Specifications

About InfoMaker
4 InfoMaker
About InfoMaker
InfoMaker is a
reporting tool
InfoMaker is a powerful and easy-to-use reporting tool that lets you query
databases and create sophisticated and effective custom reports of data. When
optional painters are installed, it also lets you work with data in a database.
InfoMaker is a
personal data
assistant
InfoMaker lets you work with data in many ways—always with no
programming required.
InfoMaker provides built-in connectivity to a broad range of desktop and
server-based databases. Some versions of InfoMaker also include the powerful
SQL Anywhere database management system (DBMS) that enables you to
create your own databases and use the built-in EAS Demo DB (a Sybase SQL
Anywhere database) to create reports and other InfoMaker objects.
For information about supported DBMSs, see Connecting to Your Database.
When you work in InfoMaker, you work in a graphical environment—and
working with data in this environment means you do not need to understand
SQL, the standard programming language for talking to databases. InfoMaker
creates all SQL statements behind the scenes as you build your reports and
other objects graphically.
What you create in
InfoMaker
In InfoMaker, you can create the following objects:
• Reports to view data
• Forms to view and change data
• Queries to automatically retrieve data for reports or forms
• Pipelines to pipe data from one database (or DBMS) to another
• Applications to bundle reports and forms and distribute them to users
You can see many examples of the objects you create in InfoMaker in this
chapter.
Painters
In InfoMaker, you do your work in painters. A painter is an object editor you
use to create and work with objects of a particular type. For example, in the
Report painter, you create and work with reports, and in the Data Pipeline
painter, you create and work with data pipelines.