Accessing in client/server mode

Besides a web browser, JReport Server supports three other viewers to browse reports from a client: JReport Desktop Viewer, JReport Client API and JReport Desktop Viewer Bean. Since JReport Desktop Viewer, JReport Client API, and JReport Desktop Viewer Bean are based on the Client API, strictly speaking there are two viewers: thin-client through a web browser and thick-client using the Client API.

Accessing via JReport Desktop Viewer

JReport Desktop Viewer is a thick-client way to connect to JReport Server. It is based on the Client API but with a Swing based GUI. Compared with a web browser, it has better compatibility with JReport Server, and allows faster access but has more limited functionality. You can view existing reports in server either on a remote server or on your local disk. JReport Desktop Viewer also includes task scheduling functionality. With this you can schedule and view reports at any time and as often as you want. Also, you can publish reports to different formats. Finally, an important feature of JReport Desktop Viewer is that it enables you to manage reports such as adding/deleting reports and defining their properties. However, it does not support using the JReport Web features such as sorting and filtering.

  1. Download JReport Desktop Viewer for Windows or for Unix from Jinfonet website at http://www.jinfonet.com/downloadjreport/additional.htm. You need to use JReport Desktop Viewer and JReport Server of the same version (the same build number).
  2. Follow the installation wizard to install JReport Desktop Viewer (by default, it is installed to C:\JReport\Viewer).
  3. Launch JReport Server using the batch file JRServer.bat in <server_install_root>\bin if it is not already running.
  4. After JReport Server is started, launch JReport Desktop Viewer using the batch JRViewer.bat (JRViewer.sh on Unix) in <viewer_install_root>\bin.
  5. In the Connect to JReport Server dialog, enter the host, port number, servlet path, user name and password of JReport Server. The default servlet path is /jrserver. If you want to connect to JReport Server with SSL support, check the SSL option. Then, click Connect to complete the connection.
  6. After being authenticated, you will see a resource tree in the Explorer tab of JReport Desktop Viewer (or alias resource tree if defined), which corresponds to that of JReport Server.

    JReport Desktop Viewer contains basic features such as exploring the resource tree, viewing reports and scheduling.

Accessing via Client API

The usual method to connect to JReport Server is through a web browser, such as Microsoft Internet Explorer, Firefox, Google Chrome, or with JReport Desktop Viewer. However, what if you want to integrate the client viewer into your own applications? The answer is you can. Both JReport Desktop Viewer and JReport Desktop Viewer Bean are based on the Client API. Since the Client API and JReport Desktop Viewer Bean share some functions, you can call methods in either of them. However, JReport Desktop Viewer Bean is most often used in running reports and exporting report results to other formats or printers. Client API has more flexibility including the scheduling feature.

When you install JReport Server, the Client API library, JRViewer.jar is installed in the lib folder. When you install JReport Desktop Viewer, the archive file JREntViewer.jar for Client API is also installed to <viewer_install_root>\lib. There are sample code files you can refer to in <server_install_root>\help\samples\APIClient. For details about using the Client API, refer to Working with APIs - JReport Client API.

Accessing via JReport Desktop Viewer Bean

JReport Desktop Viewer Bean is also based on Client API. JReport Desktop Viewer Bean enables you to connect with JReport Server to run reports, view report results, and export report results to other formats (HTML, PDF, XLS, RTF, PostScript, Text, CSV, Applet), e-mail and printer. The JReport Desktop Viewer Bean library (JRViewer.jar) is included in the lib folder when you install JReport Server.

For the usage of JReport Desktop Viewer Bean, refer to Working with APIs - JReport Desktop Viewer Bean. Sample programs using the JReport Desktop Viewer Bean are included in <server_install_root>\help\samples\APIClient\ViewerBean.