Opening existing Reports - Preview failed

perickles22

<p>Hello I am a newb in Eclipse BIRT and I took over a big Reporting Project covering a bunch of existing Reports.</p>
<p>My predesessor in office did not leave any notes or Project Data or even the workspace. I just got the info that <span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Eclipse Helios 3.6 (23. Juni 2010) and a BIRT Report Design is needed.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">I already tried to install the needed installation for a couple of days with more or less success.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;"><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Connections to the needed DB is established and I can see all Data Sources, Data Sets etc...</span></span></span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">At least I can open a lot of the reports but the "preview" option always gets me a failure in the end.</span></span></p>
<p><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">The failure is either a HTML 500 Error or some kind of a missing theme here and there.</span></span></p>
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<p><span style="font-family:calibri, sans-serif;"><span style="font-size:11pt;">Can someone get me to new ideas how to solve the issues?</span></span></p>
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<p>Many thanks in advance!!!</p>
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<p>Michael</p>

Matthew L.

<p>I assume when you say "Preview" you are talking about the "Preview" tab in the main window of the designer.</p>
<p>I've seen lots of people have issues with that option and I suggest using a full browser when testing a report in the designer.</p>
<p>To run your report in a full browser, select the "Run" menu option, or use the Run Icon (See attached image).</p>
<p>I've also attached an image to show how to change your default browser when running a report as some of these older BIRT Designers have issues with newer versions of Internet Explorer (which is set as default when running on Windows OS).</p>
<p> </p>
<p>After running your report in a real browser, if the error still occurs you can look it up in the designer logs.</p>
<p>The designer logs are located in the <workspace>/.metadata folder.</p>
<p>I find it easiest to locate by copying the folder path from the Switch Workspace menu option (See WorkspaceLocation.png screenshot) then pasting it in your file explorer path.</p>
<p>*Note: When in the "Workspace Launcher" window, select "Cancel" to return to the designer as "OK" will restart your designer.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you are running Linux, the .metadata folder could be hidden.</p>
<p>If you are running Windows, the log file might look like a blank file and you will need to uncheck the "Hide extensions for known file types" in Explorers Folder Options (see WorkspaceLogFile(ExtensionsHidden).png)</p>
<p> </p>
<p>Once extensions/folders are visible, you should see a ".log" file (See WorkspaceLogFile.png).</p>
<p>Open this log file with your favorite text editor (Notepad++, gedit, Kate, etc).</p>
<p>The latest errors are towards the bottom as every new error is appended to the log.</p>
<p> </p>
<p>If you need assistance with the error, post the error stack trace for review.</p>
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