Images and Parameters Broken in CrystalReportViewer

 

I hate Crystal Reports.  I was on the verge of a nervous breakdown today after launching a well tested app and finding my reportviewer with broken images or with a mysterious javascript error saying Object Expected.

The deal is that Crystal requires the aspnet_client folder that IIS creates in your Default Web Site and is accessable to all the virtual folders that live there.

However if you try to deploy your site to a new website on the server to use a different port or subdomain using host headers you won’t have access to the aspnet_client goodness and your reports will be borked.

 

You can either copy the folder into your application folder or create a virtual folder that points to the aspnet_client folder in the Default site.

and you’re golden.

I owe a co-worker with a good memory for putting me on the right scent to figure this out.  Hope this helps someone avoid the anguish this caused me.