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Codecov Report

All modified and coverable lines are covered by tests ✅

Project coverage is 85.55%. Comparing base (c99aae5) to head (2ab91d1).

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+ Coverage   85.23%   85.55%   +0.31%     
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  Files        1177     1177              
  Lines       51804    51549     -255     
  Branches     2094     2094              
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- Hits        44156    44101      -55     
+ Misses       7119     6919     -200     
  Partials      529      529              

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@SchrodingersGat this will require an API version bump as it removes a number of endpoints; maybe it makes more sense to include these in #8686

@matmair good point, I will roll the BOM exporter into this one.

I just have to devise a clean way to have a "custom" exporter within our new framework

@matmair @wolflu05 I have an idea here which requires some further fleshing out - feedback welcomed :)

Current Situation

The new "data export" framework basically takes our existing DRF serializers, and pushes the data into a formatted file for download. It is very efficient, low code overhead, and integrates seamlessly with the PUI data tables. The intent here is that the table data (as presented and filtered) is basically "what you get" when you download the data via the table interface.

Legacy BOM Exporter

The legacy BOM exporter contained a lot of extra information. Supplier parts, alternative part options, pricing data, stock information, etc. That's all fine, but it doesn't fit nicely within the concept of a simple "press this button to download the table data" approach.

Custom Report

I see the "BOM exporter" (as it existed in CUI) working better as a custom report generator. There are custom operations in the background which do not take place in the regular "export serialized data" framework.

So, what I would like to propose is that we extend the "report generation" framework to allow arbitrary file generation. While currently it is limited to templated PDF files, there's no reason we can't have a "BOM export" plugin which generates an excel or .csv file for download.

However this would require a lot of ripping up / refactoring of existing code. Also, how do we handle custom reports that do not make use of the report "template"?

Before I go and start making changes, I'd love some feedback from you guys on how you think it should work - or potentially other ideas / approaches.

I think the cleanest way would be to add a custom serializer that handles the BOM export and its options. We could add the option to use plugins to add serializers for custom exports.
Using the report framework does not seem intuitive - it is really oriented around templates right now and rewriting it would either break APIs for no apparent benefit or make testing really hard. IMO this most makes sense as a new tool and endpoint, not in the report framework.

Thanks for the feedback, that sounds pretty reasonable