With version 22 of the report generator for software developers, which has been undergoing constant development for the past 25 years, combit once again presents well-thought-out upgrades and useful features. The software manufacturer from Konstanz/Germany not only considered the needs of developers, but also of the users of the List & Label Report Designer. For example, when creating reports in the Designer, users will benefit from being able to keep groups/data together in tables. Favorites for properties provide a better overview, and animation options in the preview make additional presentation programs such as MS PowerPoint superfluous. The new features have also made crosstabs more comprehensive. Multiple result cells and cross-references give users the freedom to calculate everything that’s important. Drop-down areas and the automatic fill-up of missing data ranges provide a clearer overview and make data analysis easier. In addition to the new radar and treemap charts, most other charts can also be sorted according to the result value.
.NET developers will receive a wide range of new possibilities thanks to a virtual file system (repository). This means that web-based projects will get drill-down support, project templates, a table of contents, and an index. And because it is stream-based, desktop/server applications also benefit from this. The new WPF wrapper for the preview brings a number of new interactive features to WPF applications.
“List & Label 22 is the first version for which we are offering long-term support (LTS). Customers with an Enterprise Edition will now receive more comprehensive support until the next LTS version is released in approximately 2 years,” said Jochen Bartlau, Managing Director and Head of Development List & Label, explaining the extended support. “In particular, customers with larger projects and longer release cycles are set to benefit from this,” Bartlau added.
All the details for the new version can be found online at:
https://www.combit.net/en/repo
FEATURE DETAILS
Radar Chart
The radar chart is ideal for visualizing relationships between different categories. Lines or areas can be used, either single or stacked. Hidden areas can be shown by displaying an outline.
Treemap
Treemaps show hierarchical data in the form of (also recursively) nested rectangles. The areas indicate size/quantity ratios and are proportional to the corresponding value. Drill-down reports via report parameters are also possible.
Chart Layout
The line type can be configured for coordinate lines (horizontal and vertical). Symbols in the chart can now optionally be assigned by the users themselves.
Sort Charts by Value
In addition to the current alphanumeric sorting method for the data series/category axis, the chart can now also be sorted according to the result value. Users benefit from the clearer presentation.
Top-N and ‘Others’ in Most Charts
Users can limit the data of a chart with Top-N to highlight important information. Data that does not correspond to the Top-N parameters will be aggregated under ‘Others’.
New Features in Crosstabs
The following new features in crosstabs provide expanded usage options:
– Multiple result cells: LL22 allows for multiple result cells. Sums can therefore be directly compared.
– Cross-references: The contents of other cells can be shown with different calculations, for example displaying a percentage or the difference between base values. This means less additional calculations for users.
– Expandable regions: If only the currently required data ranges are shown, users can analyze the data significantly faster and more easily.
– Automatic fill-in: This feature makes it easier to perform comparisons when data is missing from areas being compared.
– Top-N ‘Others’: After the Top-N entries, reports also optionally show the ‘Others’ values of the category as a sum. This makes it easier to classify the top entries according to their significance.
Virtual File System (Repository)
The new virtual file system removes crucial restrictions that previously existed for web-based projects. With the repository, more options are available in the Web Designer, and its range of features now more closely resembles that of the classic Desktop Designer. Among other things, project templates, drill-down support, tables of contents, and indexes are now available here too.
WPF Wrapper for Preview
A new control brings several new features to WPF applications: Displaying of pages created while printing, drill-down, interactive sorting, report parameters, and expandable regions.
Long-term Support (LTS)
For the Enterprise Edition, long-term support is available from LL22 onwards. combit supports versions with an even version number (22, 24, …) for approximately two years, until a new LTS version is released. This means developers with longer release cycles receive comprehensive support for even longer than before.
Favorites for Properties
The List & Label Designer offers a wide range of configuration options. Developers who require concise and clearly-laid out property windows for their users enable this feature for their customers with favorites.
Animations
Instead of having to use PowerPoint or other presentation tools, users can simply animate report objects individually in the preview. This makes the creation of presentations more efficient.
Keep groups/data together
In order to avoid the undesirable separation of data in tables due to page breaks, there is now a new, configurable Designer feature. Available for .NET and C++ with data provider.
Barcodes
MicroPDF417 and Codablock F expand the range of barcodes in LL22. GS1 Application Identifiers are fully supported. A new Designer feature allows for the calculation of checksums with any weighting.
Debwin4
Debug output can now also be logged quickly and easily for web applications and services, regardless of the process or its user context.
Logging Interface
With the new logging interface, developers can integrate the logging output into the existing logging of their own application for optimal analysis or use proven logging frameworks such as log4net or NLog.
