BIRT 2.6 Data Analysis and Reporting

BIRT is an Eclipse-based open source reporting system for web applications based on Java and Java EE. To address a wide range of reporting needs within a typical application, ranging from operational or enterprise reporting to multi-dimensional online analytical processing (OLAP), you need to know BIRT from head to toe. If you wish to start making reports easily and quickly, and also want to be up-to-date with the latest developments in BIRT, then this book is for you.

The book steers you through each step of report setup, to creating, designing, formatting, and deploying reports with data from a wide range of data sources. Its focus is on familiarizing you with the most visible and familiar product built with the BIRT framework - the BIRT Report Designer. It starts by introducing the concepts of business intelligence and open source software, and different installation methods.

It will introduce you to the various visual report elements that can be used to design BIRT reports, such as the Palette and Grid components. You will learn the details of the data components of BIRT (the Data Source and the Data Set), different types of source data that BIRT supports such as XML files, flat text files, and databases, and the creation of all of the elements while connecting to Data Sources in reports and Report Projects. By the end of the book, you will be able to enhance the presentation of your report using Charts, Hyperlinks, and Drill Through. You will also be able to take advantage of the scripting capabilities that BIRT has to offer with Expressions and Event Handlers and successfully deploy BIRT reports.

What you will learn from this book :
- Design, manage, format, and deploy high-quality reports
- Create structured reports and add visual report elements
- Work with data from JDBC, XML, flat files, and web services
- Filter down data to just the information you need
- Create a shared development environment using libraries
- Use and create Templates for rapid development of similar reports
- Scripting in BIRT to add business logic, manipulate report elements and handle events
- Includes a case study (Building Reprots for Bugzilla) at the end along with a real world example that runs throughout the book

If you are a Java developer and want to create rich reports using BIRT, then this book is for you. You will need a basic understanding of SQL to follow along.