Integrating and Extending BIRT

by Weathersby, Jason; French, Don; Bondur, Tom; Tatchell, Jane; Chatalbasheva, Iana

• ISBN13: 9780321443854
• ISBN10: 0321443853
• Edition: 1st
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2006-11-16
• Publisher: Addison-Wesley Professional

Summary

Written for Java programmers, this is an in-depth introduction to the Eclipse platform's new open source reporting tool.

Author Biography

The authors are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have 165 years of technical consulting, training, writing and publishing experience related to reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies. They have published forty-two titles on these topics through numerous editions.

The authors are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have 165 years of technical consulting, training, writing and publishing experience related to reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies. They have published forty-two titles on these topics through numerous editions.

The authors are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have 165 years of technical consulting, training, writing and publishing experience related to reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies. They have published forty-two titles on these topics through numerous editions.

The authors are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have 165 years of technical consulting, training, writing and publishing experience related to reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies. They have published forty-two titles on these topics through numerous editions.

The authors are members of the extended BIRT development team and have backgrounds in both computer science and technical writing. Collectively, they have 165 years of technical consulting, training, writing and publishing experience related to reporting, business intelligence tools, and database technologies. They have published forty-two titles on these topics through numerous editions.

Table of Contents

Foreword	xvii
Preface	xix
About this book	xix
Who should read this book	xx
Contents of this book	xxi
Typographical conventions	xxiv
Syntax conventions	xxv
Acknowledgments	xxvii
Part I Installing and Deploying BIRT	1	(44)
Prerequisites for BIRT	3	(10)
Requirements for the BIRT report designers	3	(4)
About installing required software	5	(1)
BIRT RCP Report Designer software requirements	5	(1)
BIRT Report Designer Full Eclipse Install software requirements	5	(1)
BIRT Report Designer software requirements	6	(1)
Prerequisites for other BIRT packages	7	(3)
BIRT Chart Engine software requirements	7	(1)
BIRT Demo Database software requirements	8	(1)
BIRT Report Engine software requirements	9	(1)
BIRT Samples software requirements	9	(1)
BIRT Test Suite software requirements	9	(1)
About types of BIRT builds	10	(3)
Installing a BIRT Report Designer	13	(10)
Installing BIRT Report Designer	14	(1)
Downloading and installing BIRT Report Designer	14	(1)
Installing the auxiliary file for BIRT Report Designer	14	(1)
Testing the BIRT Report Designer installation	15	(1)
Installing BIRT Report Designer Full Eclipse Install	15	(1)
Downloading and installing BIRT Report Designer Full Eclipse Install	15	(1)
Installing the auxiliary file for BIRT Report Designer	16	(1)
Installing BIRT RCP Report Designer	16	(2)
Downloading and installing BIRT RCP Report Designer	17	(1)
Installing the auxiliary file for BIRT Report Designer	17	(1)
Testing the BIRT RCP Report Designer installation	18	(1)
Troubleshooting installation problems	18	(1)
Avoiding cache conflicts after you install a BIRT Report designer	18	(1)
Specifying which Java Virtual Machine to use when you start a BIRT report designer	19	(1)
Installing a language pack	19	(4)
Installing Other BIRT Packages	23	(8)
Installing BIRT Chart Engine	23	(2)
Installing BIRT Chart Engine from the Eclipse BIRT web site	24	(1)
Avoiding cache conflicts after installing	24	(1)
Installing BIRT Demo Database	25	(1)
Installing BIRT Demo Database from the Eclipse BIRT web site	25	(1)
Testing the BIRT Demo Database installation	25	(1)
Installing BIRT Report Engine	26	(2)
Installing BIRT Report Engine from the Eclipse BIRT web site	27	(1)
Testing the BIRT Report Engine installation	27	(1)
Installing BIRT Samples	28	(1)
Installing BIRT Test Suite	29	(2)
Updating a BIRT Installation	31	(2)
Using the Eclipse Update Manager to update BIRT Report Designer installation	31	(1)
Updating BIRT RCP Report Designer installation	32	(1)
Deploying a BIRT Report to an Application Server	33	(12)
About application servers	33	(1)
About deploying to Tomcat	33	(1)
About deploying to other application servers	34	(1)
Placing the BIRT report viewer on an application server	34	(6)
Installing the BIRT report viewer files	34	(1)
Installing the auxiliary file	35	(1)
Installing your JDBC drivers	35	(1)
Testing the BIRT report viewer installation	35	(1)
Using a different context root for the BIRT report viewer	36	(1)
Placing the viewer in a different location	36	(1)
Mapping the folders that the BIRT report viewer uses	36	(3)
Verifying that Apache Tomcat is running BIRT report viewer	39	(1)
Placing fonts on the application server	40	(1)
Viewing a report using a browser	40	(5)
Understanding the run and frameset servlets	41	(1)
Using the URL parameters for the run and frameset servlets	41	(1)
report parameter	42	(1)
document parameter	42	(1)
format parameter	43	(1)
locale parameter	43	(1)
isnull parameter	43	(1)
svg parameter	43	(1)
Report parameters	44	(1)
Part II Understanding the BIRT Framework	45	(26)
Understanding the BIRT Architecture	47	(12)
Understanding the BIRT integration	47	(4)
About the BIRT applications	51	(1)
About BIRT Report Designer and BIRT RCP Report Designer	51	(1)
About the BIRT report viewer	51	(1)
About the BIRT engines	52	(1)
About the report design engine	52	(1)
About the report engine	52	(1)
About the generation engine	52	(1)
About the presentation engine	52	(1)
About the chart engine	53	(1)
About the data engine	53	(1)
About data engine components	53	(1)
About the ODA framework	53	(1)
About the types of BIRT report items	53	(1)
About standard report items	54	(1)
About custom report items	54	(1)
About chart report items	54	(1)
About the ROM	54	(1)
About the types of BIRT files	54	(2)
About report design files	55	(1)
About report document files	55	(1)
About report library files	55	(1)
About report template files	55	(1)
About custom Java applications	56	(1)
About custom report designers	56	(1)
About custom Java report generators	56	(1)
About extensions to BIRT	57	(2)
Understanding the Report Object Model	59	(12)
About the ROM specification	59	(3)
ROM properties	60	(1)
ROM slots	61	(1)
ROM methods	61	(1)
ROM styles	62	(1)
About the ROM schema	62	(1)
About the rom.def file	63	(3)
About the primary ROM elements	66	(1)
About the report item elements	67	(1)
About the report items	67	(1)
Understanding the report item element properties	67	(1)
About the data elements	68	(3)
Part III Scripting in a Report Design	71	(72)
Using Scripting in a Report Design	73	(18)
Overview of BIRT scripting	73	(1)
Choosing between Java and JavaScript	73	(1)
Using both Java and JavaScript to write event handlers	74	(1)
Understanding the event handler execution sequence	74	(7)
About event firing sequence dependency	74	(1)
About the onCreate and onRender firing sequence dependencies	75	(1)
About the ReportDesign firing sequence dependencies	75	(1)
About the pageBreak event	75	(1)
Analysis of the execution sequence phases	75	(1)
Overview of the report execution process	76	(1)
Preparation phase	76	(1)
Report body processing phase	76	(2)
Clean-up processing phase	78	(1)
Row execution sequence	78	(1)
Table and list method execution sequence	78	(3)
About a report item event handler	81	(1)
About data source and data set event handlers	82	(1)
ODA data source events	82	(1)
Scripted data source events	82	(1)
ODA data set events	82	(1)
Scripted data set events	82	(1)
About ReportDesign event handlers	82	(1)
Writing event handlers for charts	83	(6)
Chart events	83	(2)
Chart script context	85	(1)
Chart instance object	86	(1)
Chart instance getter methods	86	(1)
Chart instance setter methods	87	(1)
Writing a Java chart event handler	87	(1)
Writing a JavaScript chart event handler	87	(2)
Getting a dynamic image from a Microsoft Access database	89	(2)
Using JavaScript to Write an Event Handler	91	(20)
Using BIRT Report Designer to enter a JavaScript event handler	91	(3)
Creating and using a global variable	92	(1)
Understanding execution phases and processes	93	(1)
Using the reportContext object	94	(1)
Passing a variable between processes	95	(1)
Getting information from an HTTP request object	95	(1)
Using the this object	95	(4)
Using the this object's methods	95	(1)
Using the this object to set the property of a report item	96	(3)
Using the row object	99	(1)
Getting column information	99	(1)
Getting and altering the query string	100	(1)
Getting a parameter value	101	(1)
Changing the connection properties of a data source	101	(1)
Determining method execution sequence	102	(2)
Providing the ReportDesign.initialize code	102	(1)
Providing the code for the methods you want to track	103	(1)
Providing the ReportDesign.afterFactory code	103	(1)
Tutorial 1: Writing an event handler in JavaScript	104	(4)
Task 1: Open the report design	104	(1)
Task 2: Create and initialize a counter in the Table.onCreate() method	104	(2)
Task 3: Conditionally increment the counter in the Row.onCreate() method	106	(1)
Task 4: Display the result, using the ReportDesign.afterFactory() method	107	(1)
Calling Java from JavaScript	108	(3)
Understanding the Packages object	108	(1)
Understanding the importPackage method	109	(1)
Using a Java class	109	(1)
Placing your Java classes where BIRT can find them	110	(1)
Issues with using Java in JavaScript code	110	(1)
Using Java to Write an Event Handler	111	(20)
Writing a Java event handler class	111	(5)
Locating the JAR files that an event handler requires	112	(1)
Extending an adapter class	112	(4)
Making the Java class visible to BIRT	116	(1)
Associating the Java event handler class with a report element	116	(1)
BIRT Java interface and class naming conventions	117	(1)
Writing a Java event handler	118	(5)
Using event handler adapter classes	118	(1)
Using event handler interfaces	118	(1)
About the Java event handlers for report items	119	(1)
Using Java event handlers for the DataSource element	120	(1)
Using Java event handlers for the DataSet element	120	(1)
Using Java event handlers for the ScriptedDataSource element	121	(1)
Using Java event handlers for the ScriptedDataSet element	122	(1)
Using Java event handlers for the ReportDesign	122	(1)
Understanding the BIRT interfaces	123	(5)
About the element design interfaces	124	(1)
About the methods for each report element	124	(1)
About the IReportElement interface	124	(1)
About the element instance interfaces	125	(1)
Using the IReportContext interface	126	(2)
Using the IColumnMetaData interface	128	(1)
Using the IDataSetInstance interface	128	(1)
Using the IDataSetRow interface	129	(1)
Using the IRowData interface	129	(2)
Using a Scripted Data Source	131	(12)
Creating a scripted data source and scripted data set	131	(2)
Tutorial 2: Creating and scripting a scripted data source	133	(6)
Task 1: Create a new report	133	(1)
Task 2: Create a scripted data source	133	(1)
Task 3: Create a scripted data set	134	(1)
Task 4: Supply code for the open() and close() methods of the data source	135	(1)
Task 5: Supply code for the open() method of the data set	135	(1)
Task 6: Define output columns	135	(2)
Task 7: Place the columns on the report layout	137	(1)
Task 8: Supply code for the data set fetch() method	138	(1)
Using a Java object to access a data source	139	(2)
Performing initialization in the data set open() method	139	(1)
Getting a new row of data in the data set fetch() method	140	(1)
Cleaning up in the data set close() method	140	(1)
Deciding where to locate your Java class	140	(1)
Deploying your Java class	141	(1)
Using input and output parameters with a scripted data set	141	(2)
Part IV Integrating BIRT Functionality into Applications	143	(108)
Understanding the BIRT APIs	145	(36)
Package hierarchy diagrams	146	(1)
About the BIRT Report Engine API	147	(6)
Creating the BIRT Report Engine	148	(1)
Using the BIRT Report Engine API	148	(1)
EngineConfig class	148	(1)
ReportEngine class	148	(1)
IReportRunnable interface	149	(1)
IReportDocument interface	149	(1)
IEngineTask interface	149	(1)
IGetParameterDefinitionTask interface	149	(1)
IDataExtractionTask interface	150	(1)
IRunTask interface	150	(1)
IRenderTask interface	150	(1)
IRunAndRenderTask interface	150	(1)
Report engine class hierarchy	151	(1)
Report engine interface hierarchy	152	(1)
About the design engine API	153	(4)
Using the BIRT design engine API	154	(1)
DesignEngine class	154	(1)
SessionHandle class	154	(1)
ModuleHandle class	155	(1)
ReportDesignHandle class	155	(1)
LibraryHandle class	156	(1)
DesignElementHandle class	156	(1)
Individual element handle classes	156	(1)
Design engine class hierarchy	157	(6)
ReportElementHandle hierarchy	159	(1)
ReportItemHandle hierarchy	160	(1)
ElementDetailHandle hierarchy	161	(1)
StructureHandle hierarchy	162	(1)
About the BIRT Chart Engine API	163	(18)
Using the BIRT Chart Engine API	164	(1)
Chart engine class hierarchy	164	(1)
chart.aggregate hierarchy	165	(1)
chart.datafeed hierarchy	165	(1)
chart.device class hierarchy	166	(1)
chart.device interface hierarchy	166	(1)
chart.event class hierarchy	166	(2)
chart.exception class hierarchy	168	(1)
chart.factory class hierarchy	168	(1)
chart.log class hierarchy	169	(1)
chart.model class hierarchy	169	(1)
chart.model.attribute interface hierarchy	170	(2)
chart.model.attribute class hierarchy	172	(1)
chart.model.component interface hierarchy	173	(1)
chart.model.data interface hierarchy	174	(2)
chart.model.layout interface hierarchy	176	(1)
chart.model.type interface hierarchy	176	(1)
chart.render hierarchy	177	(1)
chart.script hierarchy	178	(1)
chart.util class hierarchy	179	(2)
Programming with the BIRT Reporting APIs	181	(38)
Building a reporting application	182	(3)
About the environment for a reporting application	183	(1)
About plug-ins used by the report engine	183	(1)
About libraries used by the report engine	184	(1)
About required JDBC drivers	185	(1)
Modifying a report design with the API	185	(1)
Generating reports from an application	185	(19)
Setting up the report engine	186	(1)
Configuring the engine home	186	(1)
Configuring the report engine	187	(1)
Setting up a stand-alone or WAR file environment	188	(2)
Using the logging environment to debug an application	190	(1)
Opening a source for report generation	190	(1)
Understanding an IReportRunnable object	191	(1)
Understanding an IReportDocument object	191	(1)
Accessing a report parameter programmatically	192	(7)
Preparing to generate the report	199	(1)
Setting the parameter values for running a report design	200	(1)
Setting up the rendering options	200	(1)
Setting up the rendering context	200	(2)
Providing an external connection to run a report design	202	(1)
Generating the formatted output programmatically	203	(1)
Accessing the formatted report	203	(1)
About programming with a report design	204	(15)
About BIRT model API capabilities	205	(1)
Opening a report design programmatically for editing	206	(1)
Configuring the design engine to access a design handle	206	(1)
Using an IReportRunnable object to access a design handle	206	(1)
Using a report item in a report design	207	(1)
Accessing a report item by name	207	(1)
Accessing a report item by iterating through a slot	207	(1)
Examining a report item programmatically	208	(1)
Accessing the properties of a report item	208	(2)
Modifying a report item in a report design programmatically	210	(1)
Accessing and setting complex properties	211	(2)
Adding a report item to a report design programmatically	213	(1)
Accessing a data source and data set with the API	214	(1)
About data source classes	214	(1)
About data set classes	215	(1)
Using a data set programmatically	215	(2)
Saving a report design programmatically	217	(1)
Creating a report design programmatically	217	(2)
Programming with the BIRT Charting APIs	219	(32)
About the environment for building a charting application	220	(1)
Verifying the development environment for charting applications	221	(1)
Using the charting API to modify an existing chart	222	(3)
Getting a Chart object from the report design	222	(1)
Modifying chart properties	222	(1)
Modifying axes properties	223	(1)
Modifying plot properties	223	(1)
Modifying the legend properties	223	(1)
Modifying the series properties	224	(1)
Adding a series to a chart	224	(1)
Adding a chart event handler to a charting application	224	(1)
Adding a Java chart event handler to a charting application	224	(1)
Adding a JavaScript chart event handler to a charting application	225	(1)
Using the charting APIs to create a new chart	225	(14)
Creating the chart instance object	226	(1)
Setting the properties of the chart instance object	227	(1)
Setting the chart color and bounds	227	(1)
Setting plot properties	227	(1)
Setting legend properties	227	(1)
Setting legend line properties	227	(1)
Setting axes properties	228	(1)
Creating a category series	228	(1)
Creating a y-series	228	(1)
Defining the y-series queries	229	(1)
Setting the y-series properties	229	(1)
Setting the properties of the x- and y-series	230	(1)
Adding a series definition to the Axis object	230	(1)
Adding series, queries, and categories to the series definitions	230	(1)
Creating sample data	231	(1)
Getting an element factory object	231	(1)
Getting an extended item handle object	231	(1)
Setting the chart.instance property on the report item	231	(1)
Getting a data set from the report design	232	(1)
Binding the chart to the data set	232	(1)
Adding the new chart to the report design	232	(1)
Saving the report design after adding the chart	232	(1)
Putting it all together	233	(6)
Using the BIRT charting API in a Java Swing application	239	(7)
Understanding the chart programming examples	246	(5)
DataCharts	246	(1)
GroupOnXSeries	246	(1)
GroupOnYAxis	246	(1)
AutoDataBinding	247	(1)
FormatCharts	247	(1)
InteractivityCharts	247	(1)
PDFChartGenerator	247	(1)
StyleProcessor	248	(1)
ScriptViewer	248	(1)
Viewer	248	(1)
ChartWizardLauncher	249	(1)
Report	250	(1)
Preference	250	(1)
Part V Working with the Extension Framework	251	(214)
Building the BIRT Project	253	(14)
About building the BIRT project	253	(3)
Assuring that you have the correct software on your system	254	(1)
Configuring the Eclipse workspace to compile BIRT	254	(2)
Creating Eclipse projects	256	(6)
Specifying the repository locations	257	(2)
Checking out the BIRT source	259	(2)
Adding the extra JAR file	261	(1)
Building the web viewer	262	(5)
Extending BIRT	267	(32)
Overview of the extension framework	267	(1)
Understanding the structure of a BIRT plug-in	268	(7)
Understanding an extension point schema definition file	268	(3)
Understanding a plug-in manifest file	271	(1)
Understanding a plug-in run-time class	272	(3)
Working with the Eclipse PDE	275	(4)
Understanding plug-in project properties	277	(1)
Understanding the Eclipse PDE Workbench	277	(2)
Creating the structure of a plug-in extension	279	(4)
Creating the plug-in extension content	283	(4)
Building a plug-in extension	287	(4)
Generating an Ant build script	290	(1)
Testing a plug-in extension	291	(1)
Deploying the extension plug-in	291	(6)
Installing feature updates and managing the Eclipse configuration	293	(1)
Creating an update site project	294	(3)
Downloading the code for the extension examples	297	(2)
Developing a Report Item Extension	299	(30)
Understanding a report item extension	299	(2)
Developing the sample report item extension	301	(15)
Downloading BIRT source code from the CVS repository	302	(1)
Creating a rotated label report item plug-in project	302	(3)
Defining the dependencies for the rotated label report item extension	305	(2)
Specifying the run-time package for the rotated label report item extension	307	(1)
Declaring the report item extension points	307	(5)
Creating the plug-in extension content	312	(4)
Understanding the rotated label report item extension	316	(8)
Understanding RotatedLabelItemFactoryImpl	318	(1)
Understanding RotatedLabelUI	319	(1)
Understanding RotatedLabelPresentationImpl	319	(1)
Understanding RotatedLabelReportItemImpl	320	(1)
Understanding RotatedLabelPropertyEditUIImpl	320	(1)
Understanding GraphicsUtil	321	(3)
Deploying and testing the rotated label report item plug-in	324	(5)
Deploying a report item extension	324	(1)
Launching the rotated label report item plug-in	324	(5)
Developing a Report Rendering Extension	329	(36)
Understanding a report rendering extension	329	(1)
Developing the CSV report rendering extension	330	(20)
Downloading BIRT source code from the CVS repository	330	(1)
Creating a CSV report rendering plug-in project	331	(3)
Defining the dependencies for the CSV report rendering extension	334	(1)
Declaring the emitters extension point	335	(2)
Understanding the sample CSV report rendering extension	337	(1)
Implementing the emitter interfaces	337	(2)
Implementing the content interfaces	339	(2)
Understanding the CSV report rendering extension package	341	(1)
Understanding CSVReportEmitter	341	(7)
Understanding CSVTags	348	(1)
Understanding CSVWriter	348	(1)
Understanding the BIRT report engine API package	348	(1)
Understanding RenderOptionBase	349	(1)
Understanding CSVRenderOption	349	(1)
Understanding EngineConstants	349	(1)
Testing the CSV report rendering plug-in	350	(15)
Launching the CSV report rendering plug-in	353	(4)
About ExecuteReport class	357	(2)
About the report design XML code	359	(6)
Developing an ODA Extension	365	(100)
Understanding an ODA extension	366	(1)
Developing the CSV ODA driver extensions	366	(2)
About the CSV ODA plug-ins	367	(1)
Downloading BIRT source code from the CVS repository	367	(1)
Implementing the CSV ODA driver plug-in	368	(11)
Defining the dependencies for the CSV ODA driver extension	370	(1)
Specifying the run-time settings for the CSV ODA driver extension	370	(1)
Declaring the ODA data source extension point	371	(8)
Understanding the sample CSV ODA driver extension	379	(11)
Implementing the DTP ODA interfaces	379	(2)
Understanding the CSV ODA extension package	381	(1)
Understanding CSVFileDriver	382	(1)
Understanding CSVFileQuery	382	(3)
Understanding ResultSet	385	(2)
Understanding ResultSetMetaData	387	(1)
Understanding DataSetMetaData	388	(1)
Understanding Messages	388	(1)
Understanding DataTypes	388	(1)
Understanding CommonConstant	389	(1)
Developing the CSV ODA UI extension	390	(13)
Creating the CSV ODA UI plug-in project	390	(2)
Defining the dependencies for the CSV ODA UI extension	392	(1)
Specifying the run-time settings for the CSV ODA UI extension	393	(1)
Declaring the ODA data source UI extension point	393	(10)
Understanding the sample CSV ODA UI extension	403	(11)
Implementing the ODA data source and data set wizards	404	(1)
Understanding the org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.csv.ui.wizards package	405	(1)
Understanding Constants	405	(1)
Understanding CSVFilePropertyPage	406	(1)
Understanding CSVFileSelectionPageHelper	406	(2)
Understanding CSVFileSelectionWizardPage	408	(1)
Understanding FileSelectionWizardPage	409	(5)
Testing the CSV ODA UI plug-in	414	(5)
Developing a Hibernate ODA extension	419	(46)
Creating the Hibernate ODA driver plug-in project	420	(6)
Understanding the sample Hibernate ODA driver extension	426	(2)
Understanding HibernateDriver	428	(1)
Understanding Connection	428	(2)
Understanding DataSetMetaData	430	(1)
Understanding Statement	431	(4)
Understanding ResultSet	435	(1)
Understanding HibernateUtil	436	(3)
Building the Hibernate ODA driver plug-in	439	(2)
Developing the Hibernate ODA UI extension	441	(7)
Understanding the sample Hibernate ODA UI extension	448	(1)
Understanding HibernatePageHelper	449	(3)
Understanding HibernateDataSourceWizard	452	(1)
Understanding HibernatePropertyPage	452	(1)
Understanding HibernateHqlSelectionPage	452	(6)
Building the Hibernate ODA UI plug-in	458	(2)
Testing the Hibernate ODA UI plug-in	460	(5)
Glossary	465	(60)
Index	525

Excerpts

About this book BIRT is a powerful reporting platform that provides end-to-end reporting solutions, from creating and deploying reports to integrating report capabilities into other enterprise applications. Two companion books, BIRT: A Field Guide to Reporting and Integrating and Extending BIRT, cover the breadth and depth of BIRT's functionality. This book informs report developers about how to write scripts that Customize the report-generation process Incorporate complex business logic in their reports This book also informs application developers about how to Deploy reports Integrate reporting capabilities into other applications Extend BIRT functionality By its very nature, reporting is not a stand-alone technology. It draws on data generated by applications and is frequently integrated tightly within those applications. In some applications, such as performance monitoring, reporting provides the most tangible expression of value. Therefore, a successful reporting platform must emphasize interoperability and extensibility, and, a successful implementation of that platform must always involve some measure of integration and extension. As you read this book, you will see the significant investment that has been made in BIRT to provide support for interoperability and extensibility. In the area of interoperability, for instance, BIRT supports flexible deployment of its report engine and viewer to a wide variety of J2EE application server environments. Other provisions for interoperability in the BIRT platform include the ability to dynamically build or modify reports from within an application using the design engine application programming interface (API) and the ability to access native data objects using the scripted data source mechanism. In the area of extensibility, BIRT provides hooks to build upon platform capabilities in the following areas: Report Items. New controls may be added to the BIRT designer palette using the report item extension API. Complex Logic. Event handlers written in JavaScript or Java may be included in the generation or presentation phase of report or chart execution to incorporate custom logic required by the application. Data Access. The Open Data Access (ODA) extension provides the means to develop drivers for new, non-JDBC data sources as well as create graphical user interfaces for query specification. Rendering. New report output formats or output for specialized devices can be developed using the report rendering extension API. Who should read this book This book is intended for people who have a programming background. These readers can be categorized as Embedders and integrators. These individuals work with the software to integrate it into their current application infrastructure. Extenders. These individuals leverage APIs and other extension points to add capability or to establish new interoperability between currently disparate components or services. To write scripts in report design, you need knowledge of JavaScript or Java. More advanced tasks, such as extending BIRT's functionality, require Java development experience and familiarity with the Eclipse platform. Contents of this book This book is divided into several parts. The following sections describe the contents of each of the parts. Installing and Deploying BIRT Part I, "Installing and Deploying BIRT," introduces the currently available BIRT reporting packages, the prerequisites for installation, and the steps to install and update the packages. Part I includes the following chapters: Chapter 1, "Prerequisites for BIRT." BIRT provides a number of separate packages as downloadable archive (.zip) files on the Eclipse web site. Some of