BIRT Report Designers

Features: Data Access

BIRT Report Designers efficiently integrate data from multiple data sources, transform the data and manipulate the data based on business logic.

Extensible Data Source Access

All BIRT Report Designers include facilities to access various types of data sources through included APIs, Java scripting or the Eclipse Open Data Access (ODA) framework which can be used to access non-supported data source types.

• Multiple Data Source Access - includes JDBC-accessible databases, Web Services, XML, Java Objects, and flat files.
• JavaScript Access - uses scripting to access data sources in any Java application.
• Open Data Access Framework Support - builds user interface and runtime support for other custom data sources.

Flexible Data Source Access

Regardless of whether the data is coming from a single query, multiple queries or multiple data sources, the BIRT Report Designers can include the data in a single report and multiple places within that report.

• Join Support - joins data from multiple disparate data sources in a query.
• Multiple Data Sources in Single Report - allows results from multiple queries from multiple sources to be included in a single report.
• Single Query for Multiple Uses - allows results from a single query to be used in multiple areas of the report.

Data Handling

The BIRT Report Designers can specify a variety of functions to perform on data before presenting it in a report such as computations and business logic; sorting, filtering, and mapping; and multi-dimensional modeling.

• Data Transformation - includes filtering, filtering on aggregates, resorting, sorting on aggregates, and data mapping without using code.
• Multi-dimensional Data Modeling - supports crosstab reports.
• Business Logic - processes data after fetching it from the data source and before presenting it on the report.
• Computations - computes columns and report fields at query time.

Data Access

Actuate BIRT Report Designer,
Actuate BIRT Report Designer Pro

Actuate BIRT Report Designer, and Actuate BIRT Report Designer Pro provide additional data access features for direct data access and shielding business users from the complexities of data storage.

• Metadata Layer - accesses data through Information Objects, Actuate's metadata and data integration layer.
• Built-in Drivers - includes built-in data drivers for MS SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, Sybase, Informix, MySQL.

Features Overview Next: Component-based Model Reuse