Reporting Approach

clmates

Reputable Poster
Hi to all.

We are implementing formscape v3 over Oneworld XE.

We want to know what is the best approach to implement the reporting scheme:

A. Are you using the JDE standard reports and reworking them with Formscape

B. Are you making new custom reports to prepare the data and then rework the aspect with Formscape


We are asking this, because we are now ending the formscape trainig, and we have doubts of the best method to use. We are setting up the following setup:

1. We have created a Fromscape project called Formscape_JDEdwards as a virtual printer
1.1. This project takes the input (the pdf report) and copy it to a folder called after the Report name (R42565) form example (it mantains the original file name of the job like is stored in the Printqueue folder of the server)
1.2. and also write a small .txt file with the email address of the user sending the job

2. We have a Formscape project for each Report checking the folder (of this same name) for new documents
2.1 this project reworks the document and send it as an email to the user that sent the job (we are evaluating the sending of the document or to store the final document in a folder and sent a link to this document)

we have tested with a custom jde report and works fine, but we have tried to make the work orders by procesing the R31415, but is very laborious to prepare and aisle the data to make the mapping.

We are now triying to imagine how we should do with the invoice (R42565)!!!

The initial idea of using formscape was to enhance the look of the reports and to make transparent the jde upgrades (ESU) of the standard reports.

its possible to modify the standard report only to visual allign the data (to make easier the mapping), will this kind of changes conflict with ESU upgrades or will the merge affect the layout?

the last question, how the OSA works (in the JDE side)?

Many Thanks and Greetings.


Many Thanks and greetings.
 
Hi to all.

whats happening, no one is using formscape with OneWorld?
 
Carlos,

we don't use Formscape - Optio instead but same issues.

We have used all approaches:
A. Remap/format standard reports within Optio - no changes to JDE standard object
B. Create new, custom JDE report that's easier to map/reformat
C. Customize existing JDE report to make it easier to map/reformat.

You look at each situation and choose the best solution based on the skillsets you have.

Feliz Navidad,
 
Hi Larry.

Many Thanks for your answer.


[ QUOTE ]
Carlos,

we don't use Formscape - Optio instead but same issues.

We have used all approaches:
A. Remap/format standard reports within Optio - no changes to JDE standard object
B. Create new, custom JDE report that's easier to map/reformat
C. Customize existing JDE report to make it easier to map/reformat.

You look at each situation and choose the best solution based on the skillsets you have.

Feliz Navidad,

[/ QUOTE ]

When you use the C option, only modify the layout of the fields of a report, (no code change), if an ESU contains a modification of this report, the merge respect the layout changes?

Many Thanks again and Feliz Navidad to you also :-D
 
Carlos,

regarding customizing an existing object (layout only) and retaining those changes through a spec merge.

The Salesman who sold us OneWorld told us that our customizations would automatically be retained through an upgrade. Of course I didn't believe him, and experience showed I was right. Changes to a UBE layout "may" survive a spec merge without needing to be touched after the merge. But what if Oracle removes a field or adds new ones? Since many UBEs programmatically display or hide some fields you'll find you DO need to change the ER code also to stop fields you don't want from appearing on the report/document. Another factor here is that the spec merge process has always been problematic - I don't trust it.

Our approach to customizations and upgrades is:
A. Document all changes to standard OneWorld objects
B. Don't try to merge changes to standard objects, take the new objects and then re-apply changes.
C. New custom ('55') objects merge fine.
 
Hi Larry.

Many Thanks for your answers.

It looks more clear now to us how to draw our reporting strategy

I'm going to explain how have we made our setup to make transparent for the users the use of formscape.

We have created a Formscape Project called Formscape_JDEdwards as a printer queue (virtual printer)

the JDEdwards reports are configured for this printer and with the print inmediate set

this project takes the Report number for the name of the printing job and copies the pdf to a folder called after the report on the Formscape Server. (ie //FormscapeServer/reports/spool/R5642001)

then we have a job for each report that checks the folder of his name on the formscape server.

this job proceses the file, and makes the final report.
Then the final report is saved to a folder called after the report name (ie //FormscapeServer/reports/final/R5642001)
then this job analize the job name and get the process id from the name. Then looks at the F980110 looking for the name of the user who send this job (we have to make a query for each batch server until the job record is found). Finally with the user name, a mail is sent to the user with a link to the report.

With this setup, the user does not have to use the work with servers, he only send the job and keep working until the mail comes with the link to the report.


This setup also reduces the number of virtual printers the users had to manage. Only one printer for all the JDEdwards Reports

also we are making the final pdf output directlyp with the included ghostscript so no commercial pdf generator needed.

I hope this will be usefull to others.

Many Thanks and Greetings.
 
I have a question about Formscape's ability. We basically want to run a report, have it copied from the JDE Printqueue to a network share (perhaps to a folder based on the report ID - like yours), and possibly have the file renamed.

1)Can we do this in Formscape?
2)Do we have to "map" the PDF in Formscape coming out of JDE, or can Formscape simply just copy the PDF from the Printqueue?
3)Is it possible to have the file renamed to something meaningul?
4)Can you give a high-level view of how this is accomplished so our Formscape Developer can look into it?

Your assistance is greatly appreciated.
James Hamrick
 
You could do this without having to map the report in Formscape. Your input could go to a multi stream object that would both go to the parser and go to a write file object. The write file could go to a specified location with a logical name.

I would send the job to a virtual printer (or via osa) for processing instead of creating a process that would pull form your printqueue.
 
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