The stability of the report business is inherently poor. With the advancement of the business, new query and statistical requirements will continue to be generated, and the report must also be continuously added and modified accordingly. This results in a seemingly endless number of reports. Under normal circumstances, the main functional modules of an enterprise information system are relatively stable after being launched and will not change. Only the reports are constantly changing and adjusting with the entire system life cycle, which is very labor-intensive. So, how to deal with the ever-changing report development? To answer this question, we must first consider whether reporting changes can be eliminated. However, the answer is no. The report requirement is the real requirement of the business, which cannot be eliminated, but can only be adapted to it. How to adapt to the ever-changing report post-modification operation and maintenance faster and at a lower cost? The ease of report modification and format compatibility are the evaluation criteria for the difficulty of later report maintenance.
One of the criteria for the usability of reporting tools is the compatibility of report formats. At present, most of the business intelligence report software on the market adopts the development method similar to Excel, and the file formats are different. This type of Excel software is represented by the relatively well-known finereport in China. In addition, there is also a domestic spreadsheet software under Smartbi that uses a real Excel report designer, and its report format follows the standard xlsx format, which can be opened by Office. The differences between these two methods will be compared in detail below.
One: First look at FineReport , which uses three self-developed report formats, namely cpt, frm, and fvs. These formats correspond to three different report types.
cpt format: the file format adopted by common report and aggregated report is cpt. Among them, common template is the most widely used design pattern of FineReport, and the file type is also cpt. This mode uses the expansion of cells and the relationship between parent and child cells to achieve the template effect, and can perform parameter query, report filling, chart design, etc., but in the page preview mode, the control cannot be displayed in the main body of the report, and the cells affect each other , it is difficult to maintain independence. On the other hand, aggregated reports are suitable for reports that display multiple independent modules in one template.
frm format: The file type of the decision report is frm, which is usually used to display controls. It makes up for the defect that the page-by-page preview of ordinary reports cannot display controls. At the same time, it can be designed by free dragging and adaptive page size display, which is more suitable for mobile terminal display.
fvs format: The file type of the decision report is fvs. Compared with ordinary reports and aggregated reports, the decision report contains the basic components of the two, and the addition of components is more free, allowing users to build report frameworks according to their needs. Add richer elements to the report. Mainly used for large screen and mobile display.
Two: Smartbi's electronic form software product (electronic form) , which is based on Office Excel/WPS forms for enterprise-level report design. The product provides a true Excel report designer in the form of an Excel add-in.
The operation method is simple, and the report design and development can be carried out in Excel or WPS form only by installing a 4MB program. After the design is completed, the report can be published to the server and viewed on the web. At the same time, the server will also save the xlsx format of the report document. The next time you need to edit, just connect to the server and open the saved xlsx document.
In addition, an editing method is provided, that is, in the menu bar of the report operation, click to open the report you want to modify, and then you can edit it again.
Because spreadsheet uses the real Excel report designer, it is highly compatible with Excel , including fonts, table styles, functions and formulas, graphics, and conditional formatting. In addition, the designer also supports some common functions, such as row and column hiding and freezing. It deeply integrates the existing capabilities of Excel , especially the integration of various native formulas and grid calculation capabilities of Excel , so that customers can quickly complete the design of report templates in the Excel interface. Its design concept is the deep integration of Excel and spreadsheet software products.
In general, Finereport is a report designer similar to Excel , and different report types are created separately, so different types of reports are saved in different formats, with its own CPT, FVX, and FRM cannot be converted.
And Spreadsheet is a real Excel report designer, probably the only report on the market that can be opened by Excel . It inherits all the functions of Excel , and seamlessly integrates with the compatibility of Excel . Since the unified report format is XLSX, no matter it is a normal report, a large-screen report, or a mobile report, it can be converted to each other.
If you need to focus on report products and Excel content, Spreadsheet is an ideal choice. Especially for WPS that supports localization, it is fully compatible with XLSX and Spreadsheet is also very good.