Advise in using jQuery to develop the Web Reports

Reporting
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(imported topic written by SystemAdmin)

Would IBM Expertise out there give me an advise about of using jQuery library to develop the Web Reports?

One of the report using jQuery name “Application Search” from Matthew Boyd was an excellent example.

Thanks for advise,

Cecil

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(imported comment written by Lee Wei)

In general, yes JavaScript is a great way to process and massage the data extracted.

In using jQuery, you are adding another level of abstraction through a good solid library.

If you have something more specific, maybe someone might have additional comments.

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(imported comment written by SystemAdmin)

Hi Lee,

Based on my research, jQuery has more advantages over the JavaScript library in term of Client-Side scripting of HTML. It is easier to learn, simple (5 lines of codes versus 30 lines in JavaScript codes), simplifies AJAX, etc …

Your Computer-Browser application is an excellent example using the HTML, CSS, JavaScript, … but not jQuery library?

We are planning to develop a web-based Inventory Reports application out side the TEM Web Reports.

Currently, I don’t know whether access to Server-side is required yet.

Thanks,

Cecil

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(imported comment written by MattBoyd)

Hey, that’s me! Thanks for the compliment!

For creating custom reports inside Web Reports, the only real option I see is to use JavaScript. The only other option I can think of is to generate the report outside of Web Reports using the SOAP API using a programming environment of your choice. If you’re developing an inventory application outside of Web Reports, that might be easier. It really depends on your requirements though.

Regarding JavaScript and jQuery in general, I think it’s widely accepted amongst developers that if you’re writing JavaScript anywhere, you should leverage pre-built frameworks/libraries, such as jQuery, wherever possible. While the only one I’ve used at the moment is jQuery (and jQueryUI), there’s a ton of others out there. That’s not to say you should go crazy and use 13 different JS frameworks for one project - that’s not beneficial either. I know that many of Lee’s applications/reports use JavaScript libraries.

Also, be aware that when you build custom-coded reports inside Web Reports, meaning reports that aren’t generated through pre-canned Web Reports interface, you will lose certain Web Reports functionality. For example, you won’t be able to use the Export to PDF/CSV functions that are built into Web Reports. This is why I used the DataTables plugin in the Application Search report - it has a nice extension to enable exporting.