Data warehousing software, business reports and RAD – versatile business analysis with Ariacom.

Is Ariacom Business Reports a reporting, a data warehousing or a RAD tool?

Depending on your use, Ariacom Business Reports® can be all of them...

A reporting tool if you want to quickly generate complex reports.
A data warehousing tool if you want multi-dimensional business analysis with drill possibilities on big amounts of fact data.
A Rapid Application Development tool as it allows you to quickly build a Client-Server or Web application for data consultation.

Is Ariacom Business Reports really free?

Yes, the Business Domain Manager and the Report Manager which are part of Ariacom Business Reports® Free are fully functional without any limitations except the display of promotional messages.

The Free version of Ariacom Business Reports® is for personal (non commercial) use only.

An evaluation version (limited to 30 days) of the Web Report Server is packed with Ariacom Business Reports® Free.
An evaluation version (limited to 30 days) of the Report Scheduler is packed with Ariacom Business Reports® Free.

What type of databases does the product support?

Ariacom Business Reports® can query any database with an ODBC driver.
Currently fully tested databases are MS Access, MS SQL Server, Oracle (8.x and 9.x) and MySQL.

How can I create my first report?

First you have to create a Business Domain for your database. This step is greatly simplified if you use the Business Domain Wizard in the Business Domain Manager (menu File->Business Domain Wizard or Ctrl+W).
Once this is done, you can directly edit your first report by running the report editor (menu Domain->Edit a report or F4).
Once the domain is saved and registered (menu Domain->Business Domain Registration->Register this domain) you can use the Report Manager to create or execute reports.

How can I publish my reports on the Web?

You will need to install the Web Report Server on Microsoft Internet Information Server. The installation of the Web Report Server is automatically handled by the Web Report Server Publisher that is available in the Application Program Group.

An evaluation version (limited to 30 days) of the Web Report Server is packed with Ariacom Business Reports® Free.

Can I generate charts in a report result?

Yes, native line, point, bar and pie charts are part of the product version 2.0
Use the report editor (type F4 either in the Report Manager or the Business Domain Manager) to define the chart of your Reports.

How can I change the logo and the layout of a report?

This is done by using and modifying the report templates.
Templates are files associated to your Business Domain which contain template tags.
Any text editor or HTML editor can be used to edit a template file. All you need to know is which tags to use and how to construct them (help on template tags can be found in the Business Domain Manager help file ‘Annex 6: Template tag reference’).
Once a template is ready for use, add the file to your Business Domain with the Business Domain Manager under the key ‘Report Templates’.
Several template samples are installed with the Northwind demonstration.

From the 3.2a version, by using the Report Manager, the layout of a report may be modified by using any HTML or Text Editor and saved in a custom template.

How can I view the SQL generated for a report?

In the report editor window (type F4 either in the Report Manager or the Business Domain Manager), use the key combination Ctrl+Alt+S to view the raw SQL generated for your report.

How can I execute a report directly from an URL?

This feature is described in the ‘Product description’ document under the chapter ‘Executing reports directly’.
The 2.3 version includes the Report Execution URL Wizard in the Business Domain Manager (Menu Domain->Report Execution URL Wizard... or CTRL+U).
Note that this feature is only possible if the Web Report Server is installed.

How can I cascade reports?

Cascading reports can be a powerful way to navigate in predefined dimension of your data (like master-details consultations).
A dedicated element must be added in your Business Domain with a special format corresponding to an URL of a direct report execution.
The 2.3 version includes the Cascade Report Wizard in the Business Domain Manager.
This feature is described in the ‘Product description’ document under the chapter ‘Cascading reports’.
The Northwind demonstration contains several samples of elements dedicated for cascading reports (like ‘Supplier Details’).

How can I cascade reports restrictions?

The restriction values of the current report can be cascaded to another report having prompted restrictions. Their syntax is described in the Business Domain Manager help file ‘Annex 5: Template tag reference’.
The dedicated template tags RestrictionValue and RestrictionValueURL are used for this purpose.

How can I rename the label of an element specifically for a report?

By default, elements selected in a report use the label that has been set in the business domain.
However, it is sometimes necessary to change the label of an element in order to make it more significant in the context of a report.
To do so, invoke the report editor window, select the element you want to rename and invoke the contextual popup menu ‘Edit Options...’. You can now give the label you want to the element.

Can I have a report containing many queries?

Not really, however you can split the presentation of your query in multiple pages. This allows you to perform a one level break whenever the page dimension value changes.
You can also cascade reports to trigger other sub-reports from a master report.

How can I change the presentation order of the elements and element categories in the report editor?

By using the Business Domain Manager, under the "Report type" node select the elements or the category you want to move, then use the arrow up and down of the menu located above the tree view (the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+Up and Ctrl+Down can also be used).