WordWriter is part of the OfficeWriter package. The package also includes an ExcelWriter that I have not used, but the process for building the reports is very similar.
WordWriter is a basically just a prepackaged library of code that you can use in your own ASP/ASP.NET applications. If you want to use WordWriter to generate managed reports, then you must know
How to build web pages
Basics of scripting languages
Basics of server-side scripting
Basics of Microsoft Internet Information Services
SQL (Standard Query Language)
If you are a developer, then learning these prerequesits is feasable, but still time consuming. For example, although I already had experience building web pages and using SQL, it took me approximately 16 hours to learn everything I needed to know in order to build one simple customer list report.
If you’re not a developer, it’s going to be extremely hard to learn these things and very unlikely that you will finish learning them in less than a couple of months. Therefore, if you aren’t a developer, you can’t use WordWriter to generate your reports.
If you are a developer, then learning these prerequesits is feasable, but still time consuming. For example, although I already had experience building web pages and using SQL, it took me approximately 16 hours to learn everything I needed to know in order to build one simple customer list report.
Even though I do know the basics of WordWriter, creating new reports is time consuming because for each new report, I have to write a new program that is tailored to that report. Also, updating the report is a pain because I have to change both the template and the application. All of that time that I spend just getting the report working is time that
I could have spent formatting the report, which I have yet to do. I could format the report before hand, but it’s better to wait until I get it working first, otherwise I’ll have to go back and change my formatting again, thereby losing more time.
