How I built an automated reporting system using Python for a real business.
Introduction
It is only when one has to solve a real-world business problem that the true power and flexibility of Python is asserted.
Problem Statement
The need was identified to automatically produce more than 20 daily reports. These reports had to be available in HTML as well as PDF formats. Reports had to be mailed to different users depending on the user. The whole process had to be automated and require minimal human interaction once completed.
Talk contents and focus
In this talk, we will discuss how Python can be used to solve the many small problems that had to be solved in the development of the reporting pipeline.
Some of the problems that had to be overcame and their solutions include:
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interacting with various database types
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combining and analysis of many different and large energy consumption data sources
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generating and embedding static plots
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designing a template system that can output to HTML as well as PDF formats
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report distribution via email and HTML
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automation of the pipeline
There were also some lessons learned which will be discussed.
