Defining transaction isolation in BIRT

Question

My BIRT report retrieves data using a SQL query (JDBC datasource). My SQL Server 2005 database is set to use snapshot transaction isolation.

How do I define the transaction isolation mode in BIRT report designer ?

Programatically it's done calling the datasource method setDefaultTransactionIsolation(4096) (4096 means snapshot isolation).

Answer 1

You handle this in the Data Source properties. After successfully creating your data source in BIRT, double-click it to edit it. Select the "Property Binding" grouping on the left of the editor. You will see a property there called "Isolation Mode". For SQL Server, you would add "SNAPSHOT".

A cool feature of BIRT actually allows this property (and all others on this screen) to be parameterized. Click the formula editory by the text box. There you can either bind the value to a report parameter (this is the most common apprach) or implement some logic to determine the desired value. This give you even more flexibility in case the requirements of the underlying data stroe shift. If/when that happens you will not have to edit your design, only alter the input parameter.