Java Servlet Reporting Added to mrc-Productivity Series

by Alex Woodie

Earlier this month, michaels, ross & cole announced it has added a Java reporting feature to its rapid application development tool for OS/400 systems. Previous releases of the mrc-Productivity Series gave users Java servlet capabilities. With this latest announcement, mrc told users they can build reporting applications that provide real-time intelligence about their company's data, and they can do it using the versatile, run-almost-anywhere Java servlet.

The mrc-Productivity Series is a fourth-generation-language development environment that enables companies to generate source code for platforms supported by RPG ILE, CGI, or HTML. In March 2001, the company added Java servlets capability for application maintenance, such as the data retrieval and data updating functions.

Prior releases of the development environment allowed users to view reports generated by mrc-Productivity Series applications using Web pages, full PC clients, or 5250 green-screen interfaces. Now mrc is giving users the option of defining and viewing reports via Java servlets, which are cross-platform applications that are stored on Web servers and downloaded to Web browsers as needed.

According to an mrc spokesperson, the new Java servlet reporting option gives users subtotaling and totaling capabilities, allows the selection of records on the fly, offers sorting and selecting based on a calculated field, and optimized print capabilities. These new Java servlet reports can be served from any Web server, and they can access just about any database, via JDBC.

The new Java servlets reports are much faster than their old green-screen counterparts, according Brian Crowley, mrc's development director. As an example, Crowley said he created a report that selected about 100 records from more than a million. The green-screen version took about 25 seconds, whereas the Java servlets version completed the report in about five seconds. "That improvement is aided by IBM's constant improvements to SQL performance," he said.

Because users can configure, run, and view their reports in such a short amount of time, they are able to quickly change the report to get the most important data in real time. Also, users can lay out mrc-Productivity Series reports using any HTML editor. Once they've created the appearance, they can load the template into the mrc-Productivity Series for compiling into the Java servlet code.

The new Java reporting capability should provide an incentive for OS/400 shops to start creating and distributing reports using the Web, said Heather Gately, an mrc spokeswoman. "In the past, iSeries- and AS/400-based organizations have struggled with Web-based reporting initiatives because of the difficulty of combining the newer Web technologies and servers with their existing enterprise data," she said. This new Java servlets capability should help provide iSeries developers with the tools they need to create iSeries Web applications, she said.

Current mrc-Productivity Series users can get the Java servlet reporting feature as a free upgrade. To view a demonstration of the new Java servlet reporting feature, click here. For more information visit mrc's Web site, at www.mrc-productivity.com.

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