Rich Internet Applications [RIA] Blog

I just proved that ClearBI (from Farata Systems), an amazing new web-based report generation tool, that delivers reports to Adobe® Flash Player, is fully compatible with MYOB – out of the box. So now, I can confidently say “ClearBI makes it easy to create and share dynamic MYOB reports and charts on the web. Users can simply log in via their favourite web browser to browse, create, modify and share any MYOB accounting data, within 15 minutes of installing ClearBI.”

The Report UI is presented in Adobe® Flash® Player, which delivers an immersing experience (its Flash®!) and superior functionality (client side RIA) and speed (via AMF binary data transfer), to any web browser. Users never have to refresh their browser while working with report creation, viewing, modification, et al, as its all viewed in Flash®.

To set it up you need ClearBI and a J2EE Application Server, which is typically a PC (or Server) running Apache® Tomcat® and Adobe® LiveCycle® Data Services. (there are free licenses, trials or otherwise, for all the software you need. see respective links)

To make it work you create an ODBC Data Source (DSN) for your MYOB data file (using MYOB-ODBC Driver) and then configure ClearBI via the familiar dialogue box. ClearBI then automatically produces the Adobe® Flash® files (.swf) and places them on your J2EE Server ready for immediate use. Users can log in and create new derivative reports and charts literally out of the box.

15 Minutes to MYOB Reports and Charts in your Web Browser:
Adobe Flex developers can set up ClearBI to work with MYOB by following this routine:

This assumes you have the system requirements in place - see J2EE requirements below

1. Crate a new ODBC Data source using MYOB-ODBC drivers.
2. Configure the Sun JDBC-ODBC Driver in Eclipse > Preferences > Farata > Datasource <New Database Type> as follows:Name: Sun
   Description: Sun
   Driver classname: sun.jdbc.odbc.JdbcOdbcDriver
   Default URL: jdbc:odbc:{MYOB data source name};UID={me};PWD={secret}
   
   
3. Create a new Java project in Adobe Flex®.
4. Invoke Clear Data Builder on the new Java Project.
5. Add the standard project configuration settings as described in the ClearBI documentation
6. In Clear Data Builder > Configure Build, add Database Profiles for the report Meta-Data and for the MYOB data file: Create Datasource 1:
   name: jdbc/clearbi
   Database: MySQL5
   ConnectionURL: jdbc:mysql://locahost:3306/clearbi
   User: {me}
   Password: {secret}

   Create Datasource 2:
   name: jdbc/myob
   Database: Sun
   ConnectionURL: jdbc:odbc:myob (where myob is your MYOB-ODBC DSN name)
   User: Administrator
   Password: {blank }

6. Create new Java Class assemblers with simple SQL statements, a method and a destination for all of the MYOB tables you want to query e.g. Sales, Accounts, etc (see ClearBI Documenation for examples)(note: you can ‘discover’ the MYOB ‘table name’ easily by using a desktop application such as MS Access® to connect to the MYOB DSN and create an MS Access® database from the MYOB database. Then simply identify all the MYOB ‘table names’ and their corresponding Indexes (Key Columns).
   

Here is my example MYOBAccounts.java (class) - It’s just a simple ClearBI RAD assembler statement for my MYOB Accounts table.

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

package com.st.project;
import java.util.List;

/**
* @daoflex:webservice pool=jdbc/myob
*/
public abstract class MYOBAccounts {
/**
* @daoflex:sql
* sql=:: select * from Accounts
* ::
* transferType=MYOBAccountsDTO[]
* keyColumns=AccountID
* updateTable=Accounts
*/

public abstract List getMYOBAccounts();
}

::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::::

7. Create a new Flex® Project in Eclipse and link it to your Java Project (see ClearBI documentation for how to do this).
8. Select Build All in Clear Data Builder menu.

That’s it! Now you can preview and edit all your MYOB reports in ClearBI, create charts, beautify the reports, and then publish them as Templates to your J2EE Server. Users can log in using their web browser and create derivative works from those templates and publish them down the line.

MYOB Accounts table shown above in Adobe® Flash Player

Here are the Development and J2EE Server System Requirements:

• J2EE Application Server (e.g. Tomcat®, Weblogic®, JRun®, etc)
• Sun® JDK 1.5.0_11
• Adobe® LiveCycle® Data Services
• ClearBI Developer or Server Edition withClear Data Builder
• Adobe® Flex® (ideally using Eclipse® SDK)
• MYOB-ODBC Driver (documentation) (MYOB-ODBC driver ships with MYOB CD)
• MYOB (data file)
• Flash® Player 9
  

Next week I will be developing a standard UI reporting interface for MYOB using ClearBI that will hopefully include a bunch of standard reports and charts for any standard MYOB install. ®

ClearBI 1.1 has been released and now supports Column, Bar, Pie, Area, and Line charts.

An additional button was added to the ClearBI tool bar that loads the chart creation and edit panel.

Chart creation is very easy for end users. Simply choose a chart type and then drag and drop the x/y fields. Users can further create advanced formulas as needed. Once charts have been created they can be saved with reports or report templates for futher development and or modification but authorized end users.

With ClearBI any organisation, large or small, may have significant web based database reporting capabilities within less than an hour - literally. All a developer needs is a data source and a few minutes later, magnificent reports may be distributed, and reworked, by anyone authorised, with a Flash-enabled web browser.

ClearBI Chart Editor with Advanced Formulas

ClearBI Chart Example.

ClearBI is a clear choice for serious business intelligence RIA Reporting, made even better with the new graphing and charting capabilities.

MyFlex.org has integrated ClearBI with Amazon Web Services to create an on-line demonstration of the unique and far reaching capabilities of the ClearBI (RAD) RIA Reporting Solution. The demo allows you to initialize the service,  send and XML request, send a Javascript request and view and edit the reports.

Adobe is providing an opportunity to connect with the local developer community, whilst refreshing your knowledge on the latest from Adobe at Adobe Refresh 2007. I will be attending the Sydney event and happy to answer your questions about ClearBI RIA Reporting Solution.

Sydney: 30 October, Sydney Convention Centre
Melbourne: 31 October, Telstra Dome

Don’t miss your chance to experience:

• AIR Demo’s: Buzzword, eBay, AOL, Snippage to name a few
• Sneak Peaks: including Flash 10 & Astro
• New Products: including Thermo, FlexBuilder 3, Hydra, Share, AMP
• New Product Integration: Flash+DW/AIR, SPRY/DW/CF
• New Developer Resources: Adobe Developer Connection, xd.adobe.com, Developer Centre, Flex Interface Guide
• RIA Demo’s

There will be a ton of stuff being discussed and demonstrated – you don’t want to miss this.

Register here for Sydney and Melbourne

I have two main gripes when it comes to database reporting tools: They are way overpriced, and end users are unable to manipulate reports for a particular analytical goal, which requires heavy dependence on the IT department’s availability to create derivative published works.

Even the grandiose of enterprise reporting, ‘Business Objects - Crystal Reports’, provides end users with only a basic set of web tools that hardly make a mark compared say with the functionality of MS Excel. Adoption costs are so extraordinarily high, even big companies can’t make sense of it. Smaller companies may never achieve sufficient ROI and are forced to lay low in the isolated realm of cutting data to Excel.

Having worked as a Business Analyst, Internet Strategist and Developer for many years I can assimilate my experience relating to the subject of Enterprise Reporting in one simple sentence: “Even today the people who need vital business decision making information are unable to get to it quickly, easily, and on their own.”

Along comes Farata Systems with ClearBI (Clear Business Intelligence), a RIA Reporting Application where ‘Report Templates’, composed by IT or end users, using Adobe Flex or Flash player, can be fully manipulated, and saved as new versions (by authorised personal).

Targeted at end-users, ClearBI enables clients to eliminate the dependency on IT when it comes to any report modification, ranging from simple formatting changes and adding/removing columns to introducing grouping, sophisticated formula-based columns, and being able to persist the changes, optionally saving it as new report or report template.

Targeted at IT personnel, it automates creation of the “canned” report layouts for the end-users, who can then run them in Flash player, PDF print and Excel export these reports, with or without the ability to persist the changes.

ClearBI combines with Farata’s Clear Data Builder, a Rapid Application Development tool, allowing production of complex database reports within minutes, rather than hours or days. A few simple gestures and configurations, and Flex developers can create base template reports for stand-alone use, or as custom containers within larger Flex applications. Publishing is a simple upload of the html wrapper and swf file. After that, end users can begin making their own variations and incantations with all manner of sophisticated beautification and complex literal and boolean expressions for aggregating and highlighting information.

Reports can stored in the database in XML format as meta-data structures. Data can be persisted using a Master/Detail Flash-based-form. Indeed there is no limit to the functionality placed in the user’s hands, as application developers may simply combine ClearBI reporting into their own pre-existing or new RIA’s.

There are two versions of ClearBI:

ClearBI Developer Edition allows software developers to visually create and customize reports in Eclipse IDE. The report layouts are captured in MXML and can be compiled and integrated into any Flex application. The end users will be able to work with reports (sorting, filtering, grouping, export to Microsoft Excel, et al.), but won’t be able to save the customized report.

ClearBI Server Edition delivers all the functionality of the Developer Edition to the end user; it allows the end users to create reports from the universe of the data fields without need to install any software other than Flash Player. The end users can create, customize and save reports in the centralized database server without any help from the IT department.

Developer License is around - US$799 per developer. This license is the best fit for the organizations that need a tool to create canned reports to be viewed by the end-users. These reports are read-only and can be viewed independently or integrated into other Web applications. Production support is not included but is available on a yearly subscription or hourly rate basis.

ClearBI Server Edition OEM is around US$999 per server (up to 2 CPU). The end users can customize and save their reports. The number of the end users is not limited. This license is a good fit for small businesses. Production support is not included but is available on a yearly subscription or hourly rate basis.

There is also a ClearBI Server Edition Enterprise and you’ll need to contact Farata or myself for a quote.

Rich Internet Applications Australia was appointed by Farata Systems to represent ClearBI in Australia and New Zealand as of August 2007.