Integrating and Extending BIRT (2nd Edition) (Eclipse Series)

The world-wide developer community has downloaded over three million copies of BIRT (Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools) from the Eclipse web site. Built on the open-source Eclipse platform, BIRT is a powerful reporting system that provides an end-to-end solution, from creating and deploying reports to integrating report capabilities in enterprise applications.

The second of a two-book series on business intelligence and reporting technology, Integrating and Extending BIRT, Second Edition introduces programmers to BIRT architecture and the reporting framework. BIRT technology makes it possible for a programmer to build a customized report using scripting and BIRT APIs. A programmer can also extend the BIRT framework by creating a new plug-in using the Eclipse Plug-in Development Environment. This book provides extensive examples on how to build plug-ins to extend the features of the BIRT framework. The source code for these examples is available for download.

The topics discussed include
Installing and deploying BIRTDeploying a BIRT report to an application serverUnderstanding BIRT architectureScripting in a BIRT report designIntegrating BIRT functionality into applicationsWorking with the BIRT extension framework
This second edition, revised and expanded, adds the following new content
Updated architectural diagramsExpanded scripting examplesTag library descriptionsIn-depth description of BIRT Web ViewerConfiguring BIRT to use a JNDI connectionXML report rendering plug-in exampleFragment plug-in localization exampleOpen Data Access (ODA) plug-in example implementing the new Data Tools Platform (DTP) design and run-time wizards


User review
BIRT Report Designer
It is a very useful book for anybody starting to use BIRT. However, some sections are slightly out of date vs. the new versions (2.2.2) of BIRT in 2007.

The basic concepts in this book are still very useful, otherwise it is hard to find online information explained in such a systematic way and in such details.

User review
Explains org.eclipse.birt for Java customisation
This book is an impressive extension on `BIRT: A Field Guide to Reporting`. The latter described BIRT to a newcomer, showing how to use its features. With a minimal discussion of scripting for customisation. While the scripting certainly involved programming, it was rather minimal, and most of the text showed a declarative layout approach to using BIRT.

The Integrating book is the sequel. Strictly a programmer's book. It assumes you've read the earlier book. But now you need to take the customising [much] further. So here the text shows how to program in Java, not just JavaScript. Essentially, the bulk of the book explains the package org.eclipse.birt, which is freely available and has been built out with many classes. The problem to a programmer is the sheer multitude of those classes. An embarrassment of riches which the book tackles.

Some classes relate to customising the UI. There is a charting API built on top of Java Swing. So you can key off your pre-existing Swing expertise. Swing is pretty easy to learn, and the BIRT graphics classes seem to continue this property.

The only possible problem might be if you prefer SWT widgets for the better native look and feel. But the BIRT contributors correctly decided to support the most popular widget set, which is Swing.

Other BIRT classes relate to getting data at the back end, from various possible sources.