XML Reports

Abstract

The OpenMRS reporting framework provides a rich API for constructing and evaluating new Report Definitions that are backed by a variety of Data Sets. Although several user interfaces have been developed over the years to enable implementers the ability to create their own custom reports based on these components, these UIs have not been universally well received and have run into some key limitations, notably that they do not facilitate a workflow in which a report is first developed in a test environment and later deployed to a production environment, nor do they make it easy to share reports between implementations.

The primary method today for overcoming these limitations is for developers to build and deploy their report definitions in code via a module. While this method has proven effective, it is not an option for implementations that lack access to java developers.

The goal of this project is to create a new descriptive, structured text format that can provide both developers and non-developers a preferred option for defining defining, publishing, and sharing their reports, in the manner of htmlformentry.

Project champions

• @Mike Seaton

Objectives

• Define core xml elements and attributes for representing report definitions, parameters, SQL Data Set definitions, and mapping parameters between them

• Create necessary framework to support conversion between XML and Java, aimed at supporting a growing number of capabilities

• Create xml reference guide on the wiki to clearly explain what elements and attributes are available and how they are meant to be used

Extra credit

• TBD

Resources

• OpenMRS Reporting Module

• OpenMRS HTML form entry module