Re: Pull data from several reports into dashboard

[Nathan Andelin <nandelin@xxxxxxxxx>]

Lloyd,

It's interesting that you're considering HTTPAPI for the job.  I probably wouldn't have thought of that, to fetch the HTML and output it to the IFS.  I don't know where you'd go from there.  How would you extract the "data" from the HTML and reformat it for the dashboard?  It seems that it would be easier to go back to the database, write new queries, and format them accordingly.

Nathan.



----- Original Message ----
From: "lgoodbar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx" <lgoodbar@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
To: web400@xxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thursday, November 20, 2008 6:35:59 AM
Subject: Re: [WEB400] Pull data from several reports into dashboard

I use the term "reports" because they are the browser equivalent of
paper reports or spooled files. The parameters for running are not
granular enough to be called queries; usually a date range and "product
area" are the only parameters. The output is HTML (generally tables) to
the browser; but it is not interactive in the sense it can be changed by
the user. To see different data requires requesting it again using
different parameters.

We have three different request screens: units per hour, scrap, and MRO
spending. Our supervisors want to take data from these three screens /
online reports / pregenerated queries, and present them on one screen. I
call it a dashboard in the sense that we're pulling disparate data and
presenting it together in one place. However, it isn't like portlets,
because our supervisors only want specific pieces of information from
each report, and the data is not interactive.

For example, from units per hour (abbreviated UPH), they want the
yesterday's UPH for their area, the UPH "target" or goal, month to date
UPH, and last month's (October in this case) UPH. Currently that
involves running the request three times: once for yesterday's data
(also gets goal), once for MTD, once for last month. Similarly, specific
data would be pulled from the scrap and MRO spending reports.

If possible I would like to avoid re-engineering the reports / queries.
They are stable and reliable, even if they are (up to six) years old. I
was thinking about "running" the report and saving the generated HTML
with HTTPAPI, and somehow parsing the saved IFS file for the pieces of
information requested. 

At this point I don't know what work might be required to refactor or
reengineer the reports to provide "services" instead of output. Just
looking for what others have done.

--Loyd