BIRT Report Designer provides a flexible environment that meets the needs of both beginning report developers and experienced report developers who want the power of programming. It provides the following features:
Report templates that include instructions to help new report developers get started quickly
Customizable views that enable report developers to tailor the environment to their style of working
User-friendly tools for designing, debugging, and previewing reports
Sample reports that demonstrate how to use various product features
Accessibility features, such as access to all report design functionality from the keyboard instead of the mouse
This section introduces the report design environment. If you are using BIRT Report Designer for the first time, reviewing the topics in this section can help you learn how to use BIRT Report Designer more effectively.
Procedures in this book apply to both BIRT Report Designer and BIRT RCP Report Designer unless the instructions explicitly state which platform to use. Both platforms provide the same reporting functionality. BIRT Report Designer appears within the Eclipse Workbench and therefore requires the installation of Eclipse. BIRT RCP Report Designer does not require all the Eclipse-specific tools because it is designed for report developers who want only the reporting functionality.
Report templates that include instructions to help new report developers get started quickly