BIRT Exchange Forum: BIRT Exchange Forum -> Community BIRT

I'm pleased to announce the members of the BIRT Exchange Community Leaderboard for April 2013. The purpose of this Leaderboard is to honor the top contributors to BIRT Exchange each month and to have a little fun. Scores are also posted on the BIRT Exchange Connect page. You can recognize past and current Leaderboard members by special badges on their forum and DevShare posts:


To determine the leaders, each contribution made by a BIRT Exchange member is assigned a weighted point score that roughly corresponds to its effort/value. For example, starting a forum topic by asking a question will score you 1 point and answering someone's question scores 3 points. Members with the top summed scores each month are declared the leaders for that month and posted to the Leaderboard. Over time we evolve the scoring system as needed for fairness and value to the community. We even give a point for voting on the BIRT Exchange Community home page polls (but make sure you're logged in so it will be assigned to you).

So please contribute to BIRT Exchange. It's not difficult to get a decent score and we'd love to see you on the Leaderboard next month!

You can find details on the Community Leaderboard Wiki. If you have any suggestions or comments, please add them to this blog post (they're worth 2 points).

If you'll be in the central Germany area on the evening of May 16, don't miss the BIRT User Group Mannheim meeting at 6:00pm. BIRT User Groups are excellent opportunities to improve your BIRT skills, learn new things and network with other BIRT users in your area. New, intermediate and expert BIRT users and developers are all welcome.

Agenda:

• 6-7pm: High performance BIRT reports. This presentation describes some common pitfalls on your way to creating high performance reports. It covers ineffective interactions with the report engine API and points out some bad decisions that can lead to poor report design.
  
• 7-8pm: Networking. Get to know other BIRT enthusiasts. Discuss features of the latest BIRT release and talk about topics and presentations for the next meeting.

The meeting is totally free of charge. Snacks and drinks will be provided -- as well as a DZone BIRT cheat-sheet handout and some nice doorprizes!

You can get additional information and register for this meeting by clicking here.

If you don't live close to any of the existing BIRT User Groups and would be interested in seeing one formed in you area, please contact me.

We are still looking for more developers to build new BIRT plug-ins as part of the Plug In 2 BIRT contest. There are less than two weeks left before the deadline -- but that's plenty of time to get your code built and submitted.

You say you've never built a plug-in before?
No problem, they are easier to build than you might think! The contest web site has lots of tutorials and examples to help you get started. Plus you'll find a wealth of ideas and suggestions there for plug-ins that many BIRT users have asked for.

Take a look and give it a shot for a chance to win an iPad (we're giving 3 away). We'd love to see what you can come up with.

This introductory training series is designed for those unfamiliar or just getting started with BIRT. During the day you will hear about technical strategies and opportunities that will help you anticipate and address future business needs –plus– learn how to develop rich information applications for your users through hands-on training that covers Eclipse and Actuate BIRT features.

These Roadshows are great ways to learn more about BIRT whether you're an Eclipse open source developer or an Actuate customer. Lunch is provided as well as giveaways and door prizes so you can expect an informative day with a chance to meet other BIRT users in your area and have a little fun.

Don't miss this opportunity to take part in one of these exciting events.

I'm pleased to announce the members of the BIRT Exchange Community Leaderboard for March 2013. The purpose of this Leaderboard is to honor the top contributors to BIRT Exchange each month and to have a little fun. Scores are also posted on the BIRT Exchange Connect page. You can recognize past and current Leaderboard members by special badges on their forum and DevShare posts:


To determine the leaders, each contribution made by a BIRT Exchange member is assigned a weighted point score that roughly corresponds to its effort/value. For example, starting a forum topic by asking a question will score you 1 point and answering someone's question scores 3 points. Members with the top summed scores each month are declared the leaders for that month and posted to the Leaderboard. Over time we evolve the scoring system as needed for fairness and value to the community. We even give a point for voting on the BIRT Exchange Community home page polls (but make sure you're logged in so it will be assigned to you).

So please contribute to BIRT Exchange. It's not difficult to get a decent score and we'd love to see you on the Leaderboard next month!

You can find details on the Community Leaderboard Wiki. If you have any suggestions or comments, please add them to this blog post (they're worth 2 points).

At EclipseCon Boston, Actuate announced the Plug In to BIRT Contest for Spring 2013 .

This new contest will award a new 4th generation iPad for each of the 3 best plug-in implementations (extensions to BIRT) submitted to BIRT Exchange between now and April 30, 2013.

Our Contest Details and Examples Wiki page has everything you need to get started -- tutorials, sample code, and lots of suggestions for new plug-ins we'd like to see.

But you've never created a BIRT plug-in before?
Not a problem. Plug-ins are usually straightforward to implement for most good developers -- in fact our previous winners were almost all first-time BIRT plug-in developers.

And if you're up for a challenge, BIRT developers are always looking for new Chart Types. We have several ideas listed or please come up with your own.

IMPORTANT
We are asking for source code in this contest to help in the judging. You can license the source however you wish as long as the judges are authorized to evaluate it.

So check out the Contest Details and Examples Wiki page and get started!

Do you use any of the products in ActuateOne^® (Actuate’s BIRT-based suite of commercial products for development and deployment of custom business analytics applications)? If so, make your voice heard and join the independent 2013 Wisdom of Crowds Business Intelligence study being run by Dresner Advisory Services, a well-respected market research firm.

From the study questionnaire:

"The objective of this study is to collect data on trends, vendors and products in the Business Intelligence marketplace. As a result we will be able to examine the realities, plans and perceptions surrounding this important market. We will also rank vendors and products - creating an important tool for those seeking to invest in Business Intelligence Solutions."

We want this effort to be a success and you can help by spending 15 minutes to fill out the questionnaire. Please don't forget to choose Actuate as your primary vendor (only one vendor can be selected).

TAKE A LOOK AND COMPLETE THE QUESTIONNAIRE

We appreciate your time and interest. Qualified users who complete the study will receive a complimentary copy of the results for their personal use.

I'm pleased to announce the members of the BIRT Exchange Community Leaderboard for February 2013. The purpose of this Leaderboard is to honor the top contributors to BIRT Exchange each month and to have a little fun. Scores are also posted on the BIRT Exchange Connect page. You can recognize past and current Leaderboard members by special badges on their forum and DevShare posts:


To determine the leaders, each contribution made by a BIRT Exchange member is assigned a weighted point score that roughly corresponds to its effort/value. For example, starting a forum topic by asking a question will score you 1 point and answering someone's question scores 3 points. Members with the top summed scores each month are declared the leaders for that month and posted to the Leaderboard. Over time we evolve the scoring system as needed for fairness and value to the community. We even give a point for voting on the BIRT Exchange Community home page polls (but make sure you're logged in so it will be assigned to you).

So please contribute to BIRT Exchange. It's not difficult to get a decent score and we'd love to see you on the Leaderboard next month!

You can find details on the Community Leaderboard Wiki. If you have any suggestions or comments, please add them to this blog post (they're worth 2 points).

I'm pleased to announce the members of the BIRT Exchange Community Leaderboard for January 2013. The purpose of this Leaderboard is to honor the top contributors to BIRT Exchange each month and to have a little fun. Scores are also posted on the BIRT Exchange Connect page. You can recognize past and current Leaderboard members by special badges on their forum and DevShare posts:


To determine the leaders, each contribution made by a BIRT Exchange member is assigned a weighted point score that roughly corresponds to its effort/value. For example, starting a forum topic by asking a question will score you 1 point and answering someone's question scores 3 points. Members with the top summed scores each month are declared the leaders for that month and posted to the Leaderboard. Over time we evolve the scoring system as needed for fairness and value to the community. We even give a point for voting on the BIRT Exchange Community home page polls (but make sure you're logged in so it will be assigned to you).

So please contribute to BIRT Exchange. It's not difficult to get a decent score and we'd love to see you on the Leaderboard next month!

You can find details on the Community Leaderboard Wiki. If you have any suggestions or comments, please add them to this blog post (they're worth 2 points).

If you'll be in the Sydney Australia area on the evening of March 21, don't miss the first BIRT User Group Down Under meeting at 5:30pm. BIRT User Groups are excellent opportunities to improve your BIRT skills, learn new things and network with other BIRT users in your area. New, intermediate and expert BIRT users and developers are all welcome.

You can get additional information and register (free) for this meeting by clicking here.

If you don't live close to any of the existing BIRT User Groups and would be interested in seeing one formed in you area, please contact me.