Re: Need a GUI frontend for ad hoc queries
Date: 1995/05/26
Message-ID: <3q4vef$8kb_at_gatekeeper.cognos.com>
Steven Bush (ez005193_at_dale.ucdavis.edu) wrote: : We have developed a multitable relational database on a Unix platform : using Oracle7. The database seems to be in good shape, but now we are You might want to look at our Impromptu product. Sorry for the blatant product plug but attached is press release that describes some of the product features.
BURLINGTON, MA -- December 6, 1994 -- Cognos* (NASDAQ:COGNF;TSE:CSN) today announced the new version of Impromptu*, the Company's enterprise reporting tool. Impromptu 3.0 is the first database reporting tool to allow end users to interact with data, create reports and make additional queries -- all in a single unified, highly graphical working environment. In addition, Impromptu also offers the fastest, most complete implementation at the enterprise-wide level with enhanced administrative control, easy enterprise deployment and the lowest cost of ownership.
"We've nailed enterprise reporting," said Alan
Rottenberg, senior vice president of Cognos' desktop
business unit. "We provide exactly what both IS and the
end users want. For the first time, users can interact
with data easily and productively. They can ask
questions as they think of them. They can create any
report that they can imagine. With full OLE 2.0 support,
Impromptu looks, feels and acts like the spreadsheets
and word processors in use on most desktops today.
Rather than introduce new concepts and skills, Impromptu
leverages the skills the users already have."
"And, it's not just the end user who benefits from
Impromptu's ease-of-use," Rottenberg continued. "IS will
find it easy to manage. It's the fastest reporting tool
to deploy across an enterprise and it's incredibly easy
to maintain. Anyone who can write a simple query on one
of our competitors' products can install, maintain and
service a company full of Impromptu users. The bottom
line is: we give users access to data."
Impromptu is specifically designed as an enterprise data access and reporting tool. It strikes a balance between providing end users with the freedom to create sophisticated reports, and providing corporate administrators with precise control over database access, security and network impact. Impromptu 3.0 provides several new benefits, including:
Impromptu 3.0
- Dramatically increased reporting capabilities, through the use of Frame-based reporting and smart templates;
- A rich set of enterprise deployment and control features; and
- Complete Windows integration as an Object Linking and Embedding (OLE) 2.0 client and server, including OLE Automation.
Impromptu's New User Interface is Easy-to-use
Impromptu has moved from list-style report creation to
"Frame-based reporting". Frame-based reporting is a new
concept which will redefine users' expectations of
reporting tools. (A Frame is a term derived from word
processing, and describes the basic components used to
build data independent reports. It is a dynamic area of
the workspace, resembling a layout page on-screen, where
users place report elements.) To create reports users
can simply click on data in the Impromptu Catalog and
drop it into the Frame of their choice. (The Impromptu
Catalog is where users and administrators find the
business-oriented presentation of the data, the join
strategies, governors and user class definitions.) The
data is formatted according to the type of Frame. Once a
user has created a report design, it can be saved and
used again with any data. Complex reports are built from
combinations of Frames.
"Frames are a report's basic building blocks," said
Rottenberg. "It is this innovation which enables
Impromptu to leave the competition behind. No other tool
has the ability to build reports this easily. Users
simply drag and drop-to-build any type of report that
they can imagine. It's as easy as creating a new
document in a word processor. This style of building a
report, combined with the interactive nature of Impromptu
for building queries, makes it easier for users to build
any report that they can imagine."
There are several types of Frames: list, form, crosstab,
chart, text, image and OLE. In addition, Impromptu
3.0 also includes ReportWise*. ReportWise contains
predefined intelligent templates, complete with powerful
logic calculations and automated macro processing, for
use with reports. Impromptu 3.0 will include dozens of
templates specific to such classic report styles as
invoices, mailing labels, sales reports, quarterly
reports, expense reports, name and address books,
catalogs, etc. These templates will enable users to
generate reports immediately.
Impromptu 3.0
Impromptu's OLE 2.0 Supports Integrated Enterprise Applications
Impromptu 3.0 contains complete OLE 2.0 support, including OLE Automation, a series of new specifications from Microsoft which allow users to automate any type of cross-application function. Cognos has even extended the automation to call any Impromptu function and combine it with OLE activities from other applications. The extended OLE Automation facility allows Impromptu to run database stored procedures on the server, producing the first client/server macro facility. These client/server procedures can be run completely transparent to the end user. An administrator can create a scripted macro on the server timed to run just before getting data from the database. A new feature geared to end users performs a similar function. Scheduler is a separate application that allows users to run reports when they want. Security remains intact because the user's ID is encrypted and the report is not displayed while it is running.
New Catalog Provides Administrators with Advanced Control
The Impromptu Catalog is the portion of the product which insulates the user from the database. It contains information about the database that the user doesn't need or want to know. With the Catalog, users get a presentation of their data which matches the way they look at their business, not meaningless file names. The user interface for the Impromptu Catalog is simple, made easier for 3.0 with tabbed dialogue boxes. In addition, logic has been added so that an administrator needs to find only the first level of joins; future, indirect joins are done automatically.
In addition to redesigning the Impromptu 3.0 Catalog to make it smarter and physically smaller, various functionality has been added to provide superior control options for the administrator. Governors give administrators the ability to allow, warn or prevent costly query activities. These activities can be controlled via new user profiles and classes which the administrator can set. Activity warnings and restrictions can be set intelligently, based on historical data. For example, Impromptu will tell the user, "With 89 percent confidence, this report will take 20 minutes. Do you want me to continue?" This warning will grow more accurate with each additional action.
Impromptu 3.0
User classes can also govern client/server partitioning, an important consideration as more companies move their computing architectures to client/server. With client/server partitioning, processing can be divided between the PC and the server to ensure the most efficient use of resources and the fastest response. If PCs are slow, processing can occur at the server, if the network is busy or overloaded, processing can occur on the PC. Impromptu 3.0 also offers an additional level of security, called "security by value," which protects data from specific users or user classes.
Impromptu's interactive reporting capabilities and intuitive user interface eliminate the need for expensive training and reduce user learning curves. Enhanced administrator controls also contribute to the product's low total cost of ownership.
Impromptu 3.0 supports the following databases and gateways: Oracle, Oracle Transparent Gateway, MS SQL
Server, Sybase SQL Server, Sybase System 10, OmniSQL Server, Sybase Net-Gateway, MDI Gateway, Informix, Ingres, SQLBase, Borland InterBase, Btrieve, dBASE,Paradox, and ODBC, accessing any database with an ODBC driver.
Impromptu's Enterprise Edition will be available in Q1 1995, in two versions. The user version is available for $495 and the Administrator version is $595. Significant discounts apply for volume purchases and enterprise licensing. Impromptu 3.0 will require a minimum of Windows 3.1, a IBM PC or compatible 386, and 6 MB of RAM. A 486 PC is recommended.
Cognos develops, markets and supports -- both directly and through resellers worldwide -- advanced client/server development and reporting tools on a wide range of open and proprietary platforms, including UNIX and Microsoft Windows desktop. Cognos is a publicly held company with dual headquarters in Ottawa, Canada and Burlington, MA.
COGNOS*, IMPROMPTU* are registered trademarks of Cognos Incorporated. REPORTWISE is a trademark of Cognos Incorporated. Other products mentioned in this document are registered, trademarked or service marked by their respective owners.
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-- Nigel Campbell Voice: (613) 738-1338 ext 3016 P.O. Box 9707 Business Intelligence FAX: (613) 738-0002 3755 Riverside Dr. Cognos Incorporated MCI: nigel campbell || 3074729 Ottawa, Ontario nigelc_at_cognos.COM CANADA K1G 3Z4Received on Fri May 26 1995 - 00:00:00 CEST