Editing Invoice Layouts ????

[Jade]

This is a very old post from Dec 2005.....I can't believe that nearly six years after this post there still isn't an option for Actinic users to edit invoice layouts ???? Or am I missing something ?? - Do I still need to try and locate a copy of Crystal Reports 8.5 to enable me to change anything on the invoice layouts ?

I can't disagree with the points that are made.

What I can do is offer an explanation - little comfort I know - but it does provide some background context.

We originally went with Crystal reports as it provided flexible report writing with no run-time distribution cost. This wasn't ideal, as anyone wanting to make a change had to purchase Crystal, but it was a reasonable compromise.

Unfortunately, Crystal made some major changes after 8.5. This meant that to continue using the latest Crystal we had to do loads of re-work. As our eventual objective is to provide the ability to freely change report layouts not using Crystal, this re-work didn't seem to be worth it.

Unfortunately, we haven't yet been able to do the work to provide this free editing capability yet, although v8 should provide the technical platform on which we can build this.
So apologies again. We are aware of the problem, and we do have a plan to address it. Unfortunately not immediately.

Chris

[Duncan Rounding]

Actinic does still use Crystal Reports in the same manner.

[Steve G Griggs]

And will probably do so in V11 I expect

[Duncan Rounding]

To move away from CR would be major work for Actinic and whilst I appreciate that many people don't have the freedom to modify their own reports I would certainly prefer Actinic to rather concentrate that effort on what many would consider more important changes such online account management, online order history, real time stock control, single use coupons etc.

[Jade]

I appreciate that many people don't have the freedom to modify their own reports I would certainly prefer Actinic to rather concentrate that effort on what many would consider more important changes such online account management, online order history, real time stock control, single use coupons etc

I agree that the above is VERY important but.....6 years is a long time when the following states that Actinic had a 'plan' to address it in 2005 !...

We haven't yet been able to do the work to provide this free editing capability yet, although v8 should provide the technical platform on which we can build this.
So apologies again. We are aware of the problem, and we do have a plan to address it. Unfortunately not immediately

[GolfGripsDirect]

To move away from CR would be major work for Actinic and whilst I appreciate that many people don't have the freedom to modify their own reports I would certainly prefer Actinic to rather concentrate that effort on what many would consider more important changes such online account management, online order history, real time stock control, single use coupons etc.

That and being able to charge people to do it for them, come on it's in your sig!

I definitely agree with Jade though, it's one thing to rely on another piece of software to extend the functionality of your program, it's another to rely on an over 10 year old version of said software.

I'd really like to hear from actinic where they plan on going with this. I have no problem with relying on another program to edit reports, but when you don't maintain this dependence such that I then need to find a very old version of the software (that may well not even run on today's operating systems without messing around) for the sake of 'one day we might make them editable so updating this would be wasting our time' is no good.

[leehack]

It's important to think about this in the real world, the reality is that most people do not change reports and happy with what is there. For those that are not happy, they pay a small price and have a few reports made to their requirement. That's about it, it's not like the design interface or the content tree where continual change occurs. If any changes are needed, they're almost always one offs, because once created, that's it for the next umpteen years.

You have to accept that a) they cannot do everything you'd want and b) they need to focus on the areas that will make the biggest difference to the largest amount of users.

As you can see although report changes are a nice to have, the wider picture has far more important things they want before and therefore the timescales just slip and slip and ultimately it may never get done. If it doesn't, that's just a sign that far more important things are being done, which is good for the masses which is who the product is built for.

I fully agree it's not great and in an ideal world it would be possible, but we have to be realistic with what can be achieved.

Gesturing about Duncan's signature having anything to do with his opinion on this is just plain naive, you clearly have no idea about his reputation and standing in this community, if i were you i'd keep silly remarks like that to yourself.

[GolfGripsDirect]

Gesturing about Duncan's signature having anything to do with his opinion on this is just plain naive, you clearly have no idea about his reputation and standing in this community, if i were you i'd keep silly remarks like that to yourself.

Twas meant in jest! I see your point about maximal impact though, despite the little programmer inside me screaming I guess it's just not practical, looking forward to see what v11 has to offer!

Rob

[leehack]

I fully understand your point and it is valid and maybe one day it will happen, i think what is happening in reality is that ecommerce keeps evolving and new things just keep leaping ahead this in the wanted list. If for example there is a list of the top 50 things that we want on actinic software, this has probably been stuck at position 25 for the past 5-6 years and never really climbed.

If they update to latest versions etc. then people will need to buy extra software and learn new software and that will probably have more people unhappy. Ultimately i guess we want an inbuilt CR type software within the application that we can just easily drag and drop, maybe one day eh lol.

[Paul Bulpit]

once created, that's it for the next umpteen years.

Not quite, in that bespoke reports don't work in later versions!

Admittedly it's a one-off expense, but if you need tailoring, it adds to the cost of upgrading every couple of years.

[leehack]

I didn't know that, what changes? is there some sort of marker on the report that denotes which version it is for? Unless it's linked to the underlying database structure in some way, i guess that could make sense the way you define data tables in CR.

[Duncan Rounding]

The report is linked to the database version by the ODBC connection for that version, but the database schema also changes between releases and can also affect the reports.

[Joatmon]

it's not like the design interface or the content tree where continual change occurs. If any changes are needed, they're almost always one offs

But it could be. Instead of thinking about packing lists and invoices as dull administrative reports, how about thinking about them as marketing opportunities.

When I order online, quite often the packing note also has promotions, related products etc on it. If you could alter these regularly to show seasonal offers etc I think it would be a big step forward.

Actinic has had loads of Marketing improvements since I started with V7;Bestsellers, Also Boughts, Marketing Lists etc and this could be the next one.

List of related products to the one you just bought?

Automatic loyalty discount code for your next order?

[Duncan Rounding]

Ideally perhaps the frontline reports (invoice and packing list) could be available in the Design View as a Page Type, much like the customer emails. You could then have the use of custom variables scoped to customer, customer groups or orders perhaps etc.

Perhaps some php database queries could be developed to generate the report content that is then merged into a design created in the above manner. This could then be used to create an html based output that could be printed via a browser.

It gets somewhat more complicated when you need to consider precise postional control for label and bar code printing however and of course a link must be made to the orders prior to design preview - but there would be no fun without challenges.

[leehack]

But it could be. Instead of thinking about packing lists and invoices as dull administrative reports, how about thinking about them as marketing opportunities.

When I order online, quite often the packing note also has promotions, related products etc on it. If you could alter these regularly to show seasonal offers etc I think it would be a big step forward.

Actinic has had loads of Marketing improvements since I started with V7;Bestsellers, Also Boughts, Marketing Lists etc and this could be the next one.

List of related products to the one you just bought?

Automatic loyalty discount code for your next order?

Have you implemented reports of this kind or are these just good ideas that you would do if you easily could within the software. If you've not done any of them yet, how come? If they will present such a drastic change to fortune, surely well worth paying for an interface to be built? Or is this falling foul of the usual request requirements in that it would only be a fabulous addition if it was free?

If things like this were at the forefront and would transform the fortunes of sites, foreward thinkers like yourself wouldn't miss the opportunity to capitalise, even if it meant getting it built yourself. That's my stance anyway for what its worth.