I have developed many reports that my users must have in EXCEL. I am using 'ON TABLE SET ONLINE-FMT EXL2K' to produce the output. ('ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K' produces the same problem.)

Problem occurs when the number of rows gets into the nn,nnn neighborhood. It takes far too long to load into EXCEL via the add-in. I s/also mention there can be 40-50 columns in the reports as well.

I know the network and traffic, et al have much to do with it, but it takes longer to load the data to EXCEL than to run the report itself.

Does anybody know a way to speed up the time it takes to load report data into EXCEL via this add-in or by some other method?

Thanks!

WebFOCUS 7.1.1.

When you use ON TABLE PCHOLD FORMAT EXL2K and save the file to local disk instead of opening it in the web browser, does it take a long time to save? Does the wait occur when opening the file in Excel only once the file has been saved on the local PC?

I get no dialogue asking to save, it goes directly to the browser.

We have the same problem. One of the things I'm investigating and testing is if someone requests a report, if it is returning over 500 rows, the user gets a popup. The popup tells them the status and they can press OK to continue or CANCEL to cancel the request. If the press OK, the report parameters are written to a file. The report will be queued, run and emailed via Report Caster. Depending on the data source, how critical the report is, etc., the report will run immediately or run over night.

I've noticed several things.

First thing I've noticed is the difference in file sizes. I have a rather large workbook. After it comes down, if I save it as a .xls, it is only a little over 2mb. If I save it as the webpage (.mht), which is how it comes down, it is over 10mb, quite a difference.

Second, this is not just related to Excel. Same thing happens for PDF documents.

I have another app, where I record the begin and end times and run parameters of every report request. What I am finding is that for most requests, the execution time is less than 3 seconds, but sending the output back to the user can take upto 2 minutes.