What is an expert WRS user?

[Jenn2]

We are curious about the range of expertise our WRS users have. Which of the following do you classify yourself as?

Beginner
Novice
Intermediate
Expert

What is the difference between an expert WRS user an intermediate user? Do experts know more information? Are they faster? Tell us what you think the differences are.

[dhhunter]

Beginner: Probably someone who just uses SAS Web Report Studio for information.

Novice: Creates rudamentary Charts that come standard with tool.
Unaware about what is under the SAS Web Report Studio that makes it work.

Intermediate: Uses Stored Processes
Knows some Information Map Tricks that make the Web Report Studio perform better.
Familar with Information Maps and underlying libraries

Expert: Manipulates the .SRX file behind the scenes to avoid replicating work.
Use Stored Process to do very advanced reporting creating nonstandard graphs.
Can name several tricks to short cut work.

Biggest difference between an Expert and an Intermediate user is the number of short cuts and work arounds. Unfortunately, an expert is likely to need to understand some SAS, Java, Html and the aforementioned SRX syntax. A big part of where you are in the range, depends on Information Maps and getting things to work together.

[Jaime]

Is there anywhere I can get information on how to manipulate the .SRX?

[AngelaHall]

Jamie,
You can download the SAS Report xml from Management Console and edit this. In 9.2 ~ right click on the Report Name in SMC and choose 'Write Content to External File'.

After modifications in an XML editor, right click on the folder in SMC where you would like the new report to reside and choose 'Add content from External Files'.

The standard format is 'SAS Report Model Format' however I am unable to locate any resources on how the xml tags are defined.

~ Angela Hall
http://sas-bi.blogspot.com

[Jenn2]

Thanks dhhunter! I am starting to see that our users may have different definitions of these levels of expertise compared to folks inside of SAS. What do you consider yourself to be?

[deleted_user]

base on dbhunter's definition, i think i am an intermediate user who just crossed over from being a novice user... very far from an expert 😉

[deleted_user]

That's interesting. dhhunter's definition makes me think that there might be some shortcuts or tricks that could help WRS perform better. Maybe it could be a good idea to start a thread containing all the tricks people find to help things works better. Just an idea...

[Jenn2]

Oh yes, R.e.m., in some of the earlier posts, we were sharing a few different work-arounds/tricks, etc. That is one of the main purposes of this forum: to share those tricks/shortcut/tips to others. 🙂

[RichardH_sas]

I think dhunter brings up a critical point in knowing when you need to shift from the WRS report objects to doing a non-standard report or graph within SAS code and turning it into a stored process. Or doing a calculation in the information map so end users can surface the needed column. That knowing when you need something more requires not only a lot of knowledge about WRS but a lot of current knowledge about WRS since many new features get added with each version.

I'd say I sit in between intermediate and expert, on a good day. 🙂

[JDMTX]

The question is too generic as the question needs to be asked in terms of a user’s role and experience level (web report consumer, web report consumer/limited report modification ability, report designer, programmer and wrs administrator. My personal experience is that beginners and novices quickly grow into intermediate users when there is a compelling need to accomplish a task because management needs a report and the user is forced to get their hands dirty. Hope you did not mind me weighing in.

[Jenn2]

JDMTX,
Thank you for replying to this. I am looking for as many different perspectives on this topic as possible. You must have a real birds-eye view of the reality of the user's experience. You are right; sometimes the limits of our expertise expand quickly with challenging tasks. Thanks for sharing!

[Madelyn_SAS]

Jamie:

Tech Support does not recommend directly modifying the report SRX. Can you explain your goal in modifying the content?

[Jaime]

Frankly BIC my goal is to make reports somewhat comparable to that of a basic .net web programmer.
I.E. drill down features and hyperlinks to other reports using stored procedures and NO Information Maps.
But without losing the export to excel feature.