End user designer in n-tier environment

rbuser

Hi,

normally in a desktop application (single tier) the reports reside on the
same machine as the application, and a user can modify/create reports as
he/she wants. But what if a report has to be modifyied (or created) so these
changes are available to all users in an n-tier environment, without doing
the same on each client where the application is installed ?
I don't understand if this is possible (or suitable - any suggestions ?) :
have the reports to stay in the application server (or database) tier ? If
this is possible, what happens if a user is modifying a report while another
is using (or even modifying) it ?

Thanks,
FB.

digitalmetaphors

In an n-tier environment, the report templates can reside on an end user
database. All the users can access this report and print it out or load it
into a report designer for changes that they can save to the database. There
is nothing built into ReportBuilder to prevent one user from overwriting
changes to a report that another user just saved to the database. When a
user wants to change a report, it is downloaded from the database and the
user manipulates a local copy of the report on their machine. Other users
can do the same. The database engine should only allow one user to update a
report template which resides on the database at one time.


Cheers,

Jim Bennett
Digital Metaphors