SYSTEM FOR ACTIVE REPORTS WITH DRILL DOWN CAPABILITY USING MEMORY MAPPING OF HTML FILES WITH EMBEDDED DATA

A system and method for obtaining information on a large number of files, and to view and take action on those files. The present invention compiles a report on a file system in HTML format that is displayed by a browser. The report allows users to manage their files, or portions of their files, directly from the report, relieving system administrators of this burden. The method comprises: requesting Active Reports to be run; generating a CSV formatted copy of the files in the storage mechanism; converting the CSV formatted copy of the files to an HTML formatted copy of the files; reading the HTML formatted copy of the files so that the user can view the files; loading the file data by mapping the HTML formatted copy of the files to memory into a spreadsheet-like grid; and managing the display of the report and user report requests.