Viewing a file

Users can view each file type in different ways. Some documents are ready to be viewed immediately and do not need to update the data they contain. These files are in the Documents you can view category.

Actuate document files are a category of documents that present formatted and structured content from a data source, such as a database, spreadsheet, or text file. These files contain data a user can view and manipulate in the browser-based Interactive Viewer tool. Users can save these files to final, third party document formats like Adobe PDF, IBM Advanced Function Printing (AFP) and Microsoft Office formats such as Word, Excel, and PowerPoint.

Other file types, such as BIRT design files, must run as a job so a user can view the data they display. Users can edit and view the design file without data using the Actuate browser-based tool like BIRT Studio. These files are in the Items you can run category.

Users view files with different tools or software depending on the file type they have selected:

n	Final document files such as IBM AFP, Adobe PDF or Microsoft Word, Excel, and PowerPoint display in the user’s default viewer, for example, a user would typically view Adobe PDF documents in the Adobe Acrobat Reader.

n	BIRT document files display in the browser-based BIRT Viewer or Interactive Viewer tools.

n	BIRT Cube View and BIRT Data Object Store files display in the browser-based BIRT Data Analyzer tool.

n	BIRT Spreadsheet documents display in Microsoft Excel.

n	Query output files can display as Adobe Acrobat files, as Microsoft Excel files or in the browser-based e.Analysis tool.

n	e.Report documents display in the browser-based DHTML Viewer tool.

n	Analytic cube files display in the browser-based Analytic Cube Viewer tool.

After a user edits a file in an Actuate browser-based tool such as BIRT Studio, the user saves it back to the Encyclopedia volume as a new version of the original file, saved as a new file or converts it into other document formats like Adobe PDF. Users download final document formats like Microsoft Excel or Adobe PDF for viewing and editing outside of the BIRT iServer System.

An Encyclopedia volume administrator can store custom file types to an Encyclopedia volume. These custom file types use the default viewing software installed on the user’s computer. If multiple viewers are available or no viewer is available for the selected file, the user can choose which software opens the file or choose to download the file.

(c) Copyright Actuate Corporation 2011