Newbie-ish Question about Building Reports from a Datamart

Hello,

I am not brand new to .NET, but I'm still a beginner.

We have an Oracle database that nicely compacts (cubes) the data we need
(think mini-data mart). Unfortunately, this data is currently placed in
about 20 different huge Excel sheets for distribution. Ick!

What I would like to do is have a page that the user sees the different
sections (such as Headcount or Turnover) and can then drill-down into those
sections (such as by the Area - Northeast, Southeast and by the Level such
as Manager or Associate). Then save those settings and next month run that
same report with the saved settings. Obviously the data would be refreshed.

For example:

TURNOVER

Northeast

Managers

Associates

HEADCOUNT

Southwest

Managers

Southeast

Senior Associates

Associates

All the data is already compiled it is just a matter of allowing the user to
get to the breakdown of the data they want to see.

Is this possible? Does using Crystal make any sense? Are they any books,
websites, examples that you'd could recommend to me?

Thank you for the advice and help.Gummy,

If you are using Visual Studio 2005 I've been hearing really good things
about the new report controls so I'd take a look at those first. I've had
decent success using Crystal Reports myself, but they are difficult to work
with and I've seen lots of posts complaining about them. But still, as I
said, they are a viable route to go that I've used successfully.

Regards,

--
S. Justin Gengo
Web Developer / Programmer

Free code library:
http://www.aboutfortunate.com

"Out of chaos comes order."
Nietzsche

"Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:122qp8jljsthd0d@.corp.supernews.com...
> Hello,
>
> I am not brand new to .NET, but I'm still a beginner.
>
> We have an Oracle database that nicely compacts (cubes) the data we need
> (think mini-data mart). Unfortunately, this data is currently placed in
> about 20 different huge Excel sheets for distribution. Ick!
>
> What I would like to do is have a page that the user sees the different
> sections (such as Headcount or Turnover) and can then drill-down into
> those
> sections (such as by the Area - Northeast, Southeast and by the Level such
> as Manager or Associate). Then save those settings and next month run that
> same report with the saved settings. Obviously the data would be
> refreshed.
>
> For example:
> TURNOVER
> Northeast
> Managers
> Associates
> HEADCOUNT
> Southwest
> Managers
> Southeast
> Senior Associates
> Associates
>
>
>
> All the data is already compiled it is just a matter of allowing the user
> to
> get to the breakdown of the data they want to see.
>
> Is this possible? Does using Crystal make any sense? Are they any books,
> websites, examples that you'd could recommend to me?
>
> Thank you for the advice and help.
S. Justin,

Thank you for the response. I am using VS 2003 and I was looking for some
examples or templates so I can get a picture of how this might look.

Can you recommend any sites, books, etc?

Thank you.

"S. Justin Gengo" <justin@.[remove to send mail]aboutfortunate.com> wrote in
message news:%23Ab7gjOVGHA.5900@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Gummy,
> If you are using Visual Studio 2005 I've been hearing really good things
> about the new report controls so I'd take a look at those first. I've had
> decent success using Crystal Reports myself, but they are difficult to
work
> with and I've seen lots of posts complaining about them. But still, as I
> said, they are a viable route to go that I've used successfully.
> Regards,
> --
> S. Justin Gengo
> Web Developer / Programmer
> Free code library:
> http://www.aboutfortunate.com
> "Out of chaos comes order."
> Nietzsche
>
> "Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:122qp8jljsthd0d@.corp.supernews.com...
> > Hello,
> > I am not brand new to .NET, but I'm still a beginner.
> > We have an Oracle database that nicely compacts (cubes) the data we need
> > (think mini-data mart). Unfortunately, this data is currently placed in
> > about 20 different huge Excel sheets for distribution. Ick!
> > What I would like to do is have a page that the user sees the different
> > sections (such as Headcount or Turnover) and can then drill-down into
> > those
> > sections (such as by the Area - Northeast, Southeast and by the Level
such
> > as Manager or Associate). Then save those settings and next month run
that
> > same report with the saved settings. Obviously the data would be
> > refreshed.
> > For example:
> > TURNOVER
> > Northeast
> > Managers
> > Associates
> > HEADCOUNT
> > Southwest
> > Managers
> > Southeast
> > Senior Associates
> > Associates
> > All the data is already compiled it is just a matter of allowing the
user
> > to
> > get to the breakdown of the data they want to see.
> > Is this possible? Does using Crystal make any sense? Are they any books,
> > websites, examples that you'd could recommend to me?
> > Thank you for the advice and help.
Gummy,

Sure here are a couple of links to get you started:

http://aspalliance.com/sql-reporting/

http://aspalliance.com/crystal/default.aspx

Sincerely,

--
S. Justin Gengo
Web Developer / Programmer

Free code library:
http://www.aboutfortunate.com

"Out of chaos comes order."
Nietzsche

"Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
news:122r1dmms96gn1b@.corp.supernews.com...
> S. Justin,
> Thank you for the response. I am using VS 2003 and I was looking for some
> examples or templates so I can get a picture of how this might look.
> Can you recommend any sites, books, etc?
> Thank you.
>
> "S. Justin Gengo" <justin@.[remove to send mail]aboutfortunate.com> wrote
> in
> message news:%23Ab7gjOVGHA.5900@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
>> Gummy,
>>
>> If you are using Visual Studio 2005 I've been hearing really good things
>> about the new report controls so I'd take a look at those first. I've
>> had
>> decent success using Crystal Reports myself, but they are difficult to
> work
>> with and I've seen lots of posts complaining about them. But still, as I
>> said, they are a viable route to go that I've used successfully.
>>
>> Regards,
>>
>> --
>> S. Justin Gengo
>> Web Developer / Programmer
>>
>> Free code library:
>> http://www.aboutfortunate.com
>>
>> "Out of chaos comes order."
>> Nietzsche
>>
>>
>> "Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
>> news:122qp8jljsthd0d@.corp.supernews.com...
>> > Hello,
>>>>> > I am not brand new to .NET, but I'm still a beginner.
>>>>> > We have an Oracle database that nicely compacts (cubes) the data we
>> > need
>> > (think mini-data mart). Unfortunately, this data is currently placed in
>> > about 20 different huge Excel sheets for distribution. Ick!
>>>>> > What I would like to do is have a page that the user sees the different
>> > sections (such as Headcount or Turnover) and can then drill-down into
>> > those
>> > sections (such as by the Area - Northeast, Southeast and by the Level
> such
>> > as Manager or Associate). Then save those settings and next month run
> that
>> > same report with the saved settings. Obviously the data would be
>> > refreshed.
>>>>> > For example:
>>> > TURNOVER
>>> > Northeast
>>> > Managers
>>> > Associates
>>> > HEADCOUNT
>>> > Southwest
>>> > Managers
>>> > Southeast
>>> > Senior Associates
>>> > Associates
>>>>>>>>> > All the data is already compiled it is just a matter of allowing the
> user
>> > to
>> > get to the breakdown of the data they want to see.
>>>>> > Is this possible? Does using Crystal make any sense? Are they any
>> > books,
>> > websites, examples that you'd could recommend to me?
>>>>> > Thank you for the advice and help.
>>>>
>>
Thank you!

"S. Justin Gengo" <justin@.[remove to send mail]aboutfortunate.com> wrote in
message news:ObD7FBQVGHA.4740@.TK2MSFTNGP14.phx.gbl...
> Gummy,
> Sure here are a couple of links to get you started:
> http://aspalliance.com/sql-reporting/
> http://aspalliance.com/crystal/default.aspx
> Sincerely,
> --
> S. Justin Gengo
> Web Developer / Programmer
> Free code library:
> http://www.aboutfortunate.com
> "Out of chaos comes order."
> Nietzsche
>
> "Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> news:122r1dmms96gn1b@.corp.supernews.com...
> > S. Justin,
> > Thank you for the response. I am using VS 2003 and I was looking for
some
> > examples or templates so I can get a picture of how this might look.
> > Can you recommend any sites, books, etc?
> > Thank you.
> > "S. Justin Gengo" <justin@.[remove to send mail]aboutfortunate.com> wrote
> > in
> > message news:%23Ab7gjOVGHA.5900@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> >> Gummy,
> >>
> >> If you are using Visual Studio 2005 I've been hearing really good
things
> >> about the new report controls so I'd take a look at those first. I've
> >> had
> >> decent success using Crystal Reports myself, but they are difficult to
> > work
> >> with and I've seen lots of posts complaining about them. But still, as
I
> >> said, they are a viable route to go that I've used successfully.
> >>
> >> Regards,
> >>
> >> --
> >> S. Justin Gengo
> >> Web Developer / Programmer
> >>
> >> Free code library:
> >> http://www.aboutfortunate.com
> >>
> >> "Out of chaos comes order."
> >> Nietzsche
> >>
> >>
> >> "Gummy" <gumbatman@.hotmail.com> wrote in message
> >> news:122qp8jljsthd0d@.corp.supernews.com...
> >> > Hello,
> >> >> >> >> > I am not brand new to .NET, but I'm still a beginner.
> >> >> >> >> > We have an Oracle database that nicely compacts (cubes) the data we
> >> > need
> >> > (think mini-data mart). Unfortunately, this data is currently placed
in
> >> > about 20 different huge Excel sheets for distribution. Ick!
> >> >> >> >> > What I would like to do is have a page that the user sees the
different
> >> > sections (such as Headcount or Turnover) and can then drill-down into
> >> > those
> >> > sections (such as by the Area - Northeast, Southeast and by the Level
> > such
> >> > as Manager or Associate). Then save those settings and next month run
> > that
> >> > same report with the saved settings. Obviously the data would be
> >> > refreshed.
> >> >> >> >> > For example:
> >> >> > TURNOVER
> >> >> > Northeast
> >> >> > Managers
> >> >> > Associates
> >> >> > HEADCOUNT
> >> >> > Southwest
> >> >> > Managers
> >> >> > Southeast
> >> >> > Senior Associates
> >> >> > Associates
> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> >> > All the data is already compiled it is just a matter of allowing the
> > user
> >> > to
> >> > get to the breakdown of the data they want to see.
> >> >> >> >> > Is this possible? Does using Crystal make any sense? Are they any
> >> > books,
> >> > websites, examples that you'd could recommend to me?
> >> >> >> >> > Thank you for the advice and help.
> >> >> >>
> >>