# US 2013/0159831 A1 · Converting reports between disparate report formats

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- Number: US 2013/0159831 A1
- Document ID: US20130159831A1
- Status: Published application
- Kind: A1
- Application number: 13/329,353
- Filed: 2011-12-19
- Published: 2013-06-20
- Earliest claimed: 2011-12-19
- Assignees: Sap SE
- Inventors: TOBIAS WELLER
- Web page: https://patentgrep.com/patent/US20130159831A1

## CPC

- G06F 40/103: Formatting, i.e. changing of presentation of documents (automatic justification G06F40/189; automatic line break hyphenation G06F40/191)
- G06F 16/84: Mapping; Conversion
- G06F: ELECTRIC DIGITAL DATA PROCESSING (computer systems based on specific computational models G06N)

## Abstract

Various embodiments of systems and methods for converting reports between disparate report formats are described herein. In one aspect, a first report in a markup data schema is received. On another aspect, a second report in a banded report schema, comprising one or more bands, is created. The second report is created as a blank report. First report formatting settings of the first report are converted to second report formatting setting of the second report. Report content and report content layout from the first report are converted to the second report.

## Claims

### Claim 1

A computer implemented method for conversion of reports, the method comprising:
receiving a first report in a markup data schema;
creating a second report in a banded report schema, wherein the second report is created as a blank report and the banded report schema comprises one or more bands;
converting first report formatting settings of the first report to second report formatting settings of the second report;
converting report content and report content layout from the first report to the second report, wherein the report content comprises information presented in the first report and the report content layout comprises a report content positioning and display properties of the report content.

### Claim 2 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the first report comprises the first report formatting settings, the report content and the report content layout, and wherein the first report formatting settings comprises a first page setup and a first report structure, the first page setup comprising page orientation, page height and page width and the first report structure comprising a first report section, wherein the first report section comprises a grid layout of a row with one or more cells with one or more row patterns for giving reference to the report content and defining the report content layout, wherein the report content comprises one or more first report fields and one or more first report objects and the display properties of the report content comprises one or more styles and a row pattern rule, and wherein the one or more bands from the second report comprises a second report header, a second page header, a second page footer, a second report footer, and a details band, wherein the details band comprises a subband.

### Claim 3 (depends on 1)

The method of claim 1, wherein the second report is in an .RPT format.

### Claim 4 (depends on 2)

The method of claim 2, wherein converting the first report formatting settings from the first report to the second report formatting settings of the second report further comprises:
reading the first page setup from the first report;
applying a second page setup to the second report corresponding to the first page setup;
identifying the first report structure from the first report; and
creating a second report structure for the second report with the one or more bands corresponding to the first report structure of the first report.

### Claim 5 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein the first report section comprises a first page header, a first report body, and a first page footer, and wherein creating the second report structure for the second report with the one or more bands corresponding to the first report structure of the first report further comprises:
mapping the first page header from the first report to the second page header from the second report;
converting the first report body from the first report to the details band of the second report, wherein the first report body comprising a static section and a dynamic section, and wherein converting the first report body comprises:
mapping the dynamic section of the first report body to the subband of the details band of the second report;
creating a subreport in a banded report schema corresponding to the dynamic section, when the dynamic section exists in the first report structure;
importing the subreport into the subband of the details band; and
mapping the static section of the first report body to the details band of the second report;
mapping the first page footer from the first report to the second page footer of the second report; and
suppressing the second report header and the second report footer in the second report structure.

### Claim 6 (depends on 4)

The method of claim 4, wherein converting the report content and the report content layout from the first report to the second report further comprises:
making a connection to a repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
determining a second report content positioning for second report objects in the second report;
inserting the second report objects in the second report, corresponding to the one or more cells presenting the report content, from the repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
applying the second report content positioning for the second report objects in the second report;
converting the one or more styles from the first report into corresponding styles in the second report;
applying a matching style for the second report objects in the second report from the corresponding styles;
converting the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report from the repository into a conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report; and
applying the conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report, wherein the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report is valid.

### Claim 7 (depends on 6)

The method of claim 6, wherein determining the second report content positioning for the second report objects, further comprises:
reading first cell size and first cell position of the one or more cells storing the one or more first report fields of the first report;
reading number of the one or more first report fields within the one or more cells;
identifying a content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report;
calculating size of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report; and
calculating position of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report.

### Claim 8

A computer system for conversion of reports, comprising:
a processor; and
a memory in association with the processor storing instructions related to:
a receiving module to receive a first report defined in a markup data schema;
a second report generation module connected to the receiving module to create a second report in a banded report schema, wherein the second report is created as a blank report and the banded report schema comprises one or more bands;
a formatting conversion module connected to the receiving module and the second report generation module, to convert first report formatting settings of the first report to second report formatting settings of the second report; and
a content conversion module connected to the formatting conversion module, to convert report content and report content layout from the first report to the second report, wherein the report content comprises information presented in the first report and the report content layout comprises definitions of position and display properties of the report content.

### Claim 9 (depends on 8)

The computer system of claim 8, wherein the first report comprises the first report formatting settings, the report content and the report content layout, and wherein the first report formatting settings comprises a first page setup and a first report structure, the first page setup comprising page orientation, page height and page width and the first report structure comprising a first report section, wherein the first report section comprises a grid layout of a row with one or more cells with one or more row patterns for giving reference to the report content and defining the report content layout, wherein the report content comprises one or more first report fields and one or more first report objects and the display properties of the report content comprises one or more styles and a row pattern rule, and wherein the one or more bands from the second report comprises a second report header, a second page header, a second page footer, a second report footer, and a details band, wherein the details band comprises a subband.

### Claim 10 (depends on 8)

The computer system of claim 8, wherein the second report is in an .RPT format.

### Claim 11 (depends on 9)

The computer system of claim 9, wherein the formatting conversion module further comprises:
a reading module to read the first page setup from the first report;
a page setup module to apply a second page setup to the second report corresponding to the first page setup;
an identifying module to identify the first report structure from the first report; and
a structuring module to create a second report structure for the second report with the one or more bands corresponding to the first report structure of the first report.

### Claim 12 (depends on 11)

The computer system of claim 11, wherein the first report section comprises a first page header, a first report body, and a first page footer, and wherein the structuring module further comprises:
a header mapping module to map the first page header from the first report to the second page header from the second report;
a report body conversion module to convert the first report body from the first report to the details band of the second report, wherein the first report body comprising a static section and a dynamic section, and wherein the report body conversion module is further operable to:
map the dynamic section of the first report body to the details band of the second report;
create a subreport in a banded report schema corresponding to the dynamic section, when the dynamic section exists in the first report structure;
import the subreport into the subband of the details band; and
map the static section of the first report body to the details band of the second report;
a footer mapping module to map the first page footer from the first report to the second page footer of the second report; and
a suppressing module to suppress the second report header and the second report footer in the second report structure.

### Claim 13 (depends on 11)

The computer system of claim 11, wherein the content conversion module is further operable to:
make a connection to a repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
determine a second report content positioning for second report objects in the second report;
insert the second report objects in the second report, corresponding to the one or more cells presenting the report content, from the repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
apply the second report content positioning for the second report objects in the second report;
convert the one or more styles from the first report into corresponding styles in the second report;
apply a matching style for the second report objects in the second report from the corresponding styles;
convert the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report from the repository into a conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report; and
apply the conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report, wherein the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report is valid.

### Claim 14 (depends on 13)

The computer system of claim 13, wherein determining the report content positioning is further operable to:
read first cell size and first cell position of the one or more cells storing the one or more first report fields of the first report;
read number of the one or more first report fields within the one or more cells;
identify a content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report;
calculating size of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report; and
calculate position of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report.

### Claim 15

An article of manufacture for conversion of reports, comprising a non-transitory computer readable storage medium including executable instructions, which when executed by a computer, cause the computer to:
receive a first report defined in a markup data schema;
create a second report in a banded report schema, wherein the second report is created as a blank report and the banded report schema comprises one or more bands;
convert first report formatting settings of the first report to second report formatting settings of the second report; and
convert report content and report content layout from the first report to the second report, wherein the report content comprises information presented in the first report and the report content layout comprises definitions of position and display properties of the report content.

### Claim 16 (depends on 15)

The article of manufacture in claim 15, wherein the first report comprises the first report formatting settings, the report content and the report content layout, and wherein the first report formatting settings comprises a first page setup and a first report structure, the first page setup comprising page orientation, page height and page width and the first report structure comprising a first report section, wherein the first report section comprises a grid layout of a row with one or more cells with one or more row patterns for giving reference to the report content and defining the report content layout, wherein the report content comprises one or more first report fields and one or more first report objects and the display properties of the report content comprises one or more styles and a row pattern rule, and wherein the one or more bands from the second report comprises a second report header, a second page header, a second page footer, a second report footer, and a details band, wherein the details band comprises a subband.

### Claim 17 (depends on 16)

The article of manufacture in claim 16, wherein the instructions to convert the first report formatting settings from the first report to the second report formatting settings of the second report further comprise instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:
read the first page setup from the first report;
apply a second page setup to the second report corresponding to the first page setup;
identify the first report structure from the first report; and
create a second report structure for the second report with the one or more bands corresponding to the first report structure of the first report.

### Claim 18 (depends on 17)

The article of manufacture in claim 17, wherein the first report section comprises a first page header, a first report body, and a first page footer, and wherein the instructions to create the second report structure for the second report further comprises instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:
map the first page header from the first report to the second page header from the second report;
convert the first report body from the first report to the details band of the second report, wherein the first report body comprising a static section and a dynamic section, and wherein converting the first report body comprises:
map the dynamic section of the first report body to the details band of the second report;
create a subreport in a banded report schema corresponding to the dynamic section, when the dynamic section exists in the first report structure;
import the subreport into the subband of the details band; and
map the static section of the first report body to the details band of the second report;
map the first page footer from the first report to the second page footer of the second report; and
suppress the second report header and the second report footer in the second report structure.

### Claim 19 (depends on 17)

The article of manufacture in claim 17, wherein the instructions to convert the report content and the report content layout from the first report to the second report further comprise instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:
make a connection to a repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
determine a second report content positioning for second report objects in the second report;
insert the second report objects in the second report, corresponding to the one or more cells presenting the report content, from the repository that stores the report content and the display properties of the report content of the first report;
apply the second report content positioning for the second report objects in the second report;
convert the one or more styles from the first report into corresponding styles in the second report;
apply a matching style for the second report objects in the second report from the corresponding styles;
convert the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report from the repository into a conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report; and
apply the conditional formula for formatting settings in the second report, wherein the row pattern rule defined for the one or more row patterns in the first report is valid.

### Claim 20 (depends on 19)

The article of manufacture in claim 19, wherein the instructions to determine the report content positioning of the one or more first report fields from the first report further comprises instructions, which when executed by a machine cause the machine to:
read first cell size and first cell position of the one or more cells storing the one or more first report fields of the first report;
read number of the one or more first report fields within the one or more cells;
identify a content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report;
calculate size of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report; and
calculate position of the second report objects in the second report on the basis of the content type of the one or more first report fields of the first report.