Overview - Run and View a BIRT Report on iServer Express


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This lesson demonstrates the following end-user functionality:

  • Browse folders to find reports.
  • Run and view a BIRT report on demand. This means that we want the report to query its data sources right now, create a report document with the results, and immediately display it in the Web browser – all while you wait.

Contents

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Browse to the Sample Reports

At this point in the guide, we have logged into iPortal and are looking at the administrator's home folder. But, there are no reports here, so navigate to the folder “/Public/BIRT and Business Reports Examples."

The left sidebar of the page contains a navigation tree:

iPortal Navigation Tree

The top of the tree is the name of the machine on which iServer Express is installed. In this case it is "yosemite", but your name will be different. Below this appears the folder structure on the iServer Express. We are in /Home/administrator. To navigate to the sample reports, do the following:

  • Click on the + symbol next to Public to expand that folder.
  • Click on the BIRT and Business Reports Examples folder.

The list of sample reports appears.

List of Example BIRT Reports
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Run an Example Report

iServer Express works with reports. The term "report" can mean either the report output, or the file that runs to produce that output. Context usually makes it clear which is meant. But, when we need to be explicit, we use the term "report executable" for a report you can run, and "report document" for the file that contains the result of the run. "Documents You Can View" displays report documents ready for viewing. In the sample directory, the only such document is an HTML file that explains the sample reports. "Reports You Can Run" lists report executables.

Report executables can be run on-demand and the resulting report document opens in your browser. On-demand reports produce a report document that you can save to the iServer, but most often you'll simply viewed the output once without saving it.

  • Click on the report named “CustomerDashboard” under the heading “Reports You Can Run”. It is the first report in the list.

The report immediately starts running. It queries the report’s data sources and produces a temporary report document. As soon as the report is done, the Actuate Viewer window opens to display the document.

Note: If you get an error dialog stating that pop-ups are disabled, then visit Enable Pop-ups for iPortal.

Report in the BIRT Viewer


When you are finished with the report document, close the browser window and return to the iPortal window displaying Documents.

Next, we'll explore the Actuate Viewer in greater detail.

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Learn More

The following product manual at http://www.birt-exchange.com/modules/documentation/ provides more information.

  • BIRT Deployment → iServer Express Report Server → Using Actuate iServer Express
    • Managing Reports →
      • Working with folders
      • Working with files
    • Generating reports → Running a job

The same documentation is available in your iServer Express install:

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