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

Exporting Overview

Exporting reports is done via a series of classes that implement the net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JRExporter interface. This interface contains, among others, the following two methods:

  • public void setParameter(JRExporterParameter parameter, java.lang.Object value)
  • public void exportReport()

The setParameter() method is used to set parameters used to export the report. In most cases, two parameters need to be set: the jasperPrint object containing the native report and the name of the output file or output stream used to output the exported report. We would set the output file any time we are sure we want to save the exported report to disk. We would set the output stream parameter for sending the exported report through the network or when we are not sure if we want to save the exported report to disk or stream it through the network. Since an output stream can be easily saved to disk or streamed through the network, the decision can be made at run time.

As can be seen...

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