Creating Reports -- Docs need an update?

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I’ve been browsing this forum for information about creating reports, and it looks like a lot of it might be outdated now (not all though). Some posts contain links to dead pages now.

I am a developer, but I am not really interested in fudging with python code. The main reason is that it seems unnecessary as a report interface should be a standard portion of the system. ERPNext has a so-called “report builder,” but it is not able to work with multiple tables, and that is a huge deficit.

While searching for a workable solution to our bookkeeping needs here, among the dozen or so ERP’s I tested out, I ran across Phreebooks. Phreebooks is double-entry, but it hides all of this from the user, which I do not care for. However, it DID have a very nice and elegant report tool (devs here might want to look at it). You can pick the tables and fields you want to create a report, and you can even perform calculations of some types right within the field selections, which is convenient and powerful. I think it is not hard to understand, and I found myself creating reports within a short time, once I got the hang of it. The generated reports (like the rest of that product) are not that pleasing to look at, but they do the trick, providing the requested data in a pretty useful format.

What I don’t like in ERPNext is that you are limited to one table, and it is not possible to create the selection fields that are available in the query and script reports, as well as a few other features (check boxes, menus, etc).

Mucking around for hours on each individual report is rather repititious and tedious. A generalized report building feature would be a wonderful addition to this growingly useful system you have created.

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Another, related issue is that I cannot create query reports. It complains only an adminstrator can create query reports. But my user has all roles (except employee and supplier), including system manager. Is admin a different role? And why can’t other users create (readonly) queries, especially if their roles permit them access to certain tables?

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Bad SQL queries can be very expensive in terms of performance.

Sure, could be improved.

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What about those Administrator privileges? How do I get those?

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You could try to install Jasper report plugin. See Not Found. Jasper report has a nice query report builder.

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Thanks. I may try that. How to install? This app doesn’t appear in Setup, and I don’t see any docs in the github on how to install an extension.

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Nvm. I figured it out. Some documentation on this would be helpful for the newly arrived users.

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@cary yes that is true. This is an open source project if you think there is some point that needs improvement please try to contribute. example you figure it out in how to install you could help the documentation in this plugin. Tips: Do not always complain it will not help you or the community.

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Saying “Some documentation on this would be helpful…” hardly sounds like a complaint, just a to-do. I didn’t demand it, only suggested it.

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@cary your playing with words. if you search in google complain means “express dissatisfaction” it does not necessary means your demanding. Anyways this is my last reply on this matter. Just read my reply about open source project. I hope you get my point.

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So I try to do the “bench get-app” deal and it breaks somewhere in runpy. How should I document that? Should I document it at all?

Oh. I guess I am complaining again. So sorry to anyone who may be offended by my constant “complaining.” I suppose I just don’t get the point.

OK, genius. Tell me what to do next. (This is truly aggravating. I don’t think I am doing anything wrong other than working in the dark without documentation.)