Need help and guidance with reports for VS2010

Question

Hello
This is a general question.I want to create a simple report just some data of the client and a table with some measurements and a few photos....
As i have no experience with reporting in .NET just a little with Jasper which was confusing at me,i am wondering what is better to use from the available options for C# and .NET 2010
I see Crystal Report (the all time classic) and a Report using Microsoft reporting technology... I need to deploy the application.. Which would be easier?
Also i need a little guidance ,what to read ,some links to good articles ,tutorials ,because googling returned out-of-date results and misleading! I hope not to loose all my day for this simple report..

Answer 1

Crystal vs. SSRS is a topic that crops up now and again on SO - here's a relatively sober appraisal: New project: SSRS vs. Crystal Reports?

and here's a more acerbic one: Compare SQL Server Reporting Services to Crystal Reports

Both tools are full-featured, powerful reporting tools. Both have built-in tutorials and wizards to help development; both will take a significant investment of time to master.

Crystal is probably more alike to Jasper, in that I think both are banded reporting tools.

For a stack of Microsoft technologies, SSRS would be the obvious choice. It's what I would recommend, based on what you have said so far.

Answer 2

I strongly recommend you take a look at Windward Reports . Does the same as Crystal/SSRS but you design the reports in Microsoft Word, Excel, or PowerPoint so it is a lot more powerful and a lot easier to use. (full disclosure - I founded Windward.)

thanks - dave