Patent ID: 8589311

Claim:
A computer-implemented method of providing object-based content to be reported in an external computer-implemented general reporting application, the method comprising: providing an electronic storage repository of business database objects from which object instances are able to be generated, which business database objects each have one or more attributes for which applicable data are able to be provided for a generated object instance; receiving, in a data processing system comprising at least one computer, a user selection of one of the business database objects, wherein generated instances of the selected object have data for attributes of the object; displaying on a display device a view that includes: i) the selected business database object in a first portion of the view, ii) at least some of the attributes associated with the selected business database object in a second portion of the view, iii) a plurality of business objects each having associated attributes, wherein each of the business objects has a defined relationship to the selected business database object in a third portion of the view, and iv) at least some of the attributes for the plurality of related business objects in a fourth portion of the view; receiving in the data processing system a user selection of at least one of the displayed one or more attributes associated with the selected business database object, and a user selection of at least one of the displayed attributes for the plurality of related business objects, and adding the selected attributes to an electronic business content structure of selected attributes; defining a report layout using the electronic business content structure and the selected attributes, wherein the report layout defines the structure of one or more reports; executing a query of records in an electronic database and retrieving, for each of the records that meet the query, attribute data for each of the attributes in the electronic business content structure; generating, in the data processing system and before reporting run-time, an output electronic file that the external computer-implemented reporting application can use to generate a report, the report to include the electronic business content structure and the attribute data associated therewith, and to be structured according to the report layout; determining, at the reporting run-time, one of a plurality of external computer-implemented reporting applications for use in generating the report; and launching the determined reporting application using the output electronic file and generating the report in the determined reporting application according to the previously defined report layout.