SAP Knowledge Base Article - Public

3098279 - Only the first 255 columns show in Crystal Reports when connecting to a file using the MS Text ODBC Driver

Symptom

  • Text file columns missing.
  • Not all the fields show up in Crystal Reports when connecting to a text file.
  • Only the first 255 columns show in Crystal Reports when connecting to a text file using the Microsoft Text ODBC Driver.

Environment

  • SAP Crystal Reports 2013
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2016
  • SAP Crystal Reports 2020 

Reproducing the Issue

  1. Create a text file containing rows of data with more than 255 columns.
  2. In Microsoft ODBC Data Source Administrator, create an ODBC DSN pointing to the text file using the Microsoft Text ODBC Driver.
  3. In Crystal Reports, create a new report based on the ODBC DSN to the text file.
    Notice it only show the first 255 columns.

Cause

  • Microsoft Text ODBC Driver limitation.
  • The Microsoft Text ODBC Driver has a limit of 255 fields / columns per text file, and this is why it is only showing the first 255 columns of the text file.
  • For reference, see the Microsoft documentation on the Microsoft Text ODBC Driver

Resolution

  • A suggestion will be to store the data in a database supporting more than 255 database fields per table.
    ( Example: MS SQL Server supports up to 1,024 fields per Table ) 

Keywords

CR, MS Text , KBA , BI-RA-CR , Crystal Reports designer or Business View Manager , Problem

Product

SAP Crystal Reports 2013 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2016 ; SAP Crystal Reports 2020