Hi folks,
I've inheried the support of a C# .net application that uses Crystal Reports XI, and built using Visual Studio 2003. My knowledge of Crystal Reports is limited at best so apologies for any missing info or inaccuracies.
This problem has happened a few times, and previous times I've fixed it by reinstalling the application - this isn't ideal as the web server is hosting other applications that isn't easy to take down for any length of time while I restart IIS. The server is Windows Server 2003 SP1 and IIS version 6.0. The application was built using the .Net framework 1.1 but other applications on the server are running on .Net framework 2.0. I have no control over the OS or infrastructure (its supported by another contractor) so reboots can happen without any warning!
Basically anytime a reboot of the server occurs, the Crystal Report assemblies registered in the GAC seem to disappear, leading to the following error:
System.TypeInitializationException: The type initializer for 'CrystalDecisions.CrystalReports.Engine.ReportDocument' threw an exception
Is there a reasonable fix to this problem? My client isn't satisfied with reinstalling the application anytime a reboot takes place (are they ever though!).
Does crystal reports have to be installed to the GAC at all? I understand the use of the merge modules, but I'd prefer not to be using the GAC or registry at all.
Any help would be great.
Stuart.