Regarding Report Templates

onlysujay

Hi,

I'm pretty much new to BIRT Reports & Report Templates. Can you please let know whether it is possible to change the report template for an existing *.bizdesign file. If yes, then how do we do it?

Actually, we have a requirement where we need to develop a new report template (which we could successfully develop & publish), however what we now need to do is to apply this template to existing report designs.

Let me know if you need any more information from my side....thanx!

Virgil Dodson

Hi Sujay,

I'm not sure I understand what you want to accomplish with templates. Generally, a BIRT template (*.rpttemplate file) is a starting point for a BIRT report design. This is true if you create a new report in the Eclipse based BIRT Designers, or the web based BIRT Studio.

A template is always used as a starting point, but the template loses it's connection with a BIRT Report Design (*.rptdesign) or (*.bizdesign), once the design is created.

Another BIRT capability, called BIRT Libraries (*.rptlibrary) is probably what you are looking for. Report designs maintain their connections to libraries so that changes made in the library will effect all the report designs that use it.

You can mix the two as well... so a BIRT template, can be constructed from elements from a BIRT library... so that reports created from that template maintain a connection to the library.

Starting in BIRT 2.3 and higher, you can right click on a commonly used, existing report element and then "Export to Library"