What are some ways to create PDF reports in a Java server environment without having to use Java code to do so. Or maybe minimal Java code?
We have used iText and various htmltopdf solutions. Those work, but they take a lot of Java code create the documents and you have to code the positioning of all the elements?
Is there a solution that has a a designer tool? You design a report template with the designer and then deploy the template on a server?
We could pay for an enterprise solution.
You might be interested in JasperReports and iReport (which is sort of a designer IDE for JasperReports).
You can use JCopist to generate PDFs using FreeMarker templates rather than writing Java code. Another option that is mostly suitable to JSF-based projects, is to use JBoss Seam's iText-based template-based PDF generation tools: http://docs.jboss.org/seam/1.1.1.GA/reference/en/html/itext.html
You don't say if you're prepared to pay for an enterprise solution. If you are, then Thunderhead may be an option. It provides the means for templates (as you've specified) and can generate documents off the back of these in a variety of formats. You can interface to it via a variety of means (JMS / WebService / COM - not sure about the COM, on reflection). It has ActiveX controls to allow users to edit templates (with appropriate and fine-grained permissioning) and the template editing resembles a Word-based editor. It's very powerful indeed.
You should look at Docmosis. It uses standard word or openoffice documents as templates - so you design your document in a normal word processor. Depending on what you want to do in your templates this can be an ideal way to build reports since most developers (and users) already know how to work with word processors. You can then have Docmosis manipulate the document, merge in data and produce various formats. Have a look at the demo on the website.