Bookworm

Bookworm - The Report Mining System of the 21st Century

Vanguard Systems has added a new module to the already impressive functionality of the IMS/21 system. This new module, called Bookworm, is an easy-to-use data access and analysis tool that uses spooled report files as a source for data. Input a report file to Bookworm and out comes data you can view, query, filter, analyze and export to other desktop applications. Bookworm is the leading product in an emerging software category called report mining systems.

Bookworm can read report files produced on your AS/400.

Any report used in your organization can be saved and captured by IMS/21 and displayed by Bookworm — whether these reports are accessed via terminal emulation software, or through a network, or distributed on diskette. You can create a Bookworm model that will break it down into records that can be handled by programs such as dBase, Lotus 1-2-3, or Microsoft Excel.

Bookworm can send formatted data to virtually any PC application

You can use the information in hundreds of PC applications that are vital to your business processes, including:

• Lotus 1-2-3
• Harvard Graphics
• MS Word, Excel, and Access
• Paradox, dBASE
• Quattro Pro
• FoxBASE
• Word Perfect,
• and others.

At the heart of Bookworm is a powerful data extraction engine that can pull data out of virtually any report — from simple columnar reports to complex reports with headers, footers, and multiple sort levels. Data types are automatically recognized so date fields, numeric fields and character fields are maintained in proper format. Templates can be saved and reused any time a periodic report is run.

You can create calculated fields using an extensive library of numeric, logical and string functions. You can define filters to boil down he data, sort the data on one or more keys, and create new reports with data extracted from the original report. You can drill down through summary data to reveal successive layers of detail, and create charts that change dynamically as you explore the data.

Bookworm offers four views of report data. A softcopy of the original report is displayed in Bookworm's report window. Data extracted from the report is displayed in the table window. User-defined summaries that analyze report data are displayed in the summary window. Dynamic charts that are linked to summary reports are also displayed in the summary window.

• Much easier than pulling data from the central database or a data warehouse system.
• Much faster than re-keying data from hardcopy printouts.
• Much more powerful than competing report mining applications.

• Leverages legacy investment in reports and reporting systems. No data warehouse is required.
• Reduces demand for custom reports because users can re-deploy data from existing reports.
• Enables electronic distribution of reports, reducing hardcopy printing and delivery costs.

With Bookworm, there is no reason to waste valuable manpower re-keying data from a report into another program. You’ll save yourself time, energy, and frustration and you’ll gain more control over the information produced by your computer systems.