This section introduces the Viewer Java SDK, and describes the components it interacts with in order to create HTML and DHTML report views. An overview of how the complete system fits together is followed by details of the Viewer Java SDK itself.
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The Viewer Java SDK works together with the Java Reporting Component to allow reports to be viewed through a web browser. The Java Reporting Component is an all
The diagram below illustrates the relationship between the Java Viewer SDK the Java Reporting Component, and other Crystal products:
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The Java Application Server hosts the web applications that you write. These applications consist of one or more Java Server Pages (JSP) that contain code which uses the Java classes from Crystal Reports for BEA WebLogic Workshop and the Viewer Java SDK. In response to requests from a user's web browser, the server processes your JSPs to serve HTML and DHTML Crystal report views.
The Viewer Java SDK supplies the Java classes that enable you to programmatically generate HTML or DHTML for web delivery of Crystal report content. The viewer can be customized according to your needs, giving you full control over its display characteristics. Furthermore, the SDK allows you to programmatically export reports to a variety of formats.
See Viewer Java SDK overview for more information.
The Java Reporting Component handles the report rendering process. It runs entirely on a Java Application Server and doesn't require any additional components, such as a Crystal Enterprise server or Report Application Server to run. It communicates with the viewer and data sources to produce HTML and DHTML Crystal report views.
The Viewer Java SDK allows you to build customized report viewers for displaying reports as HTML and Dynamic HTML (DHTML). It works together with the Java Reporting Component to allow Crystal reports to be viewed through a web browser using only a Java application server. As a web application developer, you can include the viewer in your Java Server Pages (JSP) and programmatically manipulate them to produce the output that you require. This allows you to minimize the time spent on presentation and formatting code by leveraging the viewer's ability to use existing reports to render formatted HTML.
The Viewer Java SDK allows you to control how a report is displayed and the features that are available to the user. It also allows you to connect to several report sources, allowing you to view reports included with your web application, as well as reports obtained from a Crystal Enterprise system or Report Application Server.
Besides providing a solution for report viewing, the Java Viewer SDK also allows you to add report exporting functionality to your web applications. This means that you can programmatically export Crystal reports to a range of different formats.
See Viewer Functionality for a complete description of the features that are available with the viewer, a list of the export formats supported, as well as typical usage scenarios for the viewer.
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A report source is an object used by the viewer to display the contents of the report. It is a pointer to the report instance that the viewer renders in HTML, and it provides the viewer with the means to query for report data, page information, and other internal report information.
The primary report source you will use with Crystal Reports for BEA WebLogic Workshop is the Java Reporting Component. This is an all
Although only the Java Reporting Component is provided with Crystal Reports for BEA WebLogic Workshop, other report sources can be used if you have Crystal Enterprise or a Report Application Server. With Crystal Enterprise and the Report Application Server, the Page Server and RAS server report sources are available. This allows the viewer to display reports that are accessible through a Crystal Enterprise Page Server or a RAS server. These report sources are not 100% Java
Some of the advantages of using a Page Server include support for caching, higher throughput, and greater scalability. Advantages of using a RAS server include support for report creation and modification, as well as additional viewers.
When creating a Java Reporting Component report source, the report's path can be specified in several different ways:
This is an absolute path that specifies a report located on the machine running the Java Reporting Component.
For example, C:\reports\sample.rpt
.
This specifies a report file that is accessible through a network resource.
For example, \\hostname\sample.rpt
.
For example, reports\sample.rpt
refers to a directory called reports in the same directory as the Java Reporting Component.
This is a URL that is specified relative to the location of the Java Reporting Component.
For example, ../reports/sample.rpt
resolves to /WEB
where the Java Reporting Component JAR file is in /WEB
.
The behavior of relative paths can be modified by specifying the value of the reportlocation tag in the CrystalReportEngineWEB
. The value of the reportlocation tag becomes the new root directory that is used to determine the location of a report.
The CrystalReportEngine
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