Using BIRT with PHP

Just wanted to post a note saying The Server Side just published an article we worked on that demonstrates how BIRT can be called using PHP. This article covers using the BIRT Report Engine within PHP to implement running and rendering of reports and includes details on how to handle drill through and BIRT libraries.

The article is available here.

A version of the integration (Containing BIRT 2.3.1) is also available on BIRT Exchange here. Be sure to look at the notes in the download page that discuss JDBC drivers and event handler jars.

Single Sign On with the Actuate BIRT Viewer

In an earlier post (Showing BIRT Reports using the Actuate JSAPI), we talked about using the new Actuate JSAPI to integrate report content within your application. This article also discussed deploying the Actuate BIRT Viewer (contained in the Deployment Kit), which extends the capabilities of the open source Viewer to include quite a few interactive features, such as dynamic resorting, filtering, grouping and report storage. As a follow-up to that article, I wanted to discuss security integration using the Actuate BIRT Viewer. We just finished up this article and it is posted on BIRT Exchange. This article discusses single sign on and how it can be accomplished under the different deployment models that are available.

BIRT - Reversing a Chart Scale.

The Chart Engine that is delivered as part of the BIRT project offers a lot of functionality. Not only can you extend most of its features, the chart engine also offers hooks to do scripting (either in Java or JavaScript). Scripting can be very useful for modifying the chart based on parameters or data. As an example assume you have a chart that is displayed as follows:



Assume these numbers represent percent of sales returns and the lower the bar the better. In some cases larger bars graphically represent better values, so instead of displaying the chart as above the user may wish to see the chart as follows.



One way to achieve this effect is to modify the values and labels in chart script. To modify or add scripts to a chart select the chart and then the script tab within the designer. Bear in mind that although this example illustrates building the event handler in JavaScript it can also be done with Java.

The first thing to setup is the scale for the chart, which we want to tie to a report parameter. So you can enter a script like:


//Global scale
gblscale = 100.00;


//this is the first event called for charting
//So set scale here
function beforeDataSetFilled( series, idsp, icsc )
{
gblscale = icsc.getExternalContext().getScriptable().getParameterValue("Scale");
}

We set the scale for the chart to the parameter value in the beforeDataSetFilled event because this is the first event called for chart scripts. This variable will be used in other scripts for calculating labels.

The next script we need to override is the afterDataSetFilled event handler. This script can be used to modify the values used in a chart.

function afterDataSetFilled(series, dataSet, icsc)
{
if( series.getSeriesIdentifier() == "series1"){
var list = dataSet.getValues();
for ( i=0; i < list.length; i=i+1)
{
list[i] = gblscale - list[i];
}
}
}



This script first checks the series identifier as this call is made for every series, but we only want to change the bar series. The series identifier should be entered in the chart wizard. This can be done in the third tab of the chart wizard.



Once we know that we are working with the correct series, we can modify the values by calling the dataSet.getValues. In the script we are just subtracting the values from the global scale and resetting the value. So if the global scale is 100, a 5 value becomes 95.

We can then set the scale for the entire chart in the beforeGeneration event as follows.


function beforeGeneration(chart, icsc)
{
importPackage( Packages.org.eclipse.birt.chart.model.data.impl );
xAxis = chart.getBaseAxes()[0];
yAxis = chart.getOrthogonalAxes( xAxis, true)[0]
yscale = yAxis.getScale();
yscale.setStep (10);
yscale.setMin( NumberDataElementImpl.create(0) )
yscale.setMax( NumberDataElementImpl.create(gblscale) )
yAxis.setScale(yscale);

}

By default this script sets the Y axis to range from 0 to whatever the parameter value is set to. We now can reverse the labels by adding a beforeDrawAxisLabel script.

function beforeDrawAxisLabel(axis, label, icsc)
{
importPackage(Packages.org.eclipse.birt.chart.model.attribute);
if (axis.getType() == AxisType.LINEAR_LITERAL){
var val = parseFloat(label.getCaption().getValue());
var newval = gblscale - val;
label.getCaption().setValue(newval);
}
}

This script only changes the labels. Internally the chart is still scaled from 0 to the parameter value. So if the scale is 100 and the original value is 5, its new value is 95 and the bar will be drawn from 100 to 5. Internally this is still 0 – 95, but we reversed the labels. The last script we may want to add can change the data point labels. This script is called beforeDrawDataPointLabel and is called whenever the chart renders labels on the bars.

function beforeDrawDataPointLabel(dph, label, icsc)
{
var val = parseFloat(label.getCaption().getValue());
var newval = gblscale - val;
newval = newval.toFixed(2);
label.getCaption().setValue(newval);
}

In this script we just reverse the value label. This example can be downloaded at
BIRT Exchange.

Friday is the last Day for EclipseCon 2009 proposals

I just wanted to put a post up to let everyone know that the deadline for submissions for EclipseCon 2009 has been extended to Friday (11/28/2008 5pm PST). We are still looking for some use case proposals in the Reporting track and would appreciate feedback on the existing submissions. If you are interested, the EclipseCon 2009 page is located here.

BIRT Connection Pooling Continued Again

With the release of BIRT 2.3.1 connection pooling options have been extended.
In a prior post, I built an example that showed how to implement connection pooling using the driverBridge extension point. While this method is useful, with BIRT 2.3.1 there is a much easier method for passing BIRT an already created connection object.

You can now supply a connection by adding the connection object to BIRT’s application context object. The key for this object is OdaJDBCDriverPassInConnection. So to pass in the connection while using the Report Engine API, use code similar to:



IReportRunnable design = null;
//Open the report design
design = engine.openReportDesign("Reports/passinconnection.rptdesign");
IRunAndRenderTask task = engine.createRunAndRenderTask(design);
HTMLRenderOption options = new HTMLRenderOption();
options.setOutputFileName("output/resample/passinconnobj.html");
options.setOutputFormat("HTML");
task.setRenderOption(options);
task.getAppContext().put("OdaJDBCDriverPassInConnection", this.getConnection());
task.run();
task.close();


This assumes you already have the report engine started. The getConnection method in this example simply creates a java.sql.Connection to my database. You will need to create your own function. Also keep in mind that the BIRT JDBC plugin will close the connection when it has finished with it, so if you plan on using the object in multiple tasks, you will need to reopen it. There is a bug to allow the closing of the connection to be optional -Bugzilla Entry. This application context setting should be applied at the task level.

If you wish to set it in the Example Viewer’s application context take a look at this wiki entry.

These are the ways that a connection can now be manipulated in BIRT:
1-Property binding
2-JNDI
3-Script data set
4-DataSource.beforeOpen() event.
5–driverBridge extension
6-Application Context Ojbect (described here)

Another setting the JDBC plugin now provides is OdaJDBCDriverClassPath, which allows setting the classpath for locating drivers. This prevents the user from having to put JDBC drivers in the drivers directory of the JDBC plugin. This should be set on the EngineConfig object and not on the task object.


config = new EngineConfig( );
config.setBIRTHome("C:\\birt\\birt-runtime-2_3_1\\birt-runtime-2_3_1\\ReportEngine");
config.getAppContext().put("OdaJDBCDriverClassPath", "c:/birt/mysql/mysql-connector-java-5.0.4-bin.jar");
Platform.startup( config );
IReportEngineFactory factory = (IReportEngineFactory) Platform.createFactoryObject( IReportEngineFactory.EXTENSION_REPORT_ENGINE_FACTORY );
engine = factory.createReportEngine( config );


Getting BIRT Source

Back in September I blogged about BIRT Team Project Sets.  Last week the BIRT team was able to finish up implementing Team Project Sets.  Instructions on how to use a team project set are available here.

The project set to pull from HEAD is available here.

All of the BIRT releases, milestones, and release candidates now have team project sets are also available.  To get the team project set files go to the birt download page for the release you are interested in.  From there select the full BIRT 2.3.1 Download Page link (each named download has its own link).  At the bottom of the full download page, you will find a link to the Project Set File at the bottom of the page.

Showing BIRT Reports using the Actuate JSAPI

Actuate is preparing to release a new version of several products that are based on the open source BIRT project. One the coolest new features is a new JavaScript API that can be used to execute and display report content with virtually any front end framework.

This API allows report content to be inserted into any DIV element, and contains methods for parameter manipulation, data extraction, and displaying the viewer. The viewer component has complete functionality for table of contents, exporting reports to different formats, and even the ability to modify sorting, filtering, and grouping from within the browser.

Wenbin, Virgil and I wrote an article on how this API can be used. It is available here. If you are interested in trying out this new API, take a look at the Actuate 10 wiki page located on BIRT Exchange.