Windward Reports 3.0

asp:review

Windward Reports 3.0

Is This Report-generation Product Right for You?

By Mike Riley

Windward Reports 3.0 from Windward Studios is a J2EE-basedRTF and XML merge engine that leverages the easy page layout functionality ofMicrosoft Word and the flexibility of the various document-rendering librariesavailable throughout the Java community, as well as Windward Studios proprietary contributions. Report templates are created by marking areascontaining the desired output data with < wr:>tags, with the tag being the most frequently used tag for valueoutput. When executed against the Windward Reports server, these tags arepopulated with the appropriate values from the SQL or XML data source. Themerged report can be output into HTML, PDF, RTF, or TXT format. In addition tothe literal field names and XML tag identifiers, the < wr:>tag can also contain conditional statements and iterative loops (,etc.), as well as JDBC-accessible SQL and XPath statements, extending thecapability of the tag beyond placeholder identifiers. Essentially,the product takes advantage of what help-documentation authors have known foryears: It s much easier to use the rich, yet easy to use, design features ofMicrosoft Word than having to relearn how to apply these same design rules in aforeign standalone application geared toward developers rather than end users.

Because the server engine is entirely Java-based, systemadministrators unfamiliar with the paths and property file dependencies oftenassociated with Java configurations will need to follow the documentationcarefully. Note that the license key for the product must be manually pastedinto the WindwardReports.properties file for the product to work. Onceconfigured, testing the installation with the command line string javanet.windward.xmlreport.RunReport order.xml template.rtf report.htm shouldgenerate an HTML report from the merged XML data file and RTF template. However,it took me a few tries to finally configure all the property settings and jarfile dependencies to run the application successfully. The Windward Reportsserver requires a JVM of 1.4 or higher and the Java client requires 1.3 orhigher. Once properly configured, an instance of the server can be created via javanet.windward.xmlreport.server.ReportServer with two additional, optionalparameters for the name/location of the properties file and the desired portnumber on which the server should be listening (port 1707 is used as thedefault).

Although the product advertises itself as a J2EE/.NETsolution, only the client is offered in the two language sets, with the .NETclient contained within the WindwardReports.dll assembly. The .NET clientrequires the .NET 1.1 Framework and, unlike the Java client or server, does notrequire additional libraries to be installed and configured to work with theWindward Reports server. Because the primary purpose of the client is totransport the data and template to the server for processing, and then receivethe resulting file output, programming a .NET client to communicate with theWindward Reports server is straightforward, and the product ships with a singleC# demonstration on how to do this. Unfortunately, because the product is soheavily focused on the Java language, the other 12 examples included in theproduct do not have a .NET equivalent. The product s Programmer s Guide is also primarily geared toward the Javadeveloper, with barely a page of the 26-page guide generically expended on the.NET client. And while the product is designed to work with Java applicationservers to generate reports from a Web-based platform, no ASP.NET integrationis readily apparent, limiting its Web serving functionality to a JSP-orientedmarket.

To facilitate the tagging of the RTF file within MicrosoftWord, Windward Studios has also created a separate COM-based AutoTag library. Althoughcompatible with Word XP, the add-in is best suited for use within MicrosoftWord 2003 or higher. This add-in not only helps with tag placement and identification,but also is invaluable for its tag syntax validation feature. To see how thetag (and the product in general) works in action, view the six-minute WindwardReports Flash-enabled demonstration at http://www.windwarddownloads.net/AutoTagSummary.html.

Overall, although the product does deliver what itadvertises and makes the process of designing report templates easier thanother report-generation packages, its Java-centric nature may be inappropriatefor .NET-exclusive development and deployment environments. Additionally, manythird-party report and multi-document generation server-side components alreadyflourish in the .NET marketplace. As such, the product s primary draw of aWord-centric report design surface may appeal to a limited subset of .NET shopsthat are even further constrained by the necessity of running the latestversion of Microsoft Word to truly leverage the power that Windward Reportsprovides. Perhaps if Windward Studios re-engineers their server into a native.NET product with a friendly front-end property configuration utility, theproduct may become more appropriate and interesting to .NET developers. Untilthen, it is a product that Java-centric environments will appreciate more thantheir .NET counterparts.

MikeRiley is anadvanced computing professional specializing in emerging technologies and newdevelopment trends. Readers may contact him at mailto:[email protected].

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WebSite: http://www.windwardreports.com

Price: Single-developer version,US$179; unlimited production edition, US$1,795.