phoenix/project/project_plan_R2_2_0.php - gerrit/www.eclipse.org/birt - Git at Google

 <?php  																														require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/eclipse.org-common/system/app.class.php");	require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/eclipse.org-common/system/nav.class.php"); 	require_once($_SERVER['DOCUMENT_ROOT'] . "/eclipse.org-common/system/menu.class.php"); 	$App 	= new App();	$Nav	= new Nav();	$Menu 	= new Menu();		include($App->getProjectCommon());    # All on the same line to unclutter the user's desktop'

 	#
 	# Begin: page-specific settings.  Change these.
 	$pageTitle 		= "BIRT 2.2 Project Plan";
 	$pageKeywords	= "";
 	$pageAuthor		= "";

 	# Add page-specific Nav bars here
 	# Format is Link text, link URL (can be http://www.someothersite.com/), target (_self, _blank), level (1, 2 or 3)
 	# $Nav->addNavSeparator("My Page Links", 	"downloads.php");
 	# $Nav->addCustomNav("My Link", "mypage.php", "_self", 3);
 	# $Nav->addCustomNav("Google", "http://www.google.com/", "_blank", 3);

 	# End: page-specific settings
 	#

 	require "../birt.inc";
 	$linkToTop				= linkToTop();


 	# Paste your HTML content between the EOHTML markers!
 	$html = <<<EOHTML

 <div id="maincontent">
 	<div id="midcolumn">

 		<h1><a name="top"></a>$pageTitle</h1>


 <body>


 <h1>BIRT 2.2 Project Plan</h1>


 <p class="head">BIRT Project 2.2 Plan</p>


 <p>Last revised June 27, 2007</p>


 <p class="subhead"><img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" />
 marks interesting changes since the previous draft of February 7, 2007 </p>


 <h2><a name="Introduction" id="Introduction"></a>Introduction</h2>


 <p>This document lays out the feature and API set for the next
 feature
 release of the Eclipse BIRT project after 2.1.1, designated release 2.2.</p>


 <ul>


   <li><a href="#Deliverables">Release deliverables</a></li>


   <li><a href="#Milestones">Release milestones</a></li>


   <li><a href="#TargetOperatingEnvironments">Target
 operating environments</a></li>


   <li><a href="#Compatibility">Compatibility with
 previous releases</a></li>


   <li><a href="#Themes">Themes</a></li>


   <li><a href="#Projects">Projects</a></li>


   <li><a href="#Defects">Defects</a></li>


 </ul>


 <p>Plans do not materialize out of nowhere, nor are they entirely
 static. To
 ensure the planning process is transparent and open to the entire
 Eclipse
 community, plans are posted in an embryonic form and then revised from
 time
 to time throughout the release cycle.</p>


 <p>The first part of the plan deals with the important matters of
 release
 deliverables, release milestones, target operating environments, and
 release-to-release compatibility. These are all things that need to be
 clear
 for any release, even if no features were to change.</p>


 <p>The remainder of the plan consists of plan items for the
 projects under
 the Eclipse BIRT project. Each plan item covers a feature or API that
 is to
 be added, or some aspect that is to be improved. Each plan item has its
 own
 entry in the Eclipse bugzilla database, with a title and a concise
 summary
 (usually a single paragraph) that explains the work item at a suitably
 high
 enough level so that everyone can readily understand what the work item
 is
 without having to understand the nitty-gritty detail.</p>


 <p>Please send comments about this draft plan to the <a href="mailto:birt-dev@eclipse.org">BIRT Developer</a>
 mailing list.</p>


 <h2><a name="Deliverables" id="Deliverables"></a>Release
 deliverables</h2>


 <p>In order to improve the end user experience of downloading and
 installing
 BIRT, the release deliverables will be revised. Details will become
 available
 as progress is made on this project.</p>


 <h2><a name="Milestones" id="Milestones"></a>Release
 milestones</h2>


 <p>The Eclipse BIRT 2.2 release is part of the
 Eclipse Europa simultaneous release. All release deliverables will be
 available for download as soon as the release has been tested and
 validated in the target operating configurations listed below. The BIRT
 2.2 release milestones will be synchronized with other projects as part
 of the Europa release. For detailed dates refer to the <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Europa_Simultaneous_Release">
 Europa simultaneous release</a>.
 </p>


 <ul>


 </ul>


 <p>For information about new features assigned to each milestone
 please refer
 to the <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs">bugzilla
 database</a>. The
 bugzilla database will be updated on an ongoing basis as the plan
 progresses.</p>


 <h2><a name="TargetOperatingEnvironments" id="TargetOperatingEnvironments"></a>Target Operating
 Environments</h2>


 <p>In order to remain current, each release of an Eclipse project
 targets
 reasonably current versions of underlying operating environments and
 other
 Eclipse projects on which it depends.&nbsp;</p>


 <p>Most of Eclipse, and all of BIRT, is
 &ldquo;pure&rdquo; Java&trade; code and has no direct
 dependence on the underlying operating system. For BIRT, the chief
 dependence
 is on the Eclipse Platform, Graphical Editor Framework (GEF), Modeling
 Framework (EMF), and on the Java 2 Platform that runs it. </p>


 <p>The Eclipse BIRT 2.2 release depends on the following
 compatibility
 stack:</p>


 <p><b>BIRT 2.2 Reference Stack for JDK 1.4.2</b></p>


 <ul>


   <li>Java 2 platform Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.4.2</li>


   <li>Eclipse Platform Runtime Binary 3.3</li>


   <li>Graphical Editor Framework (GEF) Runtime 3.2</li>


   <li>Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) 2.2</li>


   <li>Data Tools Platform Project 1.5 (DTP)</li>


   <li>Web Tools Project (WTP) 2.0</li>


 </ul>


 <p><b>BIRT 2.2 Reference Stack for JDK 1.5</b></p>


 <ul>


   <li>Java 2 platform Java Development Kit (JDK) 1.5</li>


   <li>Eclipse Platform Runtime Binary 3.3</li>


   <li>Graphical Editor Framework (GEF) Runtime 3.2</li>


   <li>Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) 2.3</li>


   <li>Data Tools Platform Project 1.5 (DTP)</li>


   <li>Web Tools Project (WTP) 2.0</li>


 </ul>


 <p>The Eclipse Platform and BIRT run in a variety of operating
 environments.
 Testing is focused on a handful of popular <span class="header">combinations
 of operating system and Java 2 Platform; these are our <em>reference
 platforms</em>. Eclipse BIRT undoubtedly runs fine in many
 operating
 environments beyond the reference platforms we test. However, since we
 do not
 systematically test them we cannot vouch for them. Problems encountered
 when
 running Eclipse BIRT on non-reference platforms that cannot be
 recreated on
 any reference platform will be given lower priority than problems with
 running Eclipse BIRT on a reference platform.</span></p>


 <p>For BIRT 2.2, the project team plans to tests and validate the
 following
 reference platforms:</p>


 <table border="1">


   <tbody>


     <tr bgcolor="#cccccc">


       <th colspan="4">

       <div align="center"> <b><font size="+1">Eclipse
 BIRT Report Framework 2.2 and Eclipse BIRT RCP Report Designer 2.2
 Reference Platforms</font></b></div>


       </th>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205"><b>Operating system</b></td>


       <td width="76"><b>Processor architecture</b></td>


       <td width="59"><b>Window system</b></td>


       <td width="453"><b>Java 2 Platform</b></td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows XP</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32</td>


       <td>Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows 2000</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows Server 2003</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3.0

       <p>Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 4.0</p>


       </td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">GTK</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


   </tbody>
 </table>


 <br />


 <table border="1">


   <tbody>


     <tr bgcolor="#cccccc">


       <th colspan="4">

       <div align="center"> <b><font size="+1">Eclipse
 BIRT Runtime 2.2 and Eclipse BIRT Charts 2.2 Reference Platforms</font></b></div>


       </th>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205"><b>Operating system</b></td>


       <td width="76"><b>Processor architecture</b></td>


       <td width="59"><b>Window system</b></td>


       <td width="453"><b>Java 2 Platform</b></td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows XP</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32*</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version
 1.4.2, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows XP</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32*</td>


       <td width="453">IBM SDK 1.4.2, 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows Server 2003</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32*</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version
 1.4.2, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Microsoft Windows Server 2003</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">Win32*</td>


       <td width="453">IBM SDK 1.4.2, 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3.0</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">GTK*</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version
 1.4.2, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">Red Hat Enterprise Linux WS 3.0</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">GTK*</td>


       <td width="453">BlackDown SDK 1.4.2</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">YaST*</td>


       <td width="453">Sun Java 2 Standard Edition, version
 1.4.2, version 5.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="205">SUSE Linux Enterprise Server 9</td>


       <td width="76">Intel x86</td>


       <td width="59">YaST*</td>


       <td width="453">BlackDown SDK 1.4.2</td>


     </tr>


   </tbody>
 </table>


 *Window system only required when displaying charts within SWT or SWING
 windows.<br />


 <br />


 <table border="1">


   <tbody>


     <tr bgcolor="#cccccc">


       <th colspan="1">

       <div align="center"> <b><font size="+1">BIRT
 Application Server Reference Platform</font></b></div>


       </th>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">Apache Tomcat 5.0.x, 5.5.x</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">JBoss AS 4.0.2</td>


     </tr>


   </tbody>
 </table>


 <br />


 <table border="1">


   <tbody>


     <tr bgcolor="#cccccc">


       <th colspan="1">

       <div align="center"> <b><font size="+1">BIRT
 JDBC Reference Platforms</font></b></div>


       </th>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">MySQL Connector/J 3.x JDBC driver</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">Derby V10.1.2.1 JDBC driver</td>


     </tr>


   </tbody>
 </table>


 <br />


 <table border="1">


   <tbody>


     <tr bgcolor="#cccccc">


       <th colspan="1">

       <div align="center"> <b><font size="+1">BIRT
 Browsers and Viewers Reference Platforms</font></b></div>


       </th>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">Mozilla Firefox 1.5, 2.0 <img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" /> </td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">Microsoft Internet Explorer 6.0</td>


     </tr>


     <tr>


       <td width="405">Adobe Acrobat Reader 7.0</td>


     </tr>


   </tbody>
 </table>


 <br />


 <h4>Internationalization</h4>


 <p>Eclipse is designed as the basis for internationalized
 products. The user
 interface elements provided by the various Eclipse projects, including
 dialogs and error messages, are externalized. The English strings for
 BIRT
 are provided as the default resource bundles. Translations are provided
 with
 this release for French (fr_FR), German (de_DE), Spanish (es_ES),
 Japanese
 (ja_JP), Simplified Chinese (zh_CN), and Korean (ko_KR).</p>


 <h2><a name="Compatibility" id="Compatibility"></a>Compatibility
 with
 Previous Releases</h2>


 <p>BIRT 2.2 will be compatible with earlier versions of BIRT to
 the greatest
 extent possible. The nature and scope of some of the key plan items for
 BIRT
 2.2 are such that the only feasible solutions might break
 compatibility. In
 other regards, BIRT 2.2 will be compatible with 2.x and 1.x. We also
 aim to
 minimize the effort required to port an existing plug-in to the 2.2
 APIs.</p>


 <h3>Compatibility of Release 2.2 with 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3,
 2.0.x and 1.x</h3>


 <p>BIRT 2.2 will be compatible with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2,
 2.1.3, 2.0.x and
 1.x unless
 noted. The detailed compatibility statement is listed below. In this
 statement, &quot;BIRT&quot; refers to all BIRT components: BIRT Report Framework,
 BIRT
 Runtime, and BIRT Chart SDK.</p>


 <p><b>API Contract Compatibility:</b> BIRT 2.2 will
 be upwards
 contract-compatible with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x and 1.x
 to the greatest
 extent possible. All incompatibility exceptions will be documented.
 Downward
 contract compatibility is not supported. There is no guarantee that
 compliance with BIRT 2.2 APIs will ensure compliance with BIRT 2.1,
 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3,
 2.0.x or 1.x APIs. Refer to general Eclipse document on <a href="http://wiki.eclipse.org/index.php/Evolving_Java-based_APIs">Evolving
 APIs</a> for a discussion of the kinds of API changes that
 maintain contract
 compatibility.</p>


 <p>The BIRT Chart UI API v2.2 is compatible with the v2.1, 2.1.1,
 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x API
 but not compatible with the v1.x APIs due to a full redesign of the
 Chart UI
 in the BIRT 2.0 release.</p>


 <p><b>Binary (plug-in) Compatibility:</b> The BIRT
 2.2 plug-in framework will
 be upwards binary-compatible with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x
 and 1.x
 plug-ins to
 the greatest extent possible. Downward plug-in compatibility is not
 supported. Plug-ins for BIRT 2.2 will not be usable in BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1,
 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x
 or 1.x. Extension plug-ins for BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x and
 1.x will be
 upwards
 binary-compatible with BIRT 2.2.</p>


 <p><b>Source Compatibility:</b> BIRT 2.2 will be
 upwards source-compatible
 with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x and 1.x to the greatest
 extent possible.
 This
 means that source files written to use BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3,
 2.0.x or 1.x
 APIs
 will successfully compile and run against BIRT 2.2 APIs. Downward
 source
 compatibility is not supported. If source files use new BIRT APIs, they
 will
 not be usable with an earlier version of BIRT.</p>


 <p><b>Report Design Compatibility:</b>BIRT 2.2 will
 be upwards report design
 compatible with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x and 1.x unless
 noted. This means
 that
 reports created with BIRT 2.1, 2.1.1, 2.1.2, 2.1.3, 2.0.x or 1.x can be
 successfully
 opened
 by BIRT 2.2 and upgraded to a 2.2 format.</p>


 <p><b>Non-compliant usage of API's: </b> All non-API
 methods and classes, and
 certainly everything in a package with &quot;internal&quot; in its name, are
 considered
 implementation details which may vary between operating environment and
 are
 subject to change without notice. Client plug-ins that directly depend
 on
 anything other than what is specified in the BIRT API are inherently
 unsupportable and receive no guarantees about compatibility within a
 single
 release much less with an earlier releases.</p>


 <h2><a name="Themes" id="Themes">Themes</a></h2>


 <p>Continuing on the themes for previous releases of BIRT, the
 BIRT project's
 overriding release 2.2 theme remains extending the Eclipse platform to
 provide infrastructure and tools that allow application developers to
 design,
 deploy, generate and view reports within their applications. In this
 context,
 the BIRT project also adopts and supports key themes within the overall
 Eclipse planning process.</p>


 <ul>


   <li><b>Scaling up and Enterprise Ready</b> The
 Eclipse platform 3.3 continues to improve on scalability and readiness
 for the enterprise. BIRT 2.2 leverages the support that 3.3 provides by
 ensuring that it is tested and it supports Eclipse 3.3.</li>


   <li><b>Simple to Use - </b>BIRT 2.2 includes ease
 of use enhancements such as improvements to the BIRT report designer.</li>


   <li><b>Appeal to a Broader Community - </b>BIRT
 2.2 will broaden the appeal of BIRT by its integration with the Eclipse
 Europa simultaneous release. In addition, BIRT 2.2 provides new report
 types via additional report items such as the Crosstab report item.</li>


 </ul>


 <h2><a name="Projects" id="Projects">Projects</a></h2>


 <p>The candidate projects being considered for this release
 include the
 following list. Please note that the final list will depend on sign off
 from
 the project committers.</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Data Sources</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Web Service Data
 Source</span> One of the key goals of BIRT is to support data
 access for a
 number of different data sources for reporting. Given the widespread
 popularity of web services, this project enhances the XML ODA driver to
 include the capability to treat web services as a data source. It also
 allows
 the report developer to specify data source parameters in order to
 filter the
 data that is fetched. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159490">159490</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Extend Flat File
 Data Source</span> Instead of specifying the column data types in
 the first
 row of a CSV file, this project looks at specifying the column names
 and
 their data types when defining the flat file data source. In addition,
 this
 project makes the flat file data source more flexible by allowing
 delimiters
 other than just the comma character. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=152210">152210</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt; text-decoration: line-through;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Predicates in
 XML Data Sets</span> It is not currently possible to apply
 predicates such as
 /city/[@iscapital=&quot;&quot;Y&quot;&quot;]/@name in order to fetch the name of a capital
 city
 using an XPath expression when defining an XML data source. This
 project
 extends the predicates that are supported in the XML data
 source.[Bugzilla
 ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=152823">152823</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dynamic
 Reference to Connection Profile</span> A connection profile
 contains all of
 the necessary information to allow a BIRT report to connect to a data
 source.
 BIRT supports importing a connection profile when creating a data
 source in a
 report design. However, when changes are made to a connection profile
 these
 changes are not reflected in the BIRT report. This project aims to
 provide
 the capability to store a reference to an external connection profile
 so that
 any changes made to the profile are automatically picked up by the BIRT
 report. This makes migration from a test to a production environment
 easy.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=149945">149945</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Boolean Data
 Type in Data Set</span> In a data set, when creating a computed
 column it
 currently is not possible to specify the data type as a Boolean data
 type.
 This project will now allow the creation of Boolean type computed
 columns.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=152443">152443</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Emitters</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Microsoft Word, Excel, and
 PowerPoint<img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" />
 Output</span>s Users who receive reports often want to
 distribute
 these reports to a wider audience via email in order to share
 information. In
 the process of doing this, they may want to export the report to a
 common
 format such as MS Word, Excel, or PowerPoint make the edits and then
 distribute the
 Word, Excel spreadsheet, or PowerPoint file. For usability, the
 receiver of the email
 would
 rather access the document as an MS Office file. PDF is often not an
 option
 since the user wants to make edits to the file. The MS Word, Excel, and
 PowerPoint
 report
 format converters approximate the look and spacing of elements in the
 original report to Word, Excel, and PowerPoint formats respectively.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159491">159491</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Postscript
 Output</span> The widespread availability and acceptance of
 PostScript has
 made it a language of choice for graphical output for printing
 applications.
 Providing a PostScript emitter from a BIRT report supports offloading
 the CPU
 workload involved in printing documents, transferring it to the
 printer.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=158748">158748</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Use of Eclipse
 3.2 Features</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;">This project aims to make
 use of the new Eclipse
 3.2 SWT widgets and upgrades to the latest version of EMF. [Bugzilla
 ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159493">159493</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Extensible Data
 Explorer View</span> This project aims to make the data explorer
 view
 extensible so that custom data sources can now be made available and
 selected
 from in the Data Explorer view. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159495">159495</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt; text-decoration: line-through;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Improved and
 Extensible Property Editor View</span> This project aims to make
 the property
 editor view extensible and improves its look and feel. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159497">159497</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Contributions to
 Eclipse's DTP
 Project</span> This project will make several contributions to
 the DTP
 project. These include: 1) Enhance oda runtime API to provide
 generalized
 support of JDBC specialized features 2) Enhance oda.design utility to
 facilitate oda host processing of oda.design response/request 3)
 Extract
 common behavior from BIRT odaconsumer to DTP oda.consumer 4) Migrate
 BIRT
 oda.xml plugins to DTP Enablement namespace. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159498">159498</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Formatting</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Highlight Rule
 References Style Element</span> Highlighting is a powerful way to
 draw
 attention to report items that meet certain conditions. For instance,
 in a
 product inventory report, if the inventory level of a product drops
 below the
 minimum stocking level, then that row in the report needs to be
 highlighted
 so that the consumer of the report can act on the information in a
 timely
 fashion. Instead of defining style elements in a highlighting rule,
 this
 project aims to allow the use of existing style elements in a BIRT
 report.
 This makes it easy for report developers to maintain changes to styles
 and
 highlighting rules. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=146642">146642</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Table of
 Contents Formatting</span> The table of contents in a BIRT report
 currently
 do not support the use of styles. They also do not provide any
 flexibility in
 their layout. This project aims to allow the use of styles as well as
 more
 flexibility in the layout of the table of contents in a BIRT report.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159499">159499</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Reference to
 External CSS file</span> Style sheets provide an easy to use and
 productive
 mechanism to establish a uniform style across documents. This is a
 concept
 with which many users are familiar. This project extends the concept of
 styles to allow the definition of a style to be contained in a separate
 style
 sheet file that can be referred to from a BIRT report without importing
 it.
 This makes it easy to modify CSS files and have the changes reflected
 in a
 report design. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=140619">140619</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Report Item</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Dynamic Crosstab
 Report Item</span> A cross tabulation report (often abbreviated
 as a Crosstab
 report) displays the relation between two variables in a tabular or
 matrix
 format. An example of a crosstab report might be a &ldquo;US Sales
 By State and
 Product&rdquo; report that displays the US states along the X-axis
 and products
 along the Y-axis. Each cell in this table could be the sum of the
 amount
 spent by all customers who live in a particular state AND have
 purchased a
 particular product. This project aims to provide a dynamic crosstab
 report
 item where the values displayed along the rows and columns are gleaned
 from
 the data set columns. This project enhances the ODA Design API to
 support
 OLAP data source metadata to populate the crosstab report item's
 initial
 configuration. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=102521">102521</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Parameters</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Designating
 Default for a List of Values</span> Report parameters allow users
 to tailor
 the content of a report. Selecting a value for a parameter from a list
 of
 values that is fetched from a data set prevents the user from
 incorrectly
 supplying parameter values. When designing a report parameter that
 presents a
 list of values based on a data set, it is useful for the report
 developer to
 be able to examine the list and designate a default value from the
 list. This
 project aims to allow the report developer to define this default
 value.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=153495">153495</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Usability</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Debugging</span>
 When designing a report the developer encounters errors occasionally.
 The
 productivity of the developer is greatly enhanced if the designer helps
 in
 pinpointing the location of that error quickly. This project looks at
 ways to
 improve this debugging capability. When the report developer clicks on
 a
 error in the Problem View, the focus would shift to the report item
 that has
 the error. If there is an error in the XML underlying the report
 design, then
 focus would shift to the line in the XML with the error. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159502">159502</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Aggregation Builder </span>Novice
 users of BIRT sometimes find it challenging to define aggregations of
 data in a BIRT report. This is especially true for some of the more
 complex aggregation functions that take numerous parameters. This
 project looks at alleviating this by making it easier to define
 aggregations in a report.&nbsp;[Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=130686">130686</a>]<img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" />
 </p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chart Designer
 Usability</span> This project aims at improving the layout and
 general
 usability of the chart designer to include areas such as new icons,
 better
 grouping of
 data, reorganize the UI for easier scripting for charts, quick access
 to commonly used settings, the
 interactivity UI, easy creation of drill-through URL's using chart
 values as
 parameters, navigation improvements, and Eclipse wizard-like error
 notification.&nbsp;[Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=132040">132040</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;"></span>&nbsp;<span style="font-weight: bold;">Ease of Plugin
 Development</span> The Open Data Access (ODA) framework is key
 component of
 the Data Tools Project (DTP). ODA presents the Java developer with a
 robust
 architecture to extend the capabilities of BIRT by being able to report
 on
 custom data sources. This project will make it easier to extend the
 data
 sources that BIRT can report on by providing a wizard to create an ODA
 runtime and designer plugin with default implementation and stub source
 code.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159503">159503</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Building
 BIRT</span> This project focuses on making it easy for the
 Eclipse community
 to compile and build BIRT and therefore to make contributions to BIRT.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159504">159504</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Quick Start to
 Report Development</span> First time users and novice users of
 BIRT will
 benefit from being able to examine sample reports as they go about
 learning
 to design reports. This project looks at making a set of sample reports
 easily accessible by these users. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159505">159505</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Improved XML
 Editor</span> This project will look at improving the
 capabilities of the XML
 editor by leveraging the capabilities of the XML editor from Eclipse's
 Web
 Tools Project. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159507">159507</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Improved
 Extensibility of Emitters</span> BIRT provides a framework that
 is highly
 extensible. This project aims to make it easier for developers to add
 new
 types of emitters.[Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=158714">158714</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scripting</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scripting
 Implementation</span> This project proposes to enhance the
 scripting
 capabilities so that both Java and JavaScript based scripting utilize
 the
 same implementation and therefore have very similar levels of
 functionality.
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159509">159509</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Documentation of
 Scripting API's</span> This project looks at documenting the
 current
 scripting API's for both Java and JavaScript based scripting. [Bugzilla
 ID:
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=132031">132031</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Deployment and
 Integration</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Easy Deployment
 and Integration</span> To encourage the use of BIRT by the
 development
 community, it must be easy for developers to integrate BIRT reports
 into
 their Java applications. To support this goal, BIRT should provide
 capabilities that make it easy for the developer to deploy the BIRT
 Runtime
 and reports in their application using easy-to-use tools. This project
 explores the use of tools from the WTP project in order to accomplish
 this
 goal. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159510">159510</a>]
 This project also provides developers the ability to easily deploy
 charts in their applications&nbsp;using easy-to-use tools from the
 WTP project. [Bugzilla ID:
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=181746">181746</a>]<img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" />
 </p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">JSP Tag Library
 for Charts</span> Java Server Pages is a widely used technology
 in web
 application development. In order to simplify the integration of Charts
 within a JSP based application, this project will provide a JSP tag
 library.
 This library can be used only with standalone charts. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159511">159511</a>]</p>


 <p><span style="font-weight: bold;">Charting</span></p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">New Chart
 Types</span> This project extends the different types of charts
 available to
 include Gantt, Bubble, Difference<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"></span>, Cones,
 Tubes for
 2d/2d+3d<span style="text-decoration: line-through;"></span>.
 Enhancement of cone and pyramid types
 to support stacking.<span style="font-size: 11pt; line-height: 115%; font-family: Calibri;"></span>
 [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=147770">147770</a>]<img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" />
 </p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Scaling and
 Grouping</span> This project improves the scaling and grouping of
 charts.
 Items include improved datetime and range grouping; multiple Y
 aggregates for X series grouping (each Y series can use its own
 aggregate
 function); support linear axis for Line/Bar/Area (non-stacked)
 charts;
 datetime scaling support; overflow data handling; steps number
 customization. [Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159513">159513</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chart API</span> This
 project aims to provide a simple API for chart scripting inside BIRT
 reports similar to the design engine script API, and that integrates
 with it. This is another API to easily modify the chart model inside
 BIRT report scripts. In addition, the chart engine API has been
 centralized
 into a single class called 'ChartEngine'. This provides access to all
 the chart engine interfaces&nbsp;making it easier for a user to get
 started with the chart engine API.[Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159514">159514</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Multiple Aggregations per Series</span>
 When doing base series aggregations, all orthogonal series definitions
 have to share the same function. This project looks at allowing each
 orthogonal series definition to specify its own aggregate function. The
 aggregate function defined in the base series definition is treated as
 the default function.[Bugzilla ID: <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=170057">
 170057</a>]</p>


 <p style="text-indent: 25pt;"><span style="font-weight: bold;">Chart Examples View </span>A
 new chart examples view lets developers get started
 with
 building chart&nbsp;by viewing charting examples. [Bugzilla ID:
 <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/show_bug.cgi?id=159608">159608</a>]<img src="new.gif" alt="New since last update" height="12" width="12" /></p>


 <h2><a name="Defects" id="Defects">Defects</a></h2>


 <p>BIRT 2.2 will address defects reported by project members and
 the
 community. The <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs/buglist.cgi?query_format=advanced&amp;short_desc_type=allwordssubstr&amp;short_desc=&amp;product=BIRT&amp;target_milestone=2.2.0&amp;">list
 of defects</a> targeted for resolution in BIRT 2.2 can be found
 in the
 bugzilla database on <a href="https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs">https://bugs.eclipse.org/bugs</a>.</p>


 </body>
 <br>
 <br>
 EOHTML;


 	# Generate the web page
 	$App->generatePage($theme, $Menu, $Nav, $pageAuthor, $pageKeywords, $pageTitle, $html);
 ?>