Re: Report API and Catalog

That actually triggered a thought I had about report writers: You could frontend the process with a list of available data elements (a subset of the entire DB) and build logic that determines how they should be joined with perhaps options to see multiple records or a single result. This would be something you could put in front of users since all they have access to is a list of fields to lay out on the page, the resultant query being generated in the background using your join logic in a data dictionary.

If you developed a Frontend for this ART product you could call it (well, use your imagination). And, (maybe I am losing it here....) imagine telling folks how you produced the report!

Seriously (leaving the name behind for a second...oops no pun intended there ) building a data dictionary tool that would produce machine usable queries might be a useful subproject in any case.

Pete


Aaron Bartell wrote:

I knew somebody would ask that. I didn't post my research because I didn't
want to dig it up, but I found it in relatively short order.

Background: I wrote a JSF application to take orders for a "copycenter".
Backend was MySQL running on Wintel btw. It has a shopping basket and a way
to configure items for print that will eventually be sent to a MFD
(multi-functional device) to be printed. A lot of data is gathered through
out the process and thus reports are always at a premium, and nobody wants
it the same as the next. So after developing a few basic reports with iText
I went shopping for something a power user could use to build reports and
"publish" them to Tomcat without involving me. After looking around a
little the answer came with "ART": http://art.sourceforge.net/

Note I am still waiting for the customer to give me the green light to fully
implement it, and as of right now I have only done "feature testing" to know
it will meet their needs and NOT actual real-world testing to know it will
be what they want long term.

HTH,
Aaron Bartell
http://mowyourlawn.com


On Tue, Jun 3, 2008 at 11:40 AM, Thorbjørn Ravn Andersen <
thunderaxiom@xxxxxxxxx> wrote:

Aaron Bartell skrev den 03-06-2008 13:43:

What I have found in open source report tooling is that the power of the
tool is it's ability to have reports built by a power user that have
dynamic-ness built in (i.e. criteria fields).

Would you care to share your findings about the open source reports
tools? Might save me a day or more someday :)

--
Thorbjørn
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