Introduction to Web Reporting
Web Reporting is an exciting and powerful feature of Seagate Crystal Reports 7.
This chapter provides a brief overview of the primary Web Reporting terminology, features
and system architecture. We recommend that you review this section prior to commencing the
hands-on examples.
Web Terminology Overview
As applications begin to take advantage of the Web for information distribution and the options increase so do the terms that we have to keep up with. This section provides some basic explanations to the terms and technology used in this guide.
Common Web Components | |
Web Server | Common to all Web environments, you must have a browser on the client side and a Web server on the server side. Customary Web servers include Microsoft Internet Information Server (IIS), Netscape Enterprise Server, Netscape Fast Track Server and Domino. |
Viewers | Browsers read Hyper Text
Markup Language (HTML) and are capable of running applications such as ActiveX or Java
Applets. Within this guide we refer to the browser side applications as viewers which
provide users with a frame to view report and query output. The Viewers described in this
guide include: HTML, HTML Frame, Java and ActiveX. When provided a choice between downloading a viewer with the report output or selecting HTML the selection of a viewer will often provide benefits that the script does not. Because viewers can render information in Seagate Software’s Encapsulated Page Format (EPF), working with a viewer allows information to be analyzed in its native format, which increases functionality. |
Java | It is easy to get confused with the new
terminology on the scene in the world of Java. The Java components described in this guide
come in 3 forms: applications, applets and beans.
In order for the Java components to function, whether in a browser or an operating system, a Java Virtual Machine or JVM must be present. Most operating systems and browsers ship with a JVM as integrated technology. |
Communication Terms |
|
All of these Web components must talk to each other and that requires a communication interface. Communication types vary by Web Server. The most common Application Programming Interfaces include: Microsoft Internet Information Server’s ISAPI, Netscape Enterprise and Fast Track’s NSAPI and CGI, which stands for Common Gateway Interface. CGI provides a means of interfacing Web servers to other components (external DLLs), in the same manner as ISAPI and NSAPI. CGI is a standard for non-Microsoft/Netscape web servers, such as Domino or O’Reilly. |
For more information on Web components and communication please turn to the Seagate Crystal Reports Developers help (DEVELOPERS.HLP) and search "Web components" or reference your Web Server documentation.
For the latest information about this
product, please visit the web site at www.seagatesoftware.com/crystalreports.
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