Is there any Excel report framework available? We need to export some of the reports into Excel format. Our application is java application hence anything supporting java would be great. I have tried Apache POI API, however that is not good enough. Any framework based on Windows API would be better.
SQL Server Reporting Services has options to export to Excel.
FYI, JasperReports uses POI for Excel-conversion.
Can you elaborate on what you don't like about Apache POI? I've been using POI for years now and haven't found anything that it couldn't do with a tweak here or there or taking an creative approach. IMHO, it's the best open-source (and free) Excel generation/reporting framework out there.
If you are willing to pay money, then Actuate has probably the best solution. Actuate's e.Spreadsheet Engine and the Excel API, you can read, write, modify and generate entire spreadsheets or parts of spreadsheets. I've used it and their API is richer and simpler then POI. POI, while powerful feels like an API that's grown up over time and has many developers involved in creating functionality and patches.
Try xlsgen, supports Java (but can only run under Windows).
Why is poi not good enough for you?
An alternative might be jasper reports. I've used this instead of poi a couple of times and the experience was pleasant.
You can also try jxl, but honestly it's API is more confusing than POI.
Xylophone is LGPL Java library and command line utility that uses Apache POI, but mitigates most of its drawbacks.
It consumes data in XML format, spreadsheet templates in XLS(X) format and makes producing of complex Excel reports more fun. You can read about it in this post. Because of licensing and security issues this must be better choice for Java backend than Windows API.
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I'm currently in an internship and i have to create a whole BI application.
I think i'll use pentaho, and I have to use just open source component.
I know that Pentaho Analyzer is not free
My question is: Is saiku an equivalent of analyzer?
If yes, can I use it with pentaho instead of analyzer?
thks
I'm the developer of Pivot4J project and want to share my (subjective) opinion on the subject.
First, as though you righteously assumed Pivot4J to be more of an API than an application, it does not always mean you need to write lot of code to use it.
We also have a Pentaho BI plugin which does not require any coding and has comparable features to Saiku plugin, though it's targeted toward the yet unreleased Pentaho 5.0 platform.
And our sample application provides most of the functionalities that JPivot web application has, even though it lacks a data source configuration feature which will be soon to be fixed.
Compared to Saiku, I think each project has its own advantage in different scenarios.
Saiku has a much lightweight architecture on the client side than our sample application and the plugin, so it can be deployed and embedded virtually anywhere.
While it's not much difficult to create a full REST style analytic application with Pivot4J, our current sample and plugin applications require at least a Servlet container to run and are more difficult to be embeded than Saiku in certain environment.
On the other hand, as Pivot4J is designed to be UI independent API from the start, it could provide more flexibility than Saiku in my opinion to developers when they want to build their own application on top of it, or intend to customize core behaviors of the API.
For example, if you want to use Pivot4J with your own application which is build with ExtJS, DhtmlX, or any other UI toolkits, it'd be much easier to achieve a seamless integration with Pivot4J, as it provides you with convenient abstract extension points to do that.
Finally, if you're familiar with Javascript you might find working with Saiku easier as it delegates most of the UI related works to the client side.
On the other hand, if you're an old school Java developer like me :) you might find our sample application to be easier to understand and work with, as there's virtually no custom script involved and everything is done on the server side with JSF component model.
To conclude, I'd like to say that Pivot4J is not just an API which cannot be used without writing much codes as it already includes quite feature complete Pentaho BI plugin for the upcoming 5.0 release of the platform. And as Pivot4J and Saiku take rather different approach from each other, each has its own strength and advantage which could be leveraged to suit the specific use case.
Yes of course. Both the tools use the same underlying OLAP engine - Mondrian. Saiku is essentially the same as analyzer providing many of the same features - however it has a different architecture which additionally makes it very embeddable and pluggable. Plus Saiku can be used standalone too if you want to.
Check out the demo at dev.analytical-labs.com to see what it can do.
Also for help you wont find many tools with such a great community - hook up with them on Freenode IRC at either ##Pentaho or ##Saiku depending on your questions!
Pentaho is the right choice for OS BI too - Presume you looked at Jaspersoft as well? Worth a look but you'll no doubt realise the features are better in Pentaho.
Have you think about a pure javascript UI to pivot your olap cubes? There is one such component calls WebPivotTable at http://webpivottable.com
Jpivot, saiku and pentaho are all based on olap4j API so that they all need a java server side service. WebPivotTable use AJAX call to xmla service directly so that it can be used to pivot any xmla OLAP server, like mondrian, SSAS, iccube. Since it doesn't tie up with any java back end and also it is pure javascript based, you can easily integrate it into any website or web application.
I plan to make an web application using XPages for the design (plus the Lotus Notes Elements), but instead of storing the data in Lotus Notes, I will store the data in a RDBMS (specifically an Oracle Database). As you can see, I want to create a clear separation between the design and data. Is there a way I can do this? I mean, is there a way I can use Oracle as the data source and XPages/Lotus Notes for the UI only? Thanks a lot!
There actually has been native support for RDBMS/JDBC connectivity in Xpages since July 2011. Take a look at the Extension Library on OpenNTF (http://extlib.openntf.org/) and read the blogpost announcing the functionality: http://www.openntf.org/blogs/openntf.nsf/d6plinks/NHEF-8JYMXE.
It's not yet officially supported through IBM (not part of the Upgrade Pack 1 - http://www-01.ibm.com/software/lotus/notesanddomino/nd85-UpgradePack853-1.html), but there will be support for it in the future.
The short answer appears to be "yes but no" .
XPages is JDBC compliant, so you can connect to anything, including Oracle. The snag is, you'll probably have to write the code yourself. Apparently there are plans to open source a JDBC-based Relational Database XPages DataSource but there's been no activity as such. Find out more
XPages101.net may be a good site for cutting your teeth on Xpages. They have 60 lessons you can subscribe to. They are highly recommended. You may be particularly interested in lesson 55.
DISCLAIMER: I am not affiliated with XPages101.net in any way.
The XPages environment doesn't have any particular support for relational data sources, but there are two viable options depending on how cautious your organization is about using recent and beta software and how much support code you're willing to write.
For the former case, the XPages Extension Library (http://extlib.openntf.org/) is adding in relational database support for the 8.5.3 release of Domino, which is scheduled to come out at the beginning of next month. I'm not in the 8.5.3 beta, so I haven't seen this in action, but the video on their page looks promising and the Extension Library is high-quality in general. So if you're willing to deploy 8.5.3 when it comes out and use the Extension Library, it'll likely do just what you want.
If you won't be immediately upgrading or don't want to deploy the Library, you can write your own code using JDBC drivers; there's an example of this technique here: http://www-10.lotus.com/ldd/ddwiki.nsf/dx/xpage_integration_rdb.htm . While you can't, for example, just pass a RecordSet to a Repeat control on an XPage, if you're willing to write your own ORM, you could make your objects implement the List interface use Java-Bean-style naming, which would let you use them in standard controls and write expression language like "#{someRecord.someField}".
We have been using Talend 3.1 for a few months now. However, we are looking at possibly switching to the latest MapForce. Simply because it compiles to a .Net solution and we are otherwise a .Net house. That being said Talend is extremely easy to use and extend. The Talend jobs make it very easy for new developers to understand the job and modify existing issues. There does seem to be a general feeling of buggyness with Talend (eg slow responsiveness in the UI and some strange behavior).
If you have worked with one or both can I get your opinion on how they match up?
Thanks
With Talend's acquisition of Sopera, Talend now has a tight integration with an ESB product stack which is very light weight. Among other things, the ESB includes a first class integration based on services implemented with .NET WCF. So if you are looking to integrate data / web services in .NET but enjoy the simplicity of the Talend UI (which can be slow because of Eclipse), then I would try the new product integration with Talend ASF / ESB.
Caveat, I am a Talend employee, but I hope this note is sufficiently objective and factual.
If you intend to use MapForce for integration work you will need the FlowForce server and MapForce server besides MapForce.
Minimally you could use MapForce and the MapForce server. Compile the Mapping to a MapForce Server Execution File and then run it with the tool of your choice.
Has anyone had experience with developing web apps using ClearQuest? Looking at the features, it mentions process automation but I'm not sure how large of a process/application it can support. Our group gave up a small section of a larger application to another group that used ClearQuest to web-enabled the process but now the ClearQuest tools are being pushed on us to web-enable the entire application. I have a ASP.NET background but ClearQuest is very wizard like and the only code that I've seen is called "BASIC" and it looks a lot like VBScript.
Clearcase/Clearquest has decent integration with Rational Applicaiton Developer. I am not sure if you arsking about its strenghts or actually exposing ClearQuest to the web. You can do the obligatory and lame activity of writing CGI/PERL scripts to expose some of the features to the web. You can use perl or VBScript to write CC/CQ hooks. It has its own perl build included in the product called ratperl. It has fantastic command line support but it comes at a price of complexity. CC/CQ is very powerful provided you think about the implementation in your organization very carefully. It can support very powerful work flows and is highly customizable.
There are several APIs which allow you to do what you want, write a WebApp.
CQWeb itself is built using the CM API, which allows a Java application (web or non-web) to be build. A tutorial is here:
http://www.ibm.com/support/knowledgecenter/SSSH5A_9.0.0/com.ibm.rational.team_api_cq_tut.doc/topics/teamapi_cq_abstract.htm
You could implement a basic web application using perl-CGI, since CQ has a Perl API.
You can write an ASP/C# web application because ClearQuest has a OLE (Visual Basic) API. The original ClearQuest Web application was built using the Visual Basic API
So the answer is yes, it is possible.
Wouldn't it be nice it supported a JavaScript API? Then we could write nodeJS CQ applications.
Sure it's possible, for a VS style integration I would either wrap the cqole.dll or use the OSLC connectors to get access to the RESTful interface. While the cqole is the C++ API and it is not officially supported this will suite you better than trying to implement this with the VBScript API. If you are more comfortable with just using the web services I would check out jazz.net where the wiki explains the bridge in gory details.
You dont exactly develop webapp with ClearQuest, CQ is only a process automation tool that build on logic and state transitions, and the interactions are scripted in either VBScript or Perl.
However do note that it has always been a pain to manage CQ codes as the "Designer" itself is a completely broken tool. It supports version tracking but doesnt tell u the difference between versions. The built-in code editor doesnt have syntax highligting, and it doesnt support parallel development. I can go on and on.
In the later versions, (version 7 onwards I supposed), CQ comes with eclipse based client AND designer tools, which supposedly enhance the whole experience. But I dont have too much experience with it to comment.
As for the web component, it runs on the websphere layer and simply is a application/presentation layer for users to access CQ through a HTTP protocol. It has 90% of the features of a full CQ client, and is usually easier to maintain and deploy to a wide user group.
Check out http://open-services.net/ for information on development using Open Services for Lifecycle Collaboration.
Can anyone recommend a GUI builder tool for creating DHTML web apps using AJAX to communicate with a web service backend? I'd like to avoid having to mess around with designing HTML, marshalling/unmarshalling data, checking for browser compatibility, etc. The tool should have a library of widgets that can be put into an application and hooked up to functionality, and be extensible enough to be able to define custom widgets. Of course free and/or open source is preferrable but I would consider proprietary tools too.
Also to what extent does the choice of GUI tool affect what platform or language I would use for the backend? If the GUI is just calling a web service then I should be able to use anything on the server-side to provide that interface but maybe some gui-side tools use a proprietary data exchange format that requires some specific server-side code?
Edit: I don't need a widget that can be dragged, I want an IDE that allows one to build a gui easily (i.e. a RAD tool).
WaveMaker is open source, runs on J2EE.
If you're comfortable with Java, maybe you could try Google Web Toolkit? http://code.google.com/webtoolkit/
I'm using Wavemaker and it does exactly what are u asking...
It is really easy to use and very perfomant....
I believe Dreamweaver does some of this, but in my opinion such editors are not a good idea. They produce horrible, unmaintainable server-side code and are quite inflexible.
Wavemaker beats everything else I have used hands down. Applications can be developed rapidly, has drag and drop, can connect to any web service, and has unmatched database management tools. The only problem with it is that it has kept changing hands/ownership so much and its future direction is not clear.
Delphi for PHP from Codegear has some of this capability, but I would agree with ceejayoz that such tools don't necessarily make for nice code.
On Dan's suggestion I took a look at GWT. I'd heard of it before but never looked at it that closely and it seems pretty interesting. Certainly it takes away the annoyance of pixel pushing and making things work in multiple browsers. I also tried searching for "gwt rad tools" and came up with a couple of results:
Instantiations GWT Designer (commercial, $59/year)
Wirelexsoft Vistafei (still in beta but will have a free and a commercial version)
I'll take a look at these but if anyone's used something else let me know.