Features.

ReportsAnywhere is a full featured reporting system, that is designed compete on a feature by feature basis with any commercially available reporting or publishing software. Here is an overview of what we have implemented so far:

• Input.

  ReportsAnywhere can take its input from databases or directly from Java applications.

• Output.

ReportsAnywhere can generate various output formats.

• Print
  Select the among the printers in the system either interactively or through the API.
  Control printers with multiple paper feeds. E.g. Load the first sheet from a different paper feed.
• Adobe PDF
  ReportsAnywhere creates highly compact PDF. It can reach a performance of up to 12000 pages per minute on a desktop PC.
• XML
  The report structure can be exported as XML, so that it can be processed by other tools.
• CSV
  Data Tables can be exported in Comma Separated Values, so that data can be read by Excel or imported into another database.
• RTF
  With the RTF export format a report can be loaded into Microsoft Word, or OpenOffice for further editing. The style and layout of the document is preserved as much as possible.
• HTML
  ReportsAnywhere can deliver the output in HTML format, so that it can be displayed directly on a web page.

Which format is generated can be controlled by the user or through the run time API.

• Page Design
  ReportsAnywhere offers a fully interactive designer with drag and drop editing, style sheets, table designer, zoomable views etc.
  Elements on the page can be:
  • Database fields
  • Static text (labels)
  • Formulas (for computed values)
  • Styled text, that itself may contain data fields.
  • Images (Logos) from external files.
  • Images from the database
  • Graphic display of values. (Inline bar charts)
  • Special values like page numbers, date, user names etc.
  • Table of contents. The table of contents can be placed at the beginning of the document without requiring two passes over the document.
  • Tables. Tables can even be nested to arbitrary depth to deal with nested XML or object structures.
  • Header/footers: ReportsAnywhere supports complex headers and footers, that can be set individually for the first, following or last page.
• Data Transformation/Analysis
  The data can be processed, transformed and aggregated before it is displayed.
  • Grouping: Tables (Collections) can be arbitrarily grouped.
  • Totals: Counts, sums, average, min, max can be computed at the table, group or page level. Running totals can also be displayed.
  • Formulas: ReportsAnywhere provides a simple formula language, that can be used to compute new values. It has many built in functions, that can be easily be extended using plug-ins.
  • Filters: Collections and tables can have local filters. While data sources like relational databases can filter using SQL, it is very handy to add local filters on the fly.
  • Parameters: Paramaters are values, that can be used in formulas or for display. They are set by showing a dialog before the report runs or they can be set through the API. Sets of parameters can be saved into a file for easy reuse.
• API
  ReportsAnywhere offers an API for integration.
  • Query the available templates in a repository.
  • Start a report from a template.
  • Supply parameter values for a template.
  • Set the output mode for a report. (Screen, Web, Pdf etc)
  • Collect the output from a report run.
  • The API is accessible as a pure Java or as a web service.
• Schema changes
  • Changes in the database schema are automatically recognized at startup.
  • Affected cells are marked and set to inactive.
  • Inactive cells can be simply reactivated by dropping a new data field onto them.
  • A complete report of all affected
• Plugin Architecture
  Plugins allow easy extension through predefined extension points.
  • Data functions: A reportable object can have plugged functions that compute values which are availabe in the report design.
  • Additional built-in functions of the formula language can be plugged in.
  • New cell types can be defined as a plugin.
  • The menus can be extended with new functions.
  • The data integration plugin allows to connect to any data source and present its contents as reportable objects.