Birt: A Field Guide to Reporting (Eclipse Series)
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The world-wide developer community has downloaded over three million copies of BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) from the Eclipse web site. Built on the open-source Eclipse platform, BIRT is a powerful reporting system that provides an end-to-end solution, from creating and deploying reports to integrating report capabilities in enterprise applications.The first in a two-book series about this exciting technology, BIRT, Second Edition: A Field Guide to Reporting is the authoritative guide to using BIRT Report Designer, the graphical tool that enables users of all levels to build reports, simple to sophisticated, without any programming.BIRT, Second Edition: A Field Guide to Reporting is an essential resource for users who want to create presentation quality reports from day one. The extensive examples, step-by-step instructions, and abundant illustrations help new users develop their report design skills quickly. Power users can find the information they need to make the most of the product’s rich set of features to build complex and compelling reports. By the time you finish this book, you learn the following and moreDesign effective business and corporate reports that convey information through images, charts, tables, and cross tabsBuild reports using data from a variety of sources, including databases,Enliven reports with interactive features, such as hyperlinks, Tooltips, and highlightingCreate consistently styled reports and collaborate with other report designers through the use of templates and libraries of reusable elementsLocalize reports for an international audience This second edition, revised and expanded, adds updated examples and covers all the new and improved product features, includingCross tabs and OLAP cubesNew chart types, including Gantt, bubble, tube, and cone chartsWeb services as a new data sourceNew report output formats, including doc, ppt, xls, and PostScriptThe capability for reports to reference CSSLocalization of report parameter and data values
Foreword xix Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxixPart I: Installing BIRT 1Chapter 1: Prerequisites for BIRT 3Downloading Eclipse BIRT components 3BIRT Report Designer software requirements 5About types of BIRT builds 7Chapter 2: Installing a BIRT Report Designer 9Installing BIRT Report Designer Full Eclipse Install 9Installing BIRT RCP Report Designer 10Troubleshooting installation problems 11Installing a language pack 13Updating a BIRT Report Designer installation 14Updating BIRT RCP Report Designer installation 15Part II: Getting Started 17Chapter 3: Learning the Basics 19About BIRT reports 19Overview of the report design process 19About the report design environment 21Viewing sample reports 30Tutorial 1: Building a simple listing report 32Chapter 4: Planning Your Report 53Identifying the content of the report 54Determining how the report will be viewed 55Considering international reporting requirements 56Deciding the layout and format of the report 56Drawing a mock-up 58Considering reuse of report components 58Managing report design resources 59Deciding how the report will be deployed 59Part III: Accessing and Binding Data 61Chapter 5: Connecting to a Data Source 63About BIRT data sources 63Accessing data using JDBC 64Accessing data in a text file 70Accessing data in anAccessing a web service 74Creating reusable data sources 76Setting connection properties when a report runs 81Troubleshooting data source problems 87Chapter 6: Retrieving Data 89About data sets 89Selecting data 90Viewing and changing output columns 110Adding a computed field to a data set 111Joining data sets 113Verifying the data returned by a data set 115Specifying the data to retrieve at run time 116Chapter 7: Binding Data 119Understanding column bindings 119Creating column bindings 122Editing and deleting column bindings 124Copying data elements 125More about column-binding expressions 126Part IV: Designing Reports 129Chapter 8: Laying Out a Report 131Understanding the layout model 131Creating the sections of a report 134Placing report elements 142Chapter 9: Displaying Text 153Types of textual elements 153Deciding which textual element to use 155Using a dynamic text element 158Using a label element 159Using a text element 160Chapter 10: Formatting Report Content 165Formatting data 166Formatting with styles 172Formatting data based on conditions 182Alternating row colors in a table 187Specifying alignment of content in a table or grid 190Adjusting the spacing of content in a report 191Specifying fixed layout for HTML output 196Displaying content across multiple columns 199Specifying alternate values for display 201Hiding elements based on conditions 203Chapter 11: Sorting and Grouping Data 207Sorting data 208Grouping data 212Tutorial 2: Grouping report data 231Task 8: Format the report 246Task 9: Preview the report in the BIRT report viewer 248Task 10: Display credit limit ranges in the table of contents 249Chapter 12: Aggregating Data 253Types of aggregate calculations 254Placing aggregate data 257Creating an aggregation 259Filtering aggregate data 265Calculating percentages 267Creating a summary report 271Chapter 13: Writing Expressions 277Basic concepts 278Using the expression builder 279Manipulating numeric data 282Manipulating string data 284Manipulating date-and-time data 292Using Boolean expressions 294Chapter 14: Filtering Data 297Filtering opportunities 297Specifying conditions on row retrieval 298Filtering data after row retrieval 302Chapter 15: Enabling the User to Filter Data 315About report parameters 315Planning to use report parameters 317Ways to enable user filtering 317Enabling the user to filter at query run time 317Enabling the user to filter after running the query 325Designing the presentation of report parameters 328Testing the report parameters 349Tutorial 3: Creating and using report parameters 350Chapter 16: Building a Report That Contains Subreports 367Creating the report structure 368Tutorial 4: Building a report containing side-by-side subreports 372Chapter 17: Using a Chart 409Surveying the types of charts 409Tutorial 5: Creating a standalone chart 416Exploring the chart builder 430Using a chart as part of a report 433Chapter 18: Displaying Data in Charts 437Linking a data set to a chart 437Understanding the axes of a chart 438Grouping and sorting category data 442Grouping optional Y value data 446Using multiple y-axes 450Transposing the chart axes 450Filtering data 451Changing default report parameters 452Creating data bindings 452Previewing data and chart 453Creating a combination chart 455Defining a meter chart 456Chapter 19: Laying Out and Formatting a Chart 459Formatting specific types of charts 460Formatting a pie chart 470Laying out and formatting the chart 477Formatting numbers, dates, and times 482Formatting the chart legend, plot, and title 485Formatting axis titles, markers, lines, and labels 496Formatting a series 507Chapter 20: Presenting Data in a Cross Tab 515Tutorial 6: Creating a cross tab 516Understanding cube terms 532Setting up data for a cross tab 533Building a cross tab 543Part V: Enhancing Reports 557Chapter 21: Designing a Multipage Report 559Planning the page layout 559Controlling pagination 560Customizing the master page 566Using multiple master pages 577Chapter 22: Adding Interactive Viewing Features 581Creating hyperlinks 581Creating a table of contents 591Adding interactive chart features 594Adding interactive elements to an HTML report 598Identifying report elements for data export 600Chapter 23: Building a Shared Report Development Framework 603Comparing report designs, libraries, and templates 604Sharing report elements in a library 606Sharing a report layout as a template 622Chapter 24: Localizing Text 629Overview of the localization process 630Assigning a resource file to a report 631Assigning a resource key to a label or text element 633Changing localized text in a label or text element to static text 634Assigning a resource key to chart text 635Changing localized chart text to static text 636Assigning a resource key to a value in a data element 637Assigning a resource key to a report parameter 639Editing a resource file 641Previewing a report in different locales 642Glossary 645Index 707
