BIRT iHub provides a Design Engine API extension to create and alter data objects programmatically with Java, allowing programs to refresh their data from the database as needed. This mechanism can retrieve data based on user controls at run time, such as the availability or status of certain goods and services, or generate content dynamically according to criterion outside of a usual query, such as a network outage or an escrow account closing. In this way, an application can respond to important events and incorporate any outside factors, with or without the direct involvement of any users.

This Actuate extension provides Java classes to automate data object generation, retrieving important information required regularly for any application. The classes that support BIRT data objects, DataMartCubeHandle, DataMartDataSetHandle, and DataMartDataSourceHandle, are contained in the com.actuate.birt.report.model.api package.

Like the BIRT data objects implemented in the BIRT data explorer, BIRT data objects generated by the Design Engine API generate data sources and data sets from a .datadesign or .data file. Using the extension requires programming in Java. Knowledge of XML is also helpful.

Handling data objects for BIRT reports requires knowledge of programming using the BIRT reporting API and the report object model. For information about the BIRT reporting API and the report object model, see Integrating and Extending BIRT. This chapter describes the additional requirements for generating data objects for reports.