For products: Webtrends Analysis Suite Advanced 7.x Webtrends Analysis Suite Advanced for Domino 7.x Webtrends Analysis Suite 7.x Webtrends Enterprise Suite 5.x Webtrends Enterprise Suite for Domino 5.x Webtrends Professional Suite 5.x Webtrends Log Analyzer Advanced 8.x Webtrends Log Analyzer 8.x Webtrends Log Analyzer 7.x Webtrends Reporting Center 6.x Webtrends Reporting Center 5.x Webtrends Reporting Center 4.x Webtrends CommerceTrends Reporting Server 3.x Webtrends Enterprise Reporting Server 3.x Webtrends Firewall Suite 4.x Webtrends Firewall Suite 3.x
Last modified: 6/1/2011
Introduction: The terms "pre-generated" and "on-demand" reports can be applied to Analysis Suite, Log Analyzer, Professional Suite, Enterprise Suite, Enterprise Suite for Domino, Firewall Suite, and Firewall Appliance Analyzer in one manner which is different than the way in which they would be used in relationship to Reporting Center, Enterprise Reporting Server, and CommerceTrends Reporting Server. The differences between running pre-generated and on-demand reporting with respect to Analysis Suite, Log Analyzer, Professional Suite, Enterprise Suite, Enterprise Suite for Domino, Firewall Suite, and Firewall Appliance Analyzer are as follows:
Within this line of products there is no option in the profile to schedule when the report is to be run. The scheduler is an independent program.
The user chooses the report range for the profile and the type of report.
Webtrends parses the log files and sessionizes the data and if the user has selected to use the FastTrends database, the database is then populated. If FastTrends is not being used, no other databases are involved. At this point in the process, pre-generated or on-demand reporting comes into play.
Note: There are no options in the profile of this line of products to choose either of these types of reporting.
The concept of pre-generated and on-demand reporting is completely different from Reporting Center, Enterprise Reporting Server, and CommerceTrends Reporting Server. Pre-generated, as applied to the first set of products, does not technically exist. The closest functionality to running a pre-generated report is using the scheduler to run a report of a selected range. The report is generated in its entirety, whether it is HTML, Microsoft Word, Excel or ASCII text. The scheduler creates the report as opposed to the user clicking on the "Start" button. On-demand reporting means the user selects a particular profile and then clicks the "Report" button. The type of report is then selected as well as the report range. The user then clicks "Start" and the report is generated in its entirety, whether HTML, Microsoft Word, Excel or ASCII text. No disk space is saved. On-demand, as defined in the first set of products, is translated to mean a user can generate a report with any time range.
The better term that should be used when dealing with these products is "Targeted Reporting." How pre-generated and on-demand reporting is applied in the case of Reporting Center, Enterprise Reporting Server, and CommerceTrends Reporting Server (Note: With the release of versions 4.0, the names of Enterprise Reporting Server and CommerceTrends Reporting Server were changed to Reporting Center-eBusiness, Enterprise or Service Provider Edition) is as follows:
All profiles are set to run automatically by using a scheduler (not to be confused with the Scheduler in the Enterprise Suite line and Firewall Suite)
Webtrends parses the log files and sessionizes the data
The backend database is then populated in which the data needed to generate the HTML report is stored (not to be confused with FastTrends)
This is the point at which pre-generated or on-demand reporting enters the process. This next step is specified on the "Reporting Method" window when creating or editing a profile. The user must select one of the two options:
Pre-generated - Once the above steps have been completed, Enterprise Reporting Server and CommerceTrends Reporting Server will automatically generate an HTML report for viewing before completing the scheduled event
On-demand - Once the above steps have been completed, after the databases have been populated, Enterprise Reporting Server and CommerceTrends Reporting Server will not generate the HTML report (except the base page, index.html). Instead, a report database is created which includes information for the reports. This is a much smaller subset of the primary database. The HTML report is not generated until the user clicks on the "Report" button on the interface. At this point, the HTML report is created as needed. For example, if the user only clicks on the General Summary table, this is the only portion of the report that is created. As the users moves through the different links in the Table of Contents, those different portions of the report are then generated as needed. When the user is done viewing the report, the HTML report is deleted.
Note: The purpose of this method is to reduce disk space required for the Reporting Server installation. This is the same theory behind a dynamic web site or a content-management system like Vignette.
