running a report from web or CMD

Hi, 
 
My apologies for this simple question, as my searches returned nothing useful. 
 
I have an automated system that can send web commands or execute command line actions. 
I need to create a nightly report for later viewing, so at the moment of running, no viewer is necessary. 
 
1) How can I run a report from a web command? 
 
I've tried this: 
<a class='bbc_url' href='http://192.168.1.35:7780/birtviewer/run?__report=Report/RR77.rptdesign&RP_RunDate=&__title=ICReport&__format=pdf'>http://192.168.1.35:7780/birtviewer/run?__report=Report/RR77.rptdesign&RP_RunDate=&__title=ICReport&__format=pdf</a> 
 
 
2) How can I run a report from the command-line? 
 
for both questions - no immediate viewing is necessary, however, I do need to know how 
to set the output directory? 
Also, how do I make the file to be of the format I choose, say, PDF & not rptdocument? 
 
Many thanks, 
Avi

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JasonW

You will need to you the Report Engine API. When you download the birt runtime there is an example .bat/.sh file that shows how to run a birt report from the command line using the ReportRunner class. You could also just write your own command line app, or write your own servlet to run the report. If you do it in a servlet have a look at:
http://wiki.eclipse.org/Servlet_Example_(BIRT)_2.1

Make sure to scroll down to get later versions of BIRT.

Jason

intellinx

Hi Jason,

Thanks for your reply.

However, my questions still stand.
I'll try to be clearer:

I'm putting an effort in 2 directions

1 - WEB Command: so far I've tried all sorts of URLs of the kind
http://192.168.1.35:7780/birtviewer/run?__report=Report/RR77.rptdesign&RP_RunDate=2010-03-18&__format=pdf

the problems with this direction are
a - the report file is not getting created at all(searched drive), but rather displayed in the browser
b - where is the default output directory & how do I set the default location(through URL or otherwise)

2 - Command line: I used examples of RE API with the .bat file I found on the web. My command is:

\Progra~1\birt-runtime-2_5_2\ReportEngine\genReport.bat -runrender -output "D:\Temp\Avi\RR77.pdf" -format pdf -parameter "RP_RunDate=2010-03-18"

\Progra~1\Intellinx\IC\Appserver\webapps\birtviewer\report\RR77.rptdesign

* I also tried with "" around the file path.

the problems with this direction are
a - running this in the CMD produces:
Aug 31, 2010 11:02:52 AM org.eclipse.birt.report.data.adapter.impl.ModelAdapter adaptDataSet
WARNING: handle type: org.eclipse.birt.report.model.api.OdaDataSetHandle
b - no file is created

Sys info:
win server 2008
birt runtime 2.5.2
oracle DB (the driver jar I put under ..ReportEngine/plugins/org.eclipse.birt.report.data.oda.jdbc_2.5.2.v20100205/drivers is called ojdbc14.jar)

final words:
since I do not need to view the report, I believe the command line is the preferred way even though at the moment I'm getting partial results from the web command(report is generated with the correct info but not saved to a folder).

would you be so kind as to provide guidance on how to continue with each direction.
bear in mind that I'm not a programmer, so detailed explanations/examples would be much appreciated.

have a great day,
Avi

JasonW

With the web approach, currently the viewer only renders to an output stream, not a file. So I think the cmd line approach may be better for you. Verify your command looks similar to this:
genReport -m runrender -o c:/test/myreport.pdf -f pdf -p "Top Count=3" TopNPercent.rptdesign

Jason

intellinx

Thanks Jason,

The command line approach it is.
The issue was the runrender option.
when using it the server ignored all other switches written after wards,
like the output, or the format. once I removed it from the command it worked
as expected, since the runrender is the default action.

a - does that make sense to you? what will I do if I'll need the render mode?

b - with regards to the parameter. I have in my design a default value. how do I make the
report run with the default using the command line? I know that in the URL approach, putting the parameter like this: '&param1=' , will cause the report to take the default value.

c - not sure if this is design or running/rendering issue:
in the design, I had to set the report's orientation to landscape instead of portrait because the report has 11 columns & it didn't fit nicely. when I preview my report in birt, it comes out OK, but when I run the report (command line or URL) & output it to pdf, the columns data are truncated.
In the attachment you can see all columns that are marked in red, have missing info(date is missing the year & time & name columns are missing family name).
when I output to HTML it is shown fully.
when i output to xls I can modify the column width to show the rest of the data.

again, thanks a lot.
Avi

JasonW

a) - did you have -m in front of the runrender call?

- if you do not add any parameters or do not add a parameter value for a specific parameter it should use the default.

c) - is the report set to auto layout or fixed? Look at the general properties for the report.

Jason

intellinx

Jason,

a - I did try with the -m modifier, still the following modifiers were ignored.

b - my mistake, dumb question. my report returned blank because I don't have any info for the default date.

c - the report is set to auto layout.

Thanks,
Avi

JasonW

a) I tried this with 2.5 and it worked fine. I cant reproduce your issue.

c) Can you set it to fixed and then set the column width to a value you want to use?

Jason