Introduction to Java report chapters
Generalities
Starting with MEGA 2009 SP4, a report chaptercan be written in Java.
It is highly recommended to write new reports in this language in order to benefit from the platform improvements and also to better handle PDF/RTF document generation. The old report platform will not be improved whereas the Java platform will be.
Compared to VB Script reports, Java reports are written differently as described in this article.
Both use the same metamodel described in the product documentation.
Data and view separation
VB Script report chapter macros generate HTML.
Java report chapter macros generate an object structure describing datasets (report data) and the type of view to apply to these datasets.
For more details on this structure, you should refer to the technical article “Java report data structure”.
Conversion from this object structure to a report output (HTML or PDF for example) is handled by the report engine using specific renderers. Renderers are the subject of another technical article “Writing Java report renderers”.
This new architecture allows for better management of different output formats and more flexibility and modularity. It is therefore highly recommended to write new report chapter macros in Java, using the method described hereafter.