WebFOCUS

Product Fact Sheet

Production Reporting and EIS on the Web

WebFOCUS is a server-based reporting engine that lets you display comprehensive reporting and Executive Information Systems (EIS) on your corporate Web. Internet and Intranet users get easy and secure access to all their corporate information, regardless of application program, database, or hardware platform, using only a standard Web browser.

Web Access to All Your Corporate Data

WebFOCUS capitalizes on Information Builders' EDA access to more than 65 database types on more than 35 platforms. Web users can now access virtually any kind of corporate data, including DB2, Oracle, Informix, Sybase, Microsoft, VSAM, and IMS. Data from client/server and legacy systems, and packaged data like SAP, data warehouses, and datamarts are now available for reporting and analysis from any standard Web browser via WebFOCUS.

WebFOCUS combines the simplicity of a Web browser with the proven power of Information Builders' enterprise reporting technology. Web users can run both standard and ad hoc reports and graphs from their existing Web pages via hyperlinks to WebFOCUS. No application programs or drivers are required on the desktop. Users can create a single document containing the results of multiple report requests and combine it with other user-defined text and graphics. In addition, WebFOCUS permits the exchange of variables from any HTML form to the WebFOCUS reporting language for parameterized selection criteria, sorting, and grouping.


Reporting Without Limits From Your Web Browser

The robust WebFOCUS reporting language lets users create cross-tab and multi-dimensional reports that include sophisticated features like:

Create EIS-Like Applications With Automatic Hyperlinks

WebFOCUS facilitates EIS-like application development and information drill-down with an easy-to-use language for building and managing hyperlinks. Values on reports can be automatically highlighted based on user-defined criteria. Dynamic, programmable hyperlinks can then use the highlighted values to automatically set up an HTML link to run additional reports, show other HTML pages, execute a CGI script, or display a file at another Web site or URL.

Partitioned Multi-Tier Reporting Enhances Performance

WebFOCUS utilizes Information Builders' middleware technology to separate report processing into three logical components: Data Access, Business Logic, and Presentation Logic. As a result, all queries can be dynamically partitioned. This assures that complex number crunching and aggregation takes place on your back-end database server, not on your Web server or desktop. Only the finished, formatted report (including dynamically created hyperlinks) comes down to your Web server. The report is already converted to HTML and ready for display on your desktop browser. The result is a more efficient network and superior performance.

Standard Tool Suite for Fast Deployment

WebFOCUS offers a point-and-click, visual toolset for development and deployment in both the client/ server and Web environments. Using FOCUS Six for Windows from Information Builders, developers can create report procedures for client/server applications and immediately port them to the Web, without changes. The easy-to-use, object-based toolset also lets content providers quickly publish corporate data without needing prior programming knowledge.

Intelligent Report Distribution for True Workgroup Reporting

WebFOCUS offers a unique way to automatically refresh the information on your Web site using our FOCUS Six Report Server. FOCUS Six Report Server lets you schedule report updates according to your own predefined criteria. It also provides conditional report distri-bution utilizing today's most popular e-mail systems. You can define which managers receive specific reports or parts of reports (electronic bursting), when they receive them, and what information individual reports should contain. You can even define thresholds that automatically send a report to a specific manager if, for example, a summary number is over budget. The Report Server lets you schedule report processing, report distribution, and Web updates for nights, weekends, and other off-peak hours.

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