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BZbyte Reports
If you've used databases before you've probably used a reporting tool. In its
simplest form ,a reporting tool makes it easier to select the
information you want to display, and how you want to display it. In
more advanced usage, a reporting tool is used to generate checks,
statements, invoices, and many other professional documents that are
used in running a business and analyzing large amounts of information.BZbyte reports allows you to do this all via a web browser. A typical example is shown below.
Step 1 – Open the Welcome Page
Our database contains a list of customers and other information. We want to
generate a list of customers grouped by their position so we can do a targeted
marketing campaign.
Click on “Create New using Report Wizard”
Step2 – General Info
Enter a title for the report, your name
and a description. The title and author fields are actually used
inside the report. Click Next.
Step 3 – Select Tables
Select the customer table on the left
side and click on the “Select >>” button. Then
click Next.
Step 4 – Link tables
Since we only have 1 table we don't
have to link anything. Click on the Next button.
Step 5 – Select Columns
Select the columns we want to display
in the detail area of the report, and click “Select”
These will be displayed in rows on the report. Click Next.
Step 6 – Grouping
Now select the columns which we want to
group sections in the report. We will select Contact Position and
Click “Select”. Then click “Next”.
Step 7 Add Chart
Now we can add a chart. We will skip
this step. Click “Finish”.
Report Editor
 The report editor is displayed which allows us to adjust the default wizard generated report design. We can reposition items and resize sections to fine tune the look of a report. We can also add other elements and much more. For now we will delete the sample chart. Select the chart by clicking on it and then select Edit->Delete. Resize the top section so that it fits the text fields. To do this, click on the section and notice the dashed outline. Hover the mouse to the bottom border until it changes to a resize icon. Click and drag to resize. Now we will preview the report to see how it looks, hover over the “Report” menu and select “Preview”.
Preview
Tweaking
Above is the default report displayed.
We can change fonts and sizes. After a little tweaking in the report
editor we get the following. This report took approximately 5 minutes
to design from start to finish.
There are many advantages to doing reports in this manner and being able to share the design as well as the actual report content via the web. It is possible to allow anyone to customize a report for their specific needs in a self-service manner. Its perfect for displaying information from any application or traditional databases in a quick and concise way. |
