Actuate Upgrades Reporting Development Tools For Eclipse BIRT

Acutate on Monday released in beta an upgrade of its reporting development software that makes it possible to present structured data as rich Internet applications within the Eclipse Foundation's business intelligence and reporting tools.

Actuate 10 is the latest version of the company's flagship software, which is built on top of Eclipse BIRT.. The latter software provides core reporting features such as report layout, data access and scripting. The open-source software is embedded in the Actuate iServer, and renders reports in PDF and DHTML formats.

The latest version of Actuate offers an "interactive viewer" that provides an AJAX-based environment that uses the same "dynamic and user-friendly concepts pioneered by applications such as Google Maps," the vendor said. In addition, a JavaScript application programming interface has been added to the upgrade to add BIIRT content, reportlets and interactive Web content to external applications, Web sites, dashboards and mashups.

Actuate 10 also adds new Flash-based charts and widgets, such as gauges, thermometers and bullet charts, plus more than 250 other Flash visualizations and geographich maps.

In addition, the upgrade extends BIRT to include security within a BIRT object. As a result, a single report on the server can offer personalized report views to each recipient based on security rules, thereby allowing a single report to serve the function of multiple reports. This eliminates excessive report generation.

Finally, Actuate's e.Spreadsheet Designer, which enables the generation of analysis-ready Excel reports, now includes support for Microsoft Excel 2007, PDF output, a new chart builder and a new query builder.

Actuate 10 Beta is available for download. The software is scheduled for general availability before the end of the year.

BIRT was developed in Java by Actuate and Eclipse. The technology is cross-platform, XML driven and dedicated to a standardized output. Analysts say the open-source technology can reduce report creation time within a Java IT shop.