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DOES REPORT COMPOSER SUPPORT C DECIMAL PRECISION? |
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Yes. Report Composer supports extended precision – including the new DPREC typelib introduced with version 7.5 of Gen.
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IS REPORT COMPOSER AN ENCYCLOPEDIA REPORTING TOOL? |
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No. Report Composer is a companion tool for Gen, which enables developers to design and construct reports as a part of the Gen applications they build. If you are looking for an encyclopedia reporting tool, take a look at CS/Access or CSE/Access from Response Systems.
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IS REPORT COMPOSER PART OF GEN? |
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No, Report Composer is not actually part of the Gen software. It has been built by Canam to work in conjunction with Gen. It enables experienced Gen developers to quickly and easily build application report capabilities into their Gen applications.
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IS REPORT COMPOSER AN END USER TOOL? |
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No, Report Composer® is a developer's tool. Report Composer C generates COBOL or C source code, which is then compiled, linked and bound to your Gen load module and database. Report Composer is not the solution for adhoc end user queries. You will find many fine products on the market for that purpose.
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HOW DOES REPORT COMPOSER WORK? |
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Report Composer works by using the External Action Block facility of Gen as an API. The developer writes action diagram code to extract data from the database, and then passes it to an EAB to produce the report. The developer defines the EAB first, and generates the EAB stub using Gen. Report Composer then imports the stub, and from it learns the definition of the API and the object names from the Entity Relationship Diagram. Report Composer is then used to lay out the report with a design tool similar to the screen design tool in Gen. A consistency check is run, a target platform selected, and a new EAB source program is generated. It is this EAB source program that will create the report when called from the action diagram. The developer installs the EAB following standard procedures for any Gen EAB.
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WHY DO REPORT COMPOSER REPORTS PERFORM SO EFFICIENTLY? |
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Report Composer reports produce application reports quickly because they are compiled COBOL and C language programs. Many developers try to use end user query tools to print production reports, but their interpretive nature is too slow to meet operational requirements.
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WHAT PLATFORMS CAN REPORT COMPOSER RUN ON? |
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Report Composer runs on the developer's workstation. It is certified for Windows 2000, 2003, XP, and Vista.
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WHAT PLATFORMS DOES THE GENERATED CODE RUN ON? |
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Report Composer generates COBOL, C, Java or C# for the same platforms support by Gen. We generate standard ANSI COBOL and C code, which ports easily to many environments. But remember, all database access is still done in Gen.
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CAN REPORT COMPOSER BE USED WITHOUT GEN? |
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No. This is a report development tool only for Gen developers.
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WHY DON'T I JUST WRITE MY OWN EAB'S TO DO REPORTS? |
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You can, and many sites have been doing so for years. But now that Report Composer is here, this tedious and error prone task can be completely automated. This is especially helpful for Gen shops that are moving from mainframe to client-server solutions, and have few people with C programming skills. For such shops, even getting a formatted window printout from a Composer application can be intimidating. With Report Composer, the job is done in a couple of hours, instead of a couple of weeks. |
WHAT ABOUT MODEL CHANGES AFTER MY REPORT IS BUILT? |
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Report Composer comes with a version control facility. This function enables changes in the data model, or easily accomplishes view passing to the report. Your existing work is kept, and only changes are propagated. Because each report is defined in its own EAB, you can use the encyclopedia's 'where used' capability to assist with impact analysis.
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WHAT DOCUMENTATION IS PROVIDED WITH THE TOOL? |
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Report Composer comes with a comprehensive User's Manual/Reference Guide (electronic format only) which gives over 300 pages of detailed information. All of this information is also available online in the Report Composer help system.
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CAN REPORT COMPOSER HANDLE INTERNATIONAL REQUIREMENTS? |
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Yes. Report Composer integrates easily with Gen, and understands international (non-DBCS) character sets, even in the Gen data model. European dates and numeric output formats are also available in Report Composer®. The Canam viewer also supports multiple languages.
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CAN REPORT COMPOSER BE RUN FROM A LAN? |
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Yes. Report Composer offers a client-server licensed version of the software.
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ARE VOLUME DISCOUNTS AVAILABLE? |
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Yes! The more licenses that you purchase the less expensive each license becomes, even if it is purchased on more than one purchase order. Volume discounts apply to a corporate legal entity. Please contact your local Report Composer distributor or Canam directly at sales@canamsoftware.com
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Report Composer® is a Registered Trademark of Canam Software Labs, Inc. |
