Pentaho 5.0 Reporting by Example: Beginner’s Guide

Create high-quality, professional, standard reports using today’s most popular open source reporting tool

Overview

• Install and configure PRD in Linux and Windows
• Create complex reports using relational data sources
• Produce reports with groups, aggregate functions, parameters, graphics, and sparklines
• Install and configure Pentaho BI Server to execute PRD reports
• Create and publish your own Java web application with parameterized reports and an interactive user interface

In Detail

Open source reporting tools and techniques, such as PRD, have been comparable in quality to their commercial counterparts this is largely due to the market’s marked tendency to choose open source solutions. PRD is a very powerful tool and in order to take full advantage of it you need to pay attention to the important details.

Pentaho 5.0 Reporting by Example: Beginner’s Guide clearly explains the the foundation and then puts those concepts into practice through step-by-step visual guides. Feeling confident with your newly discovered, desirable, skill you will have the power to create your very own professional reports including graphics, formulas, sub-reports and many other forms of data reporting.

Pentaho 5.0 Reporting By Example: Beginner’s Guide is a step-by-step guide to create high quality, professional reports. Starting with the basics we will explore each feature to ensure a thorough understanding to peel back the curtain and take full advantage of the power that Pentaho puts at our fingertips.

This book gives you the necessary resources to create a great variety of reports. You will be able to make reports that contain sub-reports, include graphics, sparklines and so on. You will also be able to parameterize your reports so that the final user can decide what information to visualize. You will be able to create your own stoplight type indicators and drill down in your reports. and execute your reports from your own web application.

Pentaho 5.0 Reporting By Example: Beginner’s Guide lets you learn everything necessary to work seriously with one of the world’s most popular open source reporting tools. This book will guide you chapter by chapter through examples, graphics, and theoretical explanations so that you feel comfortable interacting with Pentaho Report Designer and creating your own reports.

What you will learn from this book

• Download, configure, and install Pentaho Report Designer
• Create your own data sources or insertable objects that can use them
• Produce reports with different hierarchical levels and create aggregate functions to calculate totals and sub-totals
• Use parameters in your reports to enable the user to interact directly with your report
• Generate your own sub-reports and add graphics and sparklines
• Create reports with the capacity to drill down
• Publish and execute your reports on the Pentaho BI Server
• Produce reports that use session variables such as user, role, to vary their content
• Develop your own Java web application to execute your reports.

Approach

Written in a friendly, example driven Beginner’s Guide format, there are plenty of step-by-step instructions to get you started fast!

Table of Contents

Chapter 1: What is Pentaho Report Designer?
Chapter 2: Installation and Configuration
Chapter 3: Start PRD and the User Interface (UI) Layout
Chapter 4: Instant Gratification – Creating Your First Report with PRD
Chapter 5: Adding Relational Data Source
Chapter 6: Adding Groups
Chapter 7: Adding Parameters
Chapter 8: Using Formulas in Our Reports
Chapter 9: Adding Charts
Chapter 10: Adding Subreports
Chapter 11: Publish and Run Reports in Pentaho BA Server
Chapter 12: Making a Difference – Reports with Hyperlinks and Sparklines
Chapter 13: Environment Variables, Style Sheets, and Crosstabs
Chapter 14: PRD Reports Embedded in Web Applications
Appendix: Sakila DB data dictionary