Jasper reports and its features

Jasper Report is an open source java reporting engine, which unlike other reporting tools, for example, Crystal Reports, is Java based and doesn't have its own expression syntax. JasperReports has the ability to deliver rich content onto the screen, to the printer, or into PDF, HTML, XLS, RTF, ODT, CSV, TXT and XML files. As it is not a standalone tool, it cannot be installed on its own. Instead, it is embedded into Java applications by including its library in the application's CLASSPATH. JasperReports is a Java class library, and is not meant for end users, but rather is targeted towards Java developers who need to add reporting capabilities to their applications.

Features of JasperReports

Some of the main JasperReport features include:

• Has flexible report layout.
• It can present data textually or graphically.
• Developers can supply data in multiple ways.
• It can accept data from multiple datasources.
• It can generate watermarks.(A watermark is like a secondary image that is laid over the primary image)
• It can generate subreports.
• It is capable of exporting reports to a variety of formats.