CrystalReportSource Control
The CrystalReportSource control is part of the new tag-based application development model that is provided with ASP.NET version 2.0.
Note
For more information about this development model, see Tag-based Application Development Model.
In the DataSource control framework, .NET visual controls connect to non-visual DataSource controls (controls that do not manage display information). This new DataSource framework encapsulates the data connectivity information that is written as lines of code in .NET controls on the Web Form.
In the Design window, Visual Studio shows you the names of the controls that are connected to one another. (You can also view those connections in declarative XML.)
The .NET data providers come with their own implementation of the DataSource control. For example, SqlDataSource accesses Microsoft SQL Server, whereas OracleDataSource accesses Oracle.
In the case of Crystal Reports, the control is implemented as a CrystalReportSource control.
Note
This design parallels the design from ASP.NET version 1.0, where the CrystalReportViewer control contains a ReportSource property instead of the more typical DataSource property.
The difference between the CrystalReportSource control and the DataSource controls is that the CrystalReportSource control contains a report that encapsulates the data, whereas a DataSource control (such as SqlDataSource) contains the data itself.