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| <p class="head">BIRT Overview</p> |
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| <p class="subhead">Extensibility</p> |
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| <h1>Extensibility</h1> |
| <p> |
| The spectrum of reporting applications is enormous, and the BIRT team can never |
| provide every feature needed by every application. BIRT's scripting support is |
| one way to extend BIRT. Another is to create BIRT extensions that plug into |
| BIRT. |
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| <h1>Data Access</h1> |
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| BIRT provides an Open Data Access (ODA) framework for adding custom data access |
| methods. Data access extensions include a runtime component for getting the data. |
| They can also include custom design-time UI for building a custom query. For |
| example, a packaged application vendor can use ODA to build data access UI |
| that works with the vendor's own data model. |
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| <h1>Report Items</h1> |
| <p> |
| BIRT provides a solid set of <i>report items</i> for presenting data. Applications |
| that have specific needs can create additional report items that work within the |
| designer and engine just like BIRT's own report items. For example, a performance |
| management application might add report items that display stop lights, gauges |
| and other visual indications of performance metrics. |
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| <h1>Chart Types</h1> |
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| The BIRT chart package provides a wide variety of chart types. However, some |
| industries have developed very specific chart formats. Developers can create |
| chart plugins that add these chart types into the BIRT charting engine. |
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| <h1>Output Formats</h1> |
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| BIRT Release 1.0.1 provides output in HTML and PDF. Many other types of output |
| are possible: Excel, Rich Text Format (RTF), Scalable Vector Graphic (SVG), |
| images, and more. While BIRT will add some of these over time, others may |
| have a more limited audience. Developers can use BIRT engine interfaces to |
| add additional converters, including those specific to a given application. |
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