Aware's Reporting - Jasper Reports upgrade for next release?

RocketRod

My view is that AwareIM should not try and embed a report writer within their application . There are many report writers that can work off a SQL or MYSql DB and have all the features that one would ever need. I currently use Microsoft reporting services off a SQL DB and launch the reports from within an AwareIM process using the display URL command. So I have no issues with reporting. To me this is the way to proceed so it never is an issue again. Reports should be designed outside of AwareIM and from within AwareIM we just need a way to call the reports from a process, VP etc. AwareIM then only have to manage and maintain the calling process and not the report writer itself. So I would have AwareIM remove the current Jasper reporting tool from within AwareIM and then just provide ways of calling the main report writing tools like Crystal etc.

Cheers Rod

customaware

I prefer it incorporated in AwareIM as I can do basically everything I need
within the one environment and don't have to worry about my users having
to fire up and learn another tool.

BenHayat

eagles9999 wrote
I prefer it incorporated in AwareIM as I can do basically everything I need
within the one environment and don't have to worry about my users having
to fire up and learn another tool.

I agree... That's why I came to Aware for an integrated development environment.
I'm sure many prospects walk away, when they see an antiquated reporting in Aware.

I started this thread back in April, and Support never responded.

RocketRod

My thoughts.

Report writing usually involves two parts, building the SQL statement which provides the attributes available to the report and designing the layout of the report itself. Usually a developer writes the SQL code or imports a query previously written. The issue for users or non SQL code developers is the first part. So if you could easily import AwareIM query SQL into a report writer you would alleviate this concern. Once the SQL is loaded then the rest of the report build is as it is now. You click the DESIGN button of the report and start laying it out, dragging your attributes onto the report. Already the existing report writer can be run independently using the reportdesigner.bat file. This may be all too simplistic for AwareIM and not possible, but if it could be achieved it would give you I believe what you want and a report writer that could be kept more up to date. So to me AwareIM need to work on keeping report writers interdependent but allow AwareIM SQL to be easily accessed and utilized. They should not alter the design part of a report writer.

Cheers Rod

yuri.rj

I HATE reports in aware! Really really hate!!!!
So what I use is JASPERSERVER COMMUNITY EDITION AND JASPERREPORTS.
My users have an attribute called jasperlogin and jasperpassword
And I have some BO To insert new reports and ask for their parameters.
Then I open these reports using DISPLAY URL directly from jasper server
User don't even know where it came from.
The problem is charts.. Charts ask for the parameters IN jasperserver... So when displaying charts, users realize that they are going on another application.
For me it was not a problem and I can even create more reports without need to stop and update aware application

Cheers

weblike

yuri.rj wrote
I HATE reports in aware! Really really hate!!!!
So what I use is JASPERSERVER COMMUNITY EDITION AND JASPERREPORTS.
My users have an attribute called jasperlogin and jasperpassword
And I have some BO To insert new reports and ask for their parameters.
Then I open these reports using DISPLAY URL directly from jasper server
User don't even know where it came from.
The problem is charts.. Charts ask for the parameters IN jasperserver... So when displaying charts, users realize that they are going on another application.
For me it was not a problem and I can even create more reports without need to stop and update aware application

Can you share how you call the reports from jasper server and how you declare the data in those reports? if I want to create an invoice for example.
Thank you,

BenHayat

RocketRod wrote
My thoughts.

Report writing usually involves two parts, building the SQL statement which provides the attributes available to the report and designing the layout of the report itself. Usually a developer writes the SQL code or imports a query previously written. The issue for users or non SQL code developers is the first part. So if you could easily import AwareIM query SQL into a report writer you would alleviate this concern. Once the SQL is loaded then the rest of the report build is as it is now. You click the DESIGN button of the report and start laying it out, dragging your attributes onto the report. Already the existing report writer can be run independently using the reportdesigner.bat file. This may be all too simplistic for AwareIM and not possible, but if it could be achieved it would give you I believe what you want and a report writer that could be kept more up to date. So to me AwareIM need to work on keeping report writers interdependent but allow AwareIM SQL to be easily accessed and utilized. They should not alter the design part of a report writer.

Cheers Rod

Rod, when I look at the tables that Aware creates in MySQL, Aware does NOT create any relationship indexes, as far as the SQL engine is concerned. You don't see Foreign Keys (FK) being created. All the relations are kept inside of Aware system. This creates a big problem for using un-integrated report writers or if you try to create any views, because the SQL engine doesn't see any relationships among all these tables. They're all flat tables.
This is the first big problem I see.

yuri.rj

Em example URL

http://192.168.200.51:8081/jasperserver/flow.html?_flowId=viewReportFlow&reportUnit=/reports/HEALTH/HCD-HTN&standAlone=true&ParentFolderUri=/reports/HEALTH&j_username=HCD&j_password=health&output=pdf&begindate=20091014000000&enddate=20091031000000

What I do is:
I have a bo called report that has many children called reportparameter
The report has url with tags to be replaceable
The reportparameter has label, datatype, value and tagtoreplace
When user select this report to be show, I create a temporary bo with a copy of all of these where I show the grid for the user to fill the parameter values
After that I replace the url tags with their values searching for the tagtoreplace... Generating a url with the correct parameters...

I don't know if I made myself clear
Ask if you need some help
Cheers

RocketRod

Yuri that's similar to what I do currently with Microsoft reporting services.

Ben yes the SQL statement is the hardest issue for some. In the statement you have to join the tables knowing how AwareIm works with its rel tables etc. In other words build the joins manually. It's quite easy for those who can code SQL and know how AwareIM works, but as I said AwareIM just needs to provide this to a report writer and a way of passing parameter information (as alluded to by Yuri) and you have an integrated report writer. The layout of a report whether it is embedded fully or not still has to be learnt so I don't understand the comments of those who say you are learning another product? Report design has to be done in both cases.

As you can see both Yuri and I have no issues with reporting (apart from charts) as we use external report writers. AwareIM needs to develop a bridge between it and report writers which to me would be a much smaller issue than what they currently do in trying to embed them. The bridge would provide the seamless integration that others require and I don't see the difficulty in doing it as Yuri and I have already achieved it via a BO that users select and maintain their report parameters. For example I have a sales reporting system where users can select sales via 20 different parameters and the reports are executed via the url function. They can easily print, export to Excel, PDF, etc. To me this is the way forward.

Would be nice for AwareIM to comment on their future directions and why they are persisting with trying to embed a report writer.

Cheers Rod

intra

Similar can be achieved with Pentaho Community Edition.

aware_support

As we said many times before our policy is not to invest huge amount of effort into the report writer - simply because there is no point competing with the professional report writers. So this is not a priority at the moment.

As some customers would testify the current report writer while not being brilliant is workable. Besides, there are many people who are saying that they "hate" the current report writer, but noone yet provided a list of features that the report writer is missing. The lists we have seen so far contain very minor and isolated problems. If someone does, finally, provide a compelling list, we might consider some (all) of the features for the future.

yuri.rj

Support
It was not my intention to offend
It's simple! As you said, it's workable!
But when it's not comparable with AWARE
AWAREIM it's a brilliant tool and has a workable report tool...

The tool as whole is not a good tool!

aware_support

No offence taken. If you could add some specificity as to why you don't like it, it might help us improve it...

kenlyle

I was just looking at this issue, and noticed that we do have an action that might help:
EXECUTE PROGRAM Action
This action runs an external program. For example:
EXECUTE PROGRAM ‘c:/TEMP/SomeProgram.exe’
By default Aware IM will wait for the external program to complete. However, if “NO WAIT” clause is specified the system will not wait for the external program. For example,
EXECUTE PROGRAM ‘c:/TEMP/SomeProgram.exe’ NO WAIT

...if one were to want to run an external reporting engine.

BLOMASKY

So many of the external report programs have migrated to the BI (Business Intelligence) arena, and if you are looking for pivot tables, analysis of 1,000s of rows of data, fancy graphics, etc. etc. they fit the bill. (So far, hands down, Tableau is my fav. of all of them!)

However, my requirements are much more mundane. I need to print Invoices, Acknowledgements, Payment Registers, etc. etc. boring, mostly columns with totals. The stuff that my customers need to run their businesses. For this, Jasper has been a very simple, fast to develop, fast to deploy solution. I have always had to use this as an external program with other tools and am happy to be able to integrate it into my Aware solution.

Yes, you do have to know how to write a SQL select statement (and sometimes a complex one) to provide the data to Jasper in the format it requires, but like others, I would like to know:

1) What features they find missing that should be incorporated into the Aware engine ?
2) What external report writers do they prefer and why?

Thanks
Bruce

yuri.rj

I use jasper with jasperserver, so there is no need for an external program.
It's a url with parameters to open a report.
So you can build a custom Bo for any kind of parameters and things like that
Or you can simply call the url...
And you can mask the url for the user don't see the parameters using AWAREIM functions

ACDC

Hi yuri.rj
I am really keen to implement your method , is it possible to provide a detailed description on the procedure to implement this

Thanks in advance

BenHayat

ACDC wrote
Hi yuri.rj
I am really keen to implement your method , is it possible to provide a detailed description on the procedure to implement this

Thanks in advance

My vote for some details as well.
Thank you also in advance!

yuri.rj

I really don't know if I'll be able to explain this in English but I'll try

I have a BO called (I'll translate my BO names so you can understand) REPORTBO
This BO Has the URL of the report without the parameters , it's NAME and it's FRIENDLYNAME
And many child BO called REPORTPARAMBO and a parameter called RUNTIME
The REPORTPARAMBO has the LABEL, the PARAMNAME and the param VALUE and the VALUE FORMAT
Every time I create a report on jasper reports, I have to create this records:
The report with its NAME, FRIENDLYNAME, and RUNTIME false
Then I have to create the parameters of this BO, with the LABEL, PARAMNAME, the correspondent VALUE FORMAT(eg. Dd/mm/yyyy for date) and VALUE empty
I have a reports section in my application that shows all the reports
When I click RUN REPORT, I DUPLICATE the report that I want to run and set the RUNTIME true to delete later... I also put this on the logged in user.
Then I show this record in a friendly version like a window to fill the parameters VALUE (I can't validate if it's in the correct format) showing the format tips
After the user fill up the values, I process the REPORTBO and create the correct URL to access using all parameters and putting them in this URL
(I don't use obfuscation , but I think it would not be a problem)
I show this URL in a DISPLAY WINDOW

It's actually pretty simple

DONT FORGET I DO THIS USING JASPERSERVER

I don't know if I made myself clear
Sorry about any kind of errors in my English
Cheers

mrbdrm

at least you guys can use the reports.

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