Quartam Reports, day late, dime short

Lynch, Jonathan bnz2 at cdc.gov
Fri Jul 15 09:15:52 EDT 2005


Hi Jan...

If you need a script for properly printing a scrolling field, I have
such a thing. I'd be happy to share it with you, if it would help you.
It probably would not be too difficult to incorporate into your larger
printing scripts.

Cheers,

Jonathan

-----Original Message-----
From: use-revolution-bounces at lists.runrev.com
[mailto:use-revolution-bounces at lists.runrev.com] On Behalf Of Jan
Schenkel
Sent: Friday, July 15, 2005 1:39 AM
To: How to use Revolution
Subject: Re: Quartam Reports, day late, dime short

--- SimPLsol at aol.com wrote:
> Jan,
>      I don't mean to be disrespectful but you have
> delivered the frosting 
> without the cake.
> 
>      Quartam Reports does a lot of things we don't
> need:
> - data fields using everyday Transcript expressions
> - data groups with separate header and footer
> - flexible formatting options
> - aggregate functions without a line of code
> - support for printing conditions, color and inks
> - simplified printing commands for stacks, database
> cursors and automated queries
> - an advanced callback architecture that lets you
> combine data from multiple sources
> 
>      and does not deliver what we do need:
> - the ability to take information stored in a
> Revolution stack and print it 
> in standard business format.
> 
>      Did anyone actually ask for the Quartam feature
> set? Did anyone beta 
> test QR?
> 
>      You always tend to dismiss 9 to 5 Reports, but
> the fact is "they got it 
> right".   Reports with HyperCard is a powerful
> business tool. That's why I 
> invested the time in showing it to you, explaining
> what it meant to my business 
> users, urging you to incorporate its basic
> functionality. We have all waited a 
> long time for a Revolution solution. Based on missed
> deadlines to date, I am 
> not optimistic about QR v 1.1 shipping in any sort
> of timely manner ;-)   
> 
>      I am extremely disappointed.
> Paul Looney
> 
> PS Are you saying definitively that v 1.1, if it
> ever ships, WILL support 
> scrolling fields - and be a free upgrade?
> 

Hi Paul,

As stated in my previous email, version 1.0, when it
ships, WILL support scrolling fields - and be a free
upgrade.

I meant no disrespect towards 9-to-5 Reports: it is a
tremendous tool that made HyperCard a viable solution
for building business applications.

But there are more ways to store data than in stacks.
There are databases, xml-files and all the other
places that I mentioned before. I felt these were
important itms to integrate with.

Incidentally, you can easily take data from a stack
and print it in a report. A simplified command for
this allows you to script a printing button:
--
  qrtReports_PrintReportForStack \
     <layout filepath>,<stack name>,<preview flag>
--

And then the report printing library will do the heavy
lifting by itself, going through your stack one card
at a time, and filling the report.
An optional fourth parameter lets you specify a range:
all (default), marked, unmarked or an MS-Word style
range (think "1-7,9,14" to print the data on cards 1
through 7, card 9 and card 14)

Quartam Reports was in public beta from the end of
April, and while I primarily looked at what I expected
from a report tool, I did ask for feedback from public
and private beta testers.
They have provided me with ideas for years to come.
But while scrolling fields are high on every wish
list, all you need to print reports is there, and
more.

I have most certainly not forgotten the great demo you
showed me at MacWorld last year. But I can't help but
be reminded of the paradox of software development:
users want it shipped yesterday, packing features they
haven't even thought they needed tomorrow, while never
needing an upgrade.
Now there's a challenge for a developer -- maybe I
should get Jacque to send me a beta of her time warp
stacks ;-)

Best regards,

Jan Schenkel.

Quartam - Tools for Revolution
<http://www.quartam.com>

=====
"As we grow older, we grow both wiser and more foolish at the same
time."  (La Rochefoucauld)

__________________________________________________
Do You Yahoo!?
Tired of spam?  Yahoo! Mail has the best spam protection around 
http://mail.yahoo.com 
_______________________________________________
use-revolution mailing list
use-revolution at lists.runrev.com
Please visit this url to subscribe, unsubscribe and manage your
subscription preferences:
http://lists.runrev.com/mailman/listinfo/use-revolution




More information about the use-livecode mailing list