Oracle Report Builder is a proficient tool for effective management and processing of data. The builder uses the information in the database to generate reports and charts that can be used to visualize the information, make sense of it and take management decisions. The Oracle Report Builder is a part of the Oracle Reports suite and uses various features to make data processing easier even for people with no knowledge of SQL or other programming interfaces.
Its ease of use makes Oracle Report Builder a great tool for companies trying to make sense of big data. Employees can pull up specific reports, create dashboards, build charts and extrapolate the information into printable or shareable formats with simple clicks of the mouse. The application uses the WYSIWYG mode that helps users to see, edit and refine the data as required. They can also define and add extra parameters to existing reports to revise the output and get more relevant and actionable information. The tool allows users to extrapolate the data into various formats including HTML, RTF, PDF, XML, Postscript, ASCII, and even Microsoft Excel.
One of the biggest advantages of Oracle Report Builder is its ability to pull data from various databases besides Oracle’s own. These include Informix, Sybase, Microsoft SQL Server and other databases that use the Open Database Connectivity (ODBC) standard. Oracle has included various features to the Report Builder including:
- Report Wizard: Automates the creation of reports through a series of predefined steps
- Data Wizard: Allows users to build multiple queries for their reports
- Web Wizard: Enables users to share their reports on the internet
- Report Editor: Allows the users to edit the report generated through inclusion or exclusion of certain data
- Live Previewer: Displays the final report as it will look when exported into a particular format. Gives the user a good idea of the final output so they can change the report as required
The report builder provides various views also including Data Model view that allows users to see the different relationships between queries, columns, groups, etc. The Layout Model view shows the various attributes of the report as objects. Users can change the layout objects such as frames, anchors, fields, boilerplates, and even graphics. The Parameter Form view creates a Runtime Parameter Form that lets users define the various aspects of how Oracle Report Builder will execute the report.
