The Reporting Problem

[Andre Garzia]

I'd use a XML data file and a XSLT template file. xsltproc is your friend
and bundled everywhere.

far easier to maintain.

Check w3schools.com, they have a tutorial on XSLT. xsltproc will allow you
to process XSL transformations from the command line.

On Mon, Jun 15, 2009 at 1:58 PM, Peter Alcibiades <
palcibiades-first at yahoo.co.uk> wrote:

> We Linux users do not have access to full versions of Quartam, so have to
> contain our disappointment manfully and find another way.
>
> Considering the question of how to get some reports done, the mind  then
> turns inevitably to awk.  Or Perl, but for us antedeluvians, its awk.
> What do you experienced Rev programmers do, because its not possible you
> too turn to awk!?
>
> Here is the problem.  I have a set of reports that come out quite nicely,
> though they take several tedious pages of code.  What they do is put each
> total by revenue/product category/month into a field on a card.  Then we
> print the card, with totals.  So for instance, we have handtools for Jan,
> Feb....etc, and powertools for jan...feb...etc.  Then a subtotal for all
> tools, then a total of all the subs to get total revenue by month and YTD.
>
> This is done from a transaction file of several tens of thousands of
> records, using filter to get the categories and months and subtotal
> elements, then a simple add into a variable.  Brute force, but it works
> reasonably fast on a low spec machine and is accurate and easy to
> understand whats been done.
>
> The problem comes when you want to export it into a word processor or
> spreadsheet for formatting and further analysis.  This is why the
> antiquarian's mind turns nostalgically to awk.  What awk puts out is a
> somewhat formatted text file, which can just be imported into anything you
> like.  What we have generated in Rev is a sort of binary blob!
>
> Now, we could just go through and export each field from the card into a
> text file.  But this is going to make the whole thing even longer and more
> tortuous, and you start to feel, wait a second, if this is the solution to
> the problem why don't I just do it in awk in the first place and get it
> over with?
>
> So what is the approved solution?  Do you indeed go through and export your
> fields?  Or do you generate the report not in fields on a card but as an
> rtf in one text field, and if so how?  Or, he wonders smiling, are there
> actually still some shamefaced users of awk out there, secretly writing
> the stuff in their studies at home where none of their colleagues can see
> what they are up to?
>
> BEGIN
> {printf("%-15s\t%-40s\t%7s\t%4s\t%5s\n", "Code", "Name" , "Price", "Dept",
> "Qty")}
> {FS="\t"}
> {OFS="\t"}
> {printf("%-15s\t%-40s\t%7s\t%4s\t%5s\n",$1, $2, $3, $4, $5)}
>
> and so on.  Ah the sweet smell of cordite in the morning!
>
> Peter
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-- 
http://www.andregarzia.com All We Do Is Code.