ReportManager works closely with Microsoft Excel to provide the user with a streamlined method of sending and receiving data from remote applications by Point Progress.
Using the built-in functionality of Excel, combined with the advanced technology of ReportManager enables data to be marked and imported in a fraction of the time of any other method.
Functionality
Easily apply ranges to your Excel sheet
- Simply select the area and double-click on the range listed ReportManager.
- The full power of Excel is available as usual, and so any workbook can include advanced validation and VBA code or macros if required.
Error and warnings messages in plain English
- Nothing ambiguous, simply informing the user of the problem with the import or data.
Pre-Requisites
Hardware
The following is the minimum specification that ReportManager has been tested to. While it may be the case that the software will work of a lesser specified PC, the functionality and stability of the software cannot be guaranteed:
- Pentium III processor
- RAM 512Mb
- 20Mb of available disk space
Network
- TCP/IP
- Connectivity to the SQL Server that hosts the MEO database(s)
Software
The following versions of Microsoft Windows are supported:
- Windows NT v4 and greater
- Windows 2000
- Windows XP
- Windows Vista
- Windows 7
- Windows 8 / 8.1
- Windows 10
All of the currently available security patches and service packs should be installed.
The following versions of Microsoft Excel are supported:
- Microsoft Excel 2000
- Microsoft Excel 2003
- Microsoft Excel 2010
- Microsoft Excel 2013
- Microsoft Excel 2016
- Microsoft Excel 2019
- Microsoft Excel for Microsoft 365
All of the currently available security patches and service packs should be installed.
Accreditation
No specific accreditation is required to install ReportManager, although it is advised that the installer have a good understanding of general network and IT.
Installing Report Manager
What you need
To complete the installation and start using ReportManager you will need the follow:
- Installation Media
- Prerequisite software installed.
Standard Installation
Detail of each screen during the installation process:
Installation Menu
Extract the download and run setup.exe, which is located in the directory you just extracted.
Install Pre-requisites
If not currently installed on the target PC, the installer will prompt you to install the .NET Framework. Following the on-screen instructions.
Install ReportManager
Run through the following steps.
Step 1
Run the Report manager installation file.
Click next.
The default installation location is displayed. If you wish to change the directory then click on “Browse” and enter the directory that you would like ReportManager to be installed into.
The installer is now ready to install ReportManager for Web Services Click “Next” to start the installation.
Once the installation has been completed click the “Close” button.
Reinstallation of ReportManager
If you need to re-install ReportManager onto your target PC if, for example, the files have been corrupted by a virus, it would be necessary to uninstall ReportManager.
See the section entitled “Uninstalling ReportManager”
Uninstalling Report Manager
To uninstall ReportManager complete the following steps:
- Open the Control Panel folder and select “Add/Remove Programs”.
- From the list of installed applications, select “ReportManager” and click the Remove button
- ReportManager will be removed from your PC.
Starting the Application
ReportManager for Web Services is available from Excel at any time. Once the application has been installed and Excel run, a new item in the top menu will be displayed with the title “Add-Ins”, this will display a panel below with “ReportManager” as an option.
Connecting to the web service
When running ReportManager for the first time a database connection needs to be established. This is done as follows:
Under ReportManager the option to setup a connection is available. The screen below will be displayed.
ReportManager uses the connection settings used by the site. As these connections setting are already configured in the application and the SQL database there are no additional settings to be added here.
The only requirement is to add the full URL for each site into the Web service URL.
For example https://test.dataxchange.co.uk/
The connection settings will need to be changed each time a different site is needed to be contacted.
Template folder should remain with the directory of \.
Using Report Manager
To use ReportManager for Web Services a user needs to exist within the sites database with access to the relevant interfaces. To configure this access please contact Point Progress.
Select the option “Start ReportManager” under the ReportManager v6.0 menu to login.
Enter a valid username and password and select login.
Once the user is logged into ReportManager for Web Services they will have an option to select the database they wish to make a connection with.
Once the connection is made the available interfaces for the user will be displayed. The interfaces are under separate headings.
Read from DX:
This displays interfaces that will retrieve data from the database.
Highlight an interface and click select to display the ranges screen. This can be seen in Image 9.
Read From Available Interfaces
Cost Centres - Read all or a selection of Cost Centres from the live or test database. The export will place the Cost Centre ID, description and deleted flag in the excel spreadsheet.
Allowed Cost Centres for user - Read all or a selection of user’s allowed Cost Centres from the live or test database. The export will place the Cost Centre ID, username and deleted flag in the excel spreadsheet.
Authentication History log - Read all or a selection of user’s authentication logs from the live or test database. The export will place the username, event and date/timestamp in the excel spreadsheet.
Expense Details - Read all or a selection of claims in Expense detail from the live or test database. The export will place the detail line for the claims in the excel spreadsheet.
Expense Journey details - Read all or a selection of journey details added to claims from the live or test database. The export will place the journey details including postcodes, journey time and miles in the excel spreadsheet.
Write to MyExpensesOnline
This displays interfaces that will upload data into the database.
Highlight an interface and click select to display the ranges screen. This can be seen in Image 9.
Write To Available Interfaces
Add new user - Write individual or several new user profiles to the live or test database. Bulk upload user profiles into MyExpensesOnline and the range expense for the ‘Add new user’ interface can be seen in Image 9.
Cost Centres - Write new cost centres into the live or test database. The Cost Centre ID and description will be imported.
Allowed Cost Centres for user - Write new allowed cost centres into the live or test database. The Cost Centre ID and username will be imported.
Add new vehicle - Write new vehicles into the live or test database. The mileage category ID, Registration number, make, model, Year of manufacture and Engine capacity will be imported.
This is the main area of ReportManager. It allows you to set ranges and view error information following an import.
How to use Ranges
ReportManager uses the Excel Names Ranges functionality to determine where data should be read.
Assigning a range
Excel range information can be set by either of the two methods:
- Highlight an area in Excel then double-clicking the range in ReportManager.
- Highlight an area in Excel, select the range name and then click the “Assign” button.
Both of these methods will create the Excel Names Range, and also update the ReportManager range list.
Removing a range
To remove a range, select the field in ReportManager and click the “Release” button. This will bring up an extra message to confirm you want to release the range. Click “Yes” to release the range.
Once all the ranges have been set, select the “Run” button to insert all data into the database.
Read from Expenses
Once an interface has been selected, the user has the option to read all data from the database tables or to add a filter.
If there is a large amount of data in the table the user can limit the rows that are returned. By selecting the amount of rows from the drop down and run the data is displayed in the spreadsheet. This can bee seen below.
The activity log will display a successful import. The example seen in Image 15 has imported an individual cost centre. Headings ‘Cost Centre’, ‘Description’ and deleted are displayed with the data below.
Read Interfaces with filter
A filter can be added in the selection tab to determine the data returned. Select a field from the drop down and add the operator you would like to set. The below operators can be used.
Operators
- Equal
- Not equal
- Greater than
- Less than
- Greater than or equal
- Less than or equal
- Like
- Not Like
For example:
Field: Description
Operator: Like
Value: 001
This will return all cost centres which have 001 in the description.
Multiple filters can be added with an AND/OR operator.
The AND operator displays a record if both the first condition and the second condition is true.
The OR operator displays a record if either the first condition or the second condition is true.
Once all filters have been added the run button can be selected. All records matching the filter conditions will be returned and displayed in the spreadsheet.
Errors & Warning
This section shows a log of all header and detail errors displayed at the time an import is run.
