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| [DISCUSSION]Pros/Cons of AHTML | Login/Join |
| Member |
My organization is looking to move towards more Active HTML reporting. I’m not completely sold on the idea, so I was wondering a few things: 1. Does your organization utilize this type of reporting? Why or why not? 2. Do you have any pros/cons for the use of AHTML? 3. How has the reporting been received by users? 4. Did you formally train your users on how to use AHTML? Some pros/cons I came up with: Pros: 1. Ability to filter and sort 2. Prevent exporting of data – only one version of the truth 3. Ability to quickly create charts, pivots, etc. 4. In-document analysis Cons: 1. Anytime report is rerun via WF, the changes are lost 2. Saving local copies is difficult if you do not know how to specify correct path 3. Can’t freeze Rows (that I know of) 4. Can still copy and paste data into Excel 5. Pivot Tool “Drag Column Here” do not have predictable behavior (sometimes it drops nicely, sometimes it does not) 6. Crashing – if browser crashes, all changes are lost 7. Large files / size constraint for saving 8. Having to know and maintain knowledge in two or more programs (AHTML, Excel) 9. Continuing Training for users The pros/cons list is not exhaustive, but it’s a start. I’m just looking for some candid feedback. Thank you.This message has been edited. Last edited by: <Emily McAllister>, WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | ||
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| Gold member |
AHTML report will take more time to load compared to normal HTML report. WebFOCUS 8201m Windows,AppStudio, DevStudio,All Outputs | |||
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| Platinum Member |
Hi, I want to say something about the cons which you have mentioned in your list. 3.Can't freeze Row:- you can use the pagination for showing set of Pages 4. Can Still copy and paste data into Excel. In active report, we have export features.. 9..Continuing Training for users As per knowledge, there is no need to do training to users for playing with active technology Thanks WebFocus 8104,8204 Excel/PDF/HTML/HTMLTABLE/XML/ALPHA/GIF file/GRAPH/Active technologies | |||
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| Platinum Member |
WebFocus 8104,8204 Excel/PDF/HTML/HTMLTABLE/XML/ALPHA/GIF file/GRAPH/Active technologies | |||
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| Member |
Maran and Neelima - thanks for the feedback! "3.Can't freeze Row:- you can use the pagination for showing set of Pages" We get a ton of requests for HFREEZE usage in our normal HTML reports, but when we use Report Caster HFREEZE causes problems so we turn it off. With AHTML, I am aware of freezing columns, but not rows - unless someone has some info they'd like to tell me! "4. Can Still copy and paste data into Excel. In active report, we have export features.." We'd actually be turning that feature off, trying to limit multiple versions of the same data set floating around. But, users could still copy and paste into Excel - that's what I meant by that  "9..Continuing Training for users As per knowledge, there is no need to do training to users for playing with active technology" The training part is really a reflection of our user base. Many are comfortable with Excel, but know nothing about AHTML. To us, AHTML is rather intuitive and a cool technology, but to some it's daunting. We were considering having all employees at least exposed to AHTML during their onboarding, so they aren't completely blindsided when asked to do AHTML reporting. We are still in the info gathering stages, I'm just trying to paint a better picture for management. I appreciate all of the feedback! WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | |||
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| Silver Member |
Hi I have some comments that might be useful too. Using Active Technologies as an output tool has to make sense for the report/application. It's not right for every situation. One of the pros of AHTML is that it is disconnected from the data and therefore portable. You can email the document to someone. You can put a password on it.
I can see specific training if you use this is a specific way. If there are options that confuse them and they don't use. You can remove them. How do you expect your users to use the format? Do they have specific requirements. In encourage you to consider a possible combo Guided Report with a Save selections button and the ability to have the output AHTML. WebFOCUS 8.1.05 Windows, All Outputs | |||
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| Master |
Me personally, I'm not a fan of Active HTML. I don't find that it provides me with what I want. For me, it only becomes useful when you have a large transactional report that's worth slicing and dicing. To me AHTML is WF's way of competing with BOBJ, and I didn't care to much for BOBJ. At the end of the day, I think it comes down to how analytical your user base is. If you have users that are going to want to do a lot of slicing and dicing. Filtering after they get a result set etc. Then its probably worth doing for you. The trade off is going to be that it will take longer to load your data as your heavy lifting is now going to happen on the end users computer instead of your database/reporting server. This can be a huge impact, so weigh that carefully when you build your reports. In some POC testing i've done for our reporting, I've seen the difference be from seconds to minutes. The more filters and sorting you can push to your data base, the less of an impact this will be. But the more filters and sorting you push to the data base, the less useful AHTML is. Kind of a Catch 22... If you need to find a medium for people where they can still have some excel like functionality, but not be able to export your data, thats also a good reason to go to AHTML. Your answer probably lies somewhere between AHTML and Guided Adhoc reporting. Guided Adhoc can allow you to allow some of the same features as AHTML, but push the work down to the database, but its going to take more time to develop as you have to build the functionality from scratch every time. AHTML, less development time but possibility of longer load times. just my 2 cents in a poorly structured response... Eric Woerle 8.1.05M Gen 913- Reporting Server Unix 8.1.05 Client Unix Oracle 11.2.0.2 | |||
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Eric, Thanks for the response (it was not poorly structured!). I think management is tired of data being scattered and disjointed (me too), and that's one of the reasons we invested in a BI tool. Their argument is why are we providing the data and output via WF, just to have users export it to Excel and manipulate it, in many cases the wrong way? I completely agree with them. I'm just a little worried in moving down the path of AHTML being the "standard", and then discovering severe limitations (speed, functionality, etc.). That's why I'm soliciting feedback in hopes of answering some of my questions - and you provided some great insight. Thanks again. WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | |||
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| Member |
There will be a learning curve for all involved. I think we can streamline reporting with AHTML via WF. Personally, I believe many people are adding complexity to their reporting without any gain. We've been able to simplify many of the reports and actually provide better and more accurate data/output for decision makers. Our WF reporting has become extremely popular, and I'm trying to keep the momentum going. I'm just a little cautious with recommending AHTML be our standard of reporting.This message has been edited. Last edited by: kevkelly, WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | |||
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| Platinum Member |
We give our users the option of outputting to AHTML, PDF or Excel. I track their usage by format and AHTML is the most popular. You can turn off the Export function by adding: TYPE=REPORT, ALLOW-EXPORT='OFF', $This message has been edited. Last edited by: Michael L Meagher, WebFOCUS 8.2.03 - Production WebFOCUS 8.2.04 - Sand Box Windows 2012 R2 Server HTML, PDF, Excel In FOCUS since 1980 | |||
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| Member |
Michael - I was wondering if the default selection is for AHTML output, or are users actively selecting AHTML because of preference? If the latter is true, I'd be curious to hear why they prefer AHTML. WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | |||
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| Platinum Member |
AHTML is the default. However, they have the option to output to PDF or Excel also. It would be interesting to change the default report output and see if users still choose AHTML. I know they like the filtering tools. I haven't heard any of them use the offline capabilities. WebFOCUS 8.2.03 - Production WebFOCUS 8.2.04 - Sand Box Windows 2012 R2 Server HTML, PDF, Excel In FOCUS since 1980 | |||
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| Member |
I'd be curious to see if there was a change as well. But maybe you've gotten them used to AHTML and they are onboard now! WebFOCUS 8.1, Windows HTML, AHTML, PDF, XLSX | |||
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