BIRT Exchange Forum: BIRT Exchange Forum -> Michael's BIRT Blog

As the business world changes with time, so does your data source's schema, i.e. changing table names, removing columns, changing data types, etc. In doing so, IT must spend lots of valuable resources updating applications that are impacted by these changes.


To help soften the blow, Actuate 11SP4 introduces new Impact and Dependency Analysis capabilities. This allows the developer to identify what applications and content must be updated with the change to the database schema, giving a much clearer picture on the cost and resources needed to complete the update, before it even begins. Additionally, such analysis allows the development team to easily identify which BIRT designs depend upon certain libraries, Information Objects, or Data Object, to easily assess the impact of updating or removing these resources.

The Database Search also allows BIRT developers to easily identify files that use and are dependent on the selected database component. With a couple clicks of the mouse, a BIRT developer can access a diagram, showing the dependency tree, for the project. The diagram also highlights the dependency path from the selected BIRT item, to all other items that would be affected by a change to this element.

The dependency Impact Analysis view can also be invoked by clicking on any file in the Outline view of the BIRT designer, such as a BIRT design, a Data Object, an Information Object, BIRT Library, etc. This gives the developer another way to access the dependency analysis information for a given file, before making any changes.



Another new feature, in Actuate 11SP4, is the ability to create and preview Information Objects within BIRT Designer Pro, rather than having to deploy them to a BIRT iServer as part of the authoring process. BIRT developers will still have the familiar experience they're used to, when creating the Information Object, they just no longer have to specify an iServer, though, Information Objects published to an iServer will still be available when creating designs, just like in the past. Also, to make things easier on the developer, report designs and Information Objects no longer have to be created in separate projects, allowing the BIRT developer to create Information Objects and the designs that consume them, at the same time, as part of the same project.

Publishing to your BIRT iServer, in Actuate 11SP4, has also been made easier, providing a single BIRT Designer Pro dialog for publishing your designs and resources. The dialog allows BIRT developers to choose the files they'd like to publish and also choose whether or not they should overwrite the previous version, if it exists, already, on the server. Publishing to the iServer isn't the only thing that's gotten simpler. BIRT Designer Pro also provides a new download dialog to download published or user created content, for re-use or enhancement.



Next time, I'll show how Actuate 11SP4 enhances the usability of the BIRT product line. In the meantime, download a free trial version of Actuate BIRT iServer and BIRT Designer Pro, to check it out for yourself.

Actuate 11SP4 builds on the already powerful ActuateOne™ platform, by bringing many, new capabilities, to the table, like developer productivity, visualization and interactivity, end user usability, and more. These capabilities include:

• HTML5 charts to enable consistent user experience and enhanced interactivity across conventional and mobile platforms
• New data source types, such as, Hadoop and Salesforce.com
• Impact and dependency analysis to ease develpment and management of applications
• Simplified publishing to the BIRT iServer
• Performance Optimization in BIRT Studio and Information Objects
• Relative time period support, enabling more powerful and dynamic comparisons across time
• and more...

One of the more major enhancements, of the bunch, is that all commonly used BIRT chart types now support HTML5 output format, along with the existing formats, SVG, JPG, PNG, and BMP. Catching your user's attention will be easier than ever with the out-of-the-box animation effects and new levels of interactivity. Custom animation effects and interactivity can also be defined, through scripting, making being forced to rely on pre-determined visualizations, a thing of the past.


Adding an HTML5 chart to your report is easy. Simply drag a chart from the palette, into your report layout, as you've always done. Only, choose HTML5 from the dropdown, instead of one of the other supported formats. Upgrading charts to HTML5, from one of the existing formats can be done by changing this same setting.



Making this change exposes the HTML5 chart specific properties, allowing you to preview the chart animation effects in the preview window of the chart builder. A script tab is now present in the chart builder, where custom animations, for HTML5 charts, are scripted. This script tab is also available with the other formats, for convenience of seeing everything in one place. Starting in 11SP4, theme functionality is available for all chart-specific formatting properties, like legend formatting, chart title formatting, etc. These themes can be used across all charts to give a common look/feel to your BIRT visualizations. The themes can also be exported to a library for reusability.


Next time, I'll detail how developer productivity will get a boost with Actuate 11SP4. In the meantime, download a free trial version of Actuate BIRT iServer and BIRT Designer Pro, to check it out for yourself.

Last Week in the Forums - 9/24/12

The first post, for this week, is about placing a marker in the middle of a gantt series bar. The poster wanted to be able to have a marker in the middle of a gantt chart bar, that was not at the beginning or the end. A gantt chart only has the option to have a marker at the beginning or end of a series. An example is provided that shows how two series can be used to make it appear as if there is a marker in the middle of the bar.

The next post, for this week, is about getting multi-level numbering in html lists. The poster wanted to be able to take an HTML list like:

<ul class="numericbullets"> 
<li>Cats</li> 
<li>Dogs 
    <ul> 
        <li>Birds</li> 
        <li>Rats
                                <ul> 
                                                <li>Birds</li> 
                                                <li>Rats</li> 
                                                <li>Rats</li> 
                                                <li>Rats</li> 
                                </ul> 
                
                </li> 
    </ul> 
</li> 
<li>Rabbits</li> 
<li>Ants 
    <ul> 
        <li>Lions</li> 
        <li>Rats</li> 
        <li>Rats</li> 
        <li>Rats</li> 
    </ul> 
</li> 
<li>Ducks</li> 
</ul>

and make it look like:

    1. Cats
    2. Dogs
        2.1 Birds
        2.2 Rats
            2.2.1 Birds
            2.2.2 Rats
            2.2.3 Rats
            2.3.4 Rats
    3. Rabbits
    4. Ants
        4.1 Lions
        4.2 Rats
        4.3 Rats
        4.4 Rats
    5. Ducks

The needed CSS styles to make this happen were failing to upload into the design. The solution that was found to work was to take the css styles:

ul.numericbullets { counter-reset:section; list-style-type:none; } 
ul.numericbullets li { list-style-type:none; } 
ul.numericbullets li ul { counter-reset:subsection; } 
ul.numericbullets li ul li ul{ counter-reset:subsubsection; } 
ul.numericbullets li:before{ 
    counter-increment:section; 
    content:counter(section) ". ";
} 
ul.numericbullets li ul li:before { 
    counter-increment:subsection; 
    content:counter(section) "." counter(subsection) " "; 
} 
ul.numericbullets li ul li ul li:before { 
    counter-increment:subsubsection; 
    content:counter(section) "." counter(subsection) "." counter(subsubsection) " "; 
}

and place them in style.css in webcontet -> birt -> styles. This style sheet is used in run and frameset. It won't work with preview, so don't be worried if you don't see this in any output that uses the preview option.

Here are a few more :

• Invalid Design file
  
• dataset parameters disappear
  
• Create Global Function
  
• Calculate between rows
  
• Named parameters in DataSet Query

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• How to connecting to database during param validation
  
• Cross Tab -data not to sort alphabetically
  
• Can I flip the origin of bar chart?
  
• Flat file on iServer
  
• Exporting report with 'https' images

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 9/17/12

The first post, for this week, is about showing a default result set if the main one is empty. The poster wanted to be able to show a default table if the parameter entered by the user returned no results. An example is posted in the thread that shows how to set the visibility of the two tables based on a variable that is set in the onFetch of the parameterized dataSet.

The next post, for this week, is about how to parameterize the from portion of an SQL query. The poster wanted to be able to use a parameter value to choose which table to use in the from portion of an SQL query. The solution provided was to use the report parameter in the beforeOpen of the dataSet, like:

this.queryText = "select * from " + params["myparameter"];

Here are a few more :

• Why so many date-time datapoints on chart?
  
• how to get a chart svg output as an object
  
• Dynamic Report Based on User Selection
  
• Cant Startup the OSGI Framework in BIRT
  
• Serial number for newspaper columns

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• ClassCastException on WebLogic BEA Servers
  
• Birt Reports not working other then maxadmin user

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 9/10/12

The first post, for this week, is about adding text to an image. The poster wanted to be able to add text to an image, within BIRT. One option could be to use the image as a background image on a grid or text element. The poster wasn't able to use this method, because background images don't export to Excel. Another solution that adds the text to the image, in script, using the image data, is attached in the forum thread.

The next post, for this week, is about using a table's output as input to a crosstab. The poster wanted to be able to feed the final results of their table to a crosstab. An example is posted in the thread that shows how to grab the table data and use it in a scripted dataSet that is used to build the cube.

Here are a few more :

• Optional grouping breaking pie chart
  
• onclick on a image
  
• Need "get started" for birt charting api
  
• Exception java.lang.NoSuchMethodError
  
• [chart]Mixing stacked and unstacked bars

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• How to use jquery or other javascript frame work in BIRT for client side scripting
  
• Stored procedure not returning expected data
  
• Birt chart overriding Birt report style
  
• Using ReportEngine in a Java Applet

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 9/3/12

The first post, for this week, is about highlighting bars in a single series of a chart, only. The poster was using script in the beforeDrawDataPoint to color their data point. The problem is that they were highlighting all series, not just the one they wanted. The solution to this is to check the series with dph.getSeriesDisplayValue() before setting the color.

The next post, for this week, is about reordering columns in a table. The poster has a table already in their design, but they'd like to reorder the columns based on a condition. An example is provided in the forum thread with beforeFactory code that switches the order of columns in a table based on a parameter.

Here are a few more :

• Alternating row background color in Crosstab
  
• Using numeric values from a data set in a global Variable
  
• How to Sort a chart on Dates
  
• Integrating Maximo reports into Birt Viewer

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• How to create Report using Rest web Service
  
• Changes in Data Objects not showing on reports

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 8/27/12

The first post, for this week, is about . The poster wanted to be able to highlight the parameter value within a text in their report. An example is provided in the thread with shows one way to achieve this using script.

The next post, for this week, is about creating a graphical representation of airplane seating. The poster wanted to be able to show a graphical representation of an airplane's seating chart, showing which seats are occupied/reserved. An example showing a way in which this can be done can be found in the thread.

Here are a few more :

• Try to hide first row on page - but second row is hidden
  
• Totals in a row crosstab
  
• Calling Multiple reports through Drill through in different target frames
  
• BIRT Deployment in Jboss5.1
  
• Schedule a task to Ftp a BIRT report using iServer

Here is an unanswered post, from last week:

• Query Problem with Temporary Tables and Variables

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 8/20/12

The first post, for this week, is about coloring a bar based on a threshold value. The poster wanted to be able to color the portion of the bar that passed a threshold value. Say, there was a chart threshold of 50 and there were three bars valued at 75, 55, and 45. The first two bars would be one color up to 50, then another color above. The last bar would be entirely the first color. What is done in this case is to use two series. One that goes all the way up to the threshold, if the value is that high, and the other to continue above the threshold if needed. This allows for two colors at the threshold line. An example report can be found in the forum thread.

The next post, for this week, is about creating a chart in script. The poster wanted to know if it was possible to create a chart, on the fly, in script. An example can be found in the forum that shows how to create a chart, in script, using an existing dataSet.

Here are a few more :

• Alternating row colors for detail row?
  
• Create pie chart programmatically ?
  
• Compare date ranges
  
• Reading and setting the report-parameters in Birt Report Viewer jsp
  
• Setting Image on Runtime

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• AuthenticationMethod SQL connectivity
  
• JSAPI to get list of reports

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 8/13/12

This blog series takes a look back at the past week in the forums, recalling how active they were and highlights some of the questions asked that seem to frequent the forums or other interesting topics. The forums continue to pick the pace back up and are pretty busy, now. Keep the good questions and answers coming. As always, thanks to those users who help answer questions! It is a great help to the community!

The first topic, for this week, is about flowing report content across multiple page columns. The issue in this post is that there is not a standard newspaper layout, in BIRT, yet. The normal solution for this is to use a grid, duplicate tables, and filters to make the appearance of wrapping columns. The issue the poster was having with this was that they had multi-line rows that caused issues with ordering. The solution provided was to break the original dataSet's long rows into single line rows, allowing the normal solution to work. An example is posted in the thread showing this. Another example showing this with grouping, is also attached in the thread.

The last in detail topic, from last week, is about formatting currency values in an HTML text box. The poster was displaying a value using the <value-of> tag, in an HTML text box, so they could include it in a string, but they wanted it to come as a currency value, with symbol and decimal. The solution is that you can set a format property on the value-of tag, telling it how you want the value formatted, like: <VALUE-OF format="$#,##0.00{RoundingMode=HALF_UP}">row._outer["yourColumn"]</VALUE-OF>

Here are a few more :

• iServer Users Jobs View of Others
  
• Exception Handling in BIRT Viewer
  
• Couldn't Export Different Locale to the PDF Report
  
• Flash Map Questions
  
• Dynamically Scale SVG Graph

Here are a few unanswered posts, from last week:

• Centering an A4 Size Report in any Monitor
  
• How to get Client IP Address
  
• Send Parameters to Reports/Dashboards from the SecurityAdapter

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this weeks blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.

Last Week in the Forums - 8/6/12

This blog series takes a look back at the past week in the forums, recalling how active they were and highlights some of the questions asked that seem to frequent the forums or other interesting topics. Forum traffic continues to fluctuate during the summer, which is expected, but they're still fairly busy each week. Keep the good questions and answers coming. As always, thanks to those users who help answer questions! It is a great help to the community!

I've decided to change the format, slightly. I'll continue to focus on a couple posts, in more detail, as I've always done. Instead of covering an unanswered post, in detail, I'll just list several unanswered posts, from the previous week, in hopes that a few answers will come out of the extra publicity, for them. I'll also list some other questions that have been answered, so this post can be a better summary of the forums, in each week. This hope is that this will aid community members in finding past posts that answer their questions. Feel free to let me know if you like or hate the changes. :)

The first topic I'll discuss, from last week, is about showing a percentage in a pie chart. The issue was that the dataSet consisted of a jobID and a status column. The status column was either "Complete" or blank. The solution given was to create a computed column to give the blank rows a value of "Not Complete", then, to use the computed column for the category and the count of jobs for the slice value. To get the percent, the series label needed to be changed from Value Data to Percentile Value Data. This can be done in the chart wizard. An example is posted in the thread.

The last detailed description post, for this week, is about limiting embedded tables with an outer table value. The issue is, when you embed a table, how can you limit the embedded table with a value from the outer table. There are a couple possibilities, here. One, if you're using SQL, is to use a dataSet parameter in your inner query, and use the dataSet parameter binding option, which can be found on the binding tab of the inner table, to pass row._outer["myoutertablevalue"] directly to the inner query. Another available way, if you're not using SQL, is to use this value in a filter on the inner table, to limit the data. An example of the data set parameter binding way can be found in the thread.

Here are a few more:

• DataSet Filter
  
• How to Give Access Privilege for a User (Not an Administrator) for Restarting the iServer
  
• Update URL in beforeFactory
  
• Table in a Header

And a few unanswered ones:

• Column Names in CSV Export
  
• BIRT PDF Report Print Issue in PDF Complete
  
• Disk Cache Size for Transient Reports Question
  
• Actuate JavaComponent WAR for Tomcat
  
• New Window After Entering Parameters

If you have a suggestion or solution for any of these, please post in the thread!

Thanks for reading this week's blog! Again, this is just a small sample of what went through the forums this past week. For more questions and answers that have been posted, check out the forums. As always, if you have a question, feel free to ask it, and if you see a question you know the answer to or have a similar experience to, feel free to post an answer or comment.