Ad Hoc reporting with i-net Clear Reports is a simple way for everyone to generate reports on the fly. It offers an easy-to-use interface which is wizard-like but powerful at the same time. Our solution enables you to create reports without needing to have specialized knowledge of the underlying database structure or advanced technical skills.
Whether all you need is a “quick and dirty” tabular report, or a more complex, on-the-fly data analysis and visualization, our Ad Hoc Reporting solution has you covered. Here is what our Ad Hoc solution offers:
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Our HTML Remote Interface features an Ad Hoc report generator. It is as powerful as the Ad Hoc Swing GUI, but it is accessible without Java.
Our free report designer tool includes the Ad Hoc feature out-of-the-box for creating report templates. The Ad Hoc Swing component can be embedded into your application as well.
The complexity of your report depends on the Ad Hoc layout you choose. These layouts specify the look of the report, as well as which features are used (such as a chart or a crosstab).
A layout can be as simple as a list of data, and as complex as a report with multiple groups, embedding a cross-tab or chart. Our solution comes with a lot of free layouts and can be extended using your own layouts. In addition, each of your existing reports can be used as an Ad Hoc reporting layout.
Data Views are a simplified way for users to access databases and aggregated data without any knowledge of the underlying database structure.
Data Views are set up once by the system administrators in order to not bother end users with the complexity of database tables, joins, or stored procedures.
The most convenient method for users is to select Data Views for their reports. Ad Hoc has another way to connect reports to data for more experienced users. This is represented by the well known Data Source / Visual Linking concept from the i-net Designer:
Every database system - or even a CSV file - can represent a Data Source useable for reporting. After being set up once in the Remote Interface, they are visible to users with the necessary privileges throughout the report server.
Since Data Sources are a direct connection to the DBMS, the tables, views, and stored procedures can serve as data input for the next reporting steps.
The Visual Linking page is a very intuitive way to add database tables and to create joins for them via drag and drop.
The Ad Hoc user can specify which data columns to use in the report and in which way they should be sorted. The interface offers an intuitive way to add data columns via drag and drop to add them to your report and set up the sort methods for them.
In addition, data can be grouped by any column available. The grouping options include properties for additional sorting of the groups.
Often you will not truly need all the data of a view in your report. This is why we offer the possibility to filter out unwanted sets of data. To ease the job, our Ad Hoc interface provides an intuitive way to create filters.
Using summaries, the user can display aggregated data (e.g. an average of all values or a maximum value) for a previously selected column.
It is possible to configure one chart per report. The interface is a streamlined and simplified version of the Chart Dialog in the i-net Designer.
Cross-tabs are a powerful instrument to display structured data. As with the charts, this interface is also a simplified and streamlined version of its i-net Designer counterpart.
Printing labels for letters doesn't have to be complicated. Ad Hoc supports layouts for a lot of different label types. The “Labels” panel offers a convenient way to select standard label formats or create your own custom formats.
i-net Clear Reports supports a lot of special document fields (e.g. page N of M, print date …) which can be added to the Ad Hoc layout. Especially for PDF exports, it can make a lot of sense to set properties like the report author, a description and so forth.