Using the BIRT Report Designer

This topic describes how to use the BIRT Report Designer to design data-pull reports.

1. Open the BIRT perspective by clicking Window > Report Designer.
2. Create a new report:
   1. Click File > New > New Report.
   2. Specify the file name for the report. Optionally, you can change the directory where the report is saved. Click Next.
   3. Specify the report template to copy and click Finish.
3. Create a new HCL Compass data source:
   1. Click the Data Explorer tab.
   2. Right-click the Data Sources folder and select New Data Source.
      The New Data Source wizard opens.
   3. Select HCL Compass Query Data Source and click Next.
   4. Choose the location of the connection profile you want to use to create your data source. Select My Default HCL CompassConnections to use a connection profile on your local machine, or select Change Management Server to use a connection profile on a Change Management Server.
      If you are using a connection profile on a Change Management server, type the name of the server.

      Note: Reports that use data source connection profiles defined with the "My Default HCL Compass Connections cannot be hosted on 64-bit WebSphere® Application servers. If your target application server is WebSphere 64-bit edition, use Change Management Server connection profiles when creating report data sources. For details, see technical note 1515079.
   5. Type your user name and password, and select the schema repository and database names.
   6. Verify the connection to the HCL Compass data source by clicking Test Connection.
   7. Click Finish.
4. Create a new data set (which is equivalent to a HCL Compass query) based on the data source:
   1. Right-click the Data Sets folder and select New Data Set.
      The New Data Set wizard opens.
   2. Type the data set name.
      Tip: Specify a name that corresponds to the associated HCL Compass query name. For example, Public Queries_All Defects.
   3. Select the data source.
   4. Ensure that the data set type is HCL Compass Query Result and click Next.
   5. In the HCL Compass Queries list, select the query on which to report.
   6. Use the Edit Data Set dialog box to provide additional information about the data set.
      • If the query contains dynamic filters, you must configure the parameters.
      • You can preview the query result set by selecting Preview Results. Previewing the results ensures that the query runs without errors.
      • Click OK to save the data set.
5. To add the data set to the report layout, right-click the data set and select Insert in layout.
6. Complete the report layout. When you are done, click the Preview tab to ensure that there are no errors in the report design.
   The .rptdesign file is saved when you preview the report design.