Delivering reports on the web can be expensive and time consuming, especially when you're faced with the task of converting existing Access reports. SSW Access Reporter was designed for the .NET developer moving from legacy Access Applications to ASP or ASP.NET. If you are a Access developer and want help to bridge the .NET migration gap, this utility allows you to deliver your existing, great-looking Microsoft Access reports online now!

Question: Is IIS required?
Answer: No, just a box with the .NET Framework is all that is needed.

Question: Is this an alternative to Crystal Reports?
Answer: Yes, the majority of our customers tell us that the Crystal pricing/licensing model makes it prohibitive.

Check out the Online Demo

Key Features & Benefits

• Deliver existing reports online with minimal re-coding.
• The functionality of Access Reporter is not just for the web, Access reports can be created from any application that can call a DLL.
• Auto run on load: Once your computer has loaded, the report server is running and ready to dish out reports. You don't need to log into the computer in order for this application to run.
• Traps VB errors on report execution.
• Looks for and resolves common Access startup prompts.
• Report Count: Every time a report is generated, the report count will go up in the databases list.
• Silent Errors: This application is designed to run unmonitored; having modal error messages pop up onto the screen would be a hassle. If the Access Reporter is unable to process a report request it will write the error message to the event log where it can be easily viewed and maintained.
• Multiple Report Formats: Access Reporter is capable of serving reports in a variety of formats. These are: Excel, RTF, Plain Text, HTML, PDF and Snapshot formats.
• Multiple Reports: You can setup multiple databases to monitor and keep open. All of this is easily maintained though the ReportManager.
• Remote Execution: The Access Reporter need only to be active, and because it listens though TCP/IP you are able run the server on any available machine on your network, reducing the work load on your web server.
• With the GhostScript option users can get PDF without having to pay for Adobe Distiller.

Figure: Configure SSW Access Reporter through one simple interface

Mike Gunderloy says that SSW Access Reporter is "Definitely Useful."

Mike Gunderloy - Smart Access eXtra

The money you spend for this Report Server could be one of the best purchases you make this year."

Danny J. Lesandrini - Smart Access eXtra

How it works

I've developed many reports in Access and I believe this program is very useful. I was very impressed with the performance of it." Alan Johns - HBP

The SSW Access Reporter utility is comprised of two primary components: the Report Server and the Report Client.

The Report Server can run on any machine and receives requests from the Report Client. As the Report Server does not need to run on the web server, the web server can delegate report processing to another machine and save resources.

The Report Client is a .NET DLL that the Web Programmer uses in the Active Server Pages to request reports. The Client and the Server communicate via .NET Remoting which is essentially talking via TCP/IP.

The Report Server provides the user with Several reporting formats, including Rich Text Format (RTF), Text only, Microsoft Excel format (XLS), HTML, Microsoft Access Snapshot format (SNP), and Adobe Acrobat format (PDF). The snapshot format requires a free plugin for viewing the reports unless Microsoft Office 2000 or XP is already installed on the clients PC.

You can create many databases Jobs, these jobs only require three settings:

• Is this Job enabled?- You may not want to monitor all the setup databases.
• Where is the Access Database to monitor? - This can also be an adp (which uses SQL as its data source)
• Where do you want the reports once generated? - This may be an IIS server on another machine.

The client machines do not need any 3rd party DLL's to view the reports from the website. (Except Acrobat reader if you want to report PDF files and a free Microsoft snapshot viewer OR Microsoft Access if you want snapshot files).

The server only requires the Access Reporter Service and any Microsoft Access version.

The three SSW component files that need to be placed in the BIN directory of your ASP .NET application are:

• SSW.AccessReporter.Common.dll
• SSW.AccessReporter.ReportClient.dll
• SSW.AccessReporter.ReportObjects.dll

Only the ReportClient.dll component needs to be referenced by your web app, but both must be present.

System Requirements

We are using Access Reporter and it is working wonderfully. I've received much positive feedback already. Everyone likes the ability to run reports from their web browser." Matthew Mitchell - Alpena General Hospital

• .NET Framework 2.0
• Microsoft Access (either 2000, XP or 2003)
• Microsoft Windows (Windows 2000, Windows XP or Windows 2003 Server)

Note: With Windows 2000 you may need to restart.

What does the unregistered version give me?

Unregistered versions of SSW Access Reporter provide limited functionality for period of 1 year. SSW provides free phone and email support to answer queries on registered products.