I finally got it to work, mainly by switching my ODBC connection to use SQLServer Native Client, vs the generic SQLServer ODBC, but i'm still having it fail on one out of 4 possible combinations. but its really confusing as to why it only works one way and not another (details to follow).
I know that this info can be confusing to try and lay out in a post - hopefully it makes sense what im tryign to do. What would be helpful is if someone could try and help me figure out what might be different credentials wise about the server running something vs running it manually in Crystal Report. I couldnt even find the place that shows what creds Crystal Server service runs with, if at all?
Here is what i am trying to do and what i am seeing:
SQL Server 2008R2
Crystal Reports 2011 v 14.0.4.738
Crystal Server 2011 v 14.1.0
All Windows Server 2008
Data resides on remote SQLserver, where it is two linked tables within two databases on that server.
Data is produced using a Stored Procedure that summarizes data from Table A, Database A, linked to Table B in Database B via the primary key, table_id in B.B. The rights to read the information is explicitly granted to a database service account that i supply credentials for.
This Stored Procedure can reside on this remote server in Database A, or on my local SQLserver that i have development rights to (and that holds the Crystal Server). In other words, i can use either the remote server's SP or my local SQLServer's SP to generate the appropriate output and build a Crystal Report from that info.
What works:
Crystal Reports running the report manually using the Local version of the Stored Procedure. All permissions work (i am prompted for credentials for the remote ODBC connection, but the local server automatically accepts my personal credentials)
Crystal Reports running the report using the remote version of the Stored Procedure - same credentials are prompted for
Crystal Server running a scheduled version of the report using the remote Stored Procedure - the scheduler only requires the remote creds to be supplied.
What doesn't work:
Crystal Server running a scheduled version of the report using a local version of the Stored Procedure. In the database configuration, it asks for two sets if creds - both the remote and the local SQL server. Both should work - and we seem to be failing on logging into the Database B tables, because in another test, i simplifed the Stored Procedure to only be pulling data from Table A - that seemed to work ok in the scheduler. as soon as i try to access the table on Database B, it fails and says incorrect login information.
Hope that's clear enough to help you offer guesses as to whats going on and maybe some solutions to try
thanks!