Book Image

JasperReports 3.5 for Java Developers

Book Image

JasperReports 3.5 for Java Developers

Overview of this book

Do you want to create easily understood, professional, and powerful reports from disordered, scattered data using a free, open source Java class library? If your answer is yes, this book on JasperReports is what you are looking for. JasperReports is the world's most popular embeddable Java open source reporting library, providing Java developers with the power to easily create rich print and web reports. The book has been fully updated to use JasperReports 3.5, the latest version of JasperReports. Previously accepted techniques that have now been deprecated have been replaced with their modern counterparts. All examples in the book have been updated to use XML schemas for report templates. Coverage of new data sources that JasperReports now supports has been added to the book. Additionally, JasperReports can now export reports to even more formats than before and exporting reports to these new formats is covered in this new edition of the book. This book shows you exactly how to get started, and develop the skills to get the most from JasperReports. It introduces you to the latest version of JasperReports, and gets you creating complex and elegant reports. The book steers you through each point of report setup, to creating, designing, formatting, and exporting reports with data from a wide range of data sources, and integrating JasperReports with other Java frameworks. Starting with the basics of adding reporting capabilities to your application and creating report templates, you will first see how to produce your reports through the use of JRXML files, custom ANT targets, and then preview them in both the web browser and the native browser of JasperReports. Getting data into your reports is the next step, and you will see how to get data from a range of data sources, not only databases, but XML files, and Java Objects, among others. You will create better looking reports with formatting and grouping, as well as adding graphical elements to your reports. You will export your reports to a range of different formats, including PDF and XML. Creating reports will be made even easier with a walkthrough of the iReport Designer visual designing tool. To round things off, you will see how to integrate your reports with other Java frameworks, using Spring or Hibernate to get data for the report, and Java Server Faces or Struts for presenting the report. All examples have been updated to use XML schemas. New export formats, such as OpenDocument Text, and new data sources now supported by JasperReports are now covered in this updated edition.
Table of Contents (17 chapters)
JasperReports 3.5 for Java Developers
Credits
About the Author
About the Reviewers
Preface
Index

About the Reviewers

Allan Bond is a software developer who has been active in the IT industry for 10 years. His primary focus is the development of both frontend and backend systems using Java and related technologies. He has worked and consulted for a variety of organizations ranging from small businesses to Fortune 500 companies, and government agencies. Allan holds a Masters degree in Information Systems Management from Brigham Young University.

BalaKishore G. Pamarti is working in St. Jude Children's Research Hospital's Clinical Informatics Department as a Programmer Analyst for the past five years. It's a non-profit organization supporting all the software systems in the patient care area. Before joining St. Jude, BalaKishore did his Masters in Engineering Technology at the University of Memphis and a Bachelors from the JNTU College of Engineering, Hyderabad in Civil Engineering.

He lives with his wife and they both love hiking and exploring new places!

T. David Hoppmann, Jr is the DBA and lead report developer for Monolith Software Solutions, an open source business intelligence and data warehousing solution for restaurateurs. He graduated from the College of Charleston in his hometown of Charleston, SC with degrees in Computer Science and Computer Information Systems. He is also an active member of the Charleston, SC Linux Users Group (CSCLUG).

Thomas M. Ose has been actively involved in computer and Information Technologies for the past 30 years. He has seen computer and software trends and technology mature over various industries including manufacturing, office automation, and communication sectors. Over the years, Thomas has been a programmer, consultant, and manager for various industries, and has become proficient in many languages and disciplines including C, C++, C#, PHP, JAVA, XML, and UML. He prides himself at always learning something new and developing applications and solutions at the cutting edge of technology and the industry. Thomas is currently the President of his own consulting company, Ose Micro Solutions, Inc. specializing in electronic B2B, G2B system for the Uniform Commercial Code and Business Registration systems for state and local governments. For his solutions, he utilizes PHP, JAVA, and C# to provide web service and browser-based solutions using XML to file regulatory documents at state and local governments. He has developed many national standards in this area and spoken at numerous trade conventions.