SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

1263717 - Specials characters in Excel OLE object are converted to '?' after being inserted in Crystal reports

Symptom

- Wrong display in Crystal Report after inserting Excel OLE object

- Special characters for e.g '≤' are converted to '?'

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Create a new Excel Sheet
  2. Add '≤' in one cell
  3. Save the Excel sheet
  4. Launch Crystal Reports
  5. Create a new report
  6. From the Menu, click Insert > OLE Object
  7. Select 'Create from File'
  8. Browse to the location where the Excel file has been saved
  9. Click ok

Environment information

  • Crystal Reports XI
  • Crystal Reports XI Release 2
  • Crystal Reports 2008
  • Microsoft Excel 2000, 2003

Cause

This issue is related to the OLE interface which is used by Crystal Reports and other applications such as Wordpad to display OLE objects.  Crystal Reports only uses the the OLE object container and displays the object as does WordPad and all other applications.  According to Product Group, this is not a bug that can be fixed within the Crystal Reports product itself.  

Resolution

Workaround:

  • Use an alternative way to write the symbols for example '>='
  • Check Microsoft website for the latest Microsoft patch : www.microsoft.com

Keywords

CR XI R2 , KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , Problem

Product

Crystal Reports 2008 V1 ; SAP Crystal Reports XI ; SAP Crystal Reports XI R2