JasperReports
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Business intelligence software |
| Founded | 2001 |
| Founder | Al Campa, Raj Bhargava |
| Headquarters | United States |
Key people | Al Campa (CEO), Raj Bhargava (VP of Products), Brian Gentile (CEO from 2007) |
| Products | JasperReports, JasperReports Server |
| Parent | TIBCO Software (since 2014) |
JasperReports is a Java-based open source reporting utility that supports output to multiple formats such as on-screen display, printing, PDF, HTML, Microsoft Excel, RTF, ODT, CSV, XSL, and XML.
Designed to work seamlessly with Java-enabled environments like Java EE or web applications, it generates dynamic reports by interpreting instructions from XML or .jasper files.
This tool is included within the Lisog open source technology stack initiative.
Features
As an open source reporting framework, JasperReports can be embedded into any Java application. Its notable capabilities include:
- The use of scriptlets alongside report definitions, enabling custom Java code execution during various stages of report creation (Report, Page, Column, Group).
- Ability to incorporate sub-reports for building sophisticated report layouts.
For more comprehensive report management and interaction, JasperReports designs can be deployed within JasperServer, a fully interactive report server platform.
Jaspersoft
The development of JasperReports was initiated by Teodor Danciu in 2001; the project was registered on SourceForge the same year with version 0.1.5 released in November 2001.
Jaspersoft originated as Panscopic in 2001, founded by Al Campa (CEO) and Raj Bhargava (VP of Products), securing $23 million in funding from Doll Capital, Discovery Ventures, Morgenthaler Ventures, and Partech. In 2004, Panscopic formed a partnership with Danciu, acquiring the intellectual property rights to JasperReports and rebranding as Jaspersoft. Brian Gentile assumed the CEO role in 2007.
The first official release of JasperReports 1.0 occurred in July 2005. Initially distributed under the copyleft JasperReports License, it later transitioned to the GNU Lesser General Public License (LGPL).
Jaspersoft’s core offering, JasperReports Server, is a Java EE web application providing advanced features such as report scheduling and access control. It is available under open source licenses for integration with platforms like MySQL and JBoss and also offered under commercial licenses tailored for enterprise deployments involving proprietary databases and application servers.
The company offers commercial solutions built around JasperReports and negotiates licensing agreements for embedding its engine within proprietary software products. Jaspersoft holds status as a MySQL gold partner, and JasperReports was included in the Bizgres distribution based on PostgreSQL.
In 2007, Jaspersoft collaborated with Ingres Corporation and rPath to introduce Icebreaker BI—a business intelligence appliance combining Ingres 2006 database technology, rPath Linux distribution, and JasperSoft BI tools. Although not hardware-dependent, Ingres marketed it as an appliance due to its closely integrated software components supported by full technical assistance.
On April 28, 2014, TIBCO announced its acquisition of Jaspersoft to broaden its suite of business intelligence offerings.
JRXML
JasperReports defines its reports using an XML-based format known as JRXML. These files can be manually written, generated programmatically, or created through design tools. The format adheres to a document type definition or XML schema (in later versions), which allows limited compatibility across systems. JRXML files carry the .jrxml extension.
A .jasper file represents the compiled form of a .jrxml file. Compilation can occur dynamically using tools such as iReport or at runtime through the JasperCompileManager class.
IDE integration
Widely-used Java IDEs like NetBeans, Eclipse, and IBM Websphere Studio Application Developer provide built-in support and documentation for embedding JasperReports into development projects, enabling efficient report creation within enterprise-level applications.
See also
Further reading
Code refactoring
JasperReports has been extensively examined in academic research focused on code refactoring, emphasizing its progression and architectural enhancements in object-oriented programming. Notable investigations cover topics such as cyclomatic complexity metrics, heuristic approaches for extracting refactoring information, and techniques for identifying structural modifications and prevalent code smells. These findings offer valuable perspectives on sustaining and improving JasperReports' codebase to optimize performance and scalability in commercial software environments.
External links
Jasper Conversion Tool - iBEAM JCT