Queries and Reports |
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Quotation preparation is an area of activity which needs to be closely monitored by management. The bidding process, to be properly developed and controlled, should allow the creation of many different styles of report, from the simplest to the most comprehensive. MQuote's powerful SQL query tool enables each user to select the data to be reported on and to format a specific style of report suitable for both internal and external requirements. For example, at one level the system may be used as a price reporter, without the need to generate a quote. At another, the gross profit or margin per quote, per customer, or per class of quote or customer may all be determined and presented in a precise and actionable format. MQuote's extensive reporting capability refines this information flow, and enables management to fine-tune the bidding process. |
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Construct a simple query on a single table or on multiple tables and view or print the query results in simple tabular output. Modify the presentation of the query result to produce reports with greater clarity: change the text appearance; group related data into sections; add totals and counts; hide repeated column values or whole columns; merge column data into group headings; include page header and footer information. Add parameters to often used queries so that the same report can be run for different input criteria without having to alter the query. For example, to produce a report on the total value of issued quotes in a period include the start-date and end-date parameters, so that when the report is run, entry of the two dates is requested before the report is printed. The report generator uses SQL (Structured Query Language) to access the database. MQuote's report capability provides an easy-to-use interface to this powerful language and SQL statements may be entered directly. One query can use the output of another query. Very complex queries can be constructed easily in this way to achieve results that are not possible with a single SQL statement. The report generator also relies on several "stored procedures" in the database to pre-process some data, making the data easier to access in simple queries and to providing automatic, uniform access to important functions. In a similar way "views" of data can be created in the database to hold intermediate query results. Additional stored procedures and views may be created to add even more power to reporting operations. A number of standard reports are provided and these may be used as provided or adapted to meet particular requirements. MQuote data is accessible to third party report generators. |
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