In my current assignment I face users who would like to have their data and graphs in PowerPoint. How do you do that with Oracle tools when you do not want to spend a lot of money on a BI Publisher license? The answer is simple, by using Apache POI , an Java open source library for MS Office integration.
With the examples supplied with the software I was able to generate a prototype servlet in on afternoon! The result was a servlet that accepts a title and (the URL to) an image which it places in a PowerPoint slide. With some extra hours of effort I expanded the prototype to accept an array of URLs and titles. In combination with an Apex that generates parameter driven images the user can fill his shopping basket with images and generate a PowerPoint presentation by pressing a button.
When you want to generate PowerPoint output, do have a look at Apache POI!
Happy Apexing
