Currently we create Jasper PDF Reports from a single simple database table for our customers. This has been achieved programmatically. It's static. If the user wishes to change the query, he/she creates a change request, which we cannot deliver before the end of the next sprint (SCRUM).
The tool/library should be straight forward (e.g. convention over configuration) and employable from within a JavaEE container. And, open source.
Is there a dynamic tool that allows or customers to create the simple queries/reports themselves without knowing SQL? Means, they should be able to see the table and then create a query from it, execute and print (we could use Jasper Reports for the last one).
E.g. Select only data from year 2014, aggregate them by customer group and select columns x,y and z.
All of these criterias and query structure may change though, thus not just the value like year 2014.
Questions:
1) Is there a tool that presents the data in some kind of SAP-cube or something similar where the user could select the structure and attributes?
2) Can that tool save template queries (queries that the user has invoked before)?
thanks
With BIRT you could use parameters in the report... for example have one report that shows the whole data set or data cube (or at least a bit of all of the fields). Then you could add JavaScript to the report (or do all of the presentation in JavaScript for that matter), that shows the parameters a user can select from. These parameter values can then either be sent to a new report or could update the existing report. Parameters can be put into database queries too.
If that was exposed in JavaScript on a web page you could save the parameter values to an array and store them in the browser or server.
Related
I have a SSRS report with 20 different datasets with some calculated columns in each.
I want to take few fields from all data sets including some calculated columns and insert them into a SQL table.
I want to do this for each month so that I can see the trends during a period. Is there any way to do that with out editing the data sets?
Can I refer the fields that I need by referring to Textbox4 and insert them into a SQL table? What is the easy way to do without touching data sets?
There is most likely alot better solution than using SSRS to update a SQL database. I am not proposing this as the best solution but rather a way to achieve what was asked.
You could create a dataset that runs a stored procedure you can pass the data as parameters to. The Sproc would do the insert into your chosen table and you can pass in the parameters from your original dataset however you see fit. You could even setup a second report with the Stored procedure Dataset that you can call on command by having an action event on an item to call the report. (I had a subreport embedded in a column of a tablix configured so it would only update with values from that row for instance).
To clarify:
Create a subreport that accepts the data you want to insert as a parameter for each column
Instead of adding a normal Dataset, have it call a stored procedure that inserts as you require
Add the subreport to your main report to be called once its run and configure the required parameters to be passed through.
There will be better, more efficient, cleaner ways to do this, but I found the above to work for my purposes since I was limited by time and resources. But I would still recommend you seek other solutions if possible.
I need to use SSRS to create many different reports, and I have been trying to find the best way for me to easily create them as need, and for users to navigate them and use them for their needs.
To give you and idea of the two sets of data I am dealing with:
EDI file from our customer
Raw data output from hardware configuration
Now the EDI data is fairly consistent, so these columns are static.
The hardware data is usually a massive list of different configuration. I receive them in different flat files formats and using SSIS or other tools I get the data into Key Value Pairs. Now in a report, I use matrix to keep EDI columns static, it matches with the hardware on serial number, and Hardware data pivots.
So the report does not break, and so I don't give the user too much information, it matches up on another table where I specify what keys I want to be columns.
Here is a small example of one of my reports:
The green columns are EDI, while the orange is the hardware.
My question is, is there a better way for me to be doing this? Some reports can get complicated like needing total for certain hardware (counting hardrive space, ram total etc.) which is difficult to do dynamically.
I have tried creating in reports in this fashion, with these parameters:
This way I can create the Key columns per project and user can select what report they want to run. The default is All Data.
Is there a better way for me to create these reports? SSRS really doesn't seem to play well with dynamic pivots.
Is there a better tool that will handle these reports dynamically, or let users pick and choose what they want to see in a report?
I can't visualise your data but if I understand correctly, you could have a dropdown list showing all the unique values that are in the column you are using in the column group. Set this to be multi-value and then simply have the WHERE clause read something like
SELECT * FROM myTable WHERE myColumnGroupField IN (#myColumnChoiceParameter)
This way the user could select whichever columns they would like.
You could extend this by adding another parameter that has some preset groups of columns (I think you might have one of these already if I understand correctly) that would set the default value of the main #myColumnChoiceParameter parameter.
If you want something more flexible then you might want to look at Power BI but depending on how you intend to deploy that might not be a simple option.
You cannot dynamically create columns in SSRS but you can control the visibility of the columns.
1) Create a list in table that contains the names of all the columns that yo want to toggle and include a column titled 'All'.
2) Create a parameter that is based on this table and make sure multi-select is turned on.
3) Right click on every column that you want to toggle, select visibility and then create a condition that checks if the user either selected All or selected the column from the parameter list.
4) Train users that by selecting and deselecting from the dropdown they control whats visible.
I want to display all audit history data as per MS CRM format.
I have imported all records from AuditBase table from CRM to another Database server table.
I want this table records using SQL query in Dynamics CRM format (as per above image).
I have done so far
select
AB.CreatedOn as [Created On],SUB.FullName [Changed By],
Value as Event,ab.AttributeMask [Changed Field],
AB.changeData [Old Value],'' [New Value] from Auditbase AB
inner join StringMap SM on SM.AttributeValue=AB.Action and SM.AttributeName='action'
inner join SystemUserBase SUB on SUB.SystemUserId=AB.UserId
--inner join MetadataSchema.Attribute ar on ab.AttributeMask = ar.ColumnNumber
--INNER JOIN MetadataSchema.Entity en ON ar.EntityId = en.EntityId and en.ObjectTypeCode=AB.ObjectTypeCode
--inner join Contact C on C.ContactId=AB.ObjectId
where objectid='00000000-0000-0000-000-000000000000'
Order by AB.CreatedOn desc
My problem is AttributeMask is a comma separated value that i need to compare with MetadataSchema.Attribute table's columnnumber field. And how to get New value from that entity.
I have already checked this link : Sql query to get data from audit history for opportunity entity, but its not giving me the [New Value].
NOTE : I can not use "RetrieveRecordChangeHistoryResponse", because i need to show these data in external webpage from sql table(Not CRM database).
Well, basically Dynamics CRM does not create this Audit View (the way you see it in CRM) using SQL query, so if you succeed in doing it, Microsoft will probably buy it from you as it would be much faster than the way it's currently handled :)
But really - the way it works currently, SQL is used only for obtaining all relevant Audit view records (without any matching with attributes metadata or whatever) and then, all the parsing and matching with metadata is done in .NET application. The logic is quite complex and there are so many different cases to handle, that I believe that recreating this in SQL would require not just some simple "select" query, but in fact some really complex procedure (and still that might be not enough, because not everything in CRM is kept in database, some things are simply compiled into the libraries of application) and weeks or maybe even months for one person to accomplish (of course that's my opinion, maybe some T-SQL guru will prove me wrong).
So, I would do it differently - use RetrieveRecordChangeHistoryRequest (which was already mentioned in some answers) to get all the Audit Details (already parsed and ready to use) using some kind of .NET application (probably running periodically, or maybe triggered by a plugin in CRM etc.) and put them in some Database in user-friendly format. You can then consume this database with whatever external application you want.
Also I don't understand your comment:
I can not use "RetrieveRecordChangeHistoryResponse", because i need to
show these data in external webpage from sql table(Not CRM database)
What kind of application cannot call external service (you can create a custom service, don't have to use CRM service) to get some data, but can access external database? You should not read from the db directly, better approach would be to prepare a web service returning the audit you want (using CRM SDK under the hood) and calling this service by external application. Unless of course your external app is only capable of reading databases, not running any custom web services...
It is not possible to reconstruct a complete audit history from the AuditBase tables alone. For the current values you still need the tables that are being audited.
The queries you would need to construct are complex and writing them may be avoided in case the RetrieveRecordChangeHistoryRequest is a suitable option as well.
(See also How to get audit record details using FetchXML on SO.)
NOTE
This answer was submitted before the original question was extended stating that the RetrieveRecordChangeHistoryRequest cannot be used.
As I said in comments, Audit table will have old value & new value, but not current value. Current value will be pushed as new value when next update happens.
In your OP query, ab.AttributeMask will return comma "," separated values and AB.changeData will return tilde "~" separated values. Read more
I assume you are fine with "~" separated values as Old Value column, want to show current values of fields in New Value column. This is not going to work when multiple fields are enabled for audit. You have to split the Attribute mask field value into CRM fields from AttributeView using ColumnNumber & get the required result.
I would recommend the below reference blog to start with, once you get the expected result, you can pull the current field value using extra query either in SQL or using C# in front end. But you should concatenate again with "~" for values to maintain the format.
https://marcuscrast.wordpress.com/2012/01/14/dynamics-crm-2011-audit-report-in-ssrs/
Update:
From the above blog, you can tweak the SP query with your fields, then convert the last select statement to 'select into' to create a new table for your storage.
Modify the Stored procedure to fetch the delta based on last run. Configure the sql job & schedule to run every day or so, to populate the table.
Then select & display the data as the way you want. I did the same in PowerBI under 3 days.
Pros/Cons: Obviously this requirement is for reporting purpose. Globally reporting requirements will be mirroring database by replication or other means and won't be interrupting Prod users & Async server by injecting plugins or any On demand Adhoc service calls. Moreover you have access to database & not CRM online. Better not to reinvent the wheel & take forward the available solution. This is my humble opinion & based on a Microsoft internal project implementation.
What I am currently looking to do is use our existing UI to select a number of columns from various tables (yes, multiple tables) and pass them into a BIRT report as parameters. From there, I am planning on building a query that will dynamically replace the columns into the query and pull the results automatically. I'll have to hide columns with no value passed to them as well. I also expect I'll have to setup the query to be a little heavy handed and already know all of the logical connections in the database (e.g. connect the proper tables, etc).
My question is this the best way to manage a dynamic column/table in a dataset? or is there a better way to manage this method? I'v seen some online information about the "ad-hoc" BIRT report designer that lets non-programmers create reports, but I am not looking for other people to actually build the report, just generate one using an existing template with interchangeable columns.
I think the easiest way is to firstly build a report with all columns that you need.
Then apply some logic on the visibility of the column. You can use the parameters there as well.
Select your table, select a column, open the properties window and take a look at the visibility tab there. Just add some logic that results in a true or false.
If you are using a crosstab to display the information, you could use the filter options to include or exclude columns.
Yes, this will load data that is not used, but you need to build realy big reports for performance becomming a real issue.
If you try to add this logic in the actual dataset, you have to make the query and fetch script dynamic and then you still have the problem with the visualisation of the columns. I think you'll end up using the visibility script anyway (to show/hide the colums on the report), so might just start from there and have a working report fast.
Epicor - what a beastly creature!
Epicor asking for password after making a table change, any idea why?!?!
We removed the relationship from the (part table) and set up a criteria, instead. Now it is asking for a password, which should not be happening.
the login happens when I try to run the report. I am trying to figure out what I did to aggravate Epicor. The table was already there. I removed the relationship (part table) and added a criteria, instead, otherwise, that is exactly what I would have done. The only reason that I did not add a table to a report data definition, like I originally wanted to is because the parts table could only be added once. Which is why I removed the relationship and added a criteria, instead.
From your description, it sounds like the problem is related to the xml generated by Epicor for a non-BAQ based report data definition. Crystal and SSRS reports ask login information when either there is more than one datasource is referenced in the report, or there is improper relationships defined.
Note:
If you are not a report developer and you have modified this in an attempt to change the end data, I recommend you contact the report developer responsible for maintaining these before proceeding. Otherwise, read on.
Based on my experience, I would say if you are confident in the new relationship structure you have in the report data definition, the solution to this problem is likely within the report itself. Generate an xml file by running a test report, then open the .rpt (or .rdl) associated with this report and set the datasource to the new xml file. This should update the new xml schema used as the datasource. Even if none of the fields were changed in the data definition, the datasource schema definition that is stored in these files define exactly the data formatting that the report expects to receive when it is opened by Epicor.
If that doesn't solve the problem and you are using Crystal, the xml relationships may be defined in a way that will effect the way the data is displayed, which can be adjusted by using database expert->links tab in crystal. You should reconnect all of the links to match the report data definition within Epicor.
If none of that works, open up and view the xml file.
It is not unheard of for report data definitions in Epicor to break behind the scenes when altering relationships, and the xml file generated by the test report may not be a fully-qualified xml file. I have seen many xml files that do not have elements closed, etc. that will cause various problems when attempting to run the report. In this case, my recommendation is to create a completely new report data definition (do not copy), and re-enter all of the parameters that existed in the former definition. Repeat the refreshing of the report datasource as described above and this problem should be fixed.