What Is a Reporting Application? (2024)

A reporting application is a self-contained programwith an interface that helps the user accomplish reporting tasks.It typically consists of one or more Master Files, procedures, andHTML files. The Master Files interpret the data sources that areaccessed, while procedures define how that data is retrieved anddisplayed. HTML forms enable a user to interact with the applicationand manage the display of data in a browser.

For example, to run a self-service reporting application, a useropens a launch page in a browser and enters the values for the desiredoutput through controls such as drop-down lists or radio buttons.For instance, the user may request a sales report for the Northeast regionrather than the Southeast region. When the report runs, DeveloperStudio passes the user-supplied values to the WebFOCUS ReportingServer (using the web server), where the procedure is processed.

The procedure requests data from the data source, using the MasterFile to understand how the data is organized. The Reporting Servercompiles the answer set from the data source and returns the outputto an HTML page that is displayed in the browser.