1. What is database reporting tools?

Database reporting tools are the reporting software that helps you directly generate reports of the data from the database or the data warehouse you use. There are two types of databases used in the company or organizations: relational databases and NoSQL data sources. 

The relational database is built on the relational model. It deals with the data in the database using set algebra and other mathematical methods. In short, a relational database is a database composed of several two-dimensional tabular that can be connected. Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, Microsoft Access, MySQL are the popular relational database nowadays. They are easy to use and maintain. Database reporting tools rely on connections to a relational database management system via JDBC, JNDI or ODBC. After connected, you can use SQL to query data and then generate reports.

When storing large volumes of data without structure, or using cloud computing and storage, NoSQL databases might be preferable. NoSQL databases do not require tables with a fixed set of columns, avoid JOINs, and typically support horizontal scaling. For instance, the MongoDB database is the leader in NoSQL databases, and his use is becoming more widespread. Database reporting on NoSQL data sources that require either a customized SQL connector or database plugin for accessing data.

2.The benefits of database reporting tools

The data collected and stored in the database is a large amount in the company. It is hard to present these data meaningfully and provide insight into what is going on in business with these scattered data. Database reporting tools provide ways for all types of users across the company to have easy access to informative and intuitive reports that combine data from multiple sources throughout the organization.

3. Reporting with both Relational and NoSQL databases 

The following are the problems that companies may have with the reports generated from the different databases.

• Data is stored both in SQL databases and NoSQL databases because of various business systems, so the data is too dispersed to use effectively.
• The traditional method uses SQL and Excel to integrate data to make reports, which is inefficient and inaccurate.
• The market environment and business needs are changeable, which cannot quickly meet the changing reporting needs.
• Lack of unified reports management portal to form a global data perspective.

Here, it would be best if you had database reporting tools that both support relational and NoSQL databases 

FineReport 

FineReport is a database reporting software that supports broad data sources, including relational databases such as SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle; text data sources, multidimensional databases, NoSQL data sources, built-in datasets, and other program data sources.

The data connection is convenient. FineReport can connect data sources through various channels, including direct connection to the database via JDBC, sharing database connection with the application server via JNDI or connection to the SAP system via JCO. It takes seconds and requires no messy scripting or coding.

FineReport also supports extracting and combing data cross databases and tables, and easy to integrate data from ERP/OA/MES and other enterprise systems in a single platform, which breaks the information silos in the organizations.

Other benefits of database reporting with FineReport

• Easy deployment and integration: a 100% JAVA software which can be seamlessly integrated with JAVA projects. With the support of an independent web server, Non-JAVA projects can also be perfectly deployed and integrated
• Powerful data entry function: The powerful, flexible fill-in function supports writing the data back to the database through the report quickly.
• Comprehensive decision-making platform: The enterprise reports portal give you a very secure, environment for reports management, access controls, automating reports, etc
• Scheduled reports: Timing scheduled function allows users to quickly and easily set up daily, monthly, quarterly, annual reports and other tasks without additional work.
• Automatic refresh: The background data is intelligently monitored and compared. The foreground will be updated in time when the data is changed, and the latest data is always available.

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4.Database reporting tools for relational databases

Most of the small-size companies may still only use relational databases. In addition to the database reporting software that supports broad data sources, you can also choose some reporting tools for specific databases. I have collected a list of best reporting tools before.

Today, to help you determine the most suitable reporting tools for your database, we specifically selected a list of reporting tools for SQL, MySQL and Oracle. 

3.1 SQL reporting tools

 SSRS Report Builder

SQL Server Reporting Service will be a good choice for using as a SQL reporting tool since it is part of a suite of SQL server services. It provides a ‘Report Builder’ tool for less technical users to format SQL reports of lesser complexity. It is server-based; you can build, distribute, and access reports via a central web portal. 

Another point to highlight about SQL servers is that they must be properly maintained and optimized. To do this, you can use professional tools to help you tune the performance of your SQL server, like optimizing its queries, memory, indexes, etc. As this SentryOne entry explains, doing these fine-tunes will benefit you by having more speed in response times, accurate query results, and lower cost, to name a few.

3.2 Oracle reporting tools

dbForge Studio for Oracle

dbForge Studio for Oracle provides professional Oracle reporting tools for analysis of Oracle databases. This tool allows synchronizing data between different Oracle servers and automating the schema change management process during development. You can also design Oracle databases visually, build queries in a few clicks, create and edit database objects with it. Besides, the reporting feature allows you to make various kinds of Oracle reports and pivot tables with parameters, customizable formatting, calculated summaries. With dbForge reporting tools for Oracle, you need only a few minutes to create great-looking reports for professional data analysis.

3.3 MySQL Reporting Tools

As the second widely used database globally, Mysql reporting tools have given rise to an entire ecosystem of MySQL reporting tools that aim to help you get the most out. 

Many MySQL reports tools are available, ranging from free, web-based graph and chart creators to enterprise-level business intelligence (BI) tools. 

Smart Report Maker 

Smart Report Maker is a popular PHP report builder for MySQL by StarSoft Software.

It supports the creation of PHP auto-update reports for any MySQL database without writing any SQL or programming code. Users can design reports visually with an easy-to-use wizard specifically designed for speed.

4. Database reporting tools for NoSQL sources

No-SQL databases can still be hard to actually analyze your data because of so many of the analytic approaches and techniques used by data analysts and data scientists. And data in NoSQL data sources are usually not quite compatible to be analyzed with open-source tools. You can use the connector such as SlamData Connector, Mongo DB connector that would enable you to connect to data sources using any of the familiar BI. But using the database reporting tools for NoSQL sources is much more convenient. Here, considering MongoDB is the most popular in enterprises, let’s review some database reporting tools for MongoDB 

FineReport

As mentioned above, FineReport supports various data sources including MongoDB. The performance of FineReport in processing and visualizing the MongoDB dataset is stunning. The operation is also convenient. You just need to install a MongoDB plugin from FineReport. Then you can enjoy the powerful features mentioned before.

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Knowi

Knowi supports native MongoDB queries and aggregations, with joins within MongoDB but also allows you to join disparate data sources. The visualizations and dashboards are truly native MongoDB results and can be shared and embedded quickly. There are more advanced use cases, including predictive/prescriptive analytics, trigger notifications and granular security.