What's New in JReport 8.2

• PNG image format now supported
  You can include PNG images on a report, or choose to convert charts to PNG images when exporting the report to HTML format.
• Special fields now eligible for translation
  When adding NLS to a report, the format of a special field can also be edited to any language according to your requirements.
• Automatic report cube initialization now supported
  Before analysis operations can be performed on a report, its corresponding report cube must be initialized. In previous releases, end users were prompted to allow or disallow this conversion. Now the Automatic Cube Initialization property can be set at design time which initializes the report cube automatically when the report is run.
• Report bursting now supported
  Report bursting enables running a report once and automatically distributing the report results to multiple recipients who each will receive a subset of the report results. To do this, you first design a bursting-enabled report in JReport Designer and activate the bursting process in the JReport Enterprise Server after the report is published. You can view and monitor the status of the bursting operation via JReport Server Monitor.
• Custom default style for data components now supported
  JReport Designer applies a default style to tables, crosstabs, charts, and banded objects when they are created by using the associated wizard. You can use the Report Style Group option in the Options dialog to modify the default style.
• Simplified Modification of existing data components
  Existing tables, crosstabs, charts, and banded objects on a report can be modified by right-clicking and accessing a set of panels that are similar to the wizard panels used to create the component.
• Section 508 compliance in HTML exported reports improved
  Reports can include accessibility-related attributes when exported to HTML format which make the report result more readable and accessible.
• Chart design
  • Grouping data on chart by intervals now supported
    The category or series axis of a chart can be based on a special function that groups data on the axis by intervals.
  • 2-D charts can now appear 3-D
    For a 2-D bar, bench, line, or area chart, you can assign it a 3-D appearance by setting the depth properties on the chart paper.
  • Value-based fill patterns now supported
    You can bind specific values with different fill patterns in a chart.
  • Export to Excel now supports dynamic charts
    Charts in reports that are exported to Excel format can be automatically tied to other data in the spreadsheet.

• Export to plain text mail format now supported
  When sending a report result via mail, you can choose a plain text mail format for the report result, which means only the report text appears in the mail body with no other information such as color, images and so on.
• Localization of page navigation links in HTML reports now supported
  The page navigation links in a report that is exported in html total, such as First, Previous, Next, and Last, can be localized according to your requirements.

• Record level security now supported for the parameter value drop-down list
  When a parameter is bound with another column in the dataset, you can apply a record-level security policy that affects the bound column to the parameter. Then at runtime, end users will be prompted to enter a security identifier and only the records the security ID allows to view will be displayed in the parameter value drop-down list.
• JDBC qualifier and schema easier to modify
  Two panels, Modify Qualifier and Modify Owner, are added in the Get JDBC Connection Information dialog for you to change the qualifier and schema for all objects in a connection at one time, instead of editing them one by one for each object.
• Loop checker in business cube joins now supported
  When you create joins in a business cube, you can easily identify any unintended loops and edit the joins as necessary.
• Report-level global variables now supported
  To increase the usefulness of formulas, a global variables scope can now be at the report level as well as the component level. Specify the "report" keyword to define the global variable in the formula.

• JDBC connection status now displayed
  When creating a JDBC connection, the status of connecting to the JDBC driver is displayed via a message box.
• Ability to suppress parameter prompt dialog now supported
  When defining a parameter, you can choose to hide the parameter prompt dialog at runtime when the parameter value is passed to report engine by the system for the parameter.
• Report set deletion now supported
  From the Report Sets tab of Catalog Browser, you can delete one or more report sets. The associated files are also removed from the underlying file system.
• Dynamic summary dialog improved
  The dialog for creating dynamic summaries has been redesigned to be more intuitive and to help you better understand the usage of dynamic summaries.
• Tool tips added throughout JReport Designer
  A brief explanation appears when you hover the mouse cursor over any property in either the Catalog Browser or the Report Inspector. Tool tips also appear over options in some dialogs or an object in the design area. Tool tips can be disabled by setting a preference in the Options dialog.
• Web control dialog improved
  The Display Type dialog, which is used for setting web control values, has been redesigned to make labels in the dialog HTML standard.
• Improved indentation on nested groups
  When multi-groups are inserted into a banded object or a table using the Report Wizard, by default the groups will be indented according to the width of the group fields. You can customize the group indent according to your own requirements.
• Improved default summary labels
  When you create a summary in a report via the Report Wizard, a default label will be inserted automatically together with the summary to help you clarify the meaning of the summary. The default names have been improved.

• Configuration of the image cache
  JReport now allows you to manage the caching of images on reports according to your own requirements. You can choose whether to cache the images and how to cache them, to improve the report running performance.
• Configuration of the data buffer
  You can get detailed data buffer information of running a report from the Data Buffer Information dialog, which helps you in adjusting the data buffer size to improve performance.
• Performance enhancement
  Optimized object property data structures resulted in reduced disk swapping and output file size. This leads to greatly improved performance. Reduced memory usage for objects also means smaller footprint and enhanced scalability.

• Export to plain text format now supported
  When sending a report result via mail, you can choose a plain text mail format for the report result. Only the report text appears in the mail body.
• Parameter prompt dialog now available when running or scheduling reports via URL
  In previous releases parameters had to be entered manually in the URL string when running or scheduling reports via URL. Now JReport Enterprise Server provides new commands that allow you to display the Enter Parameter Values dialog to manage parameters. These special commands are: jrs.web_vw, jrs.try_vw, and jrs.submit_schedule.
• Localization of page navigation links in HTML reports now supported
  The page navigation links in a report that is exported in html, such as First, Previous, Next, and Last, can be localized according to your requirements.
• Option to display the last login/logout time of a user now supported
  By setting preferences through the administrative console, you can choose to have the last login and logout time of a user accessing JReport Enterprise Server displayed on the top banner of JReport Enterprise Server Console.
• More control over DHTML temporary files
  You can set the resource.result.life property in the server.properties file to specify the time length for temporary report set result files to be kept after they have been generated. Note that all of the temporary report set result files are deleted automatically when the server restarts.
• Control on image cache
  JReport allows you to control the cache of images according to your own requirements. You can choose whether to cache the images, how to cache them, so as to improve the report running performance.
• New image caching to improve performance
  JReport allows you to configure the image cache to improve the performance of report sets with images.
• Reports in the queue can now be assigned a priority
  A Priority option allows you to set the run priority of the reports waiting to be run. This option is available in both the Advanced Run and Schedule pages of the JReport Enterprise Server Console.
  
  Also, some queue related properties are provided in the server.properties file located in <install_root>\bin directory for controlling the working way of queue, promoting running tasks of specific priority levels to accelerated tasks, and setting the accelerated queue size.
• Cancelled queries
  When the end user chooses to cancel the running of a report in JReport Web, the query used by the report will also be cancelled in the database without reference to whether the query has returned a statement.
• Easier integration with application servers
  Previously in the remote integration environment, the standalone JReport Enterprise Server provided not only RMI service but also the configuration of the following properties to the web application:
  
  jsp.webapp.sendfile
  web.dhtml_jsp_path
  web.dhtml_servlet_entry_path
  web.dhtml_servlet_path
  web.help_servlet_path
  web.jreport_servlet_path
  web.skin.dir
  
  Now the configuration of these properties in the standalone JReport Server is independent from the web application, and client users can access both remote integration and standalone JReport Enterprise Server via http.
• Improve I/O performance
  On multi-CPU servers, you can choose to compress the swap files to improve performance. See the Configuration page of JReport Enterprise Server Administrative Console.
• DHTML RSD file compression now available
  A DHTML RSD file is a standalone working file which reserves all the useful information of the report, such as catalog, report template, NLS, data, parameters and security. You can choose to compress the RSD file to make it easier to manage.

• Tool tips added throughout JReport Web
  A brief explanation appears when end users hover the mouse cursor over objects in the JReport Web window. Tool tips can be disabled by setting a preference in the Preference dialog.
• 2-D charts can now appear 3-D
  For a 2-D bar, bench, line, or area chart, you can assign it a 3-D appearance by setting the depth properties on the chart paper.
• JReport Web toolbar enhancements
  When a report set is opened in JReport Web, now only the most frequently-used commands appear on the toolbar. You can switch to interactive view mode to access the remaining report and analysis commands.
  
  In addition, the Go To drop-down list on the JReport Web toolbar can be used to switch among reports in an opened report set. You can also return to the former method of report presentation (using tabs) by setting preferences.
• Background mode for DHTML report sets now supported
  Reports in DHTML format that include a large amount of data can take several minutes to appear when run on-demand. JReport enables you to specify that these kinds of report sets run in background mode.
• New labels, images and special fields now supported on ad hoc reports
  End users can insert labels, images and special fields into reports when creating or modifying ad hoc reports in JReport Web.
• Improved indentation on nested groups
  When multiple groups are inserted into a banded object or a table using the Report Wizard, by default the groups are indented according to the width of the group fields. You can customize the group indent according to your own requirements.
• Improved default measure labels
  When end users add a measure to a report, a default label will be inserted automatically together with the measure to help them better understand the meaning of the measure.
• Going and drilling operations enhancement
  The going and drilling operations now launch a drop-down list that identifies the structure of the report in a hierarchical view, and the end user can easily switch to any level by selecting it from the list.
• Improved DHTML sort performance
  To improve the performance of DHTML sort operations, JReport allows you to configure the buffer size for sorting operations of each report in the Configuration page of JReport Enterprise Server.
• Search dialog enhancement
  The Search dialog in JReport Web has been made more intuitive; the relationship between Value Range and Value accurately represents the report data.
• Filter list enhancement
  The Filter list, which appears when the end user uses a label to control the filter condition in a banded object or table, has been made more intuitive.
• Mouse wheel scrolling now supported
  End users can now use their mouse wheel to scroll up/down a long report. The scrollbar can also be used to scroll, as before.
• DHTML report results performance options
  Administrators and end users can choose the reporting rendering mode for DHTML reports. The report rendering mode is affected by the combination of options that specify whether to view incomplete pages or wait for pages to complete before viewing.
• Custom default style for data components now supported
  JReport Web applies a default style to tables, crosstabs, charts, and banded objects when they are created by using the associated wizard. You can use the Report Style Group option in the Preferences page to modify or redefine the default style.
• Print reports to HTML now supported
  End users can now print a DHTML report result to a HTML file and open it in the associated program, with which to print the result to a printer .
• Report run information now displayed in the status field
  Detailed processing information is provided on the Console’s status bar, which enables end users to know each step in the report run operation, such as loading catalog, preparing parameter environment and so on.
• Background report status available via API
  A new API DHTMLClientService.getRuntimeDHTMLReportsStatus(String userID) is provided in the jet.web.DHTML package for JReport Web end users to query the state of DHTML report sets that run in the background. The following information can be obtained via the API: whether the report is running in the background, the report name, the task ID, the start and finish time of the task, the report parameters, and the report running state - whether it is running, finished or stopped. See JReport Enterprise Server Javadoc in <install_root>\help\server\en\api for detailed usage of the new API.