1 pre-programmed thread tool recommendation pre-programmed thread february 12, 2002

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Pre-Programmed Thread Tool Recommendation

Pre-Programmed ThreadFebruary 12, 2002

Pre-Programmed Reporting 2

Project Organization

Pre-Programmed Reporting ThreadFocuses on the manipulation of pre-programmed

(canned) reports that are currently generated in IMPAC II

Ad – Hoc Reporting ThreadFocuses on allowing the NIH user community to

query the IMPAC II DB (OLTP & IRDB) to retrieve data on an ad hoc basis.


Pre – Programmed Team

Sherry Zucker, ChiefAndy Greenleaf, SWEGKrishna Collie, AnalystVish Kaliappan, DeveloperMark Parker, DeveloperNatasha Globus, DeveloperIrina Knyazeva., Developer


Executive Summary

User requirement - Manipulation format of business area reports on-line, and download report to desktop tool for further manipulation.Analysis – evaluate COTS tools against stated requirements and test using IMPAC II report.Recommendation – Oracle Discoverer


Reporting Objectives

To provide reporting alternativesOn Line Manipulation of reportAbility to download to spreadsheetWeb publishing capability


Categories of Evaluation Criteria Used

Go/No Go Criteria

General Criteria – Must, Should, Could

Support and Maintenance Criteria

Security Criteria

Performance Metrics

Other Considerations


Commercial Off-The-Shelf System Selection and Evaluation Technique (COSSET)

Report Findings

Conduct Product Evaluations

Develop Product Evaluation Tools

Identify CandidateProducts

Conduct Functional AnalysisAnd Determine Requirements

Perform Preliminary Vendor Survey

COSSET


Functional Requirements

Ease of use by end user Allow users the ability to manipulate “canned” reports Export report to Excel Performance comparable to current report generation


Technical Requirements

Must use Oracle stored Procedures – Go/No Go Decision point Ease of creating/maintaining meta-layerScalability across the enterpriseIntegrates with IMPAC II applications


Vendor Survey

Market Leaders* Hummingbird COGNOS Business Objects ORACLE

*(Gartner Group Survey)


Product Evaluation

Reports: Complex & Simple Complex

Voter Matrix Report Meeting Roster Report

Typical Master List of Applications


Results of Evaluation

Hummingbird – not compatible with Oracle stored functionsCognos – Meta Layer difficult; can’t self join a table > 1 timeBusiness Objects – strong second place Discoverer – meets most of our criteria


Finalists

Oracle Discoverer (client server c/s) Business Objects (c/s & web)


Benefits to User Community

Reporting Flexibility Sort Order (ascending &descending) Configuration of columns & rows Ability to highlight text i.e., bold, italics, font

color & size Business view hides underlying complexity

(user doesn’t see complexity) List of pre-defined reports for end users Web publishing of reports


Benefits to Developers & Project

Don’t have to develop as many reports user can reorder columns and change

sort

For simple to moderate reports, faster and easier to develop report in Discoverer than to use Oracle Reports


Output Choices for UsersCanned report developed using Oracle Reports – traditional canned pdf; highly formatted.Canned report developed using Oracle Discoverer - can manipulate online and export to Excel.ICSTORe –document ordering (Merge, Zip, Central Print, books), export customized hitlist to Excel, no formatting (e.g., multi-line addresses), no calculated columns (e.g., scores). Ad Hoc Query Tool – to be discussed


Developer Options

Oracle Reports – complex reports e.g. CM female/minority report; pre-printed forms

Discoverer – simple to moderate reports e.g. Meeting Roster, Voter Matrix

ICSTORe - complex reports e.g. ICO Workload report (customizable hit list)


Deciding which tool to useCollaboration between Users &

Developers

Define requirements for reportDecide which tool can do the job What provides most benefit for user? What makes most business sense?

Assist users in understanding trade – off between options e.g. online manipulation vs. robust developmentDeveloper can start build using Discoverer and switch to Oracle Reports without losing work.


Existing Reports

Identify candidates to redo in DiscovererVerify candidates with user community examine reports by business area identify candidates for online

manipulation and download capability to a spreadsheet


Architectural Issue

Integration into IMPACII applications Launching Discoverer reports should be

seamless to user.

Integration of Discoverer into Architecture Will run-time be required on Users’ Desktops? Citrix Server? Web or Client/Server version?

How will Discoverer be integrated into J2EE architecture? {has web based component}


Transition Phase

Pre Pilot/Pilot (select users; e.g. Users who have requested this capability)Integration into eRA enterprise applicationsFull Deployment to user communityDocumentation/Training/Outreach

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Oracle Discoverer 4

Sample ReportsSelected Features

1 pre-programmed thread tool recommendation pre-programmed thread february 12, 2002

Documents

canned reports export

moderate reports

userscanned report

oracle reportsoutput

query tool

place discoverer

impac iiad

desktop tool