DBxtra goes ASP

Getting to the information hidden within corporate databases has always been a problem for all levels of an organization.

IT shops are constantly being pushed to produce more while having little time to accommodate reporting requirements.

This translates into deadlines being pushed back, insufficient turnaround times, outdated information, and lost opportunities.

DBxtra can drastically cut into the time required to extract information from corporate data sources and liberate users from the IT bottleneck. DBxtra is committed, and succeeded in providing a tool that empowers users to produce their own reports with a simple "no programming required" approach. With very little setup, DBxtra painlessly steps a user through setting up projects, connecting to disperse data sources, designing queries and reports, and delivering information throughout an enterprise. Everything is done through a series of application tabs that gently steps the user through a set of tasks, much like a workflow or Install Shield Wizard. The end product is a report that has been produced with minimal effort and reduced cost in man-hours.

Reports can be built and exported in a variety of formats including HTML, Microsoft Excel, CSV, XML, or PDF and then manually distributed or merged into personalized E-mails. Some of these formats being "live" and dynamically linked to your data sources. Allowing for a simple refresh, for example with Microsoft Excel, to have the report updated. DBxtra has taken one more step in the dynamic delivery of information their latest release. They have just implemented a new feature that allows for the exporting of a report to an Active Server Page (ASP) that can be deployed to your internal or external facing Web Servers.

How Does DBxtra Do It

Now in addition to the current variety of reporting formats that DBxtra generates, users can now selectively choose to "Export to ASP". There has been no change to the look and feel of DBxtra, the "Export to ASP" is just another drop down option you can take advantage of when deploying reports. This means if you are an existing DBxtra user you need only access current reports and then export them to ASP. All functionality is maintained such as grouping, aggregations, and connectivity to database sources is maintained.

DBxtra knows that no two implementations are the same and everyone has their own display requirements. So after generating the Active Server Page users are placed into DBxtra's GUI Designer where different styles may be imposed on top of the generated Active Server Page. This tool is very intuitive, much like any other word processor you might have used. When satisfied with the look and feel of the ASP report a simple save and optional publishing to your web server is provided. Ultimately created and ported over to the web server is an Active Server Page (.asp) that contains Visual Basic Script (VBScript), database connectivity (ODBC), and standard HTML, plus a style sheet (.css file) that contains the editing done through the GUI Designer. At this point the Active Server Page is available for everyone to view. The solution, while being very comprehensive, requires minimal time to produce and deploy. That is because DBxtra is committed to a user friendly intuitive interface that allows users to produce results in minutes.

One of the nice features of DBxtra is the built in repository for all your projects, queries, and reports. They just know all users are not developers and thus give a great intuitive tree structure that enables the user to quickly find previously worked on reporting objects. Through this use of DBxtra's repository you will never loose sight of where reports are, you can quickly re-edit a report, and re-deploy your work. Never having to understand and touch high level code such as ASP, HTML, or VBScript code. And you don't need to know how to manage connections to disperse databases through ODBC. After all users should be concentrating on business requirements, not underlying technology that can be implemented by a tool.

This allows for you to quickly publish valuable information in real time for internal and external users, without ever having to give them true access to your database systems. These reports can be available irregardless of where your users or corporate users may be. They could be in the office, on the road, or in a different country. All they need to do is access the Active Server Page and they have immediate and current information.

If you do not like using a web browser for viewing these reports, DBxtra still maintains the ability to view all reports through their Report Viewer Module that ships with the product.

The Benefits of DBxtra & ASP

The largest benefit of Active Server Pages is their dynamic nature when called from a Web Browser. When requested, the ASP file will be read by the browser and a series of commands will be executed. In the case of a DBxtra report, a connection will be made to your database, queries will be executed, and then a web page will be rendered to the user. Giving the user a real-time view of information instead of having to request a report that could be outdated when received. Additionally the following benefits are experienced by using DBxtra to generate Active Server Pages.

? DBxtra eliminates the need to learn ASP programming by their intuitive report generation methodology.

? No need to give users access to a database system to query for information. Through a simple web browser clients can see only that information put into reports.

? DBxtra generates everything required to publish reports to your Web Servers.

? DBxtra can connect to any ODBC compliant database.

? Active Server Pages is an industry leading standard that means its longevity is secured as a viable implementation that will be supported and continue to evolve.

? DBxtra with ASP will enhance the front end web applications quickly and easily. Thus extending the reach of your current web presence while bringing legacy, hidden, or stagnate information in front of a captive audience.

? Leverages existing infrastructures with minimal if any additional costs and is built around a variety of simple scripting languages that are easily learned and have a large work force behind them if additional integration is desired.

DBxtra at a Glance

DBxtra is designed for anyone who wants to have the full control over business data with minimum expenses and efforts. Using the program, you can connect to multiple local and Internet data sources at the same time, create queries with powerful expressions and design reports. DBxtra allows you to connect to Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, DB2 and any other database through ODBC. Created reports can be printed, exported to HTML, ASP, Excel, XML or PDF, sent by email or uploaded to an FTP server. Customers will also discover the ability to schedule operations and get them executed automatically. For all its technical sophistication, DBxtra is easy to learn and use. Its intuitive interface, documentation and tutorials remove all complexities traditionally associated with data querying and reporting.

DBxtra Key Features

- Connect to multiple databases at the same time;

- Filter, sort and group data in any way;

- Create queries without SQL knowledge;

- Design powerful ad hoc reports in minutes;

- Publish live connected ASP files to an Intranet or Web server - Export to Excel, charts, HTML, PDF, text files, XML and create live digital OLAP dashboards with Excel pivot tables and charts;

- E-mail your data and merge reports to customers, suppliers and business contacts;

- Automate your business process by scheduling your reports and alerts.

Pricing and Availability DBxtra 6.0 is designed for Windows 98/Me/2000/XP/NT4/2000/2003 Server and costs $100 (USD) for the Standard edition and $280 (USD) for the Professional edition. Registered customers are entitled to free updates and lifetime technical support for one year after purchase. A 15-day functionally unlimited evaluation version is available as a free download at http://www.dbxtra.com/DBxtra/registro.asp.

Product page link: http://www.dbxtra.com
Download link: http://www.dbxtra.com/DBxtra/registro.asp