Recommded Reporting components
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Looking for component suites for reporting tools that other developers recommend 1 not database dependent, ie can use objects 2 Allows for dynamic creation of reports, subreports etc 3 Supports both windows and web using common report engine
For mostly alphanumeric reports, I suggest you use the regular IO functions of your language to generate HTML. This can be viewed and printed in the browser. I wrote a Windows app that generated invoices that way, and that part of the system turned out really well. Obviously, this is a workable approach for a web-based app. If you're trying to do something with dynamic graphics (charts, graphs, etc.) the HTML approach won't work so well. But I still advise you to - as much as possible - just stick with the built-in capabilities of your main language. As for dedicated reporting tools, I've used several and I can't recommend any of them. The two with which I have the most experience are Brio (a.k.a. SQR) and Crystal Reports. Brio was tolerable but I never really saw the point. When using it, I never got the sense that it was making me more productive compared to, say, STDIO.H or IOSTREAM.H. Crystal Reports is just bad... it's difficult to install and deploy, overly abstract and graphical, bloated, and unreliable. The HTML-based approach I suggested above actually grew out of a failed attempt to stand up a Crystal environment for the project. If you absolutely must use a dedicated reporting tool, I definitely suggest you avoid any of the slick-looking "Business Intelligence" tools that seem to be in vogue. Examples are Cognos and Business Objects. I think these Business Intelligence companies survive by taking a slick sales appeal straight to management ("here's how you can dynamically create slick looking reports from your desk without any tech skills..."). Managers seem to think reports should be easier to make and should look better... frankly, they're wrong. Reports are application programs and will always suffer from the difficulties associated with application programming.