Report Server Guide v23 Overview

Report Server Monitor Guide v23

You will want to view our Server Monitor documentation as well, in conjunction with this guide. To view the Server Monitor Guide, select this link: Report Server Monitor Guide v23 Overview.

You can also learn more about how to install and uninstall Server Monitor. For more information about installing and uninstalling Server Monitor, select this link: Installing and Uninstalling Server Monitor.

To learn how to access Server Monitor from the Server Console, select this link: Monitoring Report Server.

Other Guides to Reference

For information about Report Designer, select this link: Report Designer Guide v23.

For information about getting started with Report v23, select this link: Getting Started with Report Server v23.

To review Report v23 Tutorial, select this link: Tutorial v23 Overview.

For demonstration about the Report v23 features using GIF animations, select this link: Feature Guide v23 Overview.

In addition to the regular documentation you can read here, a set of JavaScript API documentation and Java API documentation and samples are also provided for your reference. To view the JavaScript API documentation, select this link: Report v23 JavaScript API; to view the Javadoc, select this link: Report v23 API Javadoc; to download the samples, select this link: Report v23 Samples.

Back to top

Report v23 Overview

This topic contains the following sections:

• Report Product Overview
• Who Uses Report?
• What Is a Report?
• Lifecycle of a Report

Report Product Overview

Report's architecture takes advantage of the portability, scalability, and ease of integration associated with Java EE technology to provide a powerful, flexible reporting solution that fits perfectly within any application architecture.

Report Server is a high-performance reporting engine designed to support embedded analytics for any application. It can scale from a single CPU to a cluster of servers for any deployment requirement on any system architecture. With a full set of Java and JavaScript APIs, Report Server has been integrated into hundreds of applications and caters to hundreds of thousands of users every day. As a 100% Java report generation and management tool, Report Server enables efficient management, sharing, scheduling and delivery of reports. With Report Server, any application can empower end users to create, navigate and interact with their data visualizations.

Report Designer is a Swing-based Integrated Development Environment (IDE) that enables sophisticated report design and presentation of critical business data. It provides an intuitive interface, reusable report components, flexible layout, and a toolset for designing and testing reports. With Report designer, you can build reports using simple drag and drop techniques or by using the report wizard. Data can be accessed from any data source to design and preview reports in order to deliver information to end users in the most relevant and intuitive manner. Rapid creation and modification of reports is accomplished by toggling between design mode and view mode where the report will be displayed with the actual dataset. Once report design is complete, the report is published to Report Server for generation, delivery, and management.

Who Uses Report?

Report delivers an enterprise-wide solution. Therefore, different types of users throughout your organization will use Report. Each type of user will be able to understand the features and find value in Report as it relates to their job function or reporting requirements.

There are five general types of Report users:

• Business Analyst
  If you are a business analyst, you should understand how Report Page Report Studio and Web Report Studio allow you to create a special category of reports called ad hoc reports. Unlike the predefined reports in Report designer, you build these reports in the runtime environment based on a data model built and published by a report developer.

  You can also create a dashboard rather than a web report or page report, using predefined data components with JDashboard, or use the in-context analysis tool Visual Analysis to visualize the result of every step of your work.

• Developer and Report Developer

  If you are a report developer, you will use Report designer, Report's visual design environment. This intuitive desktop design tool enables the building of data source connections to your database for retrieving data to reports and uses familiar conventions such as property panels, toolbars, style sheets, and drag and drop placement to support every aspect of the report design process. You will quickly become proficient in using the design environment and be able to create professional reports.

• Systems Analyst or Application Server Administrator

  If you are a systems analyst or application server administrator, you should know that the Report solution is managed from a single access point, a web-based console. The Report solution offers many different deployment options, enabling existing architecture to be leveraged. It can be embedded in a web application via a self-contained WAR/EAR file to provide a reporting service or it can operate as a standalone server.

• End User

  If you are an end user of reports, you should understand the many different presentation strategies that are available. You can decide which format best delivers the information that you need to make timely and critical business decisions. With Report, reports can be viewed and exported to a variety of formats including HTML, PDF, Excel, XML, RTF, CSV, PostScript, Page Report Result and Web Report Result. Report's Page Report Result and Web Report Result outputs enable you to interact with and customize report views to obtain exactly the information needed.

What Is a Report?

A report is comprised of a report template and a dataset.

A report template contains static text and graphics as well as placeholders for data.

When a report is in the runtime environment, it connects to the data source associated with the report, runs the query, and applies the fetched data to the template thereby creating a report result file:

Therefore, each report result represents a unique dataset, the one that exists at the time the query is run.

Lifecycle of a Report

Just like an application, a report has a distinct life cycle. The life cycle contains the following phases:

Phase 1: Determine requirements (report developer)

The first fundamental requirement comes from the intended end users of the report. First, determine who will be the end user of the report and then identify the general purpose of the report. Ask what decisions those users need to make and how often they need to make them (daily, monthly, or other).

Second, you should determine the specific pieces of data that need to be presented in the report and how the pieces map to the data source. Look for common data elements that span multiple reports.

Third, you need to determine the security implications associated with the report. Are there pieces of data that need restricted access? Are there regulatory drivers of the report?

Fourth, determine the expected demand of the report result. Will on-demand report results be necessary, or can the report be scheduled? Will report results need to be saved, and for how long?

Fifth, determine the report output format you want. For most Java applications delivery via the Web is the preferred method to present information. However, there may be other end users who do not need or want Web-based information. Perhaps they require the report be delivered in a standard business format (such as Excel or PDF) or printed.

Phase 2: Develop report template (report developer)

A template can be thought of as a report blueprint that contains static text and graphical objects as well as placeholders to display the data pieces needed on the report. The template definition includes the query that needs to run to provide the data, as well as the database connection on which to run it.

Share a report prototype that includes sample data with the end users to see if it meets their requirements and to also obtain feedback on the scope and layout of the report.

Phase 3: Publish report results (system administrator)

Publishing a report template runs the query and merges the resulting data set with the template. The result is a report instance that is available in the context of Report Server. Report results can be saved to other locations, and in various formats such as HTML, PDF, RTF, and others.

Communicate with the end users regarding how they can access the report and then provide training. Include a way for the end users to provide feedback; acknowledge feedback and build release schedule.

As report production scales up, the system administrator should monitor performance and apply the appropriate load balancing and security measures.

Phase 4: Access report results (end user and business analyst) and administer (system administrator)

After a report is generated, end users can access it in a variety of ways. A report can be viewed through the Report Server console, through a Java application, or routed to a delivery target such as an email address or printer. The business analyst can also build ad hoc reports.

The system administer monitors the report access environment through the Report Server Monitor.

Phase 5: Update report template (report developer)

Collect feedback from the end users to determine any needed improvements to the layout or behavior of the report. Also, modify security (add/drop users) and update data source connections.