Creating reports using JasperReports

This is a guide to the JasperReports library that is included with iDempiere. The focus is on the standard reporting mechanism, but you can also design more complex reports using JasperSoft Studio as described here.

Introduction

iDempiere includes the Jaspersoft reporting software library as standard to produce reports in a simple format from many Windows, such as Business Partner Details, Bank/Cash, and so on.

You can also use the embedded JasperReports engine to generate reports in your own customized format by using JasperSoft Studio to design them.

Standard Reporting

Ready-made reports

Many iDempiere Windows include standard, ready-made tabular reports that can be generated from the Report button on the Toolbar (or type Alt-R). Some Windows, for example Invoices (Customer), also have a Print button (Alt-P) that produces a formatted page.

By default the standard report format includes features like:

• Zoom across to related documents (e.g. zoom to a Business Partner from the report);
• Drill down using hyperlinks in HTML reports;
• Export to HTML, PDF, and Excel.

You can see the full list of ready-made reports by logging in as System/System role, then select Report&Process and execute an advanced query with the filter Report=Yes to select the reports.

Use these ready-made reports as a guide to create your own.

Customise a standard report

You can customise these reports and prints using the Toolbox icon from the print-preview window to change:

• Add and remove columns;
• Page format and orientation: A4 Landscape for example;
• Font: serif or sans serif;
• Display order of the items on the page;
• Sort order of the rows or pages;
• Format of the columns: alignment, width, colour, and so on.

Once you have made your changes, save the new print format and re-create the print-out.

Report Wizard

iDempiere also provides a Report Wizard using the Wizard icon which provides more functionality to customise the standard reports, in particular:

• Grouping criteria: group by date or by customer, for example;
• Summary Fields: provides aggregate functions like sum, count, minimum, maximum, mean, variance, and standard deviation;
• Copy Print Format: make a copy of the standard format of the ready-made reports and then change the format to suit your requirements, leaving the original print format intact.

Reporting selected records

JasperReports can access multiple records selected in an iDempiere window through the T_Selection table. The current process instance available through the AD_PINSTANCE_ID Jasper parameter.

For queries supporting both individual records and multiple selections, use RECORD_ID for the individual record and T_Selection for the record collection.

See Filtering by records selected in iDempiere for parameter declarations and SQL examples.

Create new reports using built-in reporting functionality

You can also create your own reports using iDempiere's built-in reporting functionality by creating a Report View for a database table or a more complex database. Follow the guidelines here.

Customised reporting

Create new reports using JasperSoft Studio

The standard reporting mechanism is suitable for simple reports, but using the built-in Print Format tools to customise layouts and create new reports can be cumbersome and time-consuming.

If you want to create more sophisticated reports and print-outs with professionally designed layouts, fonts, colours and logos, you should rather use JasperSoft Studio to do the design, then load the JRXML report definition into iDempiere for execution by the JasperReports engine.

Follow these guides:

• Create reports using JasperSoft Studio
• Video about JasperSoft Studio by Evenos
• Short video about JasperSoft Studio.

JasperReports plug-in by Niemcor

See this video by Red1 demonstrating a useful JasperReports plug-in by Niemcor, with ready made sample reports. Follow the instructions here.

See also

• Making fonts available to your JasperReports
• Making resources such as images and language files available to your JasperReports
• Multi-Lingual Jasper
• Link to historical Compiere documentation on JasperReports
• Another link to historical Compiere documentation about Financial Reports