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The
Momentum reporting system consists of OPEN/DB, Jacana and Valet. How do these different
components fit together? |
The Momentum reporting system comprises three
integrated components OPEN/DB, Jacana and Valet.
Operating in a client-server combination they take full advantage of both the PC and
iSeries environments. Jacana and Valet reside on the PC client handling the
design and running of reports. OPEN/DB
on the iSeries server handles the important issues of data access, performance and resource
management.
Perhaps the most important part of the solution is the Information Interface
in OPEN/DB which stores the content, structure
and inter-relationships of the database files. Field descriptions can be modified to make
fields more meaningful to users and derived fields can be introduced to ensure consistency
of calculations saving users from having to build complex expressions during report
definition.
With the Information Interface as a transparent helpmate, report design
becomes simple, since the user is presented with a list of authorized fields. There is no
longer any need to worry about the underlying complexities of the database structure,
files, keys or field names.
With Jacana the user receives further help in the form
of ReportWizards which offer a series of ‘question & answer’ screens to
automate report definition and layout creation. Jacana’s
WYSIWYG approach ensures the user can see the report layout as it evolves.
Valet simplifies desktop management
for the running of the reports. Creation of icons for fast identification and click-on
activation of report production of a single or suite of reports can be ideal for periodic
or ‘ad hoc’ reporting.
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