Report Manager (RM) is a client/server system for the administration, ordering and running of reports in a network environment. The RM clients offer users functionality tailored to their set of available reports. The RM servers in the network run the reports that have been ordered and distribute the results according to the users' instructions, which are stored in the Report Manager's Data Dictionary. The RM Administrator module makes it easy for the Operations Manager to configure the Report Manager.
RM clients offer users a homogeneous and user-friendly MS Windows environment for the ordering and batch running of reports. In this way, the users are shielded from the technical problems related to the different machine platforms, database systems and reporting tools being used in the network environment.
The overview of the reporting environment can be customized and improved by classifying reports, printers and users into appropriate groups. Tailor-made properties and instructions can be linked both to these groups and to individual reports, printers and users.
Report Manager is very flexible at tailoring the special needs of each individual user. For each report that is available to a user, Report Manager remembers the parameter values from the last time the report was run. The user chooses when the report is to be run and whether the report is to be printed out, distributed by e-mail or displayed in integrated presentation tools, such as MS Excel, MS Word, MS Explorer, Adobe Acrobat, etc.
All the presentation tools and the user's e-mail system are, of course, integrated with Report Manager. Users can also select the printers to be used for printing reports. These may be a user's local printer, remote printers or a printer satisfying special data security requirements.
Each user is able to continually monitor the progress of the running of his/her reports and thereby obtain information as to which reports are waiting to be run, which are currently running or have completed and which, if any, have failed. All completed reports have a corresponding result file, which is automatically deleted when the user deletes the associated report-run. Report Manager can be configured to automatically delete old report-runs and result-files after a specified time has elapsed. This ensures an orderly reporting environment in which the Report Manager is responsible for monitoring the progress of the result files in the network, thereby shielding the user from unnecessary administration tasks.
Resource optimalization
Using the Report Manager ensures that all the machine and database resources in the network are fully exploited. The use of several RM servers in a network enables the scheduling of the report-runs on the various network machines, thus ensuring a more even distribution of the workload. This, in turn, enables users to work undisturbed on their PCs whilst their reports are being run as background jobs on other machines.
In order to take advantage of unused machine capacity at times of the day with a reduced workload, users can specify the times at which their reports are to be run. A user with time-critical or operation-critical reports can prioritize them in the report queue or schedule their being run on machines dedicated to prioritized reports.
All completed reports have a corresponding result file that can be re-used without the associated report needing to be re-run. To save machine resources, result files can also be made available to other selected users or groups of users.
Access control
Report Manager has an access control system that prevents unauthorized access to reports, as well as giving a good overview of the various reports in the system. The access control system can be configured such that each user only sees those reports that are relevant to him/her. Ready-configured fixed or hidden parameters prevent unauthorized access to specified data in individual reports. In this way, salary reports can be configured such that department leaders can only produce reports showing the salary of the employees in their own department.
List of functionality
Here is a summary of the most important functionality in Report Manager:
Technical specifications
RM Server is available for MS Windows NT/2000 and UNIX-platforms HP-UX, AIX and Solaris. RM Client and RM Administrator are available for MS Windows NT/2000 and 95/98. Interfaces are currently available for QBE Vision Report and FORMULA RG and new interfaces are being continually developed. Report Manager make use of FTP for file transfer between UNIX and PC.
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