14:31:15 <jenny> #startmeeting The Evergreen Reports Taskforce meeting.  Agenda is posted: http://open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen-reports:meetings:2012-03-30-agenda
14:31:15 <pinesol_green> Meeting started Fri Mar 30 14:31:15 2012 US/Eastern.  The chair is jenny. Information about MeetBot at http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot.
14:31:15 <pinesol_green> Useful Commands: #action #agreed #help #info #idea #link #topic.
14:31:50 <jenny> Hi everyone.  We'll start the meeting with introductions.
14:31:56 * jenny is Jenny Turner, PALS
14:32:12 * phasefx is lurking, Jason Etheridge, Equinox
14:32:13 * bshum is Benjamin Shum, Bibliomation
14:32:21 <bshum> (also lurking mostly)
14:33:02 * bshum pokes jeff
14:33:15 <jenny> Also, unless someone objects, we'll rely on MeetBot for minutes.  Handy commands are found here: http://wiki.debian.org/MeetBot under "Howto"
14:34:58 * gmcharlt is Galen Charlton, Equinox (listening in mostly)
14:36:18 * tsbere is Thomas Berezansky, MVLC (and probably going into full lurk mode now)
14:36:41 * afterl is Amy Terlaga (and unfortunately I'm in listen mode too today)
14:37:11 <jenny> Hmmmm...that makes for a quiet meeting, since I am the only non-lurker.
14:37:39 <gmcharlt> jenny: we await your monologue, then ;)
14:38:47 <jenny> I'm not really one for impromptu speeches... :)
14:39:36 <jenny> Well, looking at the proposed agenda, is there anything anyone wanted to discuss? http://open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen-reports:meetings:2012-03-30-agenda
14:40:36 <bshum> Well, I know jeff was supposed to talk about jasperreports stuff, or had some new demo information
14:40:46 <bshum> But he appears to be MIA at the moment.
14:40:52 <jeff> hi.
14:40:57 <bshum> Oh there he is jenny
14:40:59 <jeff> thanks for the prod.
14:41:00 <jenny> YEA!
14:41:19 * jeff is Jeff Godin, Traverse Area District Library (TADL)
14:41:20 <jenny> #topic Jeff's jasperreports update!
14:41:32 <jeff> heh
14:42:16 <jenny> (skipping much of the agenda since it's a quiet afternoon)
14:42:58 <jeff> JasperSoft makes a number of software products under the JasperSomething name, including tools which are available under "community edition" open source licenses / free to use.
14:43:10 <jeff> They also offer commercial paid products, but we haven't delved into those at this time.
14:43:38 <jeff> TADL has been using JasperReports Server as a web frontend for a self-service reporting interface for staff, and using iReport to design the report templates.
14:44:21 <jeff> If you have an SQL report, you can turn it into a JasperReports report template, give parameters that staff can be prompted to enter, etc.
14:44:36 <afterl> cool
14:45:04 <jenny> that does sound pretty neat!  jeff: you are doing a demo/presentation at the conference, correct?
14:45:07 <jeff> I've got a demo server up with a very basic pair of reports. Between now and the conference, I'll be fleshing it (or its replacement) out with more reports (and more data -- so that the reports are less boring).
14:45:32 <jeff> Demo server is at http://orchid.dev.tadl.org:8080/jasperserver
14:45:44 <jeff> You can log in with the read-only username and password of egdemo / open-ils
14:46:21 <jenny> nice.  Thanks, jeff!
14:46:23 <jeff> Once there, probably easiest way to navigate is to pick Reports from the View menu/navigation across the top.
14:46:57 <jeff> If you run the "User Profile Counts" report -- simply click it -- you'll see a count of users in profile groups by library location.
14:47:07 <jeff> This is just using some demo/sample data on a 2.1 system.
14:47:52 <jeff> if you then click the name of one of the profile groups in the report output, it should run a drill-down report which will list all of the patrons (family, first, and username) in that group.
14:48:17 <jeff> On the left-hand side, you'll see options where you can change the criteria, to see just users with a certain home OU, or to see users in a different group.
14:49:33 <jeff> I'm planning to create reports for all of the SQL reports listed in the Evergreen wiki. http://evergreen-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen-reports:sql
14:50:05 <jeff> Beyond that, and what reports TADL is using, I'm open for other suggestions. Perhaps starting in on the canned reports that were contributed some time back.
14:50:39 <afterl> Yes, that sounds like a great idea!
14:50:57 <jenny> jeff++
14:51:01 <afterl> Jeff, will  you be around at all for the reports meeting at the EG conference?
14:51:11 <afterl> Or will you be too busy with the hackfest stuff?
14:51:12 <jenny> jeff: are you able...what afterl said. :)
14:51:45 <afterl> I'm leading the SQL discussion (I think, right jenny?) ....
14:52:01 <jeff> if the hackfest is at the same time as a reports meeting, i'll likely be at the hackfest. nothing's set in stone.
14:52:03 <afterl> and I'd want to fold this into it
14:52:03 <jenny> afterl: that's what you volunteered for!
14:52:11 <afterl> right!
14:52:27 <jeff> but then of course i'll be presenting on jasperreports and what we're doing with it during a session of its own.
14:52:44 <afterl> so maybe we can just talk about this - and we can get people to go to your session
14:52:53 <jeff> sounds good. :-)
14:52:54 <jenny> afterl: you could bring this info to that discussion to generate excitement for jeff's session later...yeah, we're on the same page.
14:53:14 <afterl> yes, great, I'll do that!
14:53:27 <jenny> afterl++
14:53:33 <jenny> jeff: anything else?
14:54:12 <bshum> jeff++
14:54:23 <jeff> I think that's most of it for now. Anyone have other questions?
14:55:00 <jenny> jeff++
14:55:29 <jeff> reports export to pdf, excel, etc. pdf works well for us, excel export has gotten better, but isn't much needed we've found.
14:55:52 <jeff> users can log in and schedule reports and have the report output (say, pdf) emailed to them -- or they can log in to the web interface to retrieve it.
14:56:24 <jeff> it can tie to an ldap server (such as active directory) for staff logins -- we're using that here at TADL.
14:57:03 <jeff> we also have reports for other non-ils data, such as our soft stats, wireless/public computing stats, visitor counts, etc.
14:57:59 <afterl> jeff:  when you say excel reports aren't much needed, what do you mean by that?
14:58:38 <afterl> and what's still wrong with that export (if anything)?
14:59:22 <jeff> i mean that staff frequently exported reports from the evergreen reporter to Excel in order to add things like totals. Since steps like that are no longer needed (since the reports in JasperReports get totals/etc), we found there wasn't much need/interest in exporting to Excel.
14:59:53 <afterl> okay, that makes sense
15:00:37 <jenny> any other questions for jeff?
15:02:43 <jenny> Anything on any of the other agenda items?
15:03:15 <jenny> Particularly..
15:03:22 <jenny> #topic Evergreen reports-related activities at Evergreen Annual Conference
15:05:13 <afterl> What are the sub-categories at the reports meeting?
15:05:31 <jenny> so far nothing has been added to the agenda/brainstorming
15:05:38 <jenny> since the last meeting
15:05:49 <afterl> I know SQL reports.  Didn't jessica agree to lead one?
15:06:05 <jenny> yes...listed here: http://open-ils.org/dokuwiki/doku.php?id=evergreen-reports:meetings:2012-04-25-agenda
15:06:23 <jenny> Amy Terlaga, Bibliomation / SQL Reports Discussion    Jessica Venturo, Bibliomation / Sharing Ideas for Staff Client Reports (?)
15:06:58 <afterl> And jenny:  which one will you be leading?
15:07:41 <jenny> I thought that if we got a large crowd, we could perhaps generate other discussion topics through a mini-workshop session, which I would lead.  Then I would be fine stepping in to lead whatever topic needed a leader from that
15:08:04 <afterl> okay, that sounds good
15:09:00 <jenny> #info the tentative topic ideas we've generated are    New/Investigating Evergreen,    SQL Reports,    Reports Documentation (pieces needed, organization). And of these, I would lead the documentation piece.
15:09:32 <afterl> so would we all stay in the same room in our small groups and discuss quietly?
15:09:45 <jenny> but, if a bunch of newbies/EG investegators show up, as they did last year, I would also be comfortable leading a Q/A session for those people
15:10:09 <jenny> Yeah, we have a room, so I am thinking we will stay there and divide up.  It worked ok last year.
15:10:15 <afterl> so you're ready to take it wherever it needs to go.  that's cool
15:10:58 <jenny> and then I will wrangle the troops at the end of the time to allow people to share some highlights of their discussions.  Since I am guessing/hoping people will be interested in more than one of the groups!
15:11:11 <jenny> Plus, I wanna know what people talk about. : )
15:11:13 <afterl> good plan
15:12:10 <jenny> Ok, anything else on the conference?
15:13:16 <jenny> #info gmcharlt will be joining us to talk a bit about template sharing at the begining of the interest group meeting
15:13:42 <jenny> I believe Jessica suggested that.
15:14:58 <jenny> #topic Anything else we need/want to discuss during this meeting?
15:15:35 <afterl> jenny:  did gmcharlt agree to that?
15:15:45 <jenny> afterl: yup!
15:15:53 <afterl> great!
15:16:21 <jenny> :)
15:17:31 <jenny> Seems like we are winding down again.  Thanks, everyone!  Looking forward to our meeting in Indianapolis!
15:18:39 <afterl> me, too!
15:19:35 <afterl> happy weekend, everyone
15:19:40 <jenny> I will compile notes/a summary from this meeting, since I didn't do a great job of keeping MeetBot on task today.
15:19:54 <jenny> Happy weekend, to you, too!
15:20:07 <jenny> #endmeeting