We have clients that have used our software to track criminal justice data since the late 90's. Many reports were created using Seagate/Business Objects Crystal Reports and were saved as *.RPT files with data thinking they were "archive quality" and would be viewable in perpetuity.
Over the course of developing our system, we have regularly updated the Crystal Reports Viewer included in our installation. We have just learned that reports created in 2002 and 2003 can no longer be opened and viewed. Our clients receive the message that: Report File Version Too Old This report was saved from a version of Crystal Reports older than version 9 and cannot be viewed. To fix problem please open and re-save the report from a version of the Crystal Reports designer application at least as recent as version 9.
However, end-users do not have access to the designer and they rely on the viewer included in the application. As a work-around, we would at least like to provide them with an older viewer so they can view these reports.
Sample reports can't be provided because of the sensitive nature of their contents.
Any ideas how we can restore the ability to view these reports?