FlexiMIS 1.0
lexiMIS component compliments the power of SQL and Excel with its own power. It takes the connection string, SQL queries and header string as inputs and generates a properly formated, multi-sheet, interlinked Excel workbook as a report. The report can contain formula, functions, graphs, pivot tables, etc. FlexiMIS can also add subtotals, percentages, etc. You have choice of either seeing the report on screen or saving it to disk or mailing to a pre-specified address (mailing requires a MAPI-compliant email client connectivity). The Multi-Report Mail feature converts the output of a single query into multiple report files and mails them to respective recipients.
Output parameters can be specified through a separate program which is a part of FlexiMIS offer. SQLBuilder.xls - which is a GUI for building SQL and formatting the reports - is intuitive and easy to learn. Use of mnemonic keywords in SQL helps the user to learn and remember the keywords rapidly.
Use of formulas in the report can make the task of complex reporting very simple. For example, if you need to show two distinct and very complex set of numbers against every entry in the first column of the report, then you can just write 3 queries and link their outputs by a simple "VLOOKUP" function in Excel. This keeps the individual queries simple.
FlexiMIS also makes up for the difficulties or lacunae in SQL, like generating a cumulative total or removing duplicates. By using aggregation feature of FlexiMIS, you can just run a query to list out transactions and instead of individual values, you get the running balances directly. Also, calculating the percentage to subtotals can be done by simply inserting a single keyword. Another keyword can remove duplicates and show either first or last entry, as you wish.
FlexiMIS also allows you to pay for use, rather than a one-time license. The license cost is per database rather than one big license fee which can be difficult to absorb on one application.
