Creating report designs for EMF and UML model information reports

Report design files that have the extension RPTDESIGN control the content and format of reports for EMF and UML models. These report design files support the reporting capabilities of Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT).

About this task

Important: IBM Rational support is limited to only those BIRT capabilities that relate specifically to models supported by IBM® DevOps Model Architect. For more details, see the BIRT support statement for Rational modeling products.
Note: If you are a report designer, you create the report designs that your organization needs and supply the reports, along with instructions for using the reports, to report users. If you are a report user, you can generate reports without understanding the report design process. See the topic "Generating model information reports."

When you create a RPTDESIGN report design file, you typically start with a blank RPTDESIGN file and then modify it to create your own report design. As part of the design process, you also define an associated EMF or UML data source and data set. Data sources consist of instance models, metamodels, or both. Data sets organize elements from the data sources into tables that BIRT can use. For a step-by-step demonstration of how to design a report, see the tutorial "Create a BIRT report design for a UML model."

To complete the report design, you use BIRT to define the report content and apply formatting to enhance the readability and usability of the generated reports. For information about using BIRT, see the Field Guide to BIRT.

  • Creating a blank report design file for EMF and UML model reports
    Begin the report design process for EMF and UML model reports by creating a blank report design file.
  • Creating EMF data sources
    An Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) data source consists of one or more instance models or metamodels, or a combination of them. To create a data source, you configure connections to these instance models and metamodels.
  • Creating EMF data sets
    An Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) data set is a database in table format whose rows and columns are mapped from an EMF data source. The data set is formatted so that you can use Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) to generate reports from it.
  • Creating UML data sources
    A Unified Modeling Language (UML) data source consists of one or more instance models or metamodels, or a combination of them. To create a data source, you configure connections to these instance models and metamodels.
  • Creating UML data sets
    A Unified Modeling Language (UML) data set is a database in table format whose rows and columns are mapped from a UML data source. The data set is formatted so that you can use Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) to generate reports from it.
  • Parameters in EMF and UML data sets
    You can define parameters in EMF and UML data sets, use them in data set queries for row mapping and column mapping, and bind values to them in the report design. You can use parameters to create variations in generic data sets, and so avoid creating multiple data sets that are nearly identical to each other. You can also use parameters to join objects.
  • Adding common types of model information to reports
    You can design Business Intelligence Reporting Tools (BIRT) reports to incorporate all types of information that EMF and UML models provide. For certain types of information that are commonly included in reports, such as model element documentation, you must follow special procedures. This topic provides specific instructions for adding the most common types of information and identifies the corresponding element that you must add to your report design.
  • Additional XPath functions for EMF and UML data sets
    The following functions are available for table and column mapping for EMF and UML data sets, in addition to the XPath functions that the XPath 1.0 Core Function Library and JET specify.
  • Writing custom XPath functions
    Before you can add certain kinds of model information to a report (RPTDESIGN file), you must write a custom XPath function to extract the information from the target models.
  • Tips for designing model reports
    You can use the capabilities of your IBM Rational product in conjunction with those of Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) to fine-tune data sources, data sets, and report designs for UML and EMF models. The following tips provide helpful information for designing model reports, as well as links to sites where you can find additional information.

Results

For additional tips and troubleshooting information about designing reports based on BIRT, see the topic "Tips for designing model reports" and the IBM Rational® Technotes.

Note: The current product release continues to support XSLT report templates. You can customize the provided templates to meet your requirements. For information about customizing XSLT templates, see the IBM developerWorks® article "Understanding and Customizing Model Publishing in IBM Rational Software Modeler/Architect." If you generate reports in a language such as Japanese or Chinese that uses double-byte characters, read the section "Dealing with PDF reports that use symbolic character sets." You must register the reports for use in the current release. For information, see the topic "Registering XSLT report templates for the current release."
Note: Some information, such as links to Eclipse documentation or to developer guides, is available only from the help topics that are installed with the product.
Related concepts:
Report design using BIRT
Related tasks:
Generating model information reports
Registering XSLT report templates for the current release
Related information:
Tutorial: Create a BIRT report design for a UML model
Field Guide to BIRT
IBM Rational Technote: Frequently asked questions about authoring Model Reports using BIRT
Feedback