Excel Add-in or Excel Reporting Engine?

[MarillionFan]

Does anyone know of a product or Excel Add-in that will allow a user to create dynamic Excel reports (and I dont mean pivot tables)

Time and time again, clients have requirements to pull data from a database, manipulate and produce reports where each worksheet is a seperate report. I then need to be able to schedule this to run at different times, use parameters and produce these reports/charts without any human interaction and without a DBA (ie SQL Server etc)

Crystal doesnt cut the mustard. BO doesnt do it without tuliploads of back end stuff.

Anyone know of anything?

[AtW]

solution

Pull data using embedded SQL query to place it on one raw data sheet, and have the other datasheet display it all in pretty fancy numbers.

And for God's sake buy that VBA for retards book :rolleyes

[hyperD]

Re: solution

I'm p1ssed, so excuse the following comments, how about DTS in SQL - you can pump stuff out into an Excel spreadsheet. Then of course, you have the built in Crystal Reports in .NET.

[MarillionFan]

Re: solution

Ill ignore ATW 'cause he hasnt got a f-cking clue what Im talking about!!! VBA! Tosser. I need a tool where nobody has to write a f-cking macro! TWAT!

Yeh, the DTS thing blah blah blah.

Aim it at non-technical people (so no SQL Server add-ons).
Needs to be an Excel Scheduling Tool (all in one) - simple for people like Milan.

[hyperD]

Re: solution

Ah yes, you be needing a miracle then.

HTH.

[AtW]

typical MF

ffs, this is so typical of MF: give me fecking Earth doing mindreading reporting and not costing a penny to the client.

I appreciate MF that with all mind devoted to finding cheap "authentic" Ming vases you got out of date. So, here are some news for you MF:

IT CAN'T BE DONE!

There I said it :rolleyes

[hyperD]

Re: typical MF

Oh FFS... quick Google for the limp wristed amongst us and...

www.apos.on.ca/InfoScheduler/

Right, where is my flagon of fermented sheep's piss...

[MarillionFan]

Re: typical MF

Id been using ATW's SKA for hours and didnt find that. Cheers.

As it happens this uses external tools such as BO or Enterprise. Using their DLLS it not what I am after.

Needs to exist in its own right.

For instance at the moment I have

a) EZ Scheduler kicking off macros of VB Scripts (Windows NT would work)
b) Macro is kicked off attaching to databases using ODBC/ADO
c) Data is pulled and dropped into place
d) I have to use the pulled data to produce reports using Power Functions
e) Trend information is stored in spreadsheet ( I would prefer storage in DB)
f) Reports dynamically updated using some clever formulas
g) Saved to new location
h) Picked back up by Scheduler, zipped
i) Sent my SMTP server to list produced.

I want all this in one application.

To much to ask?

[DimPrawn]

This is as close as I've got to this.

1. Users specify reports in Excel and use linked cells to build reports against raw data.

2. To keep the reports fresh, DTS jobs in SQL write raw Excel data into these sheets every day,week, month, whatever and they are held on network shares with permissions set for those that are allowed to see them.

Now as long as the users are able to understand the layout of the raw data sheets they can build their fancy charts and summary sheets that reference these raw data sheets. The DTS job keeps them fresh.

If this ain't no good, then I'm afraid you'll have to look elsewhere.

[AtW]

SKA

> Id been using ATW's SKA for hours and didnt find that.

You just had to bring SKA into this, hadn't you? :rolleyes