This tutorial explains various options on how to extract and display information from ]project-open[.

1. ]po[ Developers: Reporting,
Indicators & Dashboards
Frank Bergmann, 2013-04-06
This tutorial explains various options on how to extract and
display information from ]project-open[.

2. Different Types
of Reports
Reporting is one of the most basic requirements for a business application.
]project-open[ provides a large variety of different ways to display data with
differing degrees of sophistication and complexity:
 Simple SQL Query in pgAdminIII or PSQL:
Simply execute a SQL query using a PostgreSQL client outside of ]po[
 MS-Access Report:
You can store MS-Access reports in a ]po[ filestorage or even link to it using a “menu”
 MS-Excel Report:
You can define the ]po[ database as a data-source for MS-Excel.
 im_ad_hoc_query $sql in /ds/shell:
Useful for ad-hoc queries and for development.
 im_ad_hoc_query $sql in a TCL page:
Easy way to deploy an ad-hoc query in a production system. You can also add a menu to the
reporting section.
 Dynamic Report (Reporting -> New Report):
Similar to ad-hoc query, but with built-in deployment.
 ]po[ HTML Reporting Engine:
The ]po[ reporting engine allows for grouping, aggregation, sub-totals and grand totals.
 ]po[ OpenOffice “PowerPoint” Reporting Engine:
This reporting engine allows to create OpenOffice Impress (PowerPoint) slides based on templates.
 Indicator:
A special type of report that returns only a single numeric value. ]po[ takes care to regularly evaluate
the SQL query and to store the values to create a timeline.
 Histogram Chart:
A histogram is a Portlet that takes a SQL query as an argument. The query needs to return rows
with Name – Value pairs.
 Data-Warehouse Cube:
DW-Cubes may already cover your reporting needs. You can aggregate by drop-down type of
DynFields.
 Pie Chart based on DW-Cube:
You can show a pie chart of the summary of a DW cube.
 Sencha Charts:
You can setup a “cron” script to save report results as a static HTML page at night.
 Nightly Evaluation of Long Running Reports:
You can setup a “cron” script to save report results as a static HTML page at night.

3. Simple SQL Query in pgAdminIII or PSQL
 pgAdminIII allows you to execute SQL
queries manually.
 pgAdminIII allows to save SQL queries
in .sql files
 Advantages:
– Quick development
– Integrated with tree-view to
the database, tables, views etc.
 Disadvantages:
– Requires manual execution

4. MS-Access
Report
You can use Microsoft Access as a reporting engine:
 MS-Access can access the ]project-
open[ PostgreSQL database without problems
 You can use all available MS-Access tools to develop
your reports
 Advantages:
– Comfortable development tools
– Easy entry for beginners
 Disadvantages
– Security issues if every computer has full access to the
database. As an alternative, you could report on certain
views only with restricted permissions.
– Every computer needs a PostgreSQL ODBC installed
locally

5. MS-Excel
Report
You can use Microsoft Excel as a reporting engine:
 MS-Excel can access the ]project-open[ PostgreSQL
database without problems
 You can use all available MS-Excel tools to develop
your reports, including pivot tables and Excel macros.
 Advantages:
– Comfortable development tools
– Easy entry for beginners
– Excel allows for complex post-processing of data in
separate sheets
– Pivot tables allow for data-warehouse like reports
 Disadvantages
– Limitation of the number of rows
– Security issues if every computer has full access to the
database. As an alternative, you could report on certain
views only with restricted permissions.
– Every computer needs a PostgreSQL ODBC installed
locally

6. im_ad_hoc_query $sql in /ds/shell
 The ]project-open[/OpenACS /ds/shell page
allows developers to execute TCL commands
interactively
 The “im_ad_hoc_query $sql” TCL command
takes a SQL query and returns the results in
“html”, “csv” or “plain” format
 Advantages:
– Well suitable for ad-hoc queries
– Integrated into ]project-open[
– Working queries can be easily deployed (see
later reporting options)
 Disadvantages:
– /ds/shell requires manual execution
– im_ad_hoc_query does not support aggregation
and parameters.

7. im_ad_hoc_query $sql in a TCL page
 Once your query is running in the /ds/shell
environment, you can easily deploy the report as
a ]project-open[ page.
 The example below shows how to include the
“im_ad_hoc_query” statement into a “.ADP”
page.
 You may then create a new menu item in the ]
po[ reporting section (Admin -> Menus -> Create
New Menu) in order to integrate the new report
into the rest of the system.
 Advantage:
– Easy deployment of reports developed in /ds/shell
– Integrated with the rest of the ]po[ environment
 Disadvantages:
– im_ad_hoc_query doesn’t support grouping and
sub-totals
– No security. You will have to add security checks
manually.

8. Dynamic Report (Reporting -> New Report)
 Administrators can create new reports in
Reporting -> New Report
 These “dynamic reports” behave just like
im_ad_hoc_query.
 Advantages:
– Dynamic Reports automatically create a menu
item for you that links to the report and allow to
manage permissions
– Dynamic Reports allow you to export the data in
CSV format.
 Disadvantages:
– Like all im_ad_hoc_query based reports: No
grouping and sub-totals.

9. ]po[ HTML Reporting Engine
 The ]po[ reporting engine allows to
create arbitrarily complex reports in
a style similar to MS-Access and
Crystal Reports.
 Advantages:
– Allows for group, sub-totals and
totals
– Allows for parameters
– Allows for different “Levels of Detail”
– Allows for “drill-down”. Clicking on
one of the [+] icons will show a
more details view
 Disadvantages:
– Requires considerable TCL
programming skills

10. Indicators
 Indicators are a special type of “report”
that only returns a single numeric value.
 ]po[ takes care to regularly evaluate the
SQL query and to store the values to
create a timeline.
 Indicators allow for permissions per
indicator, so you can limit the visibility to
certain user groups.
 Advantages:
– Allows to build management dashboards,
balanced scorecards etc.
 Disadvantages:
– Only suitable for certain reporting
purposes
– It is very difficult to develop indicators that
are really relevant to a business.

11. Histogram Chart
 A histogram chart is a simple “Portlet
Component” that takes a SQL query as a
parameter.
 The query needs to return two columns
only:
– A name (here: ticket_type)
– A number (here: count)
 Advantages:
– Easy to develop
– Easy to integrate into existing pages in ]
po[
 Disadvantages:
– Limited reporting capabilities

12. Data-Warehouse Cube
 ]po[ includes an integrated Data-
Warehouse as a commercial add-on
package.
 “Cubes” are capable of aggregating data
along many “dimensions”.
 Advantages:
– One DW-cube can replace tens of separate
reports.
– DW-cubes allow the user to “slice and dice”
data
– DynFields (drop-down) can be used as
“dimensions” in a DW. For example, a
“Business Sector” DynField per customer
will automatically appear in the Finance
cube.
– Seamlessly integrated into ]po[
 Disadvantages:
– Commercial package, license costs.
– Only numeric values can be shown in a DW

13. Pie Chart Based on DW-Cube
 Pie charts can take a “sum”
column of a data-warehouse
cube as a data-source.
 Advantages:
– Easy creation of pie charts
 Disadvantages:
– Data can only be extracted
from existing DW-cubes.

14. Nightly
Evaluation of
Long Running
Reports
 Reports frequently can take several seconds or
even minutes to execute.
 One way to provide users with a more agile reply is
to pre-evaluate reports (at night) and to provide the
results as a static HTML page to the user.
 The following command will execute the
“report.adp” and store the results as a static HTML
page:
– wget http://localhost/report -o ~/www/report.html
 Advantages:
– Fast response time
– The static HTML page still provides drill-in
capabilities.
 Disadvantages:
– Extra effort to schedule the evaluation
– Scheduling many reports may lead to overlaps at
night

15. Frank Bergmann
frank.bergmann@project-open.com
www.project-open.com