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WARNING: Not for the faint of heart.
I was considering the Soapbox because the tools mentioned in this post are certainly not kid sister safe.
So I was at my parent's place last night.
Had dinner there, had a nice walk, and we were supposed to go watch a movie.
But then my father drops the bomb.
The bomb that would ruin my evening and probably a better part of my weekend.
"I have a little problem with a customer and you can probably help me."
"Sure dad, what's up?"
"One of my customers can't print a Crystal Report."
A CRYSTAL ELEPHANTING REPORT @$#(&$!@(&#!
In a WinForms application.
Spent two hours browsing the SAP website (never have I found a less helpful website), installing runtimes, installing NuGet packages, dragging missing DLL's to the customer's computer.
To no avail 
So I'm spending this weekend trying to get Crystal Reports to work, thanks dad 
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Sorry, but...[^]
I have lived with several Zen masters - all of them were cats.
His last invention was an evil Lasagna. It didn't kill anyone, and it actually tasted pretty good.
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Imagine if my dad did that 30 years ago 
Saying "no" really isn't an option.
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I'm a dad. I have 2 kids. If my son or daughter did not want to do something for me, I would not fault them, if they had a good reason.
Just saying...
Sander Rossel wrote: Saying "no" really isn't an option.
Saying "no" IS ALWAYS an option...even with parents.
Don't get me wrong, I try to help my mother as much as possible, even if I don't like the task. I get it. 
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Slacker007 wrote: if they had a good reason
"I don't feel like it because it's a few hours of work" is not a very good reason.
Sure, saying "no" IS an option... If you want to destroy the good relations you have with people.
My dad did tons of things for me even though he'd rather be doing other things.
If I say "no" now he'll be saying "no" next time.
And his happiness when it's solved is so much better than his sadness/disappointment when I say "no".
All in all saying "no" really isn't worth it (and so not an option).
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u need to get the designer... open the rpt file...check the connection.validate the schema..update table and columns ... save rpt..run report.. etc...etc
Caveat Emptor.
"Progress doesn't come from early risers – progress is made by lazy men looking for easier ways to do things." Lazarus Long
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The problem's a bit deeper, CR doesn't start at all.
Missing DLL's, wrong versions of DLL's, wrong locations of DLL's, wrong installation of DLL's, etc.
We've tried some stuff, but couldn't figure it out.
The only way my dad could get it to work is by installing his development environment on the customer's computer, which isn't quite how it's supposed to be done 
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You might need to open the report in the designer and check if the default printer is set / saved in the report. It's not too difficult in code to set the default printer of the report.
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The problem's a bit deeper, CR doesn't start at all.
Missing DLL's, wrong versions of DLL's, wrong locations of DLL's, wrong installation of DLL's, etc.
We've tried some stuff, but couldn't figure it out.
The only way my dad could get it to work is by installing his development environment on the customer's computer, which isn't quite how it's supposed to be done
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There are 32bit / 64bit versions of the runtime as well, which makes a difference. Never a dull moment with CR!
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Yes, that turned out to be the problem.
I installed the 64-bit runtime on a 64-bit computer.
Unfortunately, there's a bug feature that copies a 32-bit version DLL of log4net with the 64-bit runtime which crashes the 64-bit runtime.
What then needs to happen is that you should uninstall the 64-bit runtime, install the 32-bit runtime (in that order) and release a 32-bit version of your application.
It's a small miracle I found it at all
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Sander Rossel wrote: "One of my customers can't print a Crystal Report."
Show him how to take and print a screenshot.
It's times like these I'm reminded I should be grateful my dad doesn't do much with computers.
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The problem's a bit deeper, CR doesn't start at all.
Missing DLL's, wrong versions of DLL's, wrong locations of DLL's, wrong installation of DLL's, etc.
We've tried some stuff, but couldn't figure it out.
The only way my dad could get it to work is by installing his development environment on the customer's computer, which isn't quite how it's supposed to be done 
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Next time you say "Golly Dad, that's horrible" - And on you go.
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I've tried that once, but he'll answer stuff like "I guess it's horrible next time you need X or Y" and of course he's right 
My relation with my parents is a good one, but I'm not sure if it's strong enough to last through CR though 
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Do you discount your rate for your father? 
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Yeah, basically what he's charging his customer so he can send the invoice to them, which is about half my own rate 
And I've got plenty of work at my own rate as well
But it's really just helping out my dad, I guess we all do that from time to time 
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My parents learned to not ask me for tech support that isn't for them without proper consideration. After I asked my dad how he felt when people asked him for medical advice for their friends, it kind of clicked in his mind.
For extended family, I changed my phone number and email address then refused to share it with anyone who didn't respect my time. Same went for people who shared my number with those same relatives. Sort of extreme but after the umpteenth phone call about connecting the digital camera to the PC using USB turned into how to edit them and send through email but oh the email client isn't working and that is what the real reason for the call, it felt justified.
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My dad doesn't ask lightly, he either thinks it'll be easy for me, or he's tried everything there is to try.
Other than that I never get asked for computer support
I got asked a few times, but my answer is usually "I don't know much of computers. I can write kick-ass software, but whenever the computer doesn't do what it's supposed to do I call support too."
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And so a another Code Project rule of Software Development is born: Never let your relatives know you're a software developer.
Or several more!
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People: "So what do you do for a living?"
Me, sweating, thinking of a lie: "I'm a male prostitute! "
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Sander Rossel wrote: "I'm a male prostitute!
Go for Gigolo - Wikipedia - it's more sophisticated.
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