Last Updated May 06, 2005
These Release Notes contain the following information about Style Report™ 7.0:
Features new to Version 7.0 include the following:
After running a report in a web browser, an end user may explore each element of the report and perform searches, column selection, sorting, and conditional filtering to customize the view of that report or search for desired data within the report.
Developers now have the ability to hook into Style Report™’s new team development environment which controls access to shared configuration and library files. When Style Report™ is configured to run in a team environment, all configuration and library files are automatically locked if they are in use by any developer. By giving exclusive access to these files, write protection and continuity of development is ensured. There is no longer any need for a source control system since Style Report™ handles this control right out of the box.
Previous releases of Style Report™ included the ability for developers to create multi-level parameter sheets for report customization, but only provided this feature in a linear model. Style Report™ 7.0 gives report designers a more flexible parameter prompting mechanism. Report customization and parameter sheets may now be arranged in a dynamic flow order that is defined by run-time conditions.
Report designers may now join up multiple queries and data result sets on the fly at design time. Any data source types may be joined with any other data source type within Style Report™ to create a real query across multiple data sources.
Table elements have been upgraded to support free hand layouts, which provide a flexible data element platform that can be employed to create almost any data based form or table. This new element allows developers and end users to create finely tuned forms, in which data elements are held in precise locations with specified formatting.
The localization module has been completely rewritten in 7.0 to support localization of all text in Style Report™, including all Java GUI and Web interfaces. A default localization catalog is provided containing all strings utilized in the software.
This release comes with a new and streamlined ad hoc interface. The interface provides quick access to all ad hoc features without having to switch between multiple windows. In addition, new features are added to support the editing of report layouts and page setups.
The report bursting feature allows a large report to be generated once from a single query. When the report is accessed by a user, it is automatically sectioned into a small report that contains only the data specified for that particular user (and role). A bursting report can be used to deliver a high volume of reports to a large user population with the minimum database load. This feature also permits reports to be pre-generated or saved in the archive to be accessed by users on demand.
The report archive and live reports are fully integrated in the report repository. A new report pre-generation mechanism is also introduced to allow reports to be pre-generated for faster access. The pre-generated reports avoid generating a new report for every user, yet retain all the interactive features of live reports.
The main Style Report™ portal has been modified to provide more flexible deployment and end user interfacing right out of the box. The built-in report portal now includes an executive dashboard implementation powered by Jakarta Jetspeed. This dashboard can be easily modified to fit into any web based application that requires report-dashboard integration.
The clustering implementation of Style Report™ has been enhanced to support access to all shared data (files) through a database instead of a file system. The report archive has also been rewritten for better scalability and performance.
In an effort to provide a more complete, meta-data based report development platform, InetSoft has also included ERwin support within the Style Report™ Designer. If a data model is created in the ERwin application, it can be read directly into the Report Designer and used as a base for creating reports and ad hoc queries.
The web based OLAP interface has been enhanced to support multiple chart types for data viewing. The end user now has the ability to specify chart type and which properties may be populated by multi-dimensional data cubes.
The data model GUI within the Report Designer has been overhauled to provide a more flexible and friendly interface to all developers creating data models and views. Beyond navigation and UI enhancements, the data model components now provide the report designer with the facility to create logical data views that combine physical data fields and elements that operate just like database views. These logical views may then be abstracted further to provide a complete meta-data layer for report development.
Note: Style Report™ 7.0 supports any JVM* compatible with JDK 1.3 or higher. JDK 1.1 and 1.2 are no longer supported in this version.
Execute the installation package and follow the on screen instructions. You need a valid license key to install the package.
Make sure JVM (java) is on your PATH.
java -cp ./StyleReportEE.jar install
*Java and all Java-based trademarks are trademarks or registered trademarks of Sun Microsystems, Inc.