In addition to determining the basic layout of your report and the items available in the BIRT design, a template also defines the style of a report—the color schemes, fonts, spacing, alignment, page size, and other presentation aspects. A template also can provide sets of styles called themes, which you use to change the appearance of a report with one click.
Your Report Studio installation can provide custom templates designed for the types of reports you need to create, grouped by category. Templates can be organized by report type or by department, for example. Your access privileges determine which categories and templates you can view and use. Figure 2‑1 identifies the items a template typically includes. All templates contain at least one empty table as a placeholder for data.
Figure 2‑1 Items in a typical template
How to select a template for your report
1 When you create a new report, Report Studio displays Report Template. In Report Template, in Category, select a template category.
Figure 2‑2 shows thumbnail images of sample templates in the Standard category included in the default installation of Report Studio.
Figure 2‑2 Selecting a report template
2 In Available Templates, select a template based on the type of BIRT design you want to create. Place your cursor over the thumbnail image of the template to view its description.
3 In Themes, if necessary, select the Modern theme for your BIRT design.
