Book Image

JasperReports for Java Developers

Book Image

JasperReports for Java Developers

Overview of this book

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. This book shows you exactly how to get started, and develop the skills to get the most from JasperReports. The book steers you through each point of report setup, to creating, designing, formatting, and exporting reports with data from a wide range of datasources, 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 see preview them in both the 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 datasources, 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 the report. 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.

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JasperReports for Java Developers
Aug, 2006 | 344 pages
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Table of Contents (13 chapters)
Preface
Preface
What This Book Covers
What You Need for This Book
Conventions
Reader Feedback
Customer Support
Free Chapter
1
1. An Overview of JasperReports
1. An Overview of JasperReports
Brief History of JasperReports
What is JasperReports?
The JasperReports Open-Source License
Features of JasperReports
Class Library Dependencies
Typical Workflow
Where to Get Help?
Summary
2
2. Adding Reporting Capabilities to Java Applications
2. Adding Reporting Capabilities to Java Applications
Downloading JasperReports
JasperReports Class Library
Summary
3
3. Creating Your First Report
3. Creating Your First Report
Creating a JRXML Report Template
Generating the Report
Displaying Reports on a Web Browser
Elements of a JRXML Report Template
Summary
4
4. Creating Dynamic Database Reports
4. Creating Dynamic Database Reports
Database for Our Reports
Generating Database Reports
Summary
5
5. Working with Other Datasources
5. Working with Other Datasources
Empty Datasources
Map Datasources
Java Objects as Datasources
TableModels as Datasources
XML as Datasource
Custom Datasources
Summary
6
6. Report Layout and Design
6. Report Layout and Design
Controlling Report-Wide Layout Properties
Setting Text Properties
Setting a Report's Background
Adding Multiple Columns to a Report
Grouping Report Data
Report Expressions
Report Variables
Stretching Text Fields to Accommodate Data
Laying Out Report Elements
Using the <frame> Element
Hiding Repeated Values
Subreports
Summary
7
7. Adding Charts and Graphics to Reports
7. Adding Charts and Graphics to Reports
Adding Geometrical Shapes to a Report
Adding Images to a Report
Adding Charts to a Report
Summary
8
8. Other JasperReports Features
8. Other JasperReports Features
Report Localization
Scriptlets
Crosstabs
Subdatasets
Adding Hyperlinks and Anchors to Reports
Handling Very Large Reports
Summary
9
9. Exporting to Other Formats
9. Exporting to Other Formats
Exporting Overview
Exporting to PDF
Exporting to RTF
Exporting to Excel
Exporting to HTML
Exporting to XML
Exporting to CSV
Exporting to Plain Text
Directing HTML Reports to a Browser
Summary
10
10. Graphical Report Design with iReport
10. Graphical Report Design with iReport
Obtaining iReport
Creating a Database Report in Record Time
Creating a Report "From Scratch"
Creating More Elaborate Reports
Help and Support
Summary
11
11. Integrating JasperReports with other Frameworks
11. Integrating JasperReports with other Frameworks
Integrating JasperReports with Hibernate
Integrating JasperReports with Spring
Integrating JasperReports with JavaServer Faces
Integrating JasperReports with Struts
Summary
12
Index
Index

Scriptlets

JasperReports allows us to execute snippets of Java code at certain points during the report filling process. We can accomplish this by writing scriptlets. All scriptlets must extend either net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JRAbstractScriptlet or net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JRDefaultScriptlet. Following is a brief explanation on these classes:

  • JRAbstractScriptlet contains a number of abstract methods that must be overridden in every implementation. These methods are called automatically by JasperReports at the appropriate moment.
  • JRDefaultScriptlet is a convenience class containing default empty implementations of every method in JRAbstractScriptlet. It can be used whenever we wish to override only a few of the methods in JRAbstractScriptlet.

The following table summarizes these methods:

Method

Description

public void beforeReportInit()

Called before report initialization.

public void afterReportInit()

Called after report initialization.

public void beforePageInit()

Called...

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