset at this point, so it looks like my application freezes. I haven't figured out how to get back to that circular loading screen, but for now, I have a loading window that is displayed while I load. remember, when you get the error, the report trying to be displayed is already set as the local repot, so all you have to do is have a case/if statment checking for the report and loading the data as needed.

Can't you set a default parameter to something which stops much being returned, and only change it to a real one at run-time?

Using Crystal Reports in Visual Studio 2005 (C# .NET Windows App)

I need to create reports in a C# .NET Windows app. I've got an SQL Server 2005 database, Visual Studio 2005 and am quite OK with creating stored procedures and datasets.
Can someone please point me in the right direction for creating reports? I just can't seem work it out. Some examples would be a good start, or a simple How-to tutorial... anything really that is a bit better explained than the MSDN docs.
I'm using the CrystalDecisions.Windows.Forms.CrystalReportViewer control to display the reports, I presume this is correct.
If I'm about to embark on a long and complex journey, what's the simplest way to create and display reports that can also be printed?

I have managed to make this work now.
Brief Overview
It works by having a 'data class' which is just a regular C# class containing variables and no code. This is then instantiated and filled with data and then placed inside an ArrayList. The ArrayList is bound to the report viewer, along with the name of the report to load. In the report designer '.Net Objects' are used, rather than communicating with the database.
Explanation
I created a class to hold the data for my report. This class is manually filled by me by manually retrieving data from the database. How you do this doesn't matter, but here's an example:
DataSet ds = GeneratePickingNoteDataSet(id);
foreach (DataRow row in ds.Tables[0].Rows) {
CPickingNoteData pickingNoteData = new CPickingNoteData();
pickingNoteData.delivery_date = (DateTime)row["delivery_date"];
pickingNoteData.cust_po = (int)row["CustomerPONumber"];
pickingNoteData.address = row["CustomerAddress"].ToString();
// ... and so on ...
rptData.Add(pickingNoteData);
}
The class is then put inside an ArrayList. Each element in the arraylist corresponds to one 'row' in the finished report.
The first element in the list can also hold the report header data, and the last element in the list can hold the report footer data. And because this is an ArrayList, normal Array access can be used to get at them:
((CPickingNoteData)rptData[0]).header_date = DateTime.Now;
((CPickingNoteData)rptData[rptData.Count-1]).footer_serial = GenerateSerialNumber();
Once you have an arraylist full of data, bind it to your report viewer like this, where 'rptData' is of type 'ArrayList'
ReportDocument reportDoc = new ReportDocument();
reportDoc.Load(reportPath);
reportDoc.SetDataSource(rptData);
crystalReportViewer.ReportSource = reportDoc;
Now you will need to bind your data class to the report itself. You do this inside the designer:
Open the Field Explorer tab (which might be under the 'View' menu), and right-click "Database Fields"
Click on 'Project Data'
Click on '.NET Objects'
Scroll down the list to find your
data class (if it isn't there,
compile your application)
Press '>>' and then OK
You can now drag the class members
onto the report and arrange them as
you want.

Crystal is one possible option for creating reports. It has been around a long time and a lot of people seem to like it.
You might want to take a look at SQL reporting services. I have used both but my preferance is SQL reporting services. Its pretty well integrated into studio and works similar to the other microsoft projects. Its also free with the sql express etc.
This is a good article on beginning reporting services:
http://www.simple-talk.com/sql/learn-sql-server/beginning-sql-server-2005-reporting-services-part-1/

You can use the report viewer with client side reporting built into vs.net (ReportBuilder/ReportViewer control). You can create reports the same way as you do for sql reporting services, except you dont need sql server(nor asp.net). Plus you have complete control over them(how you present, how you collect data, what layer they are generated in, what you do with them after generating, such as mailing them, sending to ftp, etc). You can also export as PDF and excel.
And in your case building up a report from data and user input, this may work great as you can build up your own datasource and data as you go along. Once your data is ready to be reported on, bind it to your report.
The reports can easily be built in Visual Studio 2005 (Add a report to your project), and be shown in a Winforms app using the ReportViewer control.
Here is a great book i recommend to everyone to look at if interested in client side reports. It gives a lot of great info and many different scenarios and ways to use client side reporting.
http://www.apress.com/book/view/9781590598542

I second alex's recommendation to look at sql reporting services - if you have a sql developer license, then you probably already have reporting services
i don't like crystal reports, too much tedium in the designer (editing expressions all the time) too many server-deployment issues (check those license files!)

I use Crystal. I will outline my method briefly, but be aware that I'm a one man shop and it may not translate to your environment.
First, create a form with a CR Viewer. Then:
1) Figure out what data you need, and create a view that retrieves the desired columns.
2) Create a new Crystal report using the wizard giving your view as the source of the data.
3) Drag, drop, insert, delete, and whatever to rough your report into shape. Yes, it's tedious.
4) Create the necessary button click or whatever, and create the function in which to generate the report.
5) Retrieve the data to a DataTable (probably in a DataSet). You do not have to use the view.
6) Create the report object. Set the DataTable to be the DataSource. Assign the report object to the CR Viewer. This is one part for which there are examples.
Comments:
If you lose the window with the database fields, etc (Field Explorer), go to View/Document Outline. (It's my fantasy to have Bill Gates on a stage and ask him to find it.)
The reason for setting up the view is that if you want to add a column, you revise the view, and the Field Explorer will update automatically. I've had all sorts of trouble doing it other ways. This method also is a work-around for a bug that requires scanning through all the tables resetting which table they point to. You want to hand Crystal a single table. You do not want to try to get Crystal to join tables, etc. I don't say it doesn't work; I say it's harder.
There is (or was) documentation for the VS implementation of Crystal on the Business Objects web site, but I believe that it has disappeared behind a register/login screen. (I could stand more info on that myself.)
I've had trouble getting Crystal to page break when I want, and not page break when I don't want, etc. It's far from the best report writer I've ever used and I do not understand why it seems to have put so many others out of business. In addition, their licensing policies are very difficult to deal with in a small, fluid organization.
Edited to add example:
AcctStatement oRpt = new AcctStatement() ;
oRpt.Database.Tables[0].SetDataSource(dsRpt.Tables[0]);
oRpt.SetParameterValue("plan_title",sPlanName) ;
crViewer.ReportSource = oRpt ;

I found the following websites solved my problems. Included here for future reference.
CrystalReportViewer Object Model Tutorials for the tutorial on how to make the whole thing work. And also Setting up a project to use Crystal Reports
and specifically preparing the form and adding the control

i think this may help you out
http://infynet.wordpress.com/2010/10/06/crystal-report-in-c/

I strongly recommend trying an alternative reporting solution - I have a lot of experience with Crystal, and have managed to do some funky things with it in .Net, but quite honestly the integration of Crystal and .Net is an absolute pig for anything but the simplest cases.

I have tried RS. I am converting from RS back to Crystal. RS is just too heavy and slow (or something). There is no reason to have to wait 30 seconds for a report to render is RS when Crystal does it in under a second.