User wants custom Reports see description below.

[pmconaway]

User - "We should be able to create reports to include any field we need to include open as well as closed records" - Basically they need customizable reports based on what is being requested. My thoughts were that I could do it two ways. 1. Discuss with the user what reports they would need and come up with a fairly complete list of reports that would meet almost any need ahead of time or. 2. Create a layout that allows them to select which field goes in what column, thus allowing them to build the reports as they need it.

Is the second option even possible?

This app was written by someone else and the users want to add functionality to it.

Any suggestions?

[danjacoby]

One alternative is to open the layouts up so that they can create their own. Of course, that means they're going to screw something up, which is why I (almost) never allow layout access.

[-Queue-]

Better yet, and safer, just give them an export script accessible from the Scripts menu, and let them take whatever they want out of the file, without screwing anything up that's already in it.

[pmconaway]

-Queue- said:

Better yet, and safer, just give them an export script accessible from the Scripts menu, and let them take whatever they want out of the file, without screwing anything up that's already in it.

And allow them to import it into excel or whatever they want to create the reports they want. I hadn't thought of that.

[Vaughan]

Dan wrote: "One alternative is to open the layouts up so that they can create their own. Of course, that means they're going to screw something up, which is why I (almost) never allow layout access."

I'm currently working on a system where users were allowed to create "letters" in the system to send out. Each letter is a layout. It probably worked well for a while but the system failed spectacularly: the database now has over 800 layouts, and the layout menu won't fit on their screen in windows any more so it's unuseable. Layout names became "Course Confirmation Letter 1999 Copy4" but since the menu truncates the name the menu appears to have dozens of duplicates.

The big problem was that users didn't know how to use merge fields so they made each letter with dates, names etc hard-coded. When they needed a different letter they couldn't remember which layout their first one was so they made another... and so on. Until it became unuseable.

[-Queue-]

Exactly, encourage them to use .tab or .mer files, depending on whether you want them to keep track of which fields they've exported or have the field names nicely exported with the rest of the data. Then Import it all into Excel. Import is better than simple 'Open' or 'Open With', because leading zero fields (if applicable) can be set to Text and not automatically lose the zero due to truncation.