Israel Lopez Consulting
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Can an AI assistant build a Fishbowl Jasper report?

Israel LopezOctober 19, 20265 min

In March 2008 I wrote my first iReport. I was doing contract IT for a biotech company in Irvine, California, a company I’d first worked for in high school during an overnight system cut-over. A Fishbowl consultant was set up in the server closet, and we got talking. He asked if I knew databases. I’d used ERP systems at other jobs, cut my teeth on the Microsoft Great Plains 9 database, and could put together useful SQL. Fishbowl was the first entire system I could understand from end to end. Back then it ran on Firebird, before the move to MySQL.

The Java I’d learned in AP Computer Science in high school was enough to pick up iReport quickly. I’m fairly sure that first report tracked raw materials by expiration date. I wish I’d kept the file. It’s probably on one of the seven or so laptops I’ve gone through since.

Reports took time: the query, the approach, and the iReport software itself. To free up memory, the editor would sometimes reload a report from disk, and anything you hadn’t saved was gone. Lose an hour or two of work that way and you start pressing Ctrl+S after every change. I still have the habit, and I’m fairly sure the current iReport still has the bug. I’ve written well over a thousand Jasper reports since then.

Jasper reports are still how Fishbowl prints most of its documents, and they’re the kind I’ve written the most of. Earlier this month I wrote that I probably won’t write a report ever again. With ILC MCP, an AI assistant can now build Jasper reports too.

How it works

1Starts new or from a reportBlank, or one report file2Tests the query on your data✓ 42 rows3Compiles on Fishbowl's version✓ No errors4Asks where it goesCustom folder · Inventory menu5Installs itv1 · admins only until granted
The AI builds a Jasper report in five steps, and it only installs the report after a clean compile.
  1. It starts from scratch or from a report you have. The AI can build a new report from nothing, or start from a single existing report file and change it from there.
  2. It tests the query against your Fishbowl data before it goes into the report.
  3. It compiles the report with the same JasperReports version Fishbowl runs. The AI can only call the report ready after a clean compile. Compiling checks the report file and doesn’t read your data.
  4. It asks where the report goes. You choose the folder and which modules show it in their print menus.
  5. It installs the report. A new report is visible to Fishbowl admins until an admin grants it to groups.

Every save is a version, so you can roll back to an earlier one. The AI can only remove reports it installed.

Changing a report

Add each part's lead time, and sort by it. Inventory Reorder List Custom PARTON HANDREORDER AT LEAD TIME Steel bracket41021 days Hex bolt M81202005 days Gasket kit2614 days Shelf panel81230 days VERSIONS v1 → v2 Lead time added, sorted by it ↺ Roll back to v1
A change to a custom report is saved as a new version, and the earlier version stays available.

Ask for a change to one of your custom reports and the AI edits it in place as a new version. Fishbowl’s own reports are never changed. If you want one modified, for example the standard packing slip with a lot number column, the AI copies it as “Packing Slip (Custom)” and works on the copy.

The browser editor

Report editor ● Saved ● Changed by the AI assistant Compile Compile + Publish SECTIONS TitleColumn HeaderDetailPage Footer DEFINITIONSQuery (SQL)Fields PROPERTIES expressionqtyToOrder x470 width5875 height14 Inventory Reorder ListItems at or below reorder point ProductOn HandReorderTo Order Vendor: vendorName productNumqtyOnHandreorderPointqtyToOrder Page 1 The AI assistant changed this report. Load its version Keep mine ✓ compiled · updated with the assistant's changes
A person widens a field by hand, then loads the AI assistant's change without losing their own.

Some changes are quicker by hand, like moving a field, changing a font or widening a column. ILC’s browser report editor shows the report’s layout, and a person can move and resize fields, edit text and expressions, and work with each section of the report.

The editor uses the same JasperReports version as Fishbowl, so it won’t offer anything Fishbowl can’t open. Newer desktop editors save files Fishbowl rejects, which is a common problem for anyone editing Fishbowl reports today.

A person and the AI can work on the same report. If the AI changes it while you’re editing, the editor tells you, and you choose whether to load the AI’s version or keep yours. For people allowed to install reports, Compile + Publish updates an installed report in Fishbowl in one step, as a new version you can roll back.

Limits today

  • A report is a single file. Subreports aren’t supported for now, to keep reports simple.
  • Logos and QR codes are coming. 1D barcodes work today.
  • There’s no preview with data before install. You install the report and run it in Fishbowl to check it.
  • Reports that need more, like several subreports or a layout per customer, are work for our team, and we quote them like any other report project.

Building Jasper reports is part of the Custom reports add-on for ILC MCP, for teams that need it.

Where to start

Pick a report your team exports to Excel and reformats by hand every week. That’s usually the first one worth having the AI build. If there’s a report you’ve been waiting on, tell us what it should show.

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