Define the layout template
Choose where it should go, when it should run, and who gets it
Use Pentaho Report Designer
Go directly into the underlying XML and either define a new report or modify an existing
Can I schedule reports?
Yes. We include an open source scheduler, Quartz by OpenSymphony, which can be used to schedule any activity of the system
including running a report.
Can I track report usage?
Yes. Pentaho Reporting is built with audited workflow under the covers and the system can track report access, parameter
selection, and report delivery. Report auditing requires minimal administration, is transparent to report consumers,
and provides built-in reports, analysis, and data mining.
Can I monitor performance?
Yes. The same auditing system that provides report usage information provides performance information.
Are starfish fish?
No. Although they live underwater, they do not have a backbone, and therefore are not fish. Starfish is an echinoderm, in
the same family as sea urchins, sand dollars and sea cucumbers. Jellyfish aren't fish either by the way.
Will Pentaho Reporting email reports to users?
Yes. Business rules can be used to determine the recipient(s) for any report or parameterized report. Pentaho includes
several business rules engines for flexibility.
Can end users select and save their own parameters?
Yes. Parameters and parameter groups can be saved, and re-used in multiple reports.
Are there reusable components in the reports?
Yes. Styles, data sources, queries, parameters and parameter groups can be saved and loaded when designing a report.
Can Pentaho Reporting do production reporting?
Yes.
Ideally you want to reduce the amount of noise that a user receives and just pipe relevant, timely, important information to
them. That is why there are triggers, bursting, email/portal/web-page delivery and rule-based capabilities.
Can Pentaho Reporting do parameterized reporting?
Yes. Reports can be setup to accept parameters directly from users or from other applications. Parameters are defined in the
report definition, and also in the data source. When the report is run, the report component generates an xform user
interface to prompt the user to enter the parameters. These parameters can then be displayed, or used in the query to
filter data.
What OLAP capabilities does Pentaho Reporting provide?
Pentaho Reporting is a part of the Pentaho BI Platform which has an Analysis module comprised of an Analysis Engine
(ROLAP), Analyzer (pivot views) and Advanced Analytical views.
Where are report definitions stored?
Pentaho Reporting definitions are stored on a centralized server under the control of the BI Framework's security layer.
How does Pentaho Reporting scale?
Pentaho Reporting uses a sophisticated combination of business rules, services, assured messaging, workflow, clustering,
and auditing, to scale.
- Business rules are used to identify exception cases (reduces spam)
- Workflows with subflows are used to process each exception
- Subflows use assured messaging to call services to generate reports
- Clustering can be used to distribute report generation and delivery
- Auditing tracks that each exception is handled successfully
How does Pentaho Reporting use workflow?
Pentaho Reporting uses the workflow engine for advanced functions such as bursting. Report generation can be initiated
from an activity within a workflow.
What advantage does this provide?
Using workflow to provide advanced reporting features provides automated logging, auditing and recovery. Failures
during reporting and delivery can be reported to responsible parties. The workflow engine also provides deadline
support that can send an alert if the report is taking to long to complete.
What does the tribe prefer to drink when they're done developing cool software?
The development team prefers
Captain Morgan Rum,
Diet Coke, and lime. The CEO prefers
Jack Daniels and
Diet Coke, and marketing enjoys
Tanqueray and Tonic.
What data sources can I get to?
Pentaho Reporting supports access to relational, OLAP, XML, and web services data sources
What security is available?
Pentaho Reporting supports user authentication at the user level, allowing you to control which users can access the system
and which cannot. Out-of-the-box integration with external directories like LDAP, and the ability to define security at the
individual report level are both features of Pentaho Professional Edition.
Will the Pentaho BI Platform continue to work with Jasper reports and BIRT reports?
Yes. The Pentaho platform was built to be open and flexible, and to allow developers to integrate third-party components, including reporting engines. Pentaho's internal engineering investment is focused on Pentaho's native reporting engine, based on JFreeReport. Pentaho does not "support" those third-party engines, in the sense that Pentaho Support will not answer questions on them, and Pentaho engineering would not fix a "bug" within any reporting engine other than JFreeReport.
Why use Pentaho Reporting versus other Open Source reporting projects?
Many factors are worth considering when choosing an open source reporting library. Features change all the time, so you
should be able to easily find current technical comparisons both on the forums on www.pentaho.org, as well as by using
Google to search for comparisons.
The most frequent misunderstanding in considering open source reporting capabilities relates to the "upgrade",
or "expansion" path. This matters from a couple of perspectives. First, functional breadth is an important
consideration. Pentaho provides reporting, but also integrated analysis, a BI platform, dashboards, and data integration.
Pentaho also integrates those components. So for example, because Pentaho provides data integration capabilities
integrated with Pentaho Reporting, you can easily set up your system to run nightly jobs to update data in the data
warehouse, and then kick off a large report-bursting job to send updated reports to users via e-mail. So definitely
consider project breadth and integration, beyond just reporting functionality.
Beyond that, it's worth considering your "upgrade path." Hopefully, your initial reporting deployment is very
well-received by your users. Ask yourself what your options are when your deployment expands. For example,
the upgrade path from Actuate's BIRT reporting project is to the Actuate iServer. This is a traditional,
proprietary, closed-source BI platform, with a traditional BI pricing and licensing model. In the case of Jasper,
the ultimate upgrade path is to JasperDecisions, which is also an entirely proprietary, legacy BI platform. In the
case of Pentaho, you can deploy Pentaho Reporting as well as the Pentaho BI Platform (scheduling, integration, etc.)
vai open source licensing. Beyond that, Pentaho's Professional Edition builds on and extends Pentaho's open source
capabilities with an additional 20% of features designed for mission-critical or large-scale deployment. But it uses
exactly the same technology as the open source version, offering a seamless upgrade, complete compatibility, and a
commercial open source pricing and licensing model at a fraction of the cost of the proprietary alternatives.
How is the Pentaho BI Project different from other Open Source BI or Reporting projects?
The Pentaho BI Project is building an entire BI Platform complete with reporting, analysis, dashboards, data mining,
workflow and infrastructure necessary for true production deployment. Many other projects that exist address a specific
function like reporting, but not the entire BI spectrum. Most also lack the necessary infrastructure like security,
administration, auditing, fail-over, scalability features, portal, and other key framework functionality.
Customers can start with something simple like Reporting from Pentaho and know that they’ll be able to add things
like Analysis and Dashboards to their solution when they’re ready. They’ll know that everything will be
integrated, supported, and getting better by the day. The Pentaho BI Project gives users peace of mind via longevity,
support, and continued innovation.
