BIRT Project
Encyclopedia
The Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) Project is an open source software project that provides reporting and business intelligence
capabilities for rich client and web application
s, especially those based on Java
and Java EE. BIRT is a top level software project within the Eclipse Foundation
, an independent not-for-profit consortium of software industry vendors and an open source community.
The project's stated goals are to address a wide range of reporting needs within a typical application, ranging from operational or enterprise reporting to multi-dimensional online analytical processing (OLAP
). Initially, the project has focused on and delivered capabilities that allow application developers to easily design and integrate reports into applications.
The project is supported by an active community of users at BIRT Exchange and developers at the Eclipse.org BIRT Project page.
BIRT has two main components: a visual report designer within the Eclipse IDE for creating BIRT Reports, and a runtime component for generating reports that can be deployed to any Java environment. The BIRT project also includes a charting engine that is both fully integrated into the report designer and can be used standalone to integrate charts into an application.
BIRT Report designs are persisted as XML
and can access a number of different data sources including SQL
databases
, JDO datastores
, JFire Scripting Objects
, POJO
s, XML and Web Services.
when Actuate joined the Eclipse Foundation as a Strategic Developer on August 24, 2004. The project was subsequently approved and became a top level project within the Eclipse community on October 6, 2004 The project contributor community includes Innovent Solutions, and IBM
.
In 2007 IBM's Tivoli Division
adopted BIRT as the infrastructure for its
Tivoli Common Reporting (TCR) product. TCR produces historical reports on Tivoli-managed IT resources and processes.
The initial project code base was designed and developed by Actuate beginning in early 2004 and donated to the Eclipse Foundation when the project was approved.
Business intelligence
Business intelligence mainly refers to computer-based techniques used in identifying, extracting, and analyzing business data, such as sales revenue by products and/or departments, or by associated costs and incomes....
capabilities for rich client and web application
Web application
A web application is an application that is accessed over a network such as the Internet or an intranet. The term may also mean a computer software application that is coded in a browser-supported language and reliant on a common web browser to render the application executable.Web applications are...
s, especially those based on Java
Java (programming language)
Java is a programming language originally developed by James Gosling at Sun Microsystems and released in 1995 as a core component of Sun Microsystems' Java platform. The language derives much of its syntax from C and C++ but has a simpler object model and fewer low-level facilities...
and Java EE. BIRT is a top level software project within the Eclipse Foundation
Eclipse Foundation
The Eclipse Foundation is a not-for-profit, member supported corporation that hosts the open-source Eclipse Projects and helps cultivate both an open source community and an ecosystem of complementary products and services...
, an independent not-for-profit consortium of software industry vendors and an open source community.
The project's stated goals are to address a wide range of reporting needs within a typical application, ranging from operational or enterprise reporting to multi-dimensional online analytical processing (OLAP
OLAP
In computing, online analytical processing, or OLAP , is an approach to swiftly answer multi-dimensional analytical queries. OLAP is part of the broader category of business intelligence, which also encompasses relational reporting and data mining...
). Initially, the project has focused on and delivered capabilities that allow application developers to easily design and integrate reports into applications.
The project is supported by an active community of users at BIRT Exchange and developers at the Eclipse.org BIRT Project page.
BIRT has two main components: a visual report designer within the Eclipse IDE for creating BIRT Reports, and a runtime component for generating reports that can be deployed to any Java environment. The BIRT project also includes a charting engine that is both fully integrated into the report designer and can be used standalone to integrate charts into an application.
BIRT Report designs are persisted as XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
and can access a number of different data sources including SQL
SQL
SQL is a programming language designed for managing data in relational database management systems ....
databases
Database management system
A database management system is a software package with computer programs that control the creation, maintenance, and use of a database. It allows organizations to conveniently develop databases for various applications by database administrators and other specialists. A database is an integrated...
, JDO datastores
Java Data Objects
Java Data Objects is a specification of Java object persistence. One of its features is a transparency of the persistent services to the domain model. JDO persistent objects are ordinary Java programming language classes ; there's no requirement for them to implement certain interfaces or extend...
, JFire Scripting Objects
JFire
JFire is an Enterprise Resource Planning and Customer Relationship Management system.The system has been written entirely in Java and is based on the technologies Java EE 5 , JDO 2, Eclipse RCP 3...
, POJO
Pojo
Pojo may refer to:* Pohja, the Swedish name for the Finnish municipality* POJO, abbreviation of Plain Old Java Object in computer programming...
s, XML and Web Services.
History
The BIRT project was first proposed and sponsored by Actuate CorporationActuate
Actuate Corporation is a San Mateo, California based Public Computer software company. Actuate is the founder and co-leader of the Eclipse BIRT open source project, a development environment for "presenting compelling data visualizations"...
when Actuate joined the Eclipse Foundation as a Strategic Developer on August 24, 2004. The project was subsequently approved and became a top level project within the Eclipse community on October 6, 2004 The project contributor community includes Innovent Solutions, and IBM
IBM
International Business Machines Corporation or IBM is an American multinational technology and consulting corporation headquartered in Armonk, New York, United States. IBM manufactures and sells computer hardware and software, and it offers infrastructure, hosting and consulting services in areas...
.
In 2007 IBM's Tivoli Division
Tivoli Software
Tivoli Software is the service management brand of the IBM Software Group. IBM purchased Austin-based Tivoli Systems, Inc. on March 4, 1996 and allowed existing executive management to operate Tivoli as a wholly owned subsidiary in the IBM Software Group...
adopted BIRT as the infrastructure for its
Tivoli Common Reporting (TCR) product. TCR produces historical reports on Tivoli-managed IT resources and processes.
The initial project code base was designed and developed by Actuate beginning in early 2004 and donated to the Eclipse Foundation when the project was approved.
Versions
| Version | Release Date | Description |
|---|---|---|
| 1.0 Preview | March 1, 2005 | Preview at EclipseCon 2005: Eclipse Report Designer, Report Engine, Chart Engine |
| 1.0 | June 6, 2005 | Initial BIRT Report Designer, BIRT Report Engine, BIRT Chart Engine |
| 1.0.1 | July, 2005 | Support for Eclipse 3.1; RCP version of BIRT Report Designer |
| 2.0 | January 23, 2006 | Major release |
| 2.0.1 | February 22, 2006 | Maintenance release |
| 2.1 | June 28, 2006 | Major release as part of Eclipse Callisto Simultaneous Release |
| 2.0.2 | August 4, 2006 | Maintenance release |
| 2.1.1 | September 26, 2006 | Maintenance release |
| 2.1.2 | February 27, 2007 | Maintenance release |
| 2.1.3 | July 5, 2007 | Maintenance release |
| 2.2 | June 28, 2007 | Major release as part of Eclipse Europa Simultaneous Release |
| 2.2.1 | October 2, 2007 | Maintenance release |
| 2.2.1.1 | November 1, 2007 | Maintenance release |
| 2.2.2 | February 27, 2008 | Maintenance release |
| 2.3 | June 25, 2008 | Major release as part of Eclipse Ganymede Simultaneous Release |
| 2.3.1 | September 24, 2008 | "SR 1" Fall Maintenance release |
| 2.3.2 | February 25, 2009 | "SR 2" Winter Maintenance release |
| 2.5 | June 24, 2009 | Major release as part of Eclipse Galileo Simultaneous Release |
| 2.5.1 | September 25, 2009 | "SR 1" Fall Maintenance release |
| 2.5.2 | February 28, 2010 | "SR 2" Winter Maintenance release |
| 2.6 | June 24, 2010 | Major release as part of Eclipse Helios Simultaneous Release |
| 2.6.1 | September 17, 2010 | "SR 1" Fall Maintenance release |
| 2.6.2 | February 25, 2011 | "SR 2" Spring Maintenance release |
| 3.7 | June 22, 2011 | Major release as part of Eclipse Indigo Simultaneous Release |
| 3.7.1 | Planned September, 2011 | "SR 1" Fall Maintenance release |