What is an Ad Hoc Report?

Ad Hoc Report Uses

Ad hoc reports are often also used to meet analytic requirements. In these scenarios, the business question is not only unanticipated but also not well defined. For example, a sales manager may try to find the root cause of the sudden popularity of a particular product. For analysis oriented ad hoc reports, the key requirements are the ability to:

• Quickly switch perspectives and parameters for exploration
• Intuitively detect patterns or trends in the graphic or visualization
• Easily navigate and mashup multiple data sources when required
• Scale to big data if mashup and/or analytic scope requires it

Ad hoc reports are usually created for a single use. However, valuable ad hoc reports often turn into useful long-term assets. The sales manager may want to schedule the report or to repeat the analysis on an on-going basis. It also may become worthy of sharing with other users.

SAFE(simple, adaptable, flexible and endurable) are four defining properties of a robust ad hoc reporting solution:

• Simple to learn: power users and casual users can all maximize their self-service
• Adaptable to use: user can adapt it from a traditional ad hoc report to a tool for visual analytics
• Flexibility on data: transform, mashup and scale with ad hoc assembled data
• Endurable for long term: ad hoc outputs are ready to be used for long term purposes

More Articles About Ad Hoc Reports

• What Is An Ad Hoc Report
  Begins with a definition of ad hoc reporting as on‑demand, unanticipated query‑based report creation, contrasting it with pre‑built production reports. Explains key characteristics such as self‑service by non‑technical users, rapid generation, and flexibility of output formats. Discusses how such reports may evolve into reusable assets over time.
• Ad Hoc Reporting Self‑Service Visualization
  Highlights InetSoft’s ad hoc reporting paired with self‑service visualization capabilities that empower business users to analyze data visually without needing developers. Describes support for intuitive data views, interactive dashboards, and document generation on the fly. Covers Data Block mashups and drag‑and‑drop customization in dashboards.
• Integration‑Ready Ad Hoc Reporting
  Focuses on a lightweight, integration‑ready web‑based ad hoc reporting engine ideal for embedding in cloud applications. Highlights real‑time data mashup, secure multi‑source connectivity, and browser‑based designer for drill‑down and collaboration. Emphasizes small‑footprint Java architecture for SaaS or OEM use.
• Report Based Ad Hoc Analysis
  Explores how ad hoc analysis integrates with structured reporting environments to enable dynamic, self‑service exploration from within canned reports. Shows how StyleBI allows end‑user defined data mashups, drag‑and‑drop OLAP access and layout tools. Emphasizes minimal training, low IT overhead, and scalability across users.
• Cloud Flexible Ad Hoc Analysis
  Describes InetSoft’s drag‑and‑drop ad hoc query builder and reporting tools intended for flexible, cloud‑based analytics. Explains how ad hoc analysis serves biotech and scientific use cases with real‑time exploration and preprocessing for machine learning. Highlights synergy between ad hoc analysis and automated feature engineering workflows.
• Ad Hoc Analysis And OLAP Tools
  Details the combination of ad hoc analysis with OLAP cube access, enabling users to explore multi‑dimensional data interactively. Covers supported operations such as joins across domains, grouping, filtering, and point‑and‑click drill‑downs. Advocates self‑service mashup powered by minimal IT support and high performance.
• Try InetSoft Ad Hoc Reporting Tool
  Introduces a zero‑client, browser‑based ad hoc reporting tool allowing fast creation of visual reports and dashboards. Highlights scale from laptop use to enterprise deployment and style‑flexible visualization templates. Notes fast onboarding and StyleBI’s adoption by thousands of organizations.
• Creating Ad Hoc Reporting Columns
  Explains how to define custom expression columns during ad hoc report creation via a wizard interface. Shows support for both SQL and JavaScript syntax for dynamic derived fields. Emphasizes flexibility in calculated metrics without needing backend ETL or schema changes.
• Using Ad Hoc Reporting With SQL Server
  Describes connecting InetSoft’s ad hoc solution to SQL Server with multi-source mashup, analytics dashboards, and alerting. Covers browser-based design, drill‑downs, export to PDF/Excel, and shared annotations/bookmarks. Highlights integration in cloud DevOps workflows and enterprise security support.
• Ad Hoc Reporting Software Overview
  Summarizes InetSoft’s overall ad hoc reporting capabilities across production and self‑service use cases. Describes Data Block mashup architecture, visualization integration, dashboards, and report layout flexibility via browser tools. Positions Style Intelligence™ as a unified suite for ad hoc and scheduled reporting alike.