Warning: Undefined array key "action" in /weberp/reportwriter/admin/ReportCreator.php on line 54

[pakricard]

Report creator shows a warning on v 4.15.2 and also latest GitHub code with PHP 8:

Warning: Undefined array key "action" in /weberp/reportwriter/admin/ReportCreator.php on line 54

[timschofield]

The report writer was an area I was never really involved in, even back in the day. There appears to be a lot of issues with it, I think it needs a big rewrite. Thanks Tim

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On Wed, 20 Nov 2024 at 06:02, pakricard ***@***.***> wrote: Report creator shows a warning on v 4.15.2 and also latest GitHub code with PHP 8: Warning: Undefined array key "action" in /weberp/reportwriter/admin/ReportCreator.php on line 54 — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you are subscribed to this thread.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[pakricard]

I am not using it at all, probably in the past 10 years, as the reporting capabilities are very limited.
If we haven't received many bugs from users or other developers, most likely is because it isn't used.
Should we get rid of it for v5?

[dalers]

What problem was ReportCreator intended to solve? Was it a good solution? If ReportCreator is removed, how can the same goal be achieved?

I'm 100% in favor of removing code that doesn't provide useful functionality or where the same goal could be accomplished better with a separate app, especially if the code doesn't work and is difficult to fix and maintain. I just don't know enough about ReportCreator to have an opinion.

[pakricard]

ReportCreator creates simple user-generated reports. By “simple” I mean "really simple".

To me, it was not a suitable solution and ended up creating custom PDF reports every time we needed something not available in webERP, as this ReportCreator has plenty of limitations.

I am not using it, just reported the warning message as I am cleaning and checking my weberp.

If we have not received errors or complaints in the past 10 years, to me, is a strong indication that virtually no one is using it.
But if we vote to keep it, it should be without warnings or errors as next PHP update most probably it will stop working,

[timschofield]

The code never followed the webERP "principles" and I'm not sure if anybody actually used it in many years. Personally I would remove it and see if anybody shouts. Thanks Tim

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On Mon, 25 Nov 2024 at 08:07, pakricard ***@***.***> wrote: ReportCreator creates simple user-generated reports. By “simple” I mean "really simple". To me, it was not a suitable solution and ended up creating custom PDF reports every time we needed something not available in webERP, as this ReportCreator has plenty of limitations. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[pakricard]

Agree.

[dalers]

OK, I support @pakricard and @timschofield and agree ReportWriter should be removed. Does that mean the issue label needs to be updated? To what?

[andrewcouling]

May I suggest that we attempt gather some insight from users on the Report Creator before deciding to remove a feature that some might use routinely. This could be done with a simple Google Form (or similar) sent out to the mailing lists. I don't use the Report Creator myself , I'm not overly concerned about the outcome, but feel this should be an informed decision. Thoughts?

[dalers]

More information is always good, and it's not like there's a deadline for a decision. :-) Are you volunteering Andrew? ;-)

I propose we put a pause on taking any action until at least 2 weeks after Andrew emails the form to the mailing list. Those For? All Against?

In the meantime I'm going to at least read the ReportWriter section in the manual so I am better informed...

[andrewcouling]

Are you volunteering Andrew? ;-)

Yes, I'm happy to. I can draft a survey, and share a link here for review before publishing.

[dalers]

Fwiw, from the git log: On Dec 19, 2005 @PhilDaintree added "Dave's Form Maker" (likely Dave Premo), and it doesn't seem to have changed substantially since except @pakricard "Revised report writer with the ability for more fields" in 2010.

The rest of the commits look to be compatibility commits mostly by @timschofield @pakricard @PhilDaintree @TurboPT and largely ending ~2018, with a couple commits to the .inc files in the past couple months by Paul Thursby (aka TurboPT?), @aingelc12ell and @timschofield.

[timschofield]

Thanks Dale/Andrew that's a great solution. Tim

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On Tue, 26 Nov 2024 at 20:47, Dale Scott ***@***.***> wrote: Fwiw, from the log: On Dec 19, 2005 @PhilDaintree <https://github.com/PhilDaintree> added "Dave's Form Maker" (likely Dave Premo), which hasn't changed substantially since except @pakricard <https://github.com/pakricard> "Revised report writer with the ability for more fields" in 2010. The rest of the commits look to be compatibility commits mostly by @timschofield <https://github.com/timschofield> @pakricard <https://github.com/pakricard> @PhilDaintree <https://github.com/PhilDaintree> @TurboPT <https://github.com/TurboPT> and largely ending ~2018, with a couple commits to the .inc files in the past couple months by Paul Thursby, @aingelc12ell <https://github.com/aingelc12ell> and @timschofield <https://github.com/timschofield>. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#247 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAL6LD53RUFAEDTM3LPSRT2CTM5PAVCNFSM6AAAAABSDYGWQWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKMBRHEYDINZUHE> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org <http://www.weberpafrica.com> @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[andrewcouling]

Here's a link to a draft survey. All comments and suggestion are welcome.

Once we've settled on the survey design I intend to send out the link to these mailing list, plus I'll put a post in GH Discussions. Any suggestions on how to extend our reach beyond these?

• [email protected]
• [email protected]

[dalers]

This is fantastic! Thanks Andrew for taking this on. A couple thoughts imho.... 1. The title might influence perception and response and suggest something more neutral like simply "ReportBuilder Survey" 2. I fear those who have never used ReportBuilder may be influenced by the statement "functionality is somewhat limited" and also critics will want to know more (I still dont know enough myself to comment objectively) Does anyone have any screenshots they could share of creating a report and of a generated report that could be included to educate people like me? Can anyone give a specific example for something ReportBuilder _can't_ do? ReportBuilder does seem to have learning curve, which I wonder might be the real reason for its' the lack of popularity.... 3. Suggest adding initial question "Have you ever used ReportBuilder?"

[timschofield]

This is great Andy. The mailing lists still have quite a few subscribers, and the GitHub site now has a few followers, gaining more by the day. Can we track hits on the form, to differentiate with those who fill it in? Thanks Tim

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On Thu, 5 Dec 2024 at 21:01, Dale Scott ***@***.***> wrote: This is fantastic! Thanks Andrew for taking this on.A couple thoughts imho.... 1. The title might influence perception and response and suggest something more neutral like simply "ReportBuilder Survey"2. I fear those who have never used ReportBuilder may be influenced by the statement "functionality is somewhat limited" and also critics will want to know more (I still dont know enough myself to comment objectively)Does anyone have any screenshots they could share of creating a report and of a generated report that could be included to educate people like me? Can anyone give a specific example for something ReportBuilder _can't_ do?ReportBuilder does seem to have learning curve, which I wonder whether the real reason it's not popular....3. Suggest adding initial question "Have you ever used ReportBuilder?"On Dec 4, 2024 3:41 PM, Andrew Couling ***@***.***> wrote: Here's a link to a draft survey. All comments and suggestion are welcome. Once we've settled on the survey design I intend to send out the link to these mailing list, plus I'll put a post in GH Discussions. Any suggestions on how to extend our reach beyond these? ***@***@***.*** —Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe.You are receiving this because you commented.Message ID: ***@***.***> — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#247 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAL6LEX353O4OHRGCKQ5F32EC5KNAVCNFSM6AAAAABSDYGWQWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKMRRGQYDINBRGQ> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org <http://www.weberpafrica.com> @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[dalers]

@timschofield are you asking if the email addresses submitted to the survey can be coorelated with the email addresses subscribed to the mailing lists? What would be the goal? (not being critical, just curious what your thoughts are)

If the survey appeals to the community in general, perhap we will get an 80% response of those who are actively using and/or following webERP.

[timschofield]

Nothing as sophisticated as this Dale. I know how many are subscribed to the mailing lists, but I don't know how many read them, and that is an important distinction. Getting an idea of how many click on the link to the form, but maybe don't fill it in, is interesting information thanks Tim

…

On Thu, 5 Dec 2024 at 21:28, Dale Scott ***@***.***> wrote: @timschofield are you asking if the email addresses submitted to the survey can be coorelated with the email addresses subscribed to the mailing lists? What would be the goal? (not being critical, just curious what your thoughts are) — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub, or unsubscribe. You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[andrewcouling]

Can we track hits on the form, to differentiate with those who fill it in? Thanks Tim

I can get link analytics via a service such as bitly.com. Google Forms itself doesn't provide anything like this.

[andrewcouling]

if the email addresses submitted to the survey can be corelated with the email addresses subscribed to the mailing lists?

The Google Form is currently set to automatically collect the email address of the respondent, but they must be signed into a Google account. I figured that the majority of people have a google account these days. Alternatively you can request manual email address input (this might be off-putting), or form submissions can be anonymous.

[timschofield]

It's not a must have, I'm just a collector of statistics and so when I see a chance to get some I jump at it :)

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On Thu, 5 Dec 2024 at 22:04, Andrew Couling ***@***.***> wrote: Can we track hits on the form, to differentiate with those who fill it in? Thanks Tim I can get link analytics via a service such as bitly.com. Google Forms itself doesn't provide anything like this. — Reply to this email directly, view it on GitHub <#247 (comment)>, or unsubscribe <https://github.com/notifications/unsubscribe-auth/AAAL6LH5LHHCCSOEBB2N4H32EDEYFAVCNFSM6AAAAABSDYGWQWVHI2DSMVQWIX3LMV43OSLTON2WKQ3PNVWWK3TUHMZDKMRRGU3DGMBVGY> . You are receiving this because you were mentioned.Message ID: ***@***.***>

-- www.weberp.org <http://www.weberpafrica.com> @TimSchofield2 Blog: https://kwamoja.home.blog/

[andrewcouling]

A couple thoughts imho....

Thanks @dalers.... its great to get your input. I have worked with research designers in the past, but its really not my strength.
I have actioned your suggestions, and have tried to make the wording more neutral.
Happy to take further rounds of comments/suggestions.

[andrewcouling]

It's not a must have, I'm just a collector of statistics and so when I see a chance to get some I jump at it :)

If we do more of this kind of thing in the future, we could consider using an email campaign platform such a Mailchimp which would provide comprehensive analytics capabilities including email delivery and read status.