Method and apparatus for processing reports

Details Method and apparatus for processing reports Method and apparatus for processing reports

1996-09-17

2001-05-01

Amsbury, Wayne (Department: 2171)

Data processing: database and file management or data structures

Database design

Data structure types

C707S793000

Reexamination Certificate

active

06226659

ABSTRACT:

FIELD OF THE INVENTION
The present invention relates to data processing, and more specifically, to a method and apparatus for processing reports.
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
Data processing is one of the most important functions of a computing system. The results of data processing are often arranged in a report, which may be printed or simply reside in a data file or report file. Due to the proliferation of information systems, the variety and complexity of reports is almost unlimited. This is particularly true in distributed computing environments where data is often retrieved from separate databases in remote locations to process a report. However, as the size and sophistication of reports increase, ever increasing demands are placed on available processing resources, particularly when multiple reports are processed on the same machine that is executing the application software.
Consider the conventional report processing arrangement
100
illustrated in
FIG. 1A
which includes a client
102
, a database server
104
and a database (DB)
106
. When a report is to be prepared, a client application
108
, executing on the client
102
, starts a report process
110
, which also executes on the client
102
. The report process
110
then requests report data from a database management system (DBMS)
112
, which in turn retrieves data from the DB
106
. The report process
110
automatically terminates upon completion of the report. Each time a report is to be generated, the client application
108
initiates a new report process
110
. If several reports are to be generated simultaneously, the client application
108
starts a new report process
110
for each report, which all execute simultaneously on the client
102
.
There are several disadvantages with this arrangement
100
. First, starting a new report process
110
for each report increases the report processing time because of the time required to start a new report process
110
. Moreover, executing report processes
110
on the client
102
can strain the processing resources of the client
102
, particularly when several report processes
110
are executed simultaneously.
To reduce the processing burden placed on the client
102
, some report processing systems have transferred the report processing from the client
102
processor to a different processor. For example, in the report processing arrangement illustrated in
FIG. 1B
, the report process
110
has been transferred from the client
102
to the database server
104
. When a report is to be processed, the client application
108
issues a report command to the DBMS
112
through a database pipe or other similar communications mechanism
114
. A report handler
116
periodically polls the DBMS
112
to determine whether a report needs to be generated. When a report needs to be generated, the report handler
116
reads the report command from the DBMS
112
and then starts a report process
110
to process the report. A report definition file (RDF)
118
is opened for each report process
110
.
This arrangement
100
minimizes the processing burden on the client
102
attributable to report processing, but the time required to process a report is still adversely affected by the overhead associated with starting a report process
110
each time a report is to be generated. In addition, the client application
108
does not have direct access to report status. The client application
108
is limited to issuing database commands to the DBMS
112
to determine report process
110
status. However, the DBMS
112
is not designed to be used as a status/message center to provide report status to the client application
108
. Some DBMSs
112
do not provide any report status to a client application
108
after a report command has been sent to the DBMS
112
.
In view of the difficulties associated with processing reports, and the limitations in the solution described above, a more effective method and apparatus for processing reports is highly desirable.
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
A method and apparatus are provided for processing reports. According to one embodiment of the present invention, a method for processing reports includes the steps of starting and initializing a report process, processing a report in response to a report command and reinitializing the report process after the report has been processed without stopping the report process.
According to another aspect of the present invention, a report server is provided which, upon startup, automatically starts a report process. When the report server receives a report command from a client application, the report server commands the report process to process the required report. After the report is completed, the report process is automatically reinitialized and kept active to process the next report.
According to yet another aspect of the present invention, a report queue is provided to store report commands received by the report server from one or more client applications. A report queue manager is also provided to externally manage the report queue.


REFERENCES:
patent: 5379427 (1995-01-01), Hiroshima
patent: 5504897 (1996-04-01), Gans et al.
patent: 5644786 (1997-07-01), Gallagher et al.
patent: 5671365 (1997-09-01), Binford et al.
patent: 5832504 (1998-11-01), Tripathi et al.
patent: 5835762 (1998-11-01), Gans et al.
patent: 5875343 (1999-02-01), Binford et al.

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