If you’re working as a Software Developer/Programmer in Business Intelligence and Reporting team /MIS team you know very well that Reporting modules are the backbone of your Application. The success of the application solely depends upon the accuracy and presentation of the reports your application would provide to the end users. Moreover…in future, the end user may demand addition of some more reports having elements that he wants in the application. Keeping this in mind you must always choose a flexible and robust library which can be easily customized as per any requirements. As we are discussing about Reporting Tools, let’s look at the best java reporting tools/libraries that have the capabilities to generate any report in the world you want without much of a headache. (I’ve personally used three of them in my projects and found them absolutely great). So here is the list of best Open Source Java Reporting Tools/Libraries available till date:-
1:- Jasper Reports: - Jasper Reports is probably the most widely used Open Source Java Reporting Tool/Library till date. With Japser Reports , you can generate reports in formats like HTML,CSV,JPG,XML,Excel,RTF and many other formats .With availability of world class Visual Editors like IReport , customizing the layout of your reports is very easy . Jasper Reports can be easily Integrated with Netbeans through IReports , Eclipse through Jasper Soft Studio …etc . If you don’t want to code the Frame for Viewing Reports, Jasper Viewer is available for you. (An inbuilt Jasper Report viewing tool)
2:- BIRT :- Business Intelligence and Reporting tool (BIRT) is one of the top eclipse projects maintained and developed by the Eclipse Software Foundation . BIRT can be easily integrated with the Eclipse IDE . You can generate reports in formats like HYML,PDF,Word and Excel through BIRT easily . BIRT has the ability to fetch data from Data Sources like Databases, Web Services …etc. If you’re using Eclipse IDE, BIRT is the right option for you .
3:-Pentaho :- You may have not heard of Pentaho before , but believe me . Pentaho is one of the most powerful reporting tool that you can make use of .Pentaho uses XML templates to generate Reports in formats like PDF,Excel,HTML , CSV …etc It can be easily integrated with Eclipse .
4: Dynamic Reports: - Dynamic Reports has been built on the top of the Jasper Reports hence making it as a powerful reporting tool. It doesn’t require the use of Visual Designers like IReports . As it is built on top of Jasper Report you can generate reports in all the formats that Jasper Report Supports. Its ease of use makes it in our list of best 5 Java Reporting Tools.
5:- Report Mills: - Allows you to create dynamic reports easily. It has the ability to fetch data from Datasourcse like Databases , Plain Old Java Objects , Beans and it can generate Reports in formats like PDF,HTML,Flash, Excel … etc
I am going through this post and thinking of it’s theme and trying to understand what is this post about.