Update: You can download the Report Builder from Microsoft.
Reporting is a key feature in any software package today. But really, reports are a means to an end. The result that you're ultimately looking to accomplish is to view data in a particular manner. Reports are the 'pre-defined' manner in which a software designer gives you the ability to view your data.
But what if you don't have a software designer? The 'classic' solution to this problem is to hire one, or go back to your software vendor and request a specific report.
Now, fast forward to 2008.
With Quantify, we of course know about the 60+ reports that you're going to want to see, and we've included them. But even then, our report might not be what you want. What if you want your logo in the upper left corner. Or, say you don't want the address formatted like we have it?
We've solved this by providing a 'report designer'.
Each report that's contained within Quantify is a document that lives in your \Reports\ folder.
When you run a report, Quantify grabs this file and tosses the appropriate data at it. The report contains definitions of the fields and at runtime these fields map themselves to the appropriate data. The report is rendered to the screen. | |  |
So, if you want to change the report, it's a simple task of modifying the report definition. To do this, you use the 'Report Designer' and open the report file to modify it. Think of this as the same as editing a word document with Microsoft Word, only there's no data in the document. The report file contains a definition of what the data looks like and where it's going to go, not the actual data itself.
What can you do with this report designer? Well, the short and easy answer is *everything*. We use the same designer to create the reports, so it's all available to you to use free of charge, included with each installation of Quantify. Within the report designer you'll see a list of fields for the report data. These fields can be dragged and dropped onto the report surface to add them to the list. Note that if there are many items (such as a customer summary shown above) the list simply repeats itself. You can even add new controls to our reports. Below is the toolbar of available controls.
These reports are bound to our software, but if you'd like you can use this same designer to attach directly to SQL Server and create any report you'd like.