ReportBuilder: A Strong Reporting Tool For Delphi Applications: Features and Advantages

ReportBuilder: A Strong Reporting Tool For Delphi Applications: Features and Advantages

There are a lot of reporting tools in delphi like Report Smith, Quick Reports, FastReports, Rave Reports, ReportBuilder and others. In this article we will focus on the main features and advantages of using ReportBuilder in your delphi application. 

ReportBuilder components from Digital Metaphors provide an ideal platform for building world-class reporting applications. ReportBuilder provides us with a powerful, intuitive set of components that provide sophistication in the design of reports, and the ability for non-programming professionals to produce outstanding quality reports. 

ReportBuilder easily allows for getting up to speed quickly: integrated report previewer, data base access, charting, report explorer, an end-user report designer for those needing reporting solutions today, ReportBuilder provides a complete reporting solution.

Good Technical Support

Any complex software requires support, and Digital Metaphors' support is top rate. The response time is quick, and this helps reduce programmer frustration. This is key in any third-party tools used by programmers.

Digital Metaphors produces high-quality reporting components and provides outstanding support for their product. The newsgroups provide a wealth of information and collaboration between the vendor and other developers. The company 

has always been extremely responsive to any support issues. Digital Metaphors staff answers any questions extremely quickly (same day) on their newsgroups.

Flexibility of ReportBuilder

Report Builder provides a level of flexibility unmatched by any other reporting tool ever created. This flexibility is due to the large number of report components, the ability to group components using regions, the ability to create relationships between stretching components such as memos, richtext and subreports, and the flexibility of nesting full-fledged reports within one another. With ReportBuilder, there is no limit to the complexity which you can resolve.

Support for multiple nested drill-down subreports

This feature can be used to create a highly sophisticated ‘tree view’ of the data: an initial summary report is displayed and additional information can be accessed simply by clicking on an item in the Print Preview window. The page is then re-rendered with more detail information shown. You can also utilize this technology to make the Print Preview window ‘clickable’ so that you can create solutions of your own, such as launching an independent report when an item in the report is clicked. The potential uses of the ‘hot’ Print Preview window are literally endless.

Less Cost of Deployment

The ReportBuilder Server components are deployable at a very reasonable cost. ReportBuilder is available in Server, Enterprise, Professional and Standard editions.

Support for Charting

Support for charting and exporting to various formats is excellent in ReportBuilder.

Good Database Support

ReportBuilder provides very good support for all databases. With ReportBuilder, the same report runs correctly under all the databases like Oracle, MS SQL, Firebird, InterBase etc.

Data can be accessed easily from their Data Access Development Environment (DADE), or directly through datasets, text files, or class structure allowing reports to access their data in a natural way. (No need to create datasets just for reports!).

Easy To Use Interface

ReportBuilder end user interface is very powerful and easy-to-use. Wizards are available within the system for creating reports. 

ReportBuilder previewer is fully integrated. With ReportBuilder's flexibility, the report order can be customized for an advisor’s preferences (e.g. the page order can easily be customized). And output can easily be sent to multiple formats (PDF, printer, and/or previewer) at the same time. Additionally, ReportBuilder allows for saving reports so that a copy of the report can view later. 

Good Documentation and Samples Reports

ReportBuilder provides good documentation, sample reports and examples, help files, and the reporting components. 

The examples are extremely good (pointing out each of the capabilities of the system), written (.PDF) documentation is good, the (Delphi) help files are well designed, and the engine appears extremely easy to integrate. ReportBuilder also offers a few other features such as integrated support for charting, a built-in macroing language (RAP), drill-down capability, and available source code. The product price also includes royalty-free distribution of the engine and the designer.

Conclusion

ReportBuilder provides a complete solution for Delphi programmers. From getting started, to full integration into complex applications. ReportBuilder provides an excellent reporting option for any Delphi programmer!