Re: Reports good for reports?

John:

Following is what I think:

> 1. How good is Reports at creating report output?

Very good. They can be run stand alone. They can be launched from Forms 4.5. You can add a parameter form to the report (even in the stand-alone option), where titles, notes, query text, etc. can be entered. You can specify destination type (preview, print, etc) also. Report window gives options to navigate (prev, next, etc.), gives zoom options, printing, and mailing. All the standard stuff. Printed report looks just fine. I couldn't make the mail thing work properly. (I think it needs Oracle Mail related drivers -- we use MS Exchange).

> 2. I've seen postings that it is a buggy product, quirky, etc. Is this
true?

I have developed a medium-complex report. Except for Mail related problems, I experienced no bugs. Once I had a wrong printer driver, which made my report look very funny. (It was fixed as soon as I installed the right driver).

> 3. How hard is Reports to learn? To master?

I think it's harder to learn (I am comparing it to learning Crystal Reports). Mainly because you can do so much (integrating Oracle Graphics, calling from other Developer/2000 products, etc.) You can also program, but you need to learn PL/SQL. This adds more to the learning time.

> 4. What other alternatives should I consider?

I came from the PC world. So, my other reporting tool is Crystal Reports.

> 5. How much hot air is the "develop once, deploy wherever" mantra?

Newest version of Oracle Reports generates reports for web.They look very good and there is no need to change any code. (Reports generated are in PDF format, which can be read by Adobe Reader). So, the same report, I deployed it on both PC and Web. I don't know about other environments.

Good Luck,

Ram Mareddy
rmareddy_at_calibersys.com
Caliber Technology, Akron, OH.

John L Dunn <misioror_at_gas.uug.arizona.edu> wrote in article <Pine.SOL.3.91.961231161039.23231A-100000_at_helium.gas.uug.arizona.edu>...
> Greetings:
>
> We're evaluating tools for use mainly in developing reports. We use
> Cognos' Impromptu for end-user queries, but some standard reports are
> just a bit too complicated to produce easily with this tool, so we are
> looking for alternatives. One of the options is Developer/2000 and the
> Reports component.
>
> We want to produce reports with charts to about 350 physicians, along
> with other required reports to administration and other health agencies.
> The "develop once, deploy to either C/S or Web" is intriguing, since
> eventually we'd like to post info on our server, to be picked up if
> needed. In the meantime, we can kill some trees and produce the reports.
>
> Now:
> 1. How good is Reports at creating report output?
> 2. I've seen postings that it is a buggy product, quirky, etc. Is this
 true?
> 3. How hard is Reports to learn? To master?
> 4. What other alternatives should I consider?
> 5. How much hot air is the "develop once, deploy wherever" mantra?
>
> Any and all biased opinions welcomed! TIA,
>
> John Dunn
> The University Physicians
> 520-321-3508
>
  Received on Mon Jan 06 1997 - 00:00:00 CET