Jaspersoft Basics

Jaspersoft is a robust tool used to create reports and graphical representations of information queried from a database. VetView includes common report templates, and has the capability to store custom reports created locally by our clients. 

A few key pieces of information to know before using Jaspersoft with VetView include: 

• Your database system (VetView supports Oracle and PostgreSQL)
• Any credentials necessary for access to your database
• Your version of VetView
• The operating system you are using

Now we will go over the basics of the Jaspersoft Studio screen. Depending on your operating system and the version of Jaspersoft, it should look something like this:

Project Explorer View: Displays your projects and associated reports in your MyReports folder. These can be dragged to re-order and organize.

Repository Explorer: Displays your Data Adapter connections to your Database(s). These can be dragged to organize.

Report Editing Area: Working area showing a view of your current report. It has three preview tabs, two of which are editable and one displaying the final preview. Design Editor Tab loads by default.

Design Editor Tab: Displays your report with an overlay allowing you to edit its appearance, drag to align boxes, text boxes for Headers, etc.

Source Editor Tab: Displays your report in raw jrxml code.

Preview Editor Tab: Displays your report in its current form were it to be printed, uploaded for viewing, etc.

Outline View: Displays the pieces of your report seen in the Design Editor Tab in a list format. You can edit various aspects of your report by selecting an object from the list and adjusting its parameters in the Designer Palette and/or Properties View. Objects in this pane include embedded parameters (e.g. date ranges), fields corresponding to columns in the source table(s) of your report, and formatting objects like textboxes (e.g. Title textbox).

Designer Palette: Contains insertable elements such as text fields, images, subreports etc.

Properties View: Allows for aesthetic customization of objects including size, color, font, etc. The target object for customization can be selected either from the Outline View or directly clicked in the Report Editing Area when the Design Editor Tab is active.

After Installation, Japsersoft Studio will create a “My Reports'' folder for storing reports. The default filepath is as follows:

C:\Users\[username]\JaspersoftWorkspace\MyReports

To change where your reports are saved, navigate to the Project Explorer Tab in the Project Explorer View located in the top-left of your screen. Right-Click the MyReports folder. From the right-click menu, navigate down to the Refactor option and click the Move option. From here, you can specify a new path for saving reports.

Jaspersoft Studio requires an information source before any reports can be generated. Most commonly, the source of this information will be your organization's database. Connections to information sources such as databases are referred to as Data Adapters. It's important to remember when working with Jaspersoft to ensure you are connected to the correct Data Adapter.