birt in a desktop application

Question

Did someone ever used a birt report in a desktop application. I'm comming from the .net environment an there you can use crystal reports to show reports in desktop apps. Is this possible with birt too, without having to set up a server environment?

Can you give me some advice how to reach this goal?

thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Yes, it is possible. I used it in a project I did about 1-2 years ago so I'll have to get back to you with the details. (Though things might have changed since then)

Here are the plugins I needed:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<classpath>
    <classpathentry kind="src" path="src"/>
    <classpathentry kind="con" path="org.eclipse.jdt.launching.JRE_CONTAINER"/>
    <classpathentry kind="var" path="JUNIT_HOME/junit.jar" sourcepath="JUNIT_SRC_HOME/junitsrc.zip"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="lib/log4j-1.2.14.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="lib/swt.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="con" path="SWT_CONTAINER"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.device.extension_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.device.swt_2.1.1.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.engine_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar" sourcepath="C:/Programme/eclipse/plugins/org.eclipse.birt.chart.source_2.2.0.v20070209/src"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.engine.extension_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.runtime_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.core_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.emf.common_2.2.1.v200609210005.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.emf.ecore_2.2.1.v200609210005.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.emf.ecore.xmi_2.2.1.v200609210005.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="js.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="com.ibm.icu_3.4.5.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.ui_2.1.1.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="org.eclipse.birt.chart.ui.extension_2.1.2.v20070205-1728.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="lib" path="lib/hsqldb.jar"/>
    <classpathentry kind="output" path="bin"/>
</classpath>

Answer 2

Yes, it is possible. Here is some general description. I've used Birt in server environment though as far as I know there's a RenderContext interface through which you render your reports in the way you want.

Answer 3

There is a BIRT run-time that allows you to generate reports from the command line. Read this article. That will allow you to use BIRT without a server. Originally noted here as an answer to my own question.

Answer 4

If your desktop application is written using the Eclipse Rich Client Platform (RCP) it is trivial to add reporting. All you need to do is add the org.eclipse.birt.viewer plugin and then use it.

Here is an article that explains it: http://digiassn.blogspot.com/2008/08/birt-launch-birt-rcp-application.html