asp:review

OfficeWriter v3 Enterprise Edition

One Suite Deal

By Steve C. Orr

Nearly every ASP.NET application of significant complexityrequires data reporting functionality of one kind or another. For lessdemanding users, you may be able to get away with merely rendering data to theWeb page. But it takes a lot of work to provide the kind of flexibility thatpower users demand. Managers often want to juggle numbers and adjust wording inunpredictable ways, and they usually want professional-quality charts, as well.This is why Microsoft created Excel and Word ? so why reinvent the wheel?

Wouldn?t it be easier to simply hand the data off to thoseapplications so users can edit the data in familiar and well documented ways? Ifyour needs are fairly basic, it?s not difficult to write custom code to exportASP.NET data to Excel and Word. However, if your requirements are evenmoderately complex, the learning curve can quickly get steep ? unless you?reusing a tool such as OfficeWriter by SoftArtisans.

OfficeWriter is a set of components designed to helpgenerate real Word documents and Excel spreadsheets (see Figure 1) dynamically,without the need for Word or Excel on the server. Of course, users will needthose programs installed (or the free viewer software downloadable fromMicrosoft) to be able to open the files.

Figure 1A: Harness the power ofExcel to generate attractive charts.

Figure 1B: You can optionally tuckthe underlying data away onto other worksheet tabs.

Paired with a moderately modern server, this speedy andreliable tool is capable of pumping out dozens of spreadsheets per second. Becauseit?s pure .NET code to the core, it?s especially expedient at handlingpre-filled DataSets and should scale well into a variety of architectures.

Getting Started

After downloading the 18 megabyte free trial ofOfficeWriter Enterprise Edition, running the installation program is a breeze. Thesamples will be automatically set up so you can run them immediately after theinstallation is complete ? without having to fiddle with IIS, virtualdirectories, security privileges, or other such nonsense that inferiorinstallation programs tend to delegate to you.

The installation software provides a variety of usefuloptions (see Figure 2), such as the ability to install COM wrappers around thesoftware so it can be used from older, non-managed code bases. (OfficeWriter isalso available for ASP and Java, if you should have the need.)

Figure 2: OfficeWriter v3 providesadvanced integration with SQL Server Reporting Services, as well as a varietyof other valuable installation options.

The redistributable merge module helps ensure your futuredeployment can go as smoothly as the OfficeWriter installation. There are noCOM dependencies, and no DLLs that need to be registered.

Powerful Features

The new ?HotCell? capabilities of OfficeWriter allowspreadsheets and documents to keep themselves in sync with the server. ThisAJAX-like technology can send user edits to the server as they happen, so workis never lost.

Spreadsheets and documents can be generated at run timecompletely from scratch, or existing templates can be opened and populated withup-to-the-minute data. Formulas, graphics, charts, VBA macros, mail merge,multi-tab spreadsheet data, and pivot tables are all well within thecapabilities of OfficeWriter, putting nearly every Word and Excel capability atyour fingertips.

SQL Server Reporting Services

In 2004, Microsoft?s SQL Server Reporting Services teamapproached SoftArtisans to fill a functionality gap. As a result, SoftArtisansreleased OfficeWriter for Reporting Services, permitting developers (and evenend users) to design reports directly in Microsoft Excel and Word. Users neverneed to learn how to use some complicated reporting package ever again; theycan simply use the OfficeWriter toolbar that?s integrated inside the Microsoftapplications with which they are already familiar.

This new version of OfficeWriter has even better supportfor Reporting Services, and the improvements are likely to continue well intothe future since SoftArtisans continues to work closely with Microsoft toimprove features and integration.

The OfficeWriter designer renders actual ReportingServices (RDL) files, preserving all Excel features in the process (which ismore than can be said about the comparatively simplistic export featuresincluded with Reporting Services). There is no support for Word exports instandalone Reporting Services, which makes OfficeWriter a must-have product ifyou need such functionality.

The Complete Package

In addition to the great documentation and samples thatare included with the product, there are also a variety of handy supportoptions available on the SoftArtistans Web site. These options include extrahelpings of sample code, always up-to-date documentation, answers to frequentlyasked questions, online forums (visited frequently by knowledgeable staff), anda knowledge base.

In the unlikely scenario that you can?t find an answerthrough all those free sources, SoftArtisans also provides supportsubscriptions, maintenance plans, per-issue support, and various trainingoptions.

Although ExcelWriter and WordWriter can be purchasedseparately, OfficeWriter unites both into one suite deal. The Excel piece ofOfficeWriter is the most mature, currently at version 6. OfficeWriter comes intwo editions. The Standard Edition lets you open existing files and populatethem with data. It also permits updates to charts and formulas and providesgood Reporting Services interoperability. The Enterprise Edition adds theability to create new documents and spreadsheets from scratch, and provides alot of extra Excel functions that aren?t included in the Standard Edition. Italso allows you to use spreadsheets as data sources by providing the ability toread spreadsheet data. Extra charting capabilities are thrown in, as well. Pricesstart at US$1,495 per CPU for the Standard Edition, so this thing isn?t cheap. Butif you?re serious about cranking out high-quality spreadsheets and documentsfor your corporation, this is the tool for you.

Steve C. Orr is anMCSD and a Microsoft MVP in ASP.NET. He?s an independent consultant whodevelops software solutions for many leading companies in the Seattle area. Whenhe?s not busy designing software systems or writing about them, he can often befound loitering at local user groups and habitually lurking in the ASP.NETnewsgroup. Find out more about him at http://SteveOrr.net or e-mail him at mailto:Steve@Orr.net.

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Web Site: http://officewriter.softartisans.com/officewriter.aspx

Price: Contact SoftArtisansfor Enterprise Edition pricing.