Author: Andrew Huey

Spent a bit too much time today trying to figure out how I could create a DLL containing user-defined functions callable from Crystal Reports 8. The obvious route was to use Visual Basic. Well, I don’t normally use VB, I use PowerBuilder. However, creating a DLL in PowerBuilder resulted only in a new and exciting way to crash Crystal every time I tried to open a report. So I went hunting for VB. I have no problem buying a copy. However, I couldn’t verify that VB.NET could create the kind of DLL I needed. I knew VB 4, 5, and 6 would work, but no one reputable seems to have VB 6 for sale anymore. Eventually, I found a dusty copy of VB 5 in a box on top of a bookshelf, underneath a bunch of other stuff. And it worked! Yay!