To use most reporting systems you have to know how your database is structured, what the field names mean, and how to make joins. But most business users don't know this, nor do they want to. Walkabout captures this knowledge in a Knowledge Base that provides a business view of the database in plain English. The Knowledge Base means you don't need to understand data structures, the relationship between tables or SQL. You don't need to define joins in every query; in fact you won't need any further technical assistance to create unlimited queries. And if your database is complex, Walkabout's Knowledge Base allows you to simplify it. You can include joins, views, embedded objects and much more. In aditional, links to other applications allow you to access Walkabout from another Progress system and even export the results of your queries into spreadsheets and wordprocessors for a complete reporting solution.

Report Wizard, Database help and 'Show Data'

In addition to the Knowledge Base, Walkabout provides many other features to simplify query production. An interactive Wizard assists with report definition, whilst the unique, automatically generated database help facility enables you to search for the data items you want, displaying all the table and field names in plain English. But even then it may not be obvious which is the correct field, e.g. do you want Name, Short Name, Account Name, or Contact? If you could only see the content of those fields it might be obvious. A further help facility, 'Show data' allows you to view the data in any field during the query design process, thus eliminating problems of ambiguous names.

From the Knowledge Base, Walkabout knows how to move around linked data. You can view the enquiries and reports you've defined, then drill up and down to not only analyse what is happening, but also to find out why. The links in the knowledge base mean you can walk from your current screen to any other which holds related data, in either real-time enquiries or report images. For example, you might look at a list of outstanding orders, select one of them and switch to a screen showing the customer's details. From there, you might go to see that customer's outstanding invoices, then move from an invoice to the product on the invoice line, from the product to the sales area analysis and so on, following a train of thought without the need for a pre-defined structure.

Text or Graphics

Walkabout has in-built graphical facilities which allow you to switch between text and graphical mode, making it easy to visualise, investigate and present your data. Instantly convert your Walkabout report by simply toggling to a graph, then toggle back again at any time. View both summary and detail levels of a report in graph form simultaneously; walk in graphics mode to see, for example, a graph of this month's sales figures compared to last month's on the same screen.

Walkabout lets you export the data in your reports using a number of methods. It can be written to files on the PC or server, in many formats (for example, .csv files). On the PC, data can be exported seamlessly to other applications such as spreadsheets or word processors via a Dynamic Data Exchange (DDE) link. Use this with Walkabout's filtering capabilities to create highly selective mail merges. For example, create a mail merge from a report displaying all customers who received promotional material in the last three months but did not place an order.

Your business may run a high volume of reports on a day-to-day basis. With Walkabout, machine loads can be reduced by running reports overnight. However, where the same reports are run at regular intervals, it is probably more convenient to use the Report Scheduler so that these reports can be automatically scheduled to run at the appropriate time. The scheduler also allows reports to be grouped together into report packs for convenience - for example, the month end pack.

Like your main system, Walkabout is written in Progress, so your reporting facility can easily be made to blend in with it. It can look similar to, and be accessed in the same way as any other module in your application, using the same menus, security controls and so on. This means you don't have to have separate passwords, and the access permissions are the same as in your main system. You don't even need to know that you have entered a different system, reducing the amount you have to learn.