Download A reporting system on the WEB

A reporting system on the WEB
Pål Navestad
Phillips Petroleum Company Norway
Why reporting on the WEB
■
Intranets are becoming the main
information channel in a company
–
Can not only be text, articles and ready made
presentations to succeed, must also include
more hard information.
Mixing text, graphics and pictures
■ More manageable infrastructure
■ Can use different products to develop, but
the end users will not see the difference.
■
Developing
Start small, think big
■ Be certain that business logic and business
rules are applied on the server and NOT in
the implementation of the end user layer
■ Don’t be afraid to mix different solutions in
the same application
■ Learn to walk before You run
■
Developing (cont.)
■
Started with making standard graphs and
tables using the GIF format and HTML
formatting tools.
–
–
–
Easy to learn
Fast
100 % server programming
■ Very
–
flexible, using e.g. Gplot, Gchart
Very, very rapid development. New stuff can
usually be put in production the same day
Development (cont.)
■
HTML formatting tools are easy to use, but
not flexible enough.
–
–
Used Data _null_ and put to write more flexible
HTML.
Very good for menus, flexible choice lists
■ E.g
make a table with URL references to other
reports
–
Can make just about every report
Development (cont.)
■
Static GIF/HTML disadvantges
–
–
Tend to grow, hard to manage
Very stable, but not thought of as products
■ When
data change things might disappear
■ Never found until Friday afternoon before a holiday
–
–
Ownership, usually made for one specific user,
when somebody want changes there is no
proper owner
Static
Development (cont.)
For more interactive applications using
WebAF®
■ Went straight for WebAF® and not
WebEIS® since we have found that the type
of application needs full flexibility
■ Also using some IntrNet®
■
Development (cont.)
WebAF® has been easy to use, and is rather
intuitive
■ Most job is on the server side
■
–
Developing for the WEB makes it easier to
separate server/GUI programming.
Conclusion
■
Ideally all reporting should be on your
Intranet
–
–
■
The important aspect is server side
programming
–
■
Ensures common info for all
Ensures value for investment
Well known by IT
Application deployment is fast