Welcome to EspressReport. Written in 100% pure Java, EspressReport is a set of tools that allows you to easily create professional, information-rich reports from a variety of data sources, and include them in your applications, web based or otherwise. Among other components, EspressReport comes with a Report Designer and a robust object oriented API. The Report Designer provides a powerful, yet easy to use graphical user interface, where users can quickly manipulate and format content, turning raw data into polished reports in a matter of minutes. The finished report design can be saved in a template for subsequent distribution with up-to-the-minute data. To publish the report on the web, you will write JSP/servlet code using the API to reference the template and generate the report in a desired format. Export formats supported include PDF, DHTML, text, Excel (XLS) and Excel 2007 (XLSX) spreadsheets. Reports can also be viewed in a browser with Report Viewer or EspressReport’s API running as applet, and later printed in a WYSIWYG hard copy.
Included in the report designer is a Query Builder and Data Source Manager that allow you to quickly extract data from JDBC, ODBC, XML, and ASCII sources. The sophisticated Data View features allow administrators to create local data catalogs for end users and present data from databases in simplified terms. Using this feature, end users who have no knowledge of databases can easily perform ad-hoc reporting.
To facilitate easy report design and creation, EspressReport supports five report types, namely: simple columnar, summary break, crosstab, master & details and mailing labels. Advanced features allow users to include sub-reports, drill-downs, parameters, insert hyperlinks, insert images, manipulate data with over eighty-five built-in formulas and to incorporate sophisticated charts and graphs into reports.
There are four sections to the EspressReport Documentation.
This is a good starting point when working with EspressReport. It covers many of the most commonly used features and provides Report Designer and API exercises to illustrate them.
This explains all of the functionality of the Report Designer and teaches you how to develop queries in the Query Builder and format and manipulate data to create polished reports.
This covers the Report API and teaches you how to create reports programmatically, as well as incorporate them into servlets, JSPs, and applications.
“ALL” Parameter Value allows users to select the all values in a parameter, rather than selecting each value individually (Section 1.3.2.2.2.4 - All Parameters).
Unexpanding PAK Files allow users to seamlessly transport reports, sub-reports, and drill-downs in one file, making collaboration easy and effective (Section 1.7 - Saving and Exporting Reports).
Undo and Redo Options for all Text Areas makes creating a report even more user friendly and efficient.
Round Corners for DHTML offers another way to make reports more visually appealing and adds another element of customization (Section 1.5.7.6 - Font, Color, and Border Options).
Vertical Text in Report Cells allow users to further control report options to suit their visual requirements (Section 1.5.7.11 - Moving and Resizing Report Elements).
Auto-Resize Column Width for Excel Export makes the Excel export conform to Excel reporting.
GUI for Inserting Data Source Column to RTF gives users the flexibility to insert columns, formulas, and parameters into rich text without having to remember and type the item names (Section 1.5.7.7 - Rich Text Fields).
Data Types in Previews in Query Builder and Data Views let users easily see the types of data in their reports which allows the tracking of data types and makes it easier to build formulas.
New Chart and Report Designer Icons make designing reports intuitive and esthetically appealing (Section 1.5 - The Designer Interface).
Dialog to Specify Section Height enables users to easily create precise section heights by entering the desired value rather than by controlling the height of different sections with a mouse (Section 1.5.3 - Section Options).
Map Default Parameter Values to SQL Query rather than to a fixed value allows users to conveniently customize reports for easier parameter entry (Section 1.3.2.2.2.2 - Initializing Query Parameters).
Export Query button in Enter SQL statement dialog.
Time Based Zooming for HiLo and HLCO Charts enables users to select an aggregate data range to more efficiently analyze large amounts of data (Section 3.5.8.2 - Date/Time Based Zooming).
Top N and Bottom N Options allows users to get a quick overview of key performance metrics (Section 3.5.8.3.1 - Top/Bottom N Charts).
Smooth Trend Lines present a more accurate picture of the trend.
More Configuration Options for Gradients gives users complete control of gradient options for each part of a chart.
Insert Vertical Line with Today as Value on Gantt Charts lets users clearly label a point in time to show the progress of projects (Section 3.5.6.2.3 - Fixed Horizontal/Vertical Lines).
Improved Transposition UI for charts allows users to intuitively transpose charts visually, without the need to understand the underlying structure (Section 3.4.1.1 - Data Transposition).
Export Chart to Excel enables users to easily export charts directly into Excel without any intermediate steps.