Report Writing in a PHP Web Application

Question

I've been developing business apps, basically CRUD, in ASP.Net for years now, and am interested in learning another language and platform.

After a few trips to Borders and poking around a bit on the web, I have not found much dealing with generating reports in PHP. I can imagine, at least, how to generate Excel spreadsheet files, but have not found any reference to generating professional looking reports which can be printed or saved, preferably as PDF files. These reports would include things like commercial invoices, inventory reports etc.

The quality of reports is one of the main criteria my clients use in judging the quality of an app. ASP.NET has this covered pretty well with their own report control, plus there is Telerik, Crystal Reports, etc.

Can anyone provide some information of how reports are generated in a PHP web app? Third party controls, books with good chapters, web articles etc would all be welcomed.

Many thanks Mike Thomas

Answer 1

It sounds like ASP.NET might be the best tool for that job, especially if you already know and use the tools involved.

Why not find something new to do with a new language? That way, you can do two things and you know (some of) 2 languages, rather than knowing 1 thing in 2 languages.

However, if you want to go with PHP for reporting, fpdf will get you outputting pdfs from PHP.

http://www.fpdf.org/

Answer 2

Many thanks benlumley. I'll check fpdf a little more closely. At the end of the day, if I can't make a presentable report, I would probably run into a serious problem somewhere down the line.

Mike Thomas

Answer 3

Check out ezpdf. I use it for all my PDF needs, although I don't produce reports like what you mean. I think ezpdf used with the GD library to produce graphics for charts should get you whatever you need.

However, this might be going the long way around, if the ASP tools are easy to use.

Answer 4

You can use ClipPDF and generate PDF and Excel reports, check this out http://www.theregister.co.uk/2007/12/10/pdf_excel_reports_with_php/

Answer 5

You should also check out the eZ Components library for creating graphs and charts.

http://www.ezcomponents.org/