JReport delivers an enterprise-wide solution. Therefore different types of users throughout your organization will use JReport. Each type of user will be able to understand the features and find value in JReport as it relates to their job function or reporting requirements.
There are five general types of JReport users. Each type of user can focus on specific areas of this tutorial as described below:
If you are a report developer, you will use JReport Designer, JReport's visual design environment. This intuitive desktop design tool 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.
If you are a Java application developer, you should understand that both JReport Designer and JReport Server are 100% Java-based tools that run on almost any platform. By offering a robust set of Java APIs, JReport can be seamlessly embedded as a natural extension of your application. In addition to being directly accessed from any Java program via APIs, all reports and functionality can be accessed through HTTP.
If you are a systems analyst or application server administrator, you should know that the JReport solution is managed from a single access point, a web-based console. The JReport 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.
Focus on Track 6.
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 JReport, reports can be viewed and exported to a variety of formats including Applet, HTML, PDF, Excel, XML, RTF, CSV, PostScript, Page Report Result and Web Report Result. JReport's Page Report Result and Web Report Result outputs enable you to interact with and customize report views to obtain exactly the information needed.
See JReport sample reports in Track 1.
If you are a business analyst, you should understand how JReport 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 JReport Designer, you build these reports in the runtime environment based on a data model built and published by a report developer. Focus on Track 8.
You can also create a user portal user interface rather than a web report or page report, using predefined data components. Focus on Track 9.