source/getting-started/jasper-reports-tutorial.md - struts-site - Git at Google

 ---
 layout: default
 title: Getting started
 parent:
     title: Getting started
     url: index.html
 ---

 # JasperReports Tutorial

 The Struts 2 JasperReports plugin is a bridge from Struts 2 to JasperReports and does not include JasperReports itself,
 which must be downloaded separately.

 [JasperReports](http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net) is one of the leading open-source Java reporting libraries.
 It compiles `.jrxml` (XML source) to `.jasper` (compiled) files, which in turn can be transformed into several output
 types including PDF, HTML, CSV, and XLS.

 In the following example, we will use the framework to create a PDF with a list of persons. Our action will be used
 to create a List with `Person` objects, and our JasperReports Result will use this list to fill our template, and return
 the PDF.

 ## Our Person class

 We start by defining a simple `Person` POJO class.

 **com.acme.test.Person.java**

 ```java
 package com.acme.test;

 public class Person {

     private Long id;

     private String name;

     private String lastName;

     public Person() {
     }

     public Person(String name, String lastName) {
         this.name = name;
         this.lastName = lastName;
     }

     public Person(Long id, String name, String lastName) {
         this.id = id;
         this.name = name;
         this.lastName = lastName;
     }

     public Long getId() {
         return id;
     }

     public void setId(Long id) {
         this.id = id;
     }

     public String getLastName() {
         return lastName;
     }

     public void setLastName(String lastName) {
         this.lastName = lastName;
     }

     public String getName() {
         return name;
     }

     public void setName(String name) {
         this.name = name;
     }
 }
 ```

 ## JasperReports libraries

 Before we can continue, we need to add the JR libraries to our classpath. You can download the JR project here:
 [http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/jasperreports](http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/jasperreports)

 Save the `jasperreports-X-project.zip` to your harddisk, and extract the files.

 We need the following files:

 - dist/jasperreports-X.jar
 - lib/commons-\*.jar (all the commons - except maybe for commons-logging)
 - lib/itext-X.jar
 - lib/jdt-compiler.jar

 Copy these jars over to your `S2_WABAPP/WEB-INF/lib` directory, and add them to your classpath.

 # Creating the Action

 **com.acme.test.action.JasperAction**

 ```java
 package com.acme.test.action;

 import java.util.ArrayList;
 import java.util.List;

 import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperCompileManager;

 import com.acme.test.Person;
 import com.opensymphony.xwork.ActionSupport;

 public class JasperAction extends ActionSupport {

     /** List to use as our JasperReports dataSource. */
     private List<Person> myList;

     public String execute() throws Exception {

         // Create some imaginary persons.
         Person p1 = new Person(new Long(1), "Patrick", "Lightbuddie");
         Person p2 = new Person(new Long(2), "Jason", "Carrora");
         Person p3 = new Person(new Long(3), "Alexandru", "Papesco");
         Person p4 = new Person(new Long(4), "Jay", "Boss");

         // Store people in our dataSource list (normally they would come from a database).
         myList = new ArrayList<Person>();
         myList.add(p1);
         myList.add(p2);
         myList.add(p3);
         myList.add(p4);

         // Normally we would provide a pre-compiled .jrxml file
         // or check to make sure we don't compile on every request.
         try {
             JasperCompileManager.compileReportToFile(
                     "S2_WEBAPP/jasper/our_jasper_template.jrxml",
                     "S2_WEBAPP/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper");
         } catch (Exception e) {
             e.printStackTrace();
             return ERROR;
         }

         return SUCCESS;
     }

     public List<Person> getMyList() {
         return myList;
     }
 }
 ```

 Our JasperAction creates a list of several People. The JasperCompileManager compiles the jrxml template to a .jasper file.

 > Again, don't use this in production code. You should of course either provide compiled templates, or do some sort
 > of checking to avoid compiling the template on every request. But for our demonstration, or development, this suits
 > our needs just fine.

 # Our Jasper template

 JR uses XML configuration to define templates which are compiled to .jasper files. These templates define the resulting
 report. This is a handwritten version - for more complex versions I seriously suggest taking a look a the various GUI designers.

 **our_jasper_template.jrxml**

 ```xml
 <?xml version="1.0"?>
 <!DOCTYPE jasperReport PUBLIC "-//JasperReports//DTD Report Design//EN" "http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/dtds/jasperreport.dtd">
 <jasperReport name="jasper_test">
   <!-- Our fields from the Person class. -->
   <field name="name" class="java.lang.String"/>
   <field name="lastName" class="java.lang.String"/>
   <title>
     <band height="50">
       <staticText>
         <reportElement x="0" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
         <textElement/>
         <text><![CDATA[Struts 2 JasperReports Sample]]></text>
       </staticText>
     </band>
   </title>
   <pageHeader>
     <band/>
   </pageHeader>
   <columnHeader>
     <band height="20">
       <staticText>
         <reportElement x="180" y="0" width="180" height="20"/>
         <textElement>
           <font isUnderline="true"/>
         </textElement>
         <text><![CDATA[NAME]]></text>
       </staticText>
       <staticText>
         <reportElement x="360" y="0" width="180" height="20"/>
         <textElement>
           <font isUnderline="true"/>
         </textElement>
         <text><![CDATA[LASTNAME]]></text>
       </staticText>
     </band>
   </columnHeader>
   <detail>
     <band height="20">
       <textField>
         <reportElement x="180" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
         <textElement/>
         <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{name}]]></textFieldExpression>
       </textField>
       <textField>
         <reportElement x="360" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
         <textElement/>
         <textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{lastName}]]></textFieldExpression>
       </textField>
     </band>
   </detail>
   <columnFooter>
     <band/>
   </columnFooter>
   <pageFooter>
     <band height="15">
       <staticText>
         <reportElement x="0" y="0" width="40" height="15"/>
         <textElement/>
         <text><![CDATA[Page:]]></text>
       </staticText>
       <textField>
         <reportElement x="40" y="0" width="100" height="15"/>
         <textElement/>
         <textFieldExpression class="java.lang.Integer"><![CDATA[$V{PAGE_NUMBER}]]></textFieldExpression>
       </textField>
     </band>
   </pageFooter>
   <summary>
     <band/>
   </summary>
 </jasperReport>
 ```

 Save this file in `S2_WEBAPP/jasper/` as `our_jasper_template.jrxml`.

 Most important: we declared the fields name and lastName (two properties from our `Person` class). This means we will
 now be able to use these fields in our Jasper template.

 We define two columnheaders (NAME and LASTNAME), and then add our fields to the detail band (for a better explanation,
 look at the JR tutorial). This 'detail' band will iterate over our List of People. This is the default behaviour of JR -
 so if you want to display more information from the Person, add them to this band.

 In the detail band we use the `$F{name}` expression. JasperReports will ask Struts to retrieve the `name` field value
 from a `Person` object; the `lastName` field is handled the same way.

 The rest is markup to define the layout.

 > Use a logger (commons-logging, log4j, ...) to watch `org.apache.struts2.views.jasperreports` in debug mode,
 > if you have any troubles.

 ## Registering the Action

 Using the JasperReports plugin requires adding the JasperReports result type as well as normal action configuration.

 **struts.xml**

 ```xml
 <package name="default" namespace="/" extends="jasperreports-default">
     <action name="myJasperTest" class="com.acme.test.action.JasperAction">
         <result name="success" type="jasper">
             <param name="location">/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper</param>
             <param name="dataSource">myList</param>
             <param name="format">PDF</param>
         </result>
     </action>
     ...
 </package>
 ```

 To use the JasperReports result type we must either (a) extend the `jasperreports-default` package that defines it
 or (b) manually define the JasperReport `jasper` result type ourselves.

 In the above example we extend the `jasperreports-default` package; we can define the `jasper` result type manually
 by defining it the same way the JasperReport plugin does:

 **Manually defining the "jasper" result type**

 ```xml
 <result-types>
     <result-type name="jasper" class="org.apache.struts2.views.jasperreports.JasperReportsResult"/>
 </result-types>
 ```

 We configure our JasperAction with the name `myJasperTest` - this means that we can execute this Action by sending
 a request to `myJasperTest.action` in our browser.

 ```xml
 <action name="myJasperTest" class="com.acme.test.action.JasperAction">
 ```

 When our JasperAction executes correctly, we will use the Result type registered with the name `jasper`. As discussed
 above the `jasper` result type is available from either extending the `jasperreports-default` package or by defining
 the result type manually.

 ```xml
 <result name="success" type="jasper">
 ```

 The `location` parameter defines the location of the compiled jasper file, which will be filled by Struts 2 with our dataSource:

 ```xml
 <param name="location">/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper</param>
 ```

 The `dataSource` parameter defines the action property containing the collection of objects to use in our report.
 In this case it's the `myList` property which we manually filled with some `Person` objects.

 ```xml
 <param name="dataSource">myList</param>
 ```

 The `format` parameter specifies the output format of the report. Possible values include PDF, CSV, XLS and HTML.

 ```xml
 <param name="format">PDF</param>
 ```

 ## Conclusion

 You should now be able to execute [http://localhost:8080/YOUR_WEBAPP/myJasperTest.action](http://localhost:8080/YOUR_WEBAPP/myJasperTest.action)
 - and you should see a nice list of names.

 Struts provides probably the most elegant way to deal with JasperReport files; specify the location of the .jasper file,
 specify what dataSource you want to use, and there you go.
	---
	layout: default
	title: Getting started
	parent:
	title: Getting started
	url: index.html
	---

	# JasperReports Tutorial

	The Struts 2 JasperReports plugin is a bridge from Struts 2 to JasperReports and does not include JasperReports itself,
	which must be downloaded separately.

	[JasperReports](http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net) is one of the leading open-source Java reporting libraries.
	It compiles `.jrxml` (XML source) to `.jasper` (compiled) files, which in turn can be transformed into several output
	types including PDF, HTML, CSV, and XLS.

	In the following example, we will use the framework to create a PDF with a list of persons. Our action will be used
	to create a List with `Person` objects, and our JasperReports Result will use this list to fill our template, and return
	the PDF.

	## Our Person class

	We start by defining a simple `Person` POJO class.

	com.acme.test.Person.java

	```java
	package com.acme.test;

	public class Person {

	private Long id;

	private String name;

	private String lastName;

	public Person() {
	}

	public Person(String name, String lastName) {
	this.name = name;
	this.lastName = lastName;
	}

	public Person(Long id, String name, String lastName) {
	this.id = id;
	this.name = name;
	this.lastName = lastName;
	}

	public Long getId() {
	return id;
	}

	public void setId(Long id) {
	this.id = id;
	}

	public String getLastName() {
	return lastName;
	}

	public void setLastName(String lastName) {
	this.lastName = lastName;
	}

	public String getName() {
	return name;
	}

	public void setName(String name) {
	this.name = name;
	}
	}
	```

	## JasperReports libraries

	Before we can continue, we need to add the JR libraries to our classpath. You can download the JR project here:
	[http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/jasperreports](http://www.sourceforge.net/projects/jasperreports)

	Save the `jasperreports-X-project.zip` to your harddisk, and extract the files.

	We need the following files:

	- dist/jasperreports-X.jar
	- lib/commons-\*.jar (all the commons - except maybe for commons-logging)
	- lib/itext-X.jar
	- lib/jdt-compiler.jar

	Copy these jars over to your `S2_WABAPP/WEB-INF/lib` directory, and add them to your classpath.

	# Creating the Action

	com.acme.test.action.JasperAction

	```java
	package com.acme.test.action;

	import java.util.ArrayList;
	import java.util.List;

	import net.sf.jasperreports.engine.JasperCompileManager;

	import com.acme.test.Person;
	import com.opensymphony.xwork.ActionSupport;

	public class JasperAction extends ActionSupport {

	/** List to use as our JasperReports dataSource. */
	private List<Person> myList;

	public String execute() throws Exception {

	// Create some imaginary persons.
	Person p1 = new Person(new Long(1), "Patrick", "Lightbuddie");
	Person p2 = new Person(new Long(2), "Jason", "Carrora");
	Person p3 = new Person(new Long(3), "Alexandru", "Papesco");
	Person p4 = new Person(new Long(4), "Jay", "Boss");

	// Store people in our dataSource list (normally they would come from a database).
	myList = new ArrayList<Person>();
	myList.add(p1);
	myList.add(p2);
	myList.add(p3);
	myList.add(p4);

	// Normally we would provide a pre-compiled .jrxml file
	// or check to make sure we don't compile on every request.
	try {
	JasperCompileManager.compileReportToFile(
	"S2_WEBAPP/jasper/our_jasper_template.jrxml",
	"S2_WEBAPP/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper");
	} catch (Exception e) {
	e.printStackTrace();
	return ERROR;
	}

	return SUCCESS;
	}

	public List<Person> getMyList() {
	return myList;
	}
	}
	```

	Our JasperAction creates a list of several People. The JasperCompileManager compiles the jrxml template to a .jasper file.

	> Again, don't use this in production code. You should of course either provide compiled templates, or do some sort
	> of checking to avoid compiling the template on every request. But for our demonstration, or development, this suits
	> our needs just fine.

	# Our Jasper template

	JR uses XML configuration to define templates which are compiled to .jasper files. These templates define the resulting
	report. This is a handwritten version - for more complex versions I seriously suggest taking a look a the various GUI designers.

	our_jasper_template.jrxml

	```xml
	<?xml version="1.0"?>
	<!DOCTYPE jasperReport PUBLIC "-//JasperReports//DTD Report Design//EN" "http://jasperreports.sourceforge.net/dtds/jasperreport.dtd">
	<jasperReport name="jasper_test">
	<!-- Our fields from the Person class. -->
	<field name="name" class="java.lang.String"/>
	<field name="lastName" class="java.lang.String"/>
	<title>
	<band height="50">
	<staticText>
	<reportElement x="0" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
	<textElement/>
	<text><![CDATA[Struts 2 JasperReports Sample]]></text>
	</staticText>
	</band>
	</title>
	<pageHeader>
	<band/>
	</pageHeader>
	<columnHeader>
	<band height="20">
	<staticText>
	<reportElement x="180" y="0" width="180" height="20"/>
	<textElement>
	<font isUnderline="true"/>
	</textElement>
	<text><![CDATA[NAME]]></text>
	</staticText>
	<staticText>
	<reportElement x="360" y="0" width="180" height="20"/>
	<textElement>
	<font isUnderline="true"/>
	</textElement>
	<text><![CDATA[LASTNAME]]></text>
	</staticText>
	</band>
	</columnHeader>
	<detail>
	<band height="20">
	<textField>
	<reportElement x="180" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
	<textElement/>
	<textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{name}]]></textFieldExpression>
	</textField>
	<textField>
	<reportElement x="360" y="0" width="180" height="15"/>
	<textElement/>
	<textFieldExpression><![CDATA[$F{lastName}]]></textFieldExpression>
	</textField>
	</band>
	</detail>
	<columnFooter>
	<band/>
	</columnFooter>
	<pageFooter>
	<band height="15">
	<staticText>
	<reportElement x="0" y="0" width="40" height="15"/>
	<textElement/>
	<text><![CDATA[Page:]]></text>
	</staticText>
	<textField>
	<reportElement x="40" y="0" width="100" height="15"/>
	<textElement/>
	<textFieldExpression class="java.lang.Integer"><![CDATA[$V{PAGE_NUMBER}]]></textFieldExpression>
	</textField>
	</band>
	</pageFooter>
	<summary>
	<band/>
	</summary>
	</jasperReport>
	```

	Save this file in `S2_WEBAPP/jasper/` as `our_jasper_template.jrxml`.

	Most important: we declared the fields name and lastName (two properties from our `Person` class). This means we will
	now be able to use these fields in our Jasper template.

	We define two columnheaders (NAME and LASTNAME), and then add our fields to the detail band (for a better explanation,
	look at the JR tutorial). This 'detail' band will iterate over our List of People. This is the default behaviour of JR -
	so if you want to display more information from the Person, add them to this band.

	In the detail band we use the `$F{name}` expression. JasperReports will ask Struts to retrieve the `name` field value
	from a `Person` object; the `lastName` field is handled the same way.

	The rest is markup to define the layout.

	> Use a logger (commons-logging, log4j, ...) to watch `org.apache.struts2.views.jasperreports` in debug mode,
	> if you have any troubles.

	## Registering the Action

	Using the JasperReports plugin requires adding the JasperReports result type as well as normal action configuration.

	struts.xml

	```xml
	<package name="default" namespace="/" extends="jasperreports-default">
	<action name="myJasperTest" class="com.acme.test.action.JasperAction">
	<result name="success" type="jasper">
	<param name="location">/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper</param>
	<param name="dataSource">myList</param>
	<param name="format">PDF</param>
	</result>
	</action>
	...
	</package>
	```

	To use the JasperReports result type we must either (a) extend the `jasperreports-default` package that defines it
	or (b) manually define the JasperReport `jasper` result type ourselves.

	In the above example we extend the `jasperreports-default` package; we can define the `jasper` result type manually
	by defining it the same way the JasperReport plugin does:

	Manually defining the "jasper" result type

	```xml
	<result-types>
	<result-type name="jasper" class="org.apache.struts2.views.jasperreports.JasperReportsResult"/>
	</result-types>
	```

	We configure our JasperAction with the name `myJasperTest` - this means that we can execute this Action by sending
	a request to `myJasperTest.action` in our browser.

	```xml
	<action name="myJasperTest" class="com.acme.test.action.JasperAction">
	```

	When our JasperAction executes correctly, we will use the Result type registered with the name `jasper`. As discussed
	above the `jasper` result type is available from either extending the `jasperreports-default` package or by defining
	the result type manually.

	```xml
	<result name="success" type="jasper">
	```

	The `location` parameter defines the location of the compiled jasper file, which will be filled by Struts 2 with our dataSource:

	```xml
	<param name="location">/jasper/our_compiled_template.jasper</param>
	```

	The `dataSource` parameter defines the action property containing the collection of objects to use in our report.
	In this case it's the `myList` property which we manually filled with some `Person` objects.

	```xml
	<param name="dataSource">myList</param>
	```

	The `format` parameter specifies the output format of the report. Possible values include PDF, CSV, XLS and HTML.

	```xml
	<param name="format">PDF</param>
	```

	## Conclusion

	You should now be able to execute [http://localhost:8080/YOUR_WEBAPP/myJasperTest.action](http://localhost:8080/YOUR_WEBAPP/myJasperTest.action)
	- and you should see a nice list of names.

	Struts provides probably the most elegant way to deal with JasperReport files; specify the location of the .jasper file,
	specify what dataSource you want to use, and there you go.