Report Elements

The basic building block of a report is the element. An element is a graphical object, such as a text string or a rectangle. In Jaspersoft Studio, the concept of line or paragraph does not exist, as it does in word processing programs. Everything is created by means of elements, which can contain text, create tables, display images, and so on. This approach follows the model used by the majority of report authoring tools.

Jaspersoft Studio relies on all the basic elements provided in the JasperReports library:

• Line
• Rectangle
• Ellipse
• Static text
• Text field (or simply Field)
• Image
• Frame
• Subreport
• Crosstab
• Chart
• Break

Combining these elements, you can produce every kind of report. JasperReports also allows developers to implement their own generic elements and custom components for which they can add support in Jaspersoft Studio to create a proper plug-in.

This chapter contains the following sections:

• Common Element Properties
• Inserting, Selecting, and Positioning Elements
• Formatting Elements
• Working with Advanced Properties
• Graphic Elements
• Text Elements
• Frames
• Working with Spreadsheet Layout
• Inserting Page and Column Breaks
• Working with Composite Elements
• Anchors, Bookmarks, and Hyperlinks
• Advanced Elements and Custom Components
• Custom Visualization Component