Reporting On Your Xml Field Data
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The document discusses a demonstration of a new reporting tool called the Serensoft Reporting Gizmo. It was created to address the challenge of reporting on form data stored in XML fields in the Open Source Portfolio (OSP). The tool parses the XML data and makes it accessible through SQL queries, allowing off-the-shelf reporting applications to generate reports. Examples are shown of reports created in Cognos Impromptu. Feedback is sought from attendees on important issues to address like security, the SQL schema design, and administrative interface improvements.
Reporting On Your Xml Field Data
- 1. Reporting on your XML Field Data Will Trillich <will.trillich@serensoft.com> Sean Keesler <sean.keesler@threecanoes.com> Attribution Share Alike
- 2. The Agenda: REPORTING • A discussion of the problem • A demonstration of our approach • Starting the brain-storming dialogue July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 2
- 3. So We Begin By Discussing The Problem July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 3
- 4. Reporting • “Pulling patterns out of your data” • How many A’s, B’c, C’s? • Who’s our top student? • What’s the average eval score? • Without reporting, why even have the data? • Reporting requires that you can get to the data • In OSP, form data is buried in XML • Reporting tools need SQL field-level access
- 5. Form Data Entry content-grade (0-4) quick-evaluation form style-grade (0-4)
- 6. Form Data Stored as XML • After the data is entered it’s stored as a monolithic chunk of XML <structuredData> <quick-evaluation> <content-comment>Nice work</content-comment> <content-grade>4</content-grade> <style-comment>A bit less passive voice should have been used</style-comment> <style-grade>3</style-grade> </quick-evaluation> </structuredData> • How would we report on content-grade? Can’t get to it
- 7. Reporting Tools Require Data Access at the SQL level July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 7
- 8. Reporting Tools • Crystal Reports • Cognos (Impromptu, Series 8) • Pentaho • BIRT • Etc… They all use SQL-selects to pull data; monolithic XML chunks are opaque unless you tack on XSL to navigate the tree
- 9. Parsing Report Data Via XSL • You could use XSL to navigate your XML data (viz. standard “Reports” tool) • But it’s painful/costly to set up • And it’s slow to run • (Yuck!)
- 10. Wouldn’t it be nice if… • Imagine pulling a report like this on OSP data using an off-the-shelf reporting tool
- 11. Introducing Serensoft’s Reporting Gizmo Built with help and guidance from ThreeCanoes and Agilearn July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 11
- 12. The Sizzle • Here’s a Cognos Impromptu report:
- 13. More Sizzle • Another Cognos report
- 14. Even More Sizzle • We’ll show you live reports from live form data, changing before your very eyes • (…if the network cooperates)
- 15. Admin Interface Needs Attention • This is the first iteration, don’t forget
- 16. Caveats • It’s brand-new so there are lots of decisions yet to be made (this is where we’re asking for your feedback) • Security • SQL Schema • etc • It’s an “admin” tool only • It just parses the XML and puts the data where you can “SELECT” it
- 17. Not it’s time to Begin The Dialogue July 2009 10th Sakai Conference - Boston, MA, U.S.A. 17
- 18. What Issues Are Important To You? • Now we open the floor to start the dialog • We’ll continue this on-list (sakai-dev?) in the future • Your feedback will help us shape this gizmo to provide the functionality you require • Let’s start brainstorming!