Rich Internet Applications Without Limits©
Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
Actuate e.Spreadsheet is an easy-to-use spreadsheet development and deployment
product for creating sophisticated business spreadsheets. Unlike other spreadsheet
tools, e.Spreadsheet uses a unique Excel-like template report creation paradigm,
empowering a broad range of users to produce the data-driven, analysis-ready
spreadsheet documents required by business professionals in the enterprise. These
spreadsheets can include everything from simple listing reports to pivot tables
to the more complicated multidimensional matrix workbooks used in financial
planning and forecasting. When coupled with the PDF generation module available
in the latest version of Actuate, e.Spreadsheet can meet more generalized reporting
requirements.
Report deployment—including business-friendly data access, security, scheduling,
distribution, and archiving—is provided through an option available on Actuate
iServer. iServer ensures that e.Spreadsheet reports are delivered in a managed
fashion, avoiding the multiple versions of the truth associated with the typical
decentralized reporting approach.
All Actuate products run in a Rich Internet Applications-ready server environment
and benefit from its unique Collaborative Reporting Architecture, which empowers
every user in the enterprise with access to data in an application tailored to their
own skill level, presented in a familiar, analysis-ready interface.
Product
Summary
Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
Overview
Microsoft Excel© is installed on more than 90 percent
of desktop computers worldwide and is used for
reporting by more than 58 percent of business
professionals in the Fortune 500. It’s no surprise
that when business users want to create, view, drill
into, manipulate, and graph enterprise information,
the majority of them want to do this in an Excel
spreadsheet.
With Actuate’s e.Spreadsheet, that’s what they get:
live business data delivered securely on demand as
easy-to-use and familiar Excel spreadsheets, with
all formatting, formulas and graphs intact. Users are
no longer required to reformat from flat .csv files;
use custom scripting or unstable plugins; employ
complicated querying; or cut, paste and manually
enter data, which invariably leads to entry errors.
Instead, users receive complete information direct
from the source, pre-formatted and ready for analysis.
While business users get business data just the way
they need it, IT retains complete control over missioncritical data. This is accomplished with zero training
and low maintenance and deployment costs.
Fast spreadsheet creation
With e.Spreadsheet Designer, users create a
spreadsheet design that defines both the data
to retrieve and the format of the resulting Excel
document delivered to each user. Based on user roles
and the selected data, one design can create unique
spreadsheets for hundreds or thousands of different
business users. Authors can define spreadsheet
designs across multiple business units and time
periods, creating spreadsheets that “roll” from unit to
unit or period to period without changing the dataretrieval criteria.
The design environment closely resembles the Excel
application itself, leveraging existing Excel expertise
to speed development time. Powerful menu options
and wizards contribute to making the spreadsheet
creation process fast and straightforward, without the
need for writing code. Use wizard-based selections to
The e.Spreadsheet Designer closely resembles
the Excel interface, leveraging existing Excel expertise
to speed up spreadsheet development.
format cells and worksheets, adjust formulas and data
grouping, summarize data automatically, insert graphs
and pivot tables, and more.
Users can also create and customize a wide array
of charts, including 3D graphs, as well as connect
e.Spreadsheet designs to a variety of data sources—
including Actuate’s unique Information Objects-based
metadata layer, any database, XML data sources or
Java objects—quickly and easily.
Once designs are created in the e.Spreadsheet
Designer, it’s easy to publish them to the Actuate
iServer where they become available to end users.
Server-based spreadsheet deployment
Corporations with a high dependency on Excel
spreadsheets often face challenges: multiple versions
of the same report, inconsistent formula definitions,
and multiple, department-centric spreadsheet data
silos, ultimately resulting in multiple versions of the
truth. In addition, there are often high personnel
costs and low productivity associated with the
human spreadsheet servers who generate the Excel
documents.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
The e.Spreadsheet Option for Actuate iServer helps
IT overcome these issues by providing servercontrolled spreadsheet management throughout
the enterprise, as well as the extended network of
suppliers, distributors, and customers. The iServer
handles housekeeping tasks such as scheduling, data
refresh, scalable generation, security, authentication
and archiving, ensuring that IT professionals and
end-users alike get fast, automated access to the most
accurate, up-to-date spreadsheets in Excel.
The components required to deploy and produce
Actuate e.Spreadsheets include the e.Spreadsheet
Designer, the e.Spreadsheet Engine (for Java
developers) , or the e.Spreadsheet option running in an
i.ServerEnterprise or i.Server Express environment, also
available from Actuate (actuate.com).
Actuate has consistently led the BI industry in the creation of new tools for automating spreadsheet production.
While other companies boast that their solutions equal Actuate’s solutions or do more, the facts are clear.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
Features and Benefits
e.Spreadsheet Designer
e.Spreadsheet Designer is an easy-to-use report
development tool for creating authentic Excel files
and reports that retain formulas, formatting and live
charts.
e.Spreadsheet Designer is for report developers and
Excel experts who rely heavily on Excel to perform
their jobs and want to automatically populate files
with new data and modify them to accommodate
different audiences.
eSpreadsheet Designer is also used by Java
developers to design spreadsheet templates that will
be leveraged with e.Spreadsheet engine as part of an
application.
Reliable Spreadsheet Reporting Paradigm
eSpreadsheet Designer is visual development
environment designed specifically for authoring
Excel reports supporting a rich array of Excel features.
e.Spreadsheet Designer establishes a reporting
spreadsheet paradigm that supports repeatable and
reliable spreadsheet reporting processes.
• Reusable Models – reads existing Excel files and uses
them as a starting point for new designs.
• Design abstraction - abstracts the design from the
generated reports to better support repeated reuse,
and allow what-if modification by end-users without
introducing errors in the source design.
• Data Explorer - provides a quick overview of a report
infrastructure including data sources, data sets,
parameters and security settings, as well as scripting
definitions.
Flexible Spreadsheet Report Design
e.Spreadsheet Designer supports defining data
queries and virtually all of Excel’s functions.
• Excel feature support – supports pivot tables,
conditional formatting, multiple worksheets, data
filters, adding and naming worksheets, merging cells,
sorting data, creating data groups, inserting rows and
columns, and adding graphs.
• Formatting Wizard - lets you quickly format data from
a query into a spreadsheet report using dynamic cell
references for defining formulas, calculations and
totals using Excel syntax.
The query design editor users Microsoft Access-like interfaces to guide the
spreadsheet author through the query creation process
• Three-dimensional multi-sheet crosstab workbooks
- includes cross-sheet references such as a table of
contents or a summary worksheet that subtotals the
values on other worksheets with exact control over the
ordering of the tabs.
• Visual query editor – builds a query and verifies that
the data connections are defined correctly and that
the correct tables were chosen.
• Cascading parameters – sets up dynamic cascading
user prompts that filter the data or affect the structure
of the spreadsheet that is rendered.
• Pivot tables – generates Excel reports that sort, sum
and flip data for analysis.
• 2D and 3D Excel charts – supports Excel charts including
column, line, area, step, bar, combination, pie, doughnut,
XY (scatter) and bubble.
Data-driven layout
eSpreadsheet Designer generates the final Excel file
layout at run time based on the latest data and user
input, unlike fixed boundary templates built in Excel An
e.Spreadsheet design won’t break when data exceeds the
template, especially in a time series.
• Automatic expand and contract – reports expand and
contract as dictated by the data, such as columns
expand across the page, rows down the page, with
outlining features.
• Worksheet bursting – in addition to bursting data
down rows and across columns it also supports
bursting across worksheets.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
• Date grouping - Built-in understanding of date
relationships so it can automatically group data into
months and quarters.
• Multiple data source access – data from multiple data
sources can be a incorporated into one spreadsheet.
e.Spreadsheet Engine
e.Spreadsheet Engine is an API-driven, Java-based
component that integrates spreadsheet logic into
Java applications and generates spreadsheets with
timely and accurate application data. It can be used
to automate any manual spreadsheet process.
Java development and work teams can read, write,
modify and generate entire spreadsheets or parts of
spreadsheets to accomplish two tasks:
• Give users a rich spreadsheet reporting experience
with an Excel-like interface and functionality
• Leverage existing spreadsheet models to drive
business logic in an application
Automated, web-based spreadsheets
The e.Spreadsheet Engine generates output that
offers a high level of Excel compatibility with support
for important features including pivot tables,
conditional formatting, multiple worksheets, data
filters, and more. The output can be delivered over
the web and viewed in a browser.
• Spreadsheet generation - accesses data and generates
a fully functional Excel file populated with current
values which can be delivered over the web and
viewed in a browser using the local Excel client.
• Dynamic generation at run-time - designs and
generates an Excel file based on user input at run-time,
with or without a pre-existing Excel design file.
• Charting API - generates Excel-compatible 2D and 3D
charts programmatically to embed in applications.,
and supports many chart types including column,
line, area, step, bar, combination, pie, doughnut, XY
(scatter), bubble, pie-of-pie, bar-of-pie, and stock.
• Spreadsheet user interface - embeds Excel-like grids in an
application for a richer user experience.
Read, parse and calculation functions
The e.Spreadsheet Engine APIs provide access to the
complex logic and formulas in spreadsheets that end
users have already built and calculates up-to-date
values, delivering those values in a web interface that
eliminates the need to rewrite existing Excel business
logic in Java.
Report wizards make spreadsheet creation
fast and easy.
• Spreadsheet file reading - parses values, formulas and
cell attributes from an Excel file and uploads them to
other applications.
• Formula Calculations - performs the calculations
defined in Excel spreadsheets to provide the results of
formulas to an application.
• Image creation - creates an image from a chart with
drill-to-detail capabilities and embeds that image in a
web page.
Multiple usage paradigms
The e.Spreadsheet Engine and Excel APIs can be used
independently or with the e.Spreadsheet Designer to act
as an Excel calculation engine, a spreadsheet generator
or an existing spreadsheet reader. The product is 100%
pure Java, so that it integrates efficiently into existing
Java environments and applications.
• Calculation engine – uses the Engine and APIs to
perform Excel formula calculations in an application.
• Spreadsheet generator – uses the APIs to generate
a spreadsheet from scratch in virtually any Java
environment.
• Spreadsheet designer and generator – uses the
e.Spreadsheet Designer product to design a
spreadsheet, then uses the APIs to integrate the
spreadsheet into an application that will in turn tell
the Engine when and for whom to generate the report.
• Existing spreadsheet reader – uses the APIs to read
existing spreadsheet files for values, formulas and cell
attributes to upload into an application.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
e.Spreadsheet option on i.Server or i.Server Express
e.Spreadsheet goes far beyond most spreadsheet
solutions on the market today. The application:
• Completes 90% of the work of building a spreadsheet;
the “design blueprint” makes the difference between
productive and non-productive time spent working
with a spreadsheet, shifting the focus from the
application to the information
• Possesses the power of an enterprise-class report
authoring tool, with the ease-of-use and familiarity of
the most common spreadsheet application on earth:
Excel.
In addition, e.Spreadsheet provides:
• Multiple data-source integration
• Enterprise-level security, storage, and administrative
functions
• Top-level layout, with the additional benefit of an
archived, reusable design blueprint that enables
administrators to trace inconsistencies inadvertently
introduced later on in the spreadsheet production
process
• Spreadsheet “safety,” when the e.Spreadsheet design
tool is used. Every document is created by a power
Excel® user or a developer, and end users simply
modify, rather than create, reports
• Ease of use that enables end users to take full
advantage of the extras Excel® provides, including
outlining, pivot tables, conditional formatting,
graphing, defined data filtering, and using multiple
worksheets (90% of workbooks in use today contain
more than one worksheet). Most other spreadsheet
automation solutions are limited to a single worksheet
Process flow for SmartSheet™ Security: A single report “design blueprint”
executes and runs queries against production data sources ahead of
time and produces a master spreadsheet catalog, which is stored
on the iServer. Later, individual users log on to the iServer
to retrieve their spreadsheets. User privileges are then used to render
a personalized Excel® spreadsheet that contains only the data
and report components a user is authorized to see.
Actuate 10 benefits include enhancements in the
way e.Spreadsheet reports run on iServer:
• Improved report generation performance for
e.Spreadsheet reports
• Simplified configuration of e.Spreadsheet option
• Support for .pdf generation
• Controlled view-time parameter requester pages
• Personalized views via view-time parameters
• Joined and view-time data sets
• Enhanced IDAPI calls to support view-time parameters
• Protected, SmartSheet™ security
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
e.Spreadsheet is Different:
A (Baker’s) Dozen Reasons to Use Actuate e.Spreadsheet
e.Spreadsheet was developed to change the way spreadsheets are created, used and distributed throughout the enterprise. In addition to
the features and benefits above, e.Spreadsheet offers significant improvements over other spreadsheet software. e.Spreadsheet:
1. Improves spreadsheet report automation and generation: e.Spreadsheet was not developed simply to create reports; it solves one of
the oldest problems with Excel which is uniform, large-scale report distribution. However, individuals can certainly create reports with
e.Spreadsheet Designer.
2. Offers an elastic organizational structure: The design blueprint dictates how the spreadsheet is expanded, allowing it to grow
as needed without breaking. For example, it isn’t necessary to know how many kinds of widgets your company carries in advance of
building your spreadsheet—the spreadsheet design blueprint will derive that from the data and expand without breaking the report.
3. Dependably generates information: e.Spreadsheet templates don’t break, especially in a time series. For example, a
spreadsheet with four quarters of sales information will “break” when the data rolls over into a new year. Excel templates fail unless
they are modified to include new quarters. e.Spreadsheet solves this problem.
4. Solves the problem of mass spreadsheet distribution: e.Spreadsheet eliminates the spreadsheet silos that abound in most businesses.
SmartSheet™ Security enables businesses to distribute reports to many individuals within a controlled environment. Each user
receives only the information he or she is authorized to see.
5. Delivers data in an analysis-ready format, while still allowing for flexibility: Report authors use queries to obtain data from multiple
sources. The template or blueprint design is then finalized, providing the spreadsheet’s structure, security and functionality. This
distribution process enables users to receive ready-made reports instead of the usual data dumps that require re-formatting, reentering formulas, etc. The end user is then able to alter the spreadsheet to suit his or her own needs, changing values or modifying
formulas without rebuilding the spreadsheet.
6. Mitigates fraud: With e.Spreadsheet and SmartSheet™ Security, IT is always in control of the spreadsheet, as they hold
the original master record—the pre-distribution report—safely archived for ready reference. If a spreadsheet is
incorrectly modified after distribution it can be proven, without requiring an extensive (and exhausting) paper trail audit that could
extend backward for years.
7. Delivers actionable information: Real-time, data-source information can be combined with derived-value data as it is delivered on
demand, pre-formatted and ready to use. Users can retrieve their spreadsheets often and make important business decisions based
on current, relevant data.
8. Deploys on an enterprise platform: e.Spreadsheet arms adopters with all the benefits of a world-class reporting system, utilizing the
tool with which users are already familiar—Excel—reducing time-to-market and virtually guaranteeing adoption.
9. Scales to accommodate every user, anywhere: Actuate iServer email and Web delivery enable anyone with the proper authorization to
begin working with reports, regardless of where the reports were created.
10. Generates multiple reports from one design: Minimizes query hits against source systems, reducing IT management and
system load.
11. Automatically creates whole workbooks: Dynamically calculates the number of individual worksheets that will be required.
This is useful for creating groupings by worksheet and overcoming the 64,000-row limit in older Excel versions.
12. Liberates server space: e.Spreadsheet produces only required reports and delivers them directly and solely to the users that created them and to those designated as report recipients, reducing server hits and load.
13. Incorporates 15 years of Actuate experience: e.Spreadsheet is a mature software tool, the culmination of Actuate’s experience
in the field of developing software for spreadsheet creation and distribution.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
Deployment Options
Collaborative reporting architecture can be deployed
and configured to address the needs of almost
any type of reporting project in any business
environment:
• Embedded Java Reporting Kit: iPortal, BIRT, Interactive
Viewer and BIRT Report Studio can be seamlessly
embedded within larger Java applications to provide
advanced reporting, printing and formatting features.
• iServer Express Deployments: iServer Express is an
implementation of iServer technology for deploying
BIRT and e.Spreadsheet. Unlike other server
environments, iServer Express was designed to fit into
any size deployment and provides reliable and secure
server functions while delivering Information Object
metadata and data integration capabilities.
• iServer Enterprise Deployments: iServer provides
high-scale performance, reliability and security, and
supplies Information Object metadata and multiserver and multi-project capabilities to enterprise
collaborative reporting projects.
The Collaborative
Reporting Architecture
iServer Express is an integral member of Actuate’s
collaborative reporting architecture, which brings the
principles of open source to reporting applications
and encourages participation, iterative development
and modularity. iServer Express drives business user
self-service in collaborative reporting.
The entire collaborative reporting architecture
includes:
Actuate BIRT Reports: web reports based on opensource BIRT technology from the Eclipse project,
available without charge from www.birt-exchange.com.
• Actuate BIRT Report Studio: self-service, ad-hoc web
report development within IT control
• Interactive Viewer: end user report viewing and
customization
• iServer Express: single-server installation of iServer for
easy and fast deployment of BIRT and e.Spreadsheet
e.Spreadsheet encourages user self-service
while allowing for collaboration across all skill levels.
options. iServer Express can be set up and running
reports in one hour, enables the use of Information
Objects, and includes scheduling, versioning, and
archiving functions, allowing users to run both
on-demand and scheduled reports without IT
intervention but within IT-control
• iServer Enterprise: highly scalable implementation of
Actuate services which adds to iServer Express e.Reports;
Analytics and Actuate Query support; multi-server, multiproject support; high-availability clustering, failover
and load balancing; metadata caching; and enterprise
management and tuning features
These options provide an array of choices from which
to create unique information applications that appeal
to any user.
Within the collaborative reporting architecture
structure, report designs can be shared among
highly skilled report developers, business users
and consumers. This encourages participation
and supports an iterative report development
environment, which speeds development and
adoption of information applications.
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Product Summary: e.Spreadsheet
System Requirements
Overall system requirements vary with options
chosen. For a system analysis based on your specific
needs, please contact an Actuate expert at 1-800-9142259 (US & Canada) or contact us by email. You can
also contact one of our offices worldwide.
For More Information
To get more information about e.Spreadsheets please
contact an Actuate expert at 1-800-914-2259 (US &
Canada) or contact us by email. You can also contact
one of our offices worldwide.
Actuate Corporation
2207 Bridgepointe Parkway
Suite 500
San Mateo, CA 94404
Tel: (888) 422-8828
Web: http://www.actuate.com
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