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    This is a detailed guide on using with Visual Studio Code . The Short Answer (Critical Limitation) You cannot fully create or design Crystal Reports (.rpt files) in Visual Studio Code. Crystal Reports is a proprietary SAP technology that requires the Crystal Reports Designer —a Windows-only GUI component that only integrates with Visual Studio 2019/2022 (Community, Pro, Enterprise) and older standalone Crystal Reports applications.

    | Alternative | VS Code extension/editor | Cross-platform | |-------------|--------------------------|----------------| | | FastReport .NET + VS Code (limited) | No | | Stimulsoft | Stimulsoft Designer (standalone) | Yes (Web/JS) | | List & Label | No VS Code support | No | | Microsoft RDL (Power BI Report Builder) | No, uses separate designer | Partial | | Open-source: JasperReports | Jaspersoft Studio (separate) | Yes | Summary Recommendation | Task | Use | |------|-----| | Design/modify layout, add fields/groupings | Visual Studio 2022 + Crystal Reports extension | | Edit report data source connection | VS Code (if comfortable with XML editing) | | Write app code that loads/exports reports | VS Code (C#/VB.NET extensions) | | Version control .rpt files | VS Code + Git | | Preview reports during development | Crystal Reports Viewer (standalone) |

    Keep Visual Studio (Community is free) installed for Crystal Reports design. Use VS Code for everything else. Trying to replace the designer with VS Code will lead to frustration.