8.4 Report tools

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Reporting in DB2 is based on self prepared applications or external tools. One of the tools is IBM Query Management Facility for Windows (QMF™ for Microsoft Windows). QMF is an integrated query and reporting tool set, which allows one to generate queries and reports, and gives the availability to store them in multiple DB2 database servers. The prepared queries or reports can be viewed in various formats, such as Microsoft Excel, IBM Lotus® 1-2-3®, or text files. For more information about QMF visit the Web site:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/qmf/

Because DB2 relies on open standards, many reporting tools from other vendors (including Brio Software Inc., Crystal Decisions Inc., Cognos Inc., MicroStrategy Inc. and Business Objects S.A.) can be used with DB2.

For OLAP (OnLine Analytical Processing) the report DB2 Cube Views product can be used. Cube Views automate the creation of OLAP metadata at the database level so that metadata can be shared among applications that access the database. A number of third party tools support the metadata format, so there is no need to create the metadata for each product. Cube Views aggregates the data into cube-like dimensional charts, allowing users to access the data from different perspectives. DB2 Cube views provides a SQL-based and XML-based application programming interface (API) for OLAP tools and application developers. Through CLI, ODBC, or JDBC connections or by using embedded SQL to DB2, applications and tools can use a single stored procedure to create, modify, and retrieve metadata objects. DB2 Cube Views also provide a functionality to query and explore the data in a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet. For more information about Cube Views refer to:

http://www.ibm.com/software/data/db2/db2md/

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