Actuate BIRT
Report Designer Professional
Kuali COEUS User Group
March 27, 2011
Austin, Texas
Phil Tull
ptull@actuate.com
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Agenda
How many of you have ever heard of BIRT
> BIRT History
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IBM starts Eclipse Foundation to develop an Open
Source IDE
In 2004, Actuate starts the BIRT Project (10M
downloads as of September 2010)
Actuate develops commercial extensions to Open
Source BIRT – Current release Actuate V11
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iServer (scalable, secure, Enterprise-class Java Server)
Interactive Viewer (End user customizations to reports)
Additional Databases/Data Sources
Additional Objects (Flash Objects/Charts/Gadgets)
Page Level Security, Dashboards, In-memory Analytics
Product Overview and Demonstration
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Why Customers Choose Actuate BIRT
BI & Information Applications that combine data in compelling and useful
ways and encourage large numbers of users to change and share the resulting
content to fit their evolving needs without overwhelming IT.
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One easy to use development tool
Multi-source data handling
One fantastic user experience
One dependable, reliable, scalable server
BIRT Mobile
BIRT On demand
Data
Sources
Documents
ONE
BIRT
Design
ONE
iServer
ONE
User
Experience
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Choose BIRT By Design
BIRT Design
Eclipse
BIRT
Designer
Eclipse
data
connecto
rs
Eclipse
Engine &
Viewer
DIY
Actuate BIRT Designer
Commercial data connectors
BIRT & e.Report docs, Xenos, SFDC,
DataDirect
Actuate Viewer
Flash & live Excel output
Embedded in Java Apps
Components for OEM or
iServer integrated within
app/portal
BIRT
Mobile
Information Objects
metadata
BIRT 360
Dashboards
Interactive
Viewer
On premises
Scalable, HA cluster, center of excellence or
virtual private/hybrid cloud
BIRT Data Objects
Intelligent in-memory
caching
BIRT Studio
ad-hoc
Data
Analyzer
BIRT
onDemand
SaaS
Public
Cloud
Platform as
a Service
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Eclipse BIRT & Actuate BIRT
Designers
Actuate BIRT Commercial Upgrades
Commercial Data Management Upgrades
• DataDirect JDBC & Oracle, DB2, SQL Server drivers
• BIRT Data Objects (in-memory OLAP)
• Information Object Designer perspective
• BIRT, e.Report & Xenos document ODAs
Commercial Design Features
• 266 Flash Objects
• Faster Actuate Viewer
Easy to use
• Live Excel, Emitters
Deployment
• IV & Data Analyzer
• WYSIWYG Web design metaphor
• iServer
• Page Level Security
• Multi-source & multi-dataset joins
• Info Console
• JDBC, POJO, Web Services data connectors
• 360 Dashboards
• Basic formats—PDF, Word, PPT, Excel, XML, HTML
• BIRT Studio
• onDemand
• BIRT Mobile
Powerful development tool
BIRT-Exchange Community
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Design & component reuse
• 10M Downloads
Programmability
• Forums, training, how-to’s, etc.
Integration API’s, ODAs & Emitters • Marketplace
Embed BIRT Engine in java application
Eclipse Open Source foundation
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Install the Training CD
Page 3 in your Workbooks
> Sign up for Birt On Demand
account (Refer to Handout)
>
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
BIRT onDemand is a SaaS BI solution for Business Intelligence and
Reporting in the Cloud
With BIRT onDemand, you can:
>Eliminate
server management costs and reduce IT involvement by
providing an ideal hosted platform for all BIRT applications
>Publish BIRT-based information applications securely to users outside the
firewall
>Enhance existing BIRT applications by adding instant interactivity and
analysis capabilities
>Present data visually with user configurable dashboards
>Deliver BIRT content to iPhone®, iPad™ and Blackberry® devices with builtin mobile delivery features
Visit www.BIRTonDemand.com for more information.
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Sign Up Process
It takes less than 2 minutes to create your own account
Step 1: Go to www.birt-exchange.com/be/info/BoD-KualiCoeus/
Step 2: Fill out the registration form
Step 3: Enter an account name,
username, password and
registration code: kualicoeus11
Click Submit
Done. You are ready to go!
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Introduction to BIRT
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Course objectives
You learn to
> Build and customize reports
> Design charts
> Use interactive Flash gadgets
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Course agenda
Course structure
> Product overview
> Setup instructions
> Creating a listing report
> Formatting a report
> Using parameters
> Using charts
> Using hyperlinks
> Using Flash gadgets
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Course structure
Concepts
> Demos
> Exercises
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Supporting information
BIRT: A Field Guild to Reporting
YouTube: Search for BIRT Videos
www.birt-exchange.com
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Actuate BIRT Designer
overview
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
About the report design
environment
Actuate BIRT Designer Professional is a designer
tool for report developers
> Installation includes the full Eclipse workbench
> Views and editors control what appears in menus
and tool-bars
> Each view is a tool provided in a window you can
maximize, minimize, move, resize, or close
> You can customize report designs using Java
code
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
The report editor
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Report design views
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Report Editor
> Layout editor
> Master page editor
> Script editor
> XML source editor
> Previewer
Palette
> Data Explorer
> Resource Explorer
> Property Editor
> Navigator
> Outline
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Accessing data
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A report can access data from the following
types of data sources
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Relational database through a JDBC driver
Flat file — text or CSV
XML document
Web services
Other data sources, such as Java objects, through a
custom driver
Use Data Explorer to
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Create a data source element to connect a report to a
data source
Create a data set element that identifies the data to
extract from the data source
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Laying out the report
Drag report elements from the palette and drop
them on the page in the layout editor
> Drag data set fields from Data Explorer
> Drag customized report elements from Resource
Explorer
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Report layout elements
> Label
> Image
> Text
> Chart
> Dynamic
> Data
> Grid
> List
> Table
text
> Cross
tab
> Flash chart
> Flash gadget
> Flash object
> HTML button
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Previewing and viewing the report
Use the Preview window to test the report format
> View a complete report in the following formats
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Adobe PDF
HTML and XHTML
Microsoft Excel, XLS
Microsoft PowerPoint, both PPT and PPTX
Microsoft Word, both DOC and DOCX
Postscript
You can also view a report in the interactive
report viewer
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Set up: Import report files
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Extract the report files and resources from the CD
Import files and resources into a workspace
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Creating a listing report
You learn to
> Create a new report
> Build a data source
> Build a data set
> Lay out the report to display data
> Preview the report in different formats
> Edit and format column headings
> Review the data bindings
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Formatting a report
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Formatting options
To make a report visually appealing and effective
> Change the color, font, size, and other visual
properties of report elements
> Customize the display of dates, numbers, and
currency values
> Use styles to apply these formats to report elements
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Formatting tools and techniques
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Formatting options are available through the
following views
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Property Editor
Properties
To format report content, select a report element,
then set property values using the property editor
> Many of the formatting properties are the same
as CSS properties
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Formatting a report
You learn to
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Resize columns
Create a report header that includes text and an
image
Import and use predefined styles
Create a new style
Replace the display values of a data set field
Format text data
Adjust the space between report elements
Alternate row colors in a table
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using parameters
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
About report parameters
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User-entered values that determine the data to
display in the report, for example
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Sales in a particular region
Sales over a certain amount
Sales for a particular quarter
Report parameters support
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Designing a report once, and running it many times
to display different data
Managing large reports
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Running a report having report
parameters
Parameters prompts the user for input
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using a parameter to specify the
data to retrieve
Create a report parameter
> Insert a parameter marker in the query, for
example
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Select …
Where Products.ProductLine = ?
Create a data set parameter to supply a value for
the parameter marker
> Bind the data set parameter to the report
parameter, so that the data set parameter gets
the user-specified value from the report parameter
and passes it to the query
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Using a parameter to specify the
data in a report
You learn to
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Write a query to return order information for all
products
Lay out the data
Create a report parameter
Edit the query to use a parameter to filter rows
Bind a data set parameter to a report parameter
Create a title that displays a parameter value
Run the report using different parameter values
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using charts
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
About charts
A chart is a graphical representation of summary
data or the relationships among sets of data
> A chart displays data as category series and
value series
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Common types of charts
Area
Scatter
Bar
Line
Meter
Pie
Stock
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Parts of a chart
y-axis labels
Value or y axis
Chart title
Sales by Region
Chips
40,000
Boards
Legend
Series labels
y-axis
(value) title
Sales
$
30,000
20,000
10,000
0
North
South
East
West
Regions
Category or x axis
x-axis labels
x-axis (category) title
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using the chart editor
Create a chart by performing the following three
major steps
> Select the chart type
> Select the data
> Format the chart
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Using charts
You learn to
> Connect to a MySQL database
> Create a vertical bar chart
> Create a horizontal bar chart
> Create a pie chart
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using hyperlinks
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
About hyperlinks
Use hyperlinks to provide the report user with
access to additional information
> Hyperlinks can link
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Two sections in a report
A section in a report to a section of a different
report
A report to a web page or other external
document
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Creating a hyperlink
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To create a hyperlink, select the following
elements
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A source element, which is a data, label, or image
element
A target element, which is any report element,
another report, or a web page
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Linking two sections in a report
To link two sections in a report
> Select the target element and create a
bookmark
The bookmark expression must be enclosed in
quotation marks (“ “)
> Select the source element and create an internal
hyperlink to specify the bookmark
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Linking to another report
To link to a section in another report
> Select the target element in the target report and
create a bookmark
> Select the source element and create a
drill-through hyperlink to specify the target report
and the bookmark
> Optionally, pass a report parameter value to the
target report to display specific data
> Specify where to open the target report
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Linking to a web page
To link to a web page
> Select the source element and create a URI
hyperlink to specify the target location
The URI must be enclosed in quotation marks (“ “)
> Specify where to open the target page
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Creating hyperlinks
You learn to create hyperlinks that
> Link to a web page
> Link to another report
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Using Flash gadgets
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
About using Flash in reports
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Actuate BIRT Release 11 supports
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Flash charts
Flash gadgets
Flash object library—Visualizations, charts, maps
Displaying Flash elements in reports requires
Adobe Flash Player
http://www.adobe.com/products/flashplayer/
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Examples of Flash in reports
no
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Examples of Flash gadgets
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Adding Flash to a report
Create a Flash object for a specific report
> Add a Flash object from the Flash Object Library
> Use a third-party Flash object
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© 2010 by Actuate Corporation
Exercise: Using a Flash gadget
You learn to
> Create a meter gadget
> Format a meter gadget
© 2010 by Actuate Corporation