Actuate BIRT iHub System User manual

Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
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Document No. 130131-2-430360 January 23, 2013
Contents
About Deploying to a BIRT iHub System . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .iii
Chapter 1
Deployment overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
Deployment overview . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deploying reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deploying information objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About accessing other types of data sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using a connection configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
2
2
2
3
3
Chapter 2
Deploying BIRT reports to BIRT iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 5
About deploying BIRT reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Publishing a report to iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 6
Publishing a report resource to Actuate BIRT iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 9
Deploying Java classes used in BIRT reports . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .11
Installing a custom JDBC driver . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Installing custom ODA drivers and custom plug-ins . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 13
Configuring the BIRT design cache . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 14
Chapter 3
Connecting to data sources . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 17
About data source connections . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
About data source connection properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using a connection profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Deploying a connection profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Using a connection configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Changing a configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Specifying the location of the connection configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Encrypting the connection properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Configuring a cluster to use a connection configuration file . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Externalizing the connection profile properties on the iServer . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Understanding externalization precedence . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Referencing the external connection profile . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .
18
18
18
19
20
21
21
21
22
22
22
23
Chapter 4
Configuring fonts in BIRT iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 25
About configuring fonts . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Understanding font configuration file priorities . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 26
Understanding how BIRT engine locates a font . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 27
i
Understanding the font configuration file structure . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
<font-aliases> section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .28
<composite-font> section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
<font-paths> section . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .29
Chapter 5
Working with BIRT encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
About BIRT encryption . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
About the BIRT default encryption plug-in . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .32
About acdefaultsecurity.jar . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
About encryption.properties . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
About META-INF/MANIFEST.MF . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
About plugin.xml . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Deploying encryption plug-ins to iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .33
Chapter 6
Using custom emitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 35
About custom emitters . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .36
Deploying custom emitters to iHub . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .37
Rendering in custom formats . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .38
Configuring the default export options for a BIRT report . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .43
Chapter 7
Deploying information objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 45
Deploying information objects . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .46
Index . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 49
ii
About Deploying to a
BIRT iHub System
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System provides information for volume administrators,
report developers, and data modelers regarding deploying reports and
information objects to an iHub Encyclopedia volume.
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System includes the following parts and chapters:
■
About Deploying to a BIRT iHub System. This chapter provides an overview of
this guide.
■
Chapter 1. Deployment overview. This chapter describes ODA drivers and the
connection configuration file.
■
Chapter 2. Deploying BIRT reports to BIRT iHub. This chapter describes how to
publish BIRT reports and report resources to an Encyclopedia volume, how to
deploy Java classes, and how to install JDBC and ODA drivers and plug-ins.
■
Chapter 3. Connecting to data sources. This chapter describes how to use a
connection profile, how to define environment variables, and how to connect
to various data sources.
■
Chapter 4. Configuring fonts in BIRT iHub. This chapter describes how to
configure fonts for use with BIRT reports.
■
Chapter 5. Working with BIRT encryption. This chapter describes how to deploy
encryption plug-ins.
■
Chapter 6. Using custom emitters. This chapter describes how to deploy custom
emitters.
■
Chapter 7. Deploying information objects. This chapter describes the specific
procedures for deploying information objects to an Encyclopedia volume.
About Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
iii
iv
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Part
Part 1
One
1
Introduction to deploying reports
and information objects
Chapter
Chapter 1
Deployment overview
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
Deployment overview
■
About accessing other types of data sources
■
Using a connection configuration file
Chapter 1, Deployment over view
1
Deployment overview
Actuate users work with reports and information objects when they log in to an
iHub Encyclopedia volume using Information Console. The volume
administrator is responsible for working with the developer to deploy reports
and information objects to the Encyclopedia volume and make them available to
users.
Deploying reports
Actuate offers several report designers including:
■
BIRT Studio
■
BIRT Designer Professional
■
e.Report Designer Professional
■
BIRT Spreadsheet Designer
BIRT Studio is a web-based report design tool for business users. With BIRT
Studio, a user designs a report and saves the report design in the Encyclopedia
volume. It is not necessary to publish the report design to the Encyclopedia
volume. For more information about designing reports with BIRT Studio and
integrating BIRT Studio with iHub, see Using BIRT Studio - iHub Edition.
The other report designers reside on the desktop. A report developer designs a
report in one of these report designers and publishes the report executable to the
Encyclopedia volume. The volume administrator then performs the following
tasks:
■
Places the report executable in the appropriate folder
■
Schedules a job to generate the report document in the appropriate format, for
example PDF
■
Assigns privileges on the report document for users and roles
■
Notifies users that the report document is available
For more information about these tasks, see Managing an Encyclopedia Volume.
Before the volume administrator makes reports available to users, he may need to
perform additional tasks, for example, define database connections and make
fonts available to reports. These tasks are discussed in the following chapters.
Deploying information objects
An information object can be used as a data source in any type of report design.
To deploy an information object, you must publish the information object to the
resources folder for the appropriate Encyclopedia volume. If you want users to be
2
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
able to execute an information object without having execute privilege on its
sources, apply the trusted execute privilege to the information object.
About accessing other types of data sources
A report or information object developer can access a variety of data sources
using predefined data drivers. To access other types of data, you can create a
custom data driver, known as an open data access (ODA) driver.
An ODA driver supports both design-time and run-time functionality. The report
or information object designer uses the driver to build a connection to the data
source, retrieve parameter and data row definitions, and compile these
definitions for use at run time. At run time, BIRT iHub loads the driver. Then, the
driver creates the connection and data source instance and fetches the requested
data.
Each ODA driver supports one type of connection and can support multiple
instances of that connection type. Each driver can support multiple data sources.
The driver must be installed on the system where you design the report or
information object and on BIRT iHub.
For more information about installing ODA drivers on BIRT iHub, see Configuring
BIRT iHub.
Using a connection configuration file
Connection configuration files enable deployment of reports and information
objects to a production environment. You can use a connection configuration file
to specify which data connections to use in the design environment. You can use
the same data connections or specify different connections for use when BIRT
iHub runs the report or information object in the production environment. By
specifying both design-time and run-time connections, you do not have to change
the report design or information object when deploying to a production
environment. For more information about connection configuration files, see the
documentation for the report or information object designer and Configuring BIRT
iHub.
Chapter 1, Deployment over view
3
4
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Part
Part 2
Two
2
Deploying BIRT reports
Chapter
Chapter 2
Deploying BIRT reports
to BIRT iHub
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
About deploying BIRT reports
■
Publishing a report to iHub
■
Publishing a report resource to Actuate BIRT iHub
■
Deploying Java classes used in BIRT reports
■
Installing a custom JDBC driver
■
Installing custom ODA drivers and custom plug-ins
■
Configuring the BIRT design cache
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
5
About deploying BIRT reports
This chapter describes how to run and distribute BIRT reports in the Actuate
business reporting system. To deploy BIRT reports, you need to understand the
environment in which the reports run.
iHub provides a central location from which business users can access, run, and
view reports. You can also use Actuate Information Console to run report
executables, and to manage, generate, view, and print report documents.
Actuate BIRT Designer Professional, the tool that you use to develop BIRT
reports, has built-in capabilities that facilitate the deployment process. The
Actuate BIRT Designer integrates with iHub in several important ways to support
performing the following tasks:
■
Use an open data access (ODA) information object data source that resides on
an Encyclopedia volume.
■
Publish a report design to an Encyclopedia volume.
■
Publish a resource to an Encyclopedia volume.
■
Install a custom JDBC driver for use by BIRT reports running in the iHub
environment.
A user accesses BIRT Studio from Actuate Information Console. BIRT Studio is a
licensed option of iHub. To deploy templates and reports to BIRT Studio you use
the deployment features available in Actuate BIRT Designer Professional. The
following sections describe these capabilities.
Publishing a report to iHub
The purpose of publishing a report to iHub is to make it accessible to a large
number of users. A published report is available to manage, meaning you can
schedule re-running the report to include updates from the data sources. You can
also choose who can access part or all of the report.
Actuate BIRT Designer Professional provides tools for easy deployment of
reports, templates and their resources to iHub. The designer connects directly to
an iHub and deploys the reports to selected iHub folders. The designer provides
an iHub Explorer view for managing iHub connections. Using iHub Explorer,
you can create iHub connection profiles to store the connection properties to a
specific Encyclopedia volume. Figure 2-1 shows iHub Explorer displaying an
iHub profile.
6
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Figure 2-1
iHub Explorer view
How to create an iHub profile
1 In Actuate BIRT Designer, open iHub Explorer. If you do not see the iHub
Explorer view in the designer, select Windows➛Show View➛iHub Explorer.
2 In iHub Explorer, right-click Servers, and choose New iHub Profile.
3 In New iHub Profile, specify the connection information. Figure 2-2 displays
an example of connection properties provided for an iHub named Athena.
Figure 2-2
Setting properties for an iHub profile
1 In Profile type, select iHub.
2 In Profile name, type a unique name that identifies the new profile.
3 In iHub, type the name or IP address of the iHub.
4 In Port number, type the number of the port to access iHub.
5 In Volume, select the iHub Encyclopedia volume.
6 In User name, type the user name required to access the volume.
7 In Password, type the password required to access the volume.
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
7
8 Select Remember Password, you can choose to remember the password.
4 Choose Finish to save the iHub profile. The iHub profile appears in the iHub
Explorer as shown in Figure 2-1.
How to publish a report design to iHub
1 Choose File➛Publish➛Publish to iHub.
2 On Publish to iHub, select a server profile. If there is no appropriate profile in
the iHub profile list, create a new profile by choosing Add. In New iHub
Profile, complete the information as shown in Figure 2-2. Then, choose Finish.
3 Select the project where the report you want to publish is located.
4 Select Publish Report Designs.
5 On Publish to iHub, select the report, as shown in Figure 2-3.
6 In Publish location, type or browse for the location on the Encyclopedia
volume in which to publish the report design, as shown in Figure 2-3.
Figure 2-3
Selecting a server and location
7 Choose Publish Files. A new window, showing the file upload status, appears.
On Publishing, wait until the upload finishes, then choose OK as shown in
Figure 2-4.
8
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Figure 2-4
Confirming the report publishing
8 On Publish to iHub, choose Close.
Publishing a report resource to Actuate BIRT iHub
BIRT reports frequently use files with additional information to present report
data to the users. A BIRT resource is any of the following items:
■
Static image that a BIRT report design uses
■
Report library
■
Properties file
■
Report template
■
Data object
■
CSS file
■
External JavaScript file
■
SWF file of a Flash object
■
Java event handler class packaged as a Java archive (JAR) file
You can publish BIRT resources from the BIRT Designer Professional’s local
resource folder to iHub. By default, the Resource folder is the current report
project folder. If you use shared resources with other developers and the resource
files for your reports are stored in a different folder, you can change the default
Resource folder. Use Windows➛Preferences➛Report Design➛Resource menu to
set the Resource folder.
In the Encyclopedia volume, the Resource folder is set to /Resources by default.
In the sample Encyclopedia volume, the /Public folder contains sample reports.
The libraries and templates used by these sample reports are stored in the
/Resources folder.
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
9
If the Resource folder in the Encyclopedia volume is different from the default,
before publishing a resource, you need to set up the Resource folder in the
Encyclopedia volume.
How to change the Resource folder on an Encyclopedia volume
1 Open Management Console and log in to the Encyclopedia volume.
2 Create a folder to designate as a resource folder.
3 Choose Volume➛Properties.
4 On Properties➛General, in Resource folder, type or browse to the folder to
which you want to publish BIRT resources. Choose OK.
How to publish a resource from the Resource folder to iHub
1 In Actuate BIRT Designer, choose File➛Publish➛Publish to iHub.
2 Select the iHub profile, as shown in Figure 2-5.
3 On Publish to iHub, you can publish reports and resources. Choose Publish
Resources.
4 On Publish to iHub, expand the Actuate BIRT Designer’s Resource Folder and
select the resources to publish.
Figure 2-5
10
Publish to iHub
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
5 Choose Publish Files. A new window showing the file upload status appears.
6 Choose OK when the upload finishes.
7 In Publish to iHub, choose Close.
Deploying Java classes used in BIRT reports
A BIRT report uses scripts to implement custom functionality. For example, you
can use scripts to create a scripted data set or to provide custom processing for a
report element. When you deploy a BIRT report to an Encyclopedia volume, you
must provide iHub with access to the Java classes that the scripts reference. You
package these classes as JAR files that can be recognized and processed from an
iHub Java factory process. There are two ways to deploy Java classes:
■
Deploy the JAR files to the Encyclopedia volume.
This method supports creating specific implementations for each volume in
iHub. This method of deployment requires packaging the Java classes as a JAR
file and attaching the JAR file as a resource to the report design file. You treat a
JAR file as a resource in the same way as a library or image. Using this
method, you publish the JAR file to iHub every time you make a change in the
Java classes.
■
Deploy the JAR files to the following iHub subdirectory:
$ACTUATE_HOME\iHub\resources
This method uses the same implementation for all volumes in iHub. Actuate
does not recommend deploying JAR files to an iHub /resources folder
because iHub must be restarted after deploying the JAR file. Another
disadvantage of this deployment technique is that the JAR file, deployed in
the iHub /resources directory is shared across all volumes, which can cause
conflicts if you need to have different implementations for different volumes.
When using this method, you do not have to add the JAR file to the report
design’s Resource property.
How to configure BIRT reports and deploy a JAR file to an Encyclopedia volume
1 Package the Java classes as a JAR file and copy the JAR file to the Actuate BIRT
Designer resource folder.
2 Open the report design in Actuate BIRT Designer.
3 In Outline, select the root report design slot and select Resources property
group in the Property Editor window.
4 In Resources, in JAR files, choose Add and navigate through the Resource
folder to select the JAR file, as shown on Figure 2-6.
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
11
Figure 2-6
Add a JAR file as a resource to a report
When the report executes, the engine searches for the required classes and
methods only in this JAR file.
5 Choose File➛Publish➛Publish to iHub to publish the report and the JAR file
to the iHub.
1 Select the server profile.
2 Select Publish Report Designs, choose the report, and the folder on iHub
where you want to copy the report.
3 Select Publish Resources and choose the JAR file. The JAR file is stored in
the Encyclopedia volume’s Resource folder.
6 Run the report from Information Console or Management Console.
How to deploy a JAR file to an iHub /resources folder
1 Copy the JAR file to the following iHub subdirectory:
$ACTUATE_HOME\iHub\resources
$ACTUATE_HOME is the folder where Actuate products install. By default, it
is C:\Program Files\Actuate11 for version 11.
2 Publish the report to iHub.
12
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
3 Restart iHub.
4 Run the report from Information Console or Management Console.
Installing a custom JDBC driver
In order to run a BIRT application in the iHub environment when the BIRT
application uses a custom JDBC driver, you must install the JDBC driver in the
following location:
$ACTUATE_HOME\iHub\Jar\BIRT\platform\plugins
\org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc_<VERSION>\drivers
Installing custom ODA drivers and custom plug-ins
All custom ODA drivers and custom plug-ins must be installed in the following
folder:
$ACTUATE_HOME\iHub\MyClasses\eclipse\plugins
By default, Actuate iHub and Information Console load custom plug-ins from
this folder. If your application uses a different location to store custom plug-ins,
you must set this location in each product’s link file. Actuate products use link
files to locate folders where the custom plug-ins are deployed. The name of the
link files are customPlugins.link and customODA.link. As the file names suggest,
the customODA.link file stores the path for custom ODA drivers, and
customPlugins.link is for all plug-ins used by BIRT reports and the BIRT engine,
such as custom emitters, or Flash object library plug-ins. Typically, the link files
are stored in a \links subfolder of the Eclipse instance of the product. For Actuate
BIRT Designer, for example, the file is located in:
$ACTUATE_HOME\BRDPro\eclipse\links
You can change the path in customPlugins.link file and deploy the plug-ins to the
new location.
When you install the InformationConsole.war file to your own J2EE application
server, the shared folder MyClasses is not available. In this case, custom plug-ins
should be copied to this folder:
WEB-INF/platform/dropins/eclipse/plugins
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
13
The locations of the link files for each product are listed in Table 2-1.
Table 2-1
.link file locations
Product
Paths of .link files
Actuate BIRT Designer
Professional
$ACTUATE_HOME\BRDPro\eclipse\links
Actuate BIRT iHub
$ACTUATE_HOME\iHub\Jar\BIRT
\platform\links
Configuring the BIRT design cache
By default, iHub caches a BIRT design, including access privileges. Caching
benefits users who access the design concurrently. Users who request access to
the same design share the cached design if they have the required privileges.
Performance can improve because iHub does not have to repeatedly load the
design. Generally, the fewer number of designs iHub needs to load, the better the
response time.
By configuring the cache timeout, the administrator can control how long the
design remains in the cache. iHub removes the design from the cache when the
time elapses. Increasing the timeout increases the time the design stays in the
cache. Decreasing the timeout purges the design sooner.
The administrator can also configure a limit on the number of designs in the
cache. When the cache reaches the limit, caching stops. To disable caching, set this
limit to zero.
How to configure the BIRT design cache
1 In Configuration Console, on Server Configuration Templates, expand
Viewing Service, BIRT, and BIRT Content Caches and choose Design Cache.
2 In Cache timeout for BIRT designs, accept the default, 1800 seconds or
30 minutes, as shown in Figure 2-7. Alternatively, type another value.
14
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Set to 0
to disable caching
Figure 2-7
Configuring the BIRT design cache
3 In Maximum number of BIRT designs to cache, accept the default, 50, or type
another value that limits the number of designs in the cache. To disable
caching, set to 0. Choose OK.
4 Restart iHub.
Chapter 2, Deploying BIRT repor ts to BIRT iHub
15
16
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Chapter
Chapter 3
Connecting to
data sources
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
About data source connections
■
About data source connection properties
Chapter 3, Connecting to data sources
17
About data source connections
Actuate Customer Support publishes the Supported Products and Obsolescence
Policy document that describes the data sources, drivers, operating systems, and
other software requirements for connecting iHub to data sources. Actuate
Supported Products and Obsolescence Policy, available on the Actuate Support
site at the following URL, also contains information about the required patches:
http://support.actuate.com/documentation/spm
iHub connects to data sources when generating reports and using the Actuate
Caching service (ACS). The report designer specifies data source connection
information in the report design, or you specify it in an external connection
configuration file. In most cases, iHub and the database run on different
computers for load-balancing purposes, but this division is not mandatory.
Running iHub on the database host can improve performance.
The iHub installation process installs and configures DataDirect Connect for
ODBC drivers and JDBC drivers. You can also use third-party drivers to connect
to data sources, but you must license, install, and configure them.
To connect BIRT reports to other JDBC data sources, place the .jar files for the
custom database driver in:
AC_SERVER_HOME\iHub\Jar\birt\platform\plugins
\org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc<version>\drivers
About data source connection properties
Every BIRT data source object specifies the connection properties required to
connect to an underlying data source. Typically, many report designs access the
same data source. Rather than typing the same connection properties for each
design, you can create a connection profile to reuse the same connection
properties across multiple designs. Usually you change database connection
properties used in the development environment when you publish the reports to
Actuate iHub.
To change the connection properties dynamically when you design or deploy
your reports, you can use one of two approaches, connection configuration file or
connection profile. The connection profile approach is the recommended method
of managing database connections. The following sections describe these two
approaches.
Using a connection profile
The connection profile includes information about the database driver, a user ID,
password, port, host, and other properties related to the type of data source. BIRT
18
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
supports using a connection profile when creating a data source in a report
design. When a connection profile changes, the BIRT report picks up those
changes. This behavior makes migration from a test to a production environment
straightforward.
You can use connection profiles for all data source types, except SQL Query
Builder data sources. If you have to use connection profiles for this type of data
source, you must define a unique connection profile in each report.
Connection profiles are stored in text files called connection profile stores.
Connection profile stores can contain multiple connection definitions for various
ODA data sources. The default connection profile store is ServerProfiles.dat,
located in the .metadata folder in your workspace.
You can also define your own connection profile store, and choose an absolute or
a relative file path to store it. It is a good practice to create and use your own
profile store file, instead of the default store. Using the default store requires
using absolute file paths for a profile location and involves additional procedures
of exporting a profile.
Using the Data Source Explorer to create a connection profile limits the
connection profile location definition to an absolute file path only, while Data
Explorer allows a relative and absolute file path definition. When using a relative
file path, the Resource folders in the designer and iHub are used as the base
folders. At design time, the BIRT Resource folder points to either the project root
or an item in the workspace or a folder on the file system. This setting is available
under Report Design➛Resources node in the Preferences view. At runtime, the
BIRT Resource folder points to the Resource folder on the iHub.
Like other BIRT resource files, you must deploy the connection profile store to the
iHub when you deploy the report that uses it. By default, BIRT Designer deploys
relative path connection profiles to the iHub resource folder.
The connection profile store file can be encrypted using BIRT secured encryption
framework. The default extension for the connection profile is .acconnprofiles.
This extension is tightly integrated with the default out-of-the-box encryption.
Deploying a connection profile
Connection profiles that use relative paths are deployed the same way as report
resources, and by default they are saved to the iHub resource folder. For more
details on how to publish resources to iHub, see “Publishing a report resource to
iHub,” in Chapter 26 of Using Actuate BIRT Designer Professional.
When deploying reports that use absolute connection profiles, you must deploy
the connection profile to the correct folder in the file system on the iHub machine.
For example, if a report uses a connection profile stored in folder
C:\ConnProfile\MySQL.acconnprofiles, you must manually create the same
folder C:\ConnProfile on the iHub machine and copy the MySQL.dat file there.
Chapter 3, Connecting to data sources
19
To find more information about how to create and manage connection profiles,
refer to Using Actuate BIRT Designer Professional.
Using a connection configuration file
A connection configuration file is an XML file, such as the one shown in
Listing 3-1, in UTF-8 or ASCII encoding. The file specifies the data source
connection properties to use when iHub runs a report. Having the data source
connection information for a report in an external file makes it convenient to
modify. You change the connection information without altering the report
design. You specify the location of the file using Configuration Console.
You can use an external connection configuration file to define a data source for
the Actuate Caching service and for a data connection definition (.dcd) file, which
contains information object connection properties for a data source. You can also
use an external connection configuration file for connecting data sources to
reports.
You can create an external connection profile to a data source used by a report.
Changes to the profile are automatically picked up by the report. The settings in a
connection configuration file override any connection configuration properties in
the connection profile. The sample connection configuration file in Listing 3-1
externalizes the file path to the connection profile, C:\Mypath.
Listing 3-1
BIRT connection configuration file example
<oda-data-source
extensionID="org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc" name="JDBC
Data Source - SQL Server" id="783">
<property name="odaDriverClass">com.actuate.jdbc.sqlserver.
SQLServerDriver
</property>
<property name="odaURL">jdbc:actuate:sqlserver://DBSRV1-W2K
</property>
</oda-data-source>
<ConnectOptions Type=".eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc_ JDBC
Data Source - SQL Server ">
<Property PropName="OdaConnProfileStorePath">C:\Mypath
</Property>
</ConnectOptions>
In a BIRT report, the configuration key used to specify a data source is the unique
ID of the ODA data source extension and data source name defined in the BIRT
report design or library. You must concatenate the string as follows:
extensionID + “_” + data source name
For example, the key is org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc_SQL Server.
20
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Changing a configuration file
The Factory process reads the configuration file for the configuration key values
when the process starts. After changing a configuration file, you must restart
Factory processes for changes to take effect. Only Factory processes that start after
changes in the configuration file use the new information. To ensure that report
executable files use updated configuration file information, confirm that no
reports are active and stop Factory processes that are running before you change
the configuration file. After you change the file, iHub starts a Factory process for
the next report request.
Specifying the location of the connection configuration file
There is no default location for the connection configuration file. To use a
connection configuration file, you create the file and then specify its name and
location using the ConnConfigFile parameter in Configuration Console.
From Server Templates—Advanced, choose Runtime from the list of property
settings. Specify the location of the file using the Configuration file for database
connections and search path parameter shown in Figure 3-1.
Figure 3-1
Specifying the location of a connection configuration file
On UNIX and Linux, the value of the parameter can be a path and file name only.
On Windows, it can be either a path and file name or a URL. For example:
\\server1\configs\serverconfig.xml
or:
http://myserver/configs/testconfig.xml
If you do not specify a value for the configuration file parameter, iHub uses the
data source connection properties in the report executable file.
Encrypting the connection properties
Actuate BIRT supports the encryption of connection properties in the connection
configuration file. The encryption conversion is created in Actuate BIRT Designer
Professional, using BIRT's encryption framework. The encryption user interface
reads a user-specified configuration file, and writes the encrypted values for a
Chapter 3, Connecting to data sources
21
specified property type to a new output file. The configuration file must have the
file name extension .acconfig.
The run-time decryption processing runs in Actuate BIRT Designer Professional,
iHub, and Actuate Java Component. You must deploy the encrypted version of a
configuration file to the iHub or Actuate Java Component environments, and set
up the database configuration for iHub.
For more information about the encryption conversion and the BIRT encryption
mechanism, see Using Actuate BIRT Designer Professional.
Configuring a cluster to use a connection configuration file
If you have a cluster of iHubs, each node must have access to the connection
configuration file. The path can be a local absolute path on each machine and
must be specified for each iHub. If you use a single copy of the file for a cluster,
put it in a shared location, then specify the path to that shared location for all
iHubs in the cluster.
Externalizing the connection profile properties on
the iServer
The iServer database connection configuration file is used to externalize data
source connection properties for a BIRT report design. As the connection profile
store URL is the ODA data source property, OdaConnProfileStorePath, the file
path to the connection profile can itself be externalized. When the report is
deployed to the iServer and executed, the server reads the connection profile
from the file path specified in the iServer‘s database connection configuration file.
The file path specified in the report design is ignored.
Understanding externalization precedence
Data source properties in a report design can be externalized to the connection
profile and to the iServer connection configuration file. In addition the
Connection Profile Store URL itself can be externalized. The following precedence
rules explain how iServer determines the final list of data source properties for
report execution.
Data source properties in the iHub connection configuration file override the data
source in the connection profile that overrides the data source connection
properties in the report. The ascending order of precedence for iServer looks
like this:
22
■
Data source properties in the report design
■
Data source properties in the connection profile
■
Data source properties in the iHub connection configuration file
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
The following sample connection configuration file externalizes the file path to
the connection profile and shows the required structure:
<Config>
<Runtime>
<ConnectOptions Type="org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc_SQL
Server Data Source">
<Property PropName="OdaConnProfileStorePath">
C:\SqlServer.profile
</Property>
</ConnectOptions>
</Runtime>
</Config>
The connection profile referenced by the BIRT report design is read when the
report is executed in iServer. The path to the connection profile in the design has
to be visible to iServer.
Referencing the external connection profile
The path to the external connection profile is stored in the BIRT report design.
The ODA data source property, ConnectionProfileStoreURL, holds this value. The
path can be a relative or an absolute file path, or a URL. File paths, whether
relative or absolute, must be accessible by the Information Console web
application when the report is deployed to Information Console. Similarly, this
path must be accessible by the iServer when the report is deployed to the iServer.
Actuate does not recommend the use of absolute file paths. Typically, the location
of the connection profile in all three environments, Actuate BIRT Designer,
Information Console, and iServer, resolves to a different path. Absolute paths
have the disadvantage that the absolute path used in the Actuate BIRT Designer
environment on Windows will not be available when the report is deployed to
Information Console or iServer on UNIX. On UNIX, you can use relative paths
with the use of soft links, but these links are not available on Windows.
Using a relative path, you deploy the connection profile to iHub, and this resolves
the issue with different environments and not accessible absolute paths.
When the absolute file path to the connection profile is different in the design
environment compared to the Information Console and iHub deployment
environments, there are some options to avoid having to change the report design
file before deployment, as described in the following section.
When specifying network paths in BIRT reports always use the Universal
Naming Convention (UNC) to describe the path, instead of a mapped drive letter.
Windows XP and later do not allow processes running as services to access
network resources through mapped network drives. For this reason, a report that
uses a mapped drive letter to access a resource runs in Actuate BIRT Designer
Professional. The same report fails when running on iHub or Information
Chapter 3, Connecting to data sources
23
Console, because the iHub or Information Console processes cannot resolve the
mapping address.
For example, a BIRT report uses a flat file Production.csv as a data source. The flat
file is located on a shared network drive on a machine, named ProductionServer.
The UNC network path to the file is \\ProductionServer\e$\Data and it is
mapped as X:\ in your system. Using the path X:\ to define the data source
HOME folder works only in Actuate BIRT Designer. Using the UNC path
\\ProductionServer\e$\Data in the data source definition is the correct way to
define network paths.
24
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Chapter
Chapter 4
Configuring fonts in
BIRT iHub
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
About configuring fonts
■
Understanding font configuration file priorities
■
Understanding how BIRT engine locates a font
■
Understanding the font configuration file structure
Chapter 4, Configuring fonts in BIRT iHub
25
About configuring fonts
iHub supports rendering BIRT reports in different formats such as PDF, Microsoft
Word, PostScript, and PowerPoint. The processes that do the conversion use the
fonts installed on your system to display the report characters.
BIRT uses a flexible mechanism that supports configuring font usage and
substitution. This mechanism uses font configuration files for different purposes
that control different parts of the rendering process. The configuration files can
configure the fonts used in specific operating systems, for rendering to specific
formats, in specific locales only, or combinations of these parameters.
The plug-in folder, org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.fonts, contains the font
configuration files. Table 4-1 shows the location of this folder in the supported
BIRT environments.
Table 4-1
Locations of the font configuration file plug-in folder
Environment
Font configuration file folder location
BIRT Designer
Professional
$Actuate<release>\BRDPro\eclipse\plugins
iHub
$Actuate<release>\iHub\Jar\BIRT\platform
\plugins
Understanding font configuration file priorities
BIRT reports use five different types of font configuration files. The font
configuration file naming convention includes information about the rendering
format, the system platform, and the system locale, as shown in the following
general format:
fontsConfig_<Format>_<Platform>_<Locale>.xml
The platform name is defined by the Java System property, os.name. The current
Java Network Launch Protocol (JNLP) specification does not list the values for
the os attributes. Instead it states that all values are valid as long as they match
the values returned by the system property os.name. Values that only match the
beginning of os.name are also valid. If you specify Windows and the os.name is
Windows 98, for example, the operating system name is accepted as valid.
The following sample Java class code shows how to check the os.name property
for the value on your machine:
26
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
class WhatOS
{
public static void main( String args[] )
{
System.out.println( System.getProperty("os.name") );
}
}
BIRT supports the following types of font configuration files, with increasing
priority:
■
For all rendering formats
These files have no format specifier in their names. These configuration files
are divided into three sub-types:
■
The default configuration file:
fontsConfig.xml
■
Configuration files for a specific platform, for example:
fontsConfig_Windows_XP.xml
■
Configuration files for a specific platform and locale, for example:
fontsConfig_Windows_XP_zh.xml
fontsConfig_Windows_XP_zh_CN.xml
■
For certain formats only
These files include the format specifier in their names. These configuration
files are divided into two sub-types:
■
The default configuration file for a format, for example:
fontsConfig_pdf.xml
■
Configuration files for a format for a specific platform:
fontsConfig_pdf_Windows_XP.xml
Understanding how BIRT engine locates a font
The PDF layout engine renders the PDF, PostScript, and PowerPoint formats. The
engine tries to locate and use the font specified at design-time. The PDF layout
engine searches for the font files first in the fonts folder of the plug-in,
org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.fonts. If the specified font is not in this folder, the
BIRT engine searches for the font in the system-defined font folder. You can
change the default load order by using the settings in the font configuration file.
When the required font for a character is not available in the search path or is
incorrectly installed, the engine uses the fonts defined in the UNICODE block for
Chapter 4, Configuring fonts in BIRT iHub
27
that character. If the UNICODE definition also fails, the engine replaces the
character with a question mark (?) to denote a missing character. The font used
for the ? character is the default font, Times-Roman.
The engine maps the generic family fonts to a PDF embedded Type1 font, as
shown in the following list:
■
cursive font styles to Times-Roman
■
fantasy font styles to Times-Roman
■
monospace font styles to Courier
■
sans-serif font styles to Helvetica
■
serif font styles to Times-Roman
Understanding the font configuration file structure
The font configuration file, fontsConfig.xml, consists of three major sections,
<font-aliases>, <composite-font>, and <font-paths> sections.
<font-aliases> section
In the <font-aliases> section, you can:
■
Define a mapping from a generic family to a font family. For example the
following code defines a mapping from the generic type "serif" to a Type1 font
family Times-Roman:
<mapping name="serif" font-family="Times-Roman"/>
■
Define a mapping from a font family to another font family. This definition is
useful if you want to use a font for PDF rendering which differs from the font
used at design time. For example, the following code shows how to replace
simsun with Arial Unicode MS:
<mapping name="simsun" font-family="Arial Unicode MS"/>
Earlier versions of BIRT Designer Professional use the XML element
<font-mapping> instead of <font-aliases>. In the current release, a
<font-mapping> element works in the same way as the <font-aliases> element.
When a font configuration file uses both <font-mapping> and
<font-aliases>, the engine merges the different mappings from the two sections. If
the same entries exist in both sections, the settings in <font-aliases> override
those in <font-mapping>.
28
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
<composite-font> section
The <composite-font> section is used to define a composite font, which is a font
consisting of many physical fonts used for different characters. For example, to
define a new font for currency symbols, you change font-family in the following
<block> entry to the Times Roman font-family:
<composite-font>
…
<block name="Currency Symbols" range-start="20a0"
range-end="20cf" index="58" font-family="Times Roman" />
…
</composite-font>
The composite fonts are defined by <block> entries. Each <block> entry defines a
mapping from a UNICODE range to a font family name, which means the font
family is applied for the UNICODE characters in that range. You cannot change
the block name or range or index as it is defined by the UNICODE standard. The
only item you can change in the block element is the font-family name.
You can find information about all the possible blocks at
http://www.unicode.org/charts/index.html.
In cases when the Times Roman font does not support all the currency symbols,
you can define the substitution character by character using the <character> tag,
as shown in the following example:
<composite-font>
…
<character value="?" font-family="Angsana New"/>
<character value="\u0068" font-family="Times Roman"/>
…
</composite-font>
Note that characters are represented by the attribute, value, which can be
presented two ways, the character itself or its UNICODE code.
You can find information about all the currency symbols from
http://www.unicode.org/charts/symbols.html.
A composite font named all-fonts is applied as a default font. When a character is
not defined in the desired font, the font defined in all-fonts is used.
<font-paths> section
If the section <font-paths> is set in fontsConfig.xml, the engine ignores the
system-defined font folder, and loads the font files specified in the section,
<font-paths>. You can add a single font path or multiple paths, ranging from one
font path to a whole font folder, as shown in the following example:
Chapter 4, Configuring fonts in BIRT iHub
29
<path path="c:/windows/fonts"/>
<path path="/usr/X11R6/lib/X11/fonts/TTF/arial.ttf"/>
If this section is set, the PDF layout engine only loads the font files in these paths
and ignores the system-defined font folder. If you want to use the system font
folder as well, you must include it in this section.
On some systems, the PDF layout engine does not recognize the system-defined
font folder. If you encounter this issue, add the font path to the <font-paths>
section.
30
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Chapter
Chapter 5
Working with BIRT
encryption
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
About BIRT encryption
■
About the BIRT default encryption plug-in
■
Deploying encryption plug-ins to iHub
Chapter 5, Working with BIRT encr yption
31
About BIRT encryption
BIRT provides an extension framework to support users registering their own
encryption strategy with BIRT. The model implements the JCE (Java™
Cryptography Extension). The Java encryption extension framework provides
multiple popular encryption algorithms, so the user can just specify the algorithm
and key to have a high security level encryption. The default encryption
extension plug-in supports customizing the encryption implementation by
copying the BIRT default plug-in, and giving it different key and algorithm
settings.
JCE provides a framework and implementations for encryption, key generation
and key agreement, and Message Authentication Code (MAC) algorithms.
Support for encryption includes symmetric, asymmetric, block, and stream
ciphers. The software also supports secure streams and sealed objects.
A conventional encryption scheme has the following five major parts:
■
Plaintext, the text to which an algorithm is applied.
■
Encryption algorithm, the mathematical operations to conduct substitutions
on and transformations to the plaintext. A block cipher is an algorithm that
operates on plaintext in groups of bits, called blocks.
■
Secret key, the input for the algorithm that dictates the encrypted outcome.
■
Ciphertext, the encrypted or scrambled content produced by applying the
algorithm to the plaintext using the secret key.
■
Decryption algorithm, the encryption algorithm in reverse, using the
ciphertext and the secret key to derive the plaintext content.
About the BIRT default encryption plug-in
BIRT’s default encryption algorithm is implemented as a plug-in named:
com.actuate.birt.model.defaultsecurity_<Release>
Table 5-1 shows the location of this plug-in folder in the supported BIRT
environments.
Table 5-1
32
Locations of the default encryption plug-in folder
Environment
Default encryption plug-in folder location
BIRT Designer
Professional
$Actuate<Release>\BRDPro\eclipse\plugins
iServer
$Actuate<Release>\iHub\Jar\BIRT\platform
\plugins
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
More information about how to implement encryption in BIRT reports is
available in Using Actuate BIRT Designer Professional.
The BIRT default encryption plug-in consists of the following main modules:
■
acdefaultsecurity.jar
■
encryption.properties
■
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
■
plugin.xml
About acdefaultsecurity.jar
This JAR file contains the encryption classes. The default encryption plug-in also
provides key generator classes that can be used to create different encryption
keys.
About encryption.properties
This file specifies the encryption settings. BIRT loads the encryption type,
encryption algorithm, and encryption keys from the encryption.properties file to
do the encryption. The file contains pre-generated default keys for each of the
supported algorithms.
About META-INF/MANIFEST.MF
META-INF/MANIFEST.MF is a text file that is included inside a JAR to specify
metadata about the file. Java's default ClassLoader reads the attributes defined in
MANIFEST.MF and appends the specified dependencies to its internal classpath.
The encryption plug-in ID is the value of the Bundle-SymbolicName property in
the manifest file for the encryption plug-in. You need to change this property
when you deploy multiple instances of the default encryption plug-in, as
described later in this chapter.
About plugin.xml
plugin.xml is the plug-in descriptor file. This file describes the plug-in to the
Eclipse platform. The platform reads this file and uses the information to
populate and update, as necessary, the registry of information that configures the
whole platform.
Deploying encryption plug-ins to iHub
If you deploy report designs to iServer, you also need to deploy the encryption
plug-in to iHub. iHub loads all encryption plug-ins at start up. During report
Chapter 5, Working with BIRT encr yption
33
execution the server reads the encryptionID property from the report design file
and uses the corresponding encryption plug-in to decrypt the encrypted property.
Every time you create reports using an encryption plug-in, make sure you deploy
the plug-in to iServer, otherwise report execution on the server fails.
How to deploy an encryption plug-in instance to iServer
1 Copy:
$ACTUATE_HOME\BRDPro\eclipse\plugins
\com.actuate.birt.model.defaultsecurity_<Release>_rsa
to:
\Actuate\iHub\Jar\BIRT\platform\plugins
2 Publish the report design to iServer.
3 Restart iServer to load the encryption plug-in.
4 Log in to iServer using Information Console and run the report. iServer uses
the encryption plug-in to decrypt the password.
34
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Chapter
Chapter 6
Using custom emitters
This chapter contains the following topics:
■
About custom emitters
■
Deploying custom emitters to iHub
■
Rendering in custom formats
■
Configuring the default export options for a BIRT report
Chapter 6, Using custom emitters
35
About custom emitters
In Actuate BIRT Designer Professional or Interactive Viewer you can choose to
render BIRT reports in several different formats, as shown in Figure 6-1.
Figure 6-1
Rendering formats
Actuate provides report rendering for the following file formats:
■
AFP - Advanced Function Printing document format
■
DOC - Microsoft Word document
■
DOCX - Microsoft Word document, introduced in Windows 7
■
HTML - HyperText Markup Language document, a standard format used for
creating and publishing documents on the World Wide Web
■
PDF - Created by Adobe, a portable file format intended to facilitate document
exchange
■
POSTSCRIPT - A page description language document for medium- to
high-resolution printing devices
■
PPT - Microsoft PowerPoint document
■
PPTX - Microsoft PowerPoint document for Windows 7
■
XHTML - Extensible HyperText Markup Language document, the next
generation of HTML, compliant with XML standards
■
XLS/XLSX - MS-Excel document
If you need to export your document to a format not supported by Actuate, for
example CSV or XML, you must develop a custom emitter. Actuate supports
using custom emitters to export reports to custom formats. After a system
administrator places custom emitters in the designated folder in iHub, users are
able to use them as output formats when scheduling BIRT report jobs or
exporting BIRT reports. Custom emitters are also supported as e-mail attachment
formats.
36
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
The iHub uses the custom emitter format type as a file extension for the output
file when doing the conversion. When you develop custom emitters always use
the same name for a format type and an output file extension type. Management
Console and Actuate Information Console display the options of each emitter for
the user to choose when exporting a report.
Integrating and Extending BIRT, published by Addison-Wesley, provides detailed
information about how to develop custom emitters in BIRT.
Deploying custom emitters to iHub
The custom emitters in BIRT are implemented as plug-ins and packaged as JAR
files. To make them available to the Actuate products that support them, copy the
emitters to the following folder:
Actuate<release>/MyClasses/eclipse/plugins
To deploy custom emitter to iHub copy the plug-ins to:
Actuate<release>/iHub/MyClasses/eclipse/plugins
The MyClasses folder appears at different levels on different platforms but it is
always available in the product’s installation folder.
Plug-ins depend on other plug-ins to function properly. It is a good practice to
verify all required plug-ins are installed in the system. To get the list of all
required plug-ins open MANIFEST.MF file of your custom plug-in, as shown in
Listing 6-1. Depending on the way the plug-ins are developed, Import-Package or
Require-Bundle entries declare plug-in dependencies on a package or bundle
level.
Listing 6-1
MANIFEST.MF
Manifest-Version: 1.0
Bundle-ManifestVersion: 2
Bundle-Name: Mycsv
Bundle-SymbolicName: org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.mycsv;
singleton:=true
Bundle-Version: 2.6.2
Bundle-Activator:
org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.mycsv.Activator
Require-Bundle: org.eclipse.birt.chart.engine;
bundle-version="2.6.2",org.eclipse.birt.report.engine
Bundle-ActivationPolicy: lazy
Bundle-RequiredExecutionEnvironment: JavaSE-1.6
Every time you deploy a custom emitter you need to restart the product. This
ensures the emitter JAR is added to the classpath and the product can discover
the new rendering format.
Chapter 6, Using custom emitters
37
The following tools support custom emitters:
■
Actuate BIRT Designer
■
BIRT Interactive Viewer
■
Information Console
■
Management Console
Rendering in custom formats
After deploying the custom emitter you can see the new rendering formats
displayed along with built-in emitters in the following places:
■
Preview report in Web Viewer in Actuate BIRT Designer
■
Output page of schedule job in Management Console and Information
Console
■
Attachment Notification page of schedule job in Management Console and
Information Console
■
Export Content in Actuate BIRT Viewer and Actuate BIRT Interactive Viewer
The following examples show the deployment and usage of a custom CSV
emitter. The CSV emitter renders a report as a comma separated values file. The
JAR file name is org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.csv.jar. The custom format
type is MyCSV.
To test the emitter functionality with Management Console or Information
Console, you schedule any BIRT report design or report document from the
examples in the Public folder. The examples that follow use the report from the
sample Encyclopedia volume for an iHub:
Public/BIRT and BIRT Studio Examples/CustomerList.rptdesign
How to deploy a custom emitter
The assumption in this example is that the Actuate products are installed in
Actuate<Release> folder on Windows.
1 Copy org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.csv.jar to:
Actuate<Release>\iHub\MyClasses\eclipse\plugins
2 Register the emitter with iHub.
1 Open the following file:
Actuate<Release>\iHub\etc\jfctsrvrconfig.xml
JREM uses this configuration file at startup to load the registered emitters.
38
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
2 Navigate to the end of the file to find the following entry:
<node name="BIRTReportRenderOption">
The entry contains a list of emitter descriptions separated by a semicolon.
The emitter description must have the format type and the emitter id
separated by a colon. For example, the PDF emitter is described as:
pdf:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.pdf;
3 Add your emitter description to the beginning of the
<entry name="RenderFormatEmitterIdMapping"> tag:
MyCSV:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.mycsv;
The whole tag would look like this:
<node name="BIRTReportRenderOption">
<!-- The value is "render_format:emitter_ID" separated by ";",
for example, pdf:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.pdf;
xml:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.xml -->
<entry name="RenderFormatEmitterIdMapping">
MyCSV:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.csv;
html:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.html;
xhtml:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.xhtml;
pdf:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.pdf;
postscript:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.postscript;
xls:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.xls;
ppt:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.ppt;
pptx:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.pptx;
doc:org.eclipse.birt.report.engine.emitter.word;
docx:com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.docx
</entry>
</node>
3 Restart the iHub to make it load the new plug-in in its classpath:
■
Restart Actuate iHub <Release> from Start➛Settings➛Control
Panel➛Administrative Tools➛Services, as shown in Figure 6-2.
■
If you use a separately deployed Information Console, you must also
restart Apache Tomcat for Actuate Information Console <Release>.
Chapter 6, Using custom emitters
39
Figure 6-2
Services
The following procedures show how to export a BIRT report to a custom format
in different products. The procedures use an example format, MyCSV.
How to deploy and use a custom emitter in Actuate BIRT Designer
This example assumes that iHub is installed in the Actuate<Release> folder on
Windows.
1 Copy the emitter to:
Actuate<Release>\MyClasses\eclipse\plugins
2 Reopen the designer.
3 Preview the report in Web Viewer.
The new MYCSV format appears in the list of formats, as shown in Figure 6-3.
Figure 6-3
List of available formats in Web Viewer
How to export a BIRT report in Management Console
1 Open Management Console.
2 Navigate to the Public/BIRT and BIRT Studio Examples folder.
40
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
3 Click the blue arrow next to CustomerList.rptdesign and select the Schedule
option from the menu.
4 On the Schedule page select the Output tab.
The new MYCSV format appears in the list of the available formats, as shown
in Figure 6-4.
Figure 6-4
Output format in Management Console
5 Choose the Notification tab in the Schedule Job page. Select MYCSV format
from the Format for the attached report’s drop-down list, as shown in
Figure 6-5.
Figure 6-5
Notification tab in the Schedule Job page
6 Choose OK. The generated report is saved as CustomerList.MYCSV in the
Encyclopedia volume. The report is also attached to the e-mail notification.
Chapter 6, Using custom emitters
41
How to export a BIRT report from Information Console
Schedule a BIRT report to run by choosing Save As on the schedule page. The
new MYCSV format appears in the Document Format list. You can also select to
attach the output report to an e-mail notification, as shown in Figure 6-6.
Figure 6-6
Save As tab in the Schedule Jobs page in Information Console
How to export a BIRT report from Actuate BIRT Viewer or Actuate BIRT Interactive
Viewer
1 Open a BIRT report in Actuate BIRT Viewer or Interactive Viewer.
2 Select Export Content from the viewer menu. The MyCSV format appears in
Export Formats, as shown in Figure 6-7.
Figure 6-7
42
Export Content in Actuate BIRT Viewers
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
3 Choose OK. A File Download window appears, as shown in Figure 6-8. You
can choose to open or save the file. The suggested file name is
CustomerList.mycsv.
Figure 6-8
File Download
Configuring the default export options for a BIRT report
You can export a BIRT report to various formats from the web viewer. These
formats include docx, pptx, xls, xlsx, pdf, ps, doc, and ppt. You can configure the
default export options by creating a RenderDefaults.cfg file that contains
name-value pairs for the appropriate options. You must create a separate
RenderDefaults.cfg file for each format. For example, when you export a BIRT
report to XLSX, RenderDefaults.cfg can set Enable pivot table to false by default.
Place RenderDefaults.cfg in the following locations:
■
On iHub, place RenderDefaults.cfg in:
<iHUB-HOME>\Jar\BIRT\platform\plugins\
com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.config
.<EMITTER_TYPE>_<RELEASE_NUMBER>.jar
When you create or modify RenderDefaults.cfg, you must restart iHub.
■
On the desktop, place RenderDefaults.cfg in:
<BDPRO_HOME>\eclipse\plugins\
com.actuate.birt.report.engine.emitter.config
.<EMITTER_TYPE>_<RELEASE_NUMBER>.jar
The configuration file format should follow these rules:
■
All settings should be entered in key = value format.
■
Key names are case sensitive.
■
String and Boolean values are not case sensitive
Chapter 6, Using custom emitters
43
■
The values true and false are acceptable for Boolean properties.
■
Any other value, different than true and false is interpreted as false.
Listing 6-2 shows an example of RenderDefaults.cfg of a print stream emitter.
Listing 6-2
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
#
RenderDefaults.cfg for print stream emitter
This file contains the default values to use when emitting print
stream content.
All settings are entered in 'key = value' format.
Key names are case sensitive, but string and boolean values are
not.
The values 'true' and 'false' are acceptable for booleans.
Any other value specified will be interpreted as false.
Omitting any setting from this file causes the emitter to fall
back to internal defaults.
# The plex mode for the print job.
# Valid values are Simplex, Duplex, and Tumble.
# Default: Simplex
xifRenderOption.plexMode = Simplex
# The DPI to use for rendered pages. Valid values are 240,300,600,
# and 1440.
# Default: 240
afpRenderOption.pageDPI = 240
# Option to allow black and white images.
# Default: True
afpRenderOption.allowBlackAndWhiteImg = true
# Option to allow single color images.
# Default: True
afpRenderOption.allowSingleColorImg = true
# Option to allow grayscale images.
# Default: True
afpRenderOption.allowGrayscaleImg = true
# Option to allow full color RBG images.
# Default: True
afpRenderOption.allowFullColorRGBImg = true
# Option to allow full color CMYK images.
# Default: True
afpRenderOption.allowFullColorCMYKImg = true
For information about creating a RenderDefaults.cfg file, see Working with Actuate
BIRT Viewers.
44
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Part
Part 3
Three
3
Deploying information objects
Chapter
Deploying information
objects
Chapter 7
This chapter contains the following topic:
■
Deploying information objects
Ch ap te r 7, De ploy in g info r ma tion o bject s
45
Deploying information objects
Information object files must reside in a project’s Shared Resources folder. By
default, a project’s Shared Resources folder is the project folder. If the Shared
Resources folder is not the project folder, you must copy information object files
to the Shared Resources folder before publishing. To check the location of the
Shared Resources folder, choose Window➛Preferences➛Report
Design➛Resource.
When you publish information object files to an Encyclopedia volume, the files
are published to the IO Designs folder in the Encyclopedia volume’s resource
folder. The resource folder’s default location is /Resources. You must have write
privilege on the resource folder.
How to copy information object files to the shared resources folder
1 In Navigator, select the appropriate project.
2 Choose File➛Copy to Resources➛Copy Information Objects to Shared
Resources Folder.
3 In Share Information Objects, shown in Figure 7-1, select the appropriate files
and folders. Choose Finish.
Figure 7-1
46
Copying information object files and folders to Shared Resources
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
How to publish information object files as resources
1 Choose File➛Publish➛Publish to iHub.
2 In Publish to iHub, in iHub profile, choose an iHub profile from the dropdown list.
3 In Project, select the appropriate project from the drop-down list.
4 Select Publish Resources.
5 Select the appropriate files and folders, as shown in Figure 7-2.
Figure 7-2
Publishing information object files as resources
6 In Version:
1 Select Replace the latest version to replace the latest version of each file, or
Create a new version to create a new version of each file.
2 To copy permissions from the last version of each file, select Copy
permissions from last version. If you do not select Copy permissions from
last version, you must set the permissions for each file using Management
Console.
7 Choose Publish Files.
A confirmation dialog, shown in Figure 7-3, appears.
Ch ap te r 7, De ploy in g info r ma tion o bject s
47
Figure 7-3
Publishing confirmation dialog
8 In Publishing, choose OK.
9 In Publish to iHub, choose Close.
48
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Index
Symbols
C
? (question mark) characters 28
cache 14
Caching service 18, 20
changing
configuration files 21
connection profiles 20
connection properties 18, 20
Java classes 11
resource folders 9, 10
character sets 27, 29
character tag 29
classes 11, 33
cluster nodes 22
clusters 22
comma-separated values file 38
composite fonts 29
composite-font element 29
configuration files
connecting to data sources and 3, 18, 20
editing 21
exporting reports and 43
font information in 26, 27, 28
running information objects and 20
configuration keys 20
configuring
BIRT design cache 14
export defaults 43
font usage and substitution 26
ConnConfigFile parameter 21
connection configuration files
connecting to data sources and 18, 20
creating 20
deploying resources and 3
encrypting properties in 21
externalizing connections in 22–24
running iHub clusters and 22
running information objects and 20
setting location for 21
connection definition files 20
connection information 18, 20
See also connection properties
A
absolute file paths 23
accessing
custom data sources 3
custom emitters 37
custom plug-ins 13
data 3
data sources 18
font configuration files 26, 27
information objects 46
Java classes 11
reports 6
sample reports 9
Actuate Supported Products and
Obsolescence Policy 18
adding
connection profiles 7, 8, 18, 19
custom drivers 3, 6, 13
custom emitters 36
encryption schemes 32
AFP formats 36
algorithms (encryption) 32
application servers 13
applications 13
attachments 36
B
BIRT applications 13
BIRT design cache 14
BIRT Designer Professional 6, 36
BIRT reports 6, 11, 43
See also reports
BIRT resources 9
BIRT Studio 2, 6
block element 29
Bundle-SymbolicName property 33
Index
49
connection profile store URLs 22
connection profile stores 19
connection profiles
changing 20
creating 7, 8, 18, 19
deploying 19
exceptions for 19
externalizing 20, 22
referencing 23
reusing 18
selecting 8
connection properties
accessing data sources and 18
changing 18, 20
encrypting 21
externalizing 22–24
overriding 20
connections
accessing data sources and 3, 18, 20
accessing iHub System and 6
designing reports and 3
running reports and 3
creating
connection profiles 7, 8, 18, 19
custom drivers 3, 6
encryption schemes 32
report emitters 36
CSV emitter 38
currency symbols 29
custom data sources 3
See also ODA data sources
custom drivers 3, 6
custom emitters 13, 36, 37, 38, 40
D
data 3
data sources 2, 3, 18
database drivers. See drivers
database hosts 18
databases 18
See also data sources
DataDirect Connect drivers 18
.dcd files 20
decryption 32, 33
default encryption algorithm 32
default encryption plug-in 32
50
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
default font 28, 29
default font configuration file 27
deploying
connection profiles 19
custom emitters 37, 38, 40
encryption plug-in 33, 34
information objects 2, 46
Java classes 11, 12
plug-ins 13
report templates 6
reports 2, 6, 19
deployment overview 2
design cache 14
Design Cache property 14
design files. See designs
design tools 2
designs
accessing data sources for 18
caching 14, 15
creating data sources for 18
externalizing connections for 22
publishing 2, 6, 8
developing
custom emitters 37
reports 6
directory paths 23
displaying
plug-in dependencies 37
reports 6, 26
special characters 29
documentation iii
drivers
connecting to data sources and 3, 18
installing JDBC 6, 13
installing ODA 3, 13
drives, mapping 23
E
Eclipse platforms 33
e-mail 36
emitters 36, 37, 38, 40
encryption 19, 21, 32
encryption algorithms 32
encryption classes 33
encryption keys 32, 33
encryption plug-in 32, 33
encryption plug-in descriptor file 33
encryption plug-in IDs 33
encryption settings 33
encryptionID property 33
Encyclopedia volumes
deploying Java classes to 11
deploying reports to 11
publishing information objects to 46, 47
publishing report designs to 2, 6, 8
publishing resources to 6, 9
Excel formats 36
executable files 2, 21
Explorer view 6
exporting reports 36, 40, 42, 43
external connection configuration files 18, 20
external connection profiles 23
externalizing connection properties 22–24
F
Factory service processes 21
file names 37
file paths 23
files
See also specific type
deploying custom plug-ins and 13
developing custom emitters and 37
sharing 14
Flash plug-ins 13
folders
accessing custom drivers and 13
accessing custom emitters and 37
changing resource 9, 10
configuring fonts and 26, 27, 29
deploying JAR files to 11, 12
encryption extensions in 32
information objects in 46
loading connection profiles and 19
publishing resources to 9, 10
font configuration files 26, 27, 28
font file names 26
font files 27, 29
font-aliases element 28
font-mapping element 28
font-paths element 29
fonts
displaying reports and 26, 27, 30
displaying special characters and 29
mapping 28, 29
substituting 27, 29
formats. See output formats
format-specific font files 27
G
generating reports 18, 36, 38
generic fonts 28
H
help topics. See online documentation
HTML formats 36
I
iHub Explorer 6
iHub System
changing configuration files and 21
connecting to data sources for 6, 18, 21, 22
deploying custom emitters to 37, 38, 40
deploying encryption plug-in to 33, 34
deploying JAR files to 11
deploying resources for 2, 6
installing custom drivers for 3, 6, 13
publishing resources for 2, 6, 9
rendering reports for 26, 36
verifying plug-ins copied to 37
information object data sources 6
information objects
accessing plug-ins for 13
configuring connections for 3, 20
deploying 2, 46
publishing 47
running 2, 3
installation
custom plug-ins 13
JDBC drivers 6, 13
ODA drivers 3, 13
Interactive Viewer 36
iServer System. See iHub System
J
J2EE application servers 13
JAR files
custom emitters and 37, 38
Index
51
JAR files (continued)
encryption classes in 33
Java classes in 11
JDBC data sources and 18
publishing 12
Java classes 11
Java encryption extension 32
JDBC data sources 18
JDBC drivers 6, 13, 18
opening
iHub Explorer 7
report designs 14
operating systems 18, 26
os attribute 26
output files 37
output formats
exporting reports and 43
rendering reports and 27, 36
L
P
libraries 13
link files 13
load balancing 18
loading
custom emitters 38
encryption plug-in 33, 34
font files 27, 29
locales 26, 27
patches (required) 18
paths 23
PDF formats 27, 28, 36
PDF layout engine 27, 30
performance 14, 18
platform-specific fonts 27
plug-ins
deploying 13
encryption and 32, 33
installing custom 13
rendering reports and 26, 27, 37
viewing dependencies 37
PostScript formats 27, 36
PowerPoint formats 27, 36
printing 6, 36
privileges 3, 14
profiles. See connection profiles
properties
accessing data sources and. See connection
properties
deploying Java classes and 11
encrypting BIRT resources and 33
naming font files and 26
Publish to iHub command 8, 10
Publish to iHub dialog 8, 10
publishing
information objects 47
JAR files 12
report design files 2, 6, 8
reports 6
resources 2, 9, 10
M
mapped network drives 23
mapping fonts 28, 29
metadata 33
missing characters 27
N
name property 26
naming
connection profiles 7
output files 37
networked environments 23
New iHub Profile dialog 7
nonnative data sources. See ODA data
sources
O
ODA data sources 3, 6, 19, 20, 22
ODA drivers 3, 13
OdaConnProfileStorePath parameter 22
ODBC drivers 18
online documentation iii
open data access technology. See ODA data
sources
52
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System
Q
Query Builder data sources 19
question mark (?) characters 28
R
rendering formats 27, 38
See also output formats
report design cache 14
report design files. See report designs
report design tools 2
report designs
accessing data sources for 18
caching 14, 15
creating data sources for 18
externalizing connections for 22
publishing 2, 6, 8
report documents 6
report emitters 36, 37, 38, 40
report executables 2, 21
report files. See specific type
report templates 6
reports
accessing nonnative data and 3
accessing sample 9
changing connection properties for 18, 20
configuring connections for 3, 20
deploying 2, 6, 19
developing 6
displaying 6, 26
exporting 36, 40, 42, 43
generating output for 18, 36, 38
publishing 6
running 3, 6, 42
setting network paths for 23
resource folders 9, 10, 11, 19, 46
resources
defined 9
deploying connection profiles and 19
deploying JAR files and 11
deploying to iHub 2, 6
mapping network drives and 23
publishing 2, 9, 10
running information objects and 46, 47
running
custom plug-ins 13
iHub 18
information objects 2, 3
reports 3, 6, 42
third-party drivers 18
S
sample reports 9
scheduling reports 42
security 32
sending e-mail attachments 36
servers 13
Share Information Objects dialog 46
shared resources 9, 11, 46
software requirements 18
spreadsheets 36
SQL data sources 19
Supported Products and Obsolescence
Policy 18
system-defined fonts 30
T
templates 6
testing custom emitters 38
text files 38
third-party drivers 18
timeout intervals (cache) 14
U
updating configuration files 21
URLs 22
V
viewing
plug-in dependencies 37
reports 6, 26
special characters 29
W
Word formats 36
X
XHTML formats 36
Index
53
54
Deploying to a BIRT iHub System