Abstract (eng)
Reporting is an important part of many business activities which covers all divisions of a company. It allows evaluating, monitoring, predicting and planning the activities of an enterprise. The business report is an essential source of information for analysis and decision making. Typically reports include different tables, diagrams, charts, pictures and descriptive text. Initial data for reports are taken from data sources such as database, specific data file, web services, etc. The main task of a reporting tool is to convert initial data from data sources to obvious, understandable and neatly presented information in the required form for a responsible person. For such data conversion, a report model is created in reporting tools. There are a lot of reporting tools that assist to create business reports. Each of them offers the complex solution for business reporting. Each of these products includes its own meta-model and visual editor for report creation. These tools have similar functionality for report creation, but none of report models can be used in another reporting tool. Report models that have been created in one reporting tool can be suitable for this particular reporting tool. After choosing a reporting tool, a report developer is bound to this tool and its functional and technological features. A developer cannot use the report model in another tool. This master thesis studies business report creation methods in reporting tools based on a design science research paradigm, defines restrictions and problems in their functionality and proposes a new and alternative method for the report creation. An implementation of this method as domain-specific language for report creation has been conducted. This language can be used as an alternative method for report creation with further report generation in existing reporting tools. The language extends the capabilities for creating a report model in reporting tools and helps to improve the process of creating a model, as well as the communication between participants of this process. The functionality of the language leads to an increase in re-use of parts of the report elements. A report model, written in our Report-DSL, can be compatible with many reporting tools. This compatibility decreases the dependence on a software tool for a creator of a report model. The main disadvantages of our Report-DSL are that the specification of a report model and generator require additional effort and support and embedding in or support of other languages (SQL, JavaScript, etc.) in the model specification can be complex. The Report-DSL presented in this master thesis is especially appropriate for either simple report models or report model drafts.