Run Visual Studio 2013 solution with Crystal Reports

Question

I have an MVC application originally developed in VS2010. We have Crystal Reports (CR) integrated into it and all works smoothly.

Now, I need to setup some new workstations which will have only VS2013. I can run the site in VS2013, but only because I have VS2010 and previously installed the CR runtime files. The new stations won't have VS2010 installed and the SAP installer will not run unless VS2010 is on the machine. SAP will not provide a fix until early 2014 at the earliest.

The new workstations don't need to be able to modify the reports, so I don't care if the full CR application is installed, I just need it to be able to reference the runtime files so they can debug other areas of the application.

I cannot remove CR from the application at this time, and cannot install VS2010 on all the new workstations first.

I have tried putting the dlls in the bin folder of the site. I have tried putting them in C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/ Framework/v4.0.30319/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/dec0de27/fa4bed84/ Nothing seems to work.

Where do I place the dlls so VS2013 can use them? I know there has to be some way to do this because my workstation can run the site in VS2013 eventhough SAP hasn't released a 2013 version.

Here is the error when they try to run the applicaiton:

Server Error in '/' Application.

Could not load file or assembly 'CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc' 
or one of its dependencies. An attempt was made to load a program with an 
incorrect format.

Description: An unhandled exception occurred during the execution of the 
current web request. Please review the stack trace for more information 
about the error and where it originated in the code. 

Exception Details: System.BadImageFormatException: Could not load file or 
assembly 'CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc' or one of its 
dependencies. An attempt was  made to load a program with an incorrect format.

Source Error: 

An unhandled exception was generated during the execution of the current web 
request. Information regarding the origin and location of the exception can 
be identified using the exception stack trace below.

Assembly Load Trace: The following information can be helpful to determine why 
the assembly 'CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc' could not be loaded.

=== Pre-bind state information ===
LOG: DisplayName = CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc
 (Partial)
WRN: Partial binding information was supplied for an assembly:
WRN: Assembly Name: CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc | Domain ID: 2
WRN: A partial bind occurs when only part of the assembly display name is 
provided.
WRN: This might result in the binder loading an incorrect assembly.
WRN: It is recommended to provide a fully specified textual identity for the 
assembly,
WRN: that consists of the simple name, version, culture, and public key 
token.
WRN: See whitepaper http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=109270 for more 
information and common solutions to this issue.
LOG: Appbase = file:///C:/Users/Office/Documents/GIT/Site/site/
LOG: Initial PrivatePath = C:\Users\Office\Documents\GIT\Site\site\bin
Calling assembly : (Unknown).
===
LOG: This bind starts in default load context.
LOG: Using application configuration file: 
C:\Users\Office\Documents\GIT\Site\site\web.config
LOG: Using host configuration file: 
C:\Users\Office\Documents\IISExpress\config\aspnet.config
LOG: Using machine configuration file from 
C:\Windows\Microsoft.NET\Framework\v4.0.30319\config\machine.config.
LOG: Policy not being applied to reference at this time (private, custom, 
partial, or location-based assembly bind).
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/
Framework/v4.0.30319/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/dec0de27/fa4bed84/
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Windows/Microsoft.NET/
Framework/v4.0.30319/Temporary ASP.NET Files/root/dec0de27/fa4bed84/
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc/
CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc.DLL.
LOG: Attempting download of new URL file:///C:/Users/Office/Documents/GIT/
Site/site/bin/CrystalDecisions.ReportAppServer.ClientDoc.DLL.
ERR: Failed to complete setup of assembly (hr = 0x8007000b). Probing 
terminated.

This is the SAP discussion http://scn.sap.com/message/14614675#14614675

Answer 1

Crystal report is updated support for VS 2013 Updated version document

Answer 2

Probably no longer relevant to you, but CR for VS2013 is now available in support pack 9. Note: You have to run the exe to get integration with VS IDE.

Download from: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-7824

Answer 3

Well, I finally found an answer.

If you install the CR x86 Redist MSI package (for some reason it HAS to be 32bit) it will allow you to run VS2013 without throwing an error. You won't be able to modify the reports, but at least you can build your application.

Download the latest here: http://scn.sap.com/docs/DOC-7824