Overview

More than ten million people have downloaded BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) from the Eclipse web site, and more than one million developers are estimated to be using BIRT. Built on the open source Eclipse platform, BIRT is a powerful report development 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: A Field Guide to Reporting, Third Edition, is the authoritative guide to using BIRT Report Designer, the graphical tool that enables users of all levels to build reports, from simple to complex, without programming. ? This book is an essential resource for users who want to create presentation-quality reports quickly. The extensive examples, step-by-step instructions, and abundant illustrations help new users develop report design skills. Power users can find the information they need to make the most of the product's rich set of features to build sophisticated and compelling reports. ? Readers of this book learn how to Design effective corporate reports that convey complex business information using images, charts, tables, and cross tabs Build reports using data from multiple sources, including databases, spreadsheets, web services, and XML documents Enliven reports with interactive features, such as hyperlinks, tooltips, and highlighting Create reports using a consistent style, and, drawing on templates and libraries of reusable elements, collaborate with other report designers Localize reports for an international audience The third edition, newly revised, adds updated examples, contains close to 1,000 new and replacement screenshots, and covers all the new and improved product features, including Result-set sharing to create dashboard-style reports Data collation conforming to local conventions Using cube data in charts, new chart types, and functionality Displaying bidirectional text, used in right-to-left languages Numerous enhancements to cross tabs, page management, and report layout

Full Product Details

Author:   Diana Peh ,  Nola Hague ,  Jane Tatchell
Publisher:   Pearson Education (US)
Imprint:   Addison-Wesley Educational Publishers Inc
Edition:   3rd edition
Dimensions:   Width: 18.80cm , Height: 4.30cm , Length: 22.70cm
Weight:   1.320kg
ISBN:  

9780321733580

ISBN 10:   0321733584
Pages:   848
Publication Date:   09 March 2011
Audience:   Professional and scholarly ,  Professional & Vocational
Format:   Paperback
Publisher's Status:   Out of Print
Availability:   In Print  
Limited stock is available. It will be ordered for you and shipped pending supplier's limited stock.

Table of Contents

Foreword xix Preface xxiii Acknowledgments xxix Part I: Installing BIRT 1 Chapter 1: Introducing BIRT Report Designers 3 Understanding BIRT components 3 Understanding Eclipse BIRT packages 4 About types of BIRT builds 5 Chapter 2: Installing a BIRT Report Designer 7 Installing BIRT Report Designer Full Eclipse Install 7 Installing BIRT RCP Report Designer 8 Troubleshooting installation problems 9 Installing a language pack 10 Updating a BIRT Report Designer installation 11 Updating BIRT RCP Report Designer installation 12 Part II: Getting Started 15 Chapter 3: Learning the Basics 17 About BIRT reports 17 Overview of the report design process 17 About the report design environment 19 Tutorial 1: Building a simple listing report 24 About report files and supported formats 45 Viewing sample reports 48 Chapter 4: Planning Your Report 51 Identifying the content of the report 52 Determining how the report will be viewed 53 Considering international reporting requirements 54 Deciding the layout and format of the report 54 Drawing a mock-up 56 Considering reuse of report components 56 Managing report design resources 57 Deciding how the report will be deployed 57 Part III: Accessing and Binding Data 59 Chapter 5: Connecting to a Data Source 61 About BIRT data sources 61 Connecting to a database using JDBC 62 Connecting to a text file 68 Connecting to an XML file 70 Connecting to a web service 72 Creating reusable data sources 73 Setting connection properties when a report runs 77 Troubleshooting data source problems 84 Chapter 6: Retrieving Data 85 About data sets 85 Selecting data 86 Viewing and changing output columns 107 Adding a computed field to a data set 108 Joining data sets 110 Verifying the data returned by a data set 112 Specifying the data to retrieve at run time 113 Chapter 7: Binding Data 117 Understanding column bindings 117 Creating column bindings 120 Editing and deleting column bindings 122 Copying data elements 123 More about column-binding expressions 124 Part IV: Designing Reports 125 Chapter 8: Laying Out a Report 127 Understanding the layout model 127 Creating the sections of a report 130 Placing report elements 138 Chapter 9: Displaying Text 149 Types of textual elements 149 Deciding which textual element to use 151 Using a dynamic text element 153 Using a label element 155 Using a text element 155 Displaying text from right to left 159 Chapter 10: Formatting Report Content 163 Formatting data 164 Formatting with styles 171 Formatting data based on conditions 181 Alternating row colors in a table 186 Specifying alignment of content in a table or grid 189 Adjusting the spacing of content in a report 190 Specifying auto-expand layout for HTML output 195 Displaying data values in one row 197 Displaying content across multiple columns 200 Specifying alternate values for display 202 Hiding elements based on conditions 204 Chapter 11: Sorting and Grouping Data 207 Sorting data 208 Grouping 213 Tutorial 2: Grouping report data 232 Chapter 12: Aggregating Data 253 Types of aggregate calculations 254 Placing aggregate data 257 Creating an aggregation 259 Filtering aggregate data 265 Calculating percentages 267 Creating a summary report 271 Chapter 13: Writing Expressions 277 Basic concepts 278 Using the expression builder 279 Manipulating numeric data 282 Manipulating string data 285 Manipulating date-and-time data 294 Using Boolean expressions 297 Chapter 14: Filtering Data 299 Filtering opportunities 299 Specifying conditions on row retrieval 300 Filtering data after row retrieval 304 Chapter 15: Enabling the User to Filter Data 317 About report parameters 317 Planning to use report parameters 318 User filtering options 319 Enabling user filtering at query run time 319 Enabling user filtering after data retrieval 326 Designing the presentation of report parameters 329 Testing the report parameters 351 Tutorial 3: Creating and using report parameters 352 Chapter 16: Building a Report That Contains Subreports 367 Creating the report structure 367 Tutorial 4: Building a report containing side-by-side subreports 372 Chapter 17: Using a Chart 399 Surveying the types of charts 399 Tutorial 5: Creating a stand-alone chart 406 Exploring the chart builder 419 Using a chart in a table 423 Chapter 18: Displaying Data in Charts 427 Linking data to a chart 427 Understanding the axes of a chart 430 Grouping and sorting category data 434 Grouping optional Y value data 438 Using multiple y-axes 442 Transposing chart axes 443 Filtering data 444 Changing default report parameters 444 Creating data bindings 445 Previewing data and chart 445 Creating a combination chart 447 Defining a meter chart 449 Chapter 19: Laying Out and Formatting a Chart 453 Overview of formatting 454 Formatting specific types of charts 454 Setting chart area format attributes 472 Formatting the chart legend, plot, and title 478 Formatting axis titles, markers, lines, and labels 488 Formatting a series 500 Chapter 20: Presenting Data in a Cross Tab 511 Tutorial 6: Creating a cross tab 512 Setting up data for a cross tab 527 Building a cross tab 537 Displaying empty rows and columns 550 Displaying user-defined values in row and column headings 551 Sorting cross tab data 554 Limiting the amount of data the cross tab displays 556 Chapter 21: Presenting Different Views of the Same Data 559 Ways to share data 560 Building a dashboard report 561 Part V: Enhancing Reports 575 Chapter 22: Designing a Multipage Report 577 Planning the page layout 577 Controlling pagination 578 Customizing the master page 587 Using multiple master pages 598 Chapter 23: Adding Interactive Viewing Features 601 Creating hyperlinks 601 Creating a table of contents 611 Adding interactive chart features 614 Adding interactive elements to an HTML report 618 Identifying report elements for data export 620 Chapter 24: Building a Shared Development Framework 623 Sharing report elements using a library 624 Designing libraries for a shared environment 629 Using a library 635 Sharing a report layout as a template 643 Chapter 25: Localizing Text 651 Overview of the localization process 652 Assigning a resource file to a report 653 Assigning resource keys 655 Editing a resource file 664 Previewing a report in different locales 665 Glossary 667 Index 739

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Author Information

Diana Peh, Nola Hague, and Jane Tatchell are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have many years of experience in technical consulting, training, writing, and publishing about reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies.

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