| Functionality |
 |
Total server-side generation of Excel
and Word files in binary and OpenXML formats |
|
Template-based or programmatic approach |
|
Merge data and manipulate report layout on-the-fly
|
|
|
Caches data in separate stream within
an existing Excel or Word file |
|
Data is merged client-side when files are opened
in Office |
|
Report layouts cannot be manipulated
on-the-fly |
|
Platform
Support |
|
ASP.NET |
|
SQL Server Reporting Services 2000, 2005 and 2008 |
|
SharePoint |
|
Microsoft CRM |
|
|
ASP.NET |
|
SharePoint Workflow Projects |
|
| Performance |
|
Server resources expedite complete
report processing |
|
No client-side processing required on open |
|
|
Client-side processing to have VSTO
invoke Office and perform data merge on open |
|
| System
Requirements |
| Server:
.NET Framework 2.0 and above, Windows 2000, XP,
2003 Server, Vista, or 2008 Server |
| Clients:
Any application able to display Excel or Word |
|
| Server:
.NET Framework 3.5, Windows 2003 Server, Vista,
or 2008 Server, VSTO runtime 3.0 |
| Clients:
Microsoft Office 2007, .NET Framework, VSTO runtime |
|
| Office
Compatibility |
|
MS Office 97 through 2007 |
|
|
MS Office 2007 |
|
| Ease
of Development |
|
Use any IDE |
|
Optimized for C# and supporting all .NET programming
languages |
|
Single solution supports any version of Office
97-2007 |
|
Clean, symmetrical implementation for both Excel
and Word |
|
Comprehensive documentation and demo code available |
|
|
VisualStudio 2008 required |
|
Optimized for VB.NET |
|
Separate VSTO runtimes required to support reports
for Office 2003 and 2007 |
|
| Security |
|
OfficeWriter applications require
no special server or client-side security settings
|
|
Document or workbook protection settings are preserved
and do not affect server-side processing |
|
|
VSTO applications that manipulate
cached data require full trust |
|
Document or workbook protection settings must
be turned off and on to cache data |
|
| Licensing
|
|
Server licensing for OfficeWriter
|
|
No client-side licensing requirements |
|
|
VisualStudio 2008 Professional and
above |
|
MS Office 2007 Professional Edition on each client |
|