Example of Using Font Extensions

This example shows how to create font extensions for two font and then combine them in a font set.

Creating Font Extensions and Font Sets

To create a font extension:

This example uses two external Google fonts, Amaranth (a Latin-only font) and Lobster (supports Latin and Cyrillic characters). If you don't have these fonts available, you can work with other fonts. However, you must have the correct license to embed your fonts in a PDF.

1.

Make sure the font files for the fonts have been downloaded and decompressed. You can also use fonts from a URL.

2.

Click Add from Path to open the Fonts path dialog.

Adding fonts from a path

3.

Click ... and browse to the folder that contains the fonts you want, then click Finish.

Jaspersoft Studio loads all the fonts at that location, extracts the font family name embedded in the font files, and displays all the extracted fonts in the Preferences dialog.

Once you have create a font extension, you can edit it by double-clicking its name in the font list or by selecting it and clicking Edit. See The Font Family Dialog for more information.

Next, combine these two font extensions in a single font set.

To create a font set:

1.

In the Font section of the Preferences dialog, select the fonts you want in your set.

Selecting font extensions

2.

Click Create Font Set. The Font Set dialog is displayed.

Font Set dialog

3.

Enter a name for your font set and click OK. This example uses SampleFontSet.

The new font set is displayed in the font list.

Next, configure the fonts in the font set so that Lobster is only used for Cyrillic characters, even though it supports Latin characters.

Configure fonts in a font set:

1.

Expand the font set to display the names of the individual font extensions.

Fonts window with expanded font set

2.

Select Lobster and click Edit or double-click Lobster.

The Font Set Family dialog is displayed.

Font Set Family dialog

3.

To prevent Lobster from being used by Latin characters, click Add next to the Exclude Scripts list.

The Scripts name dialog is displayed.

4.

Select Latin in the Scripts Name dialog and click OK.

Latin is added to the list of excluded scripts.

5.

Click OK to close the Scripts Name dialog; click OK again to close the Font Set Family dialog and click OK a third time to close the Preference dialog.

Using Font Extensions in a Report

Once you have set up your font set, you can use it in a report.

Create a report with a local data adapter:

1.

Export the One Empty Record adapter to your project. To do this:

a.

In the Repository Explorer, right-click the One Empty Record adapter and select Export to File.

Exporting a global data adapter

b.

Select the project you want and click OK.

A data adapter file is created in your project.

2.

Go to File > New > Jasper Report or click on the main toolbar.

3.

In the New Report Wizard window, select a blank template, such as the Blank A4 template, then click Next.

4.

Select the project folder with the data adapter file you just created, give the report a name, and click Next.

5.

On the Data Source page, select the One Empty Record - [OneEmptyRecord.xml] adapter. Make sure to select this adapter, which is local, and not the One Empty Record adapter which is selected by default.

Selecting the local data adapter

6.

Click Finish.

b.

In the Properties view for the report, on the Report tab, scroll down to Dataset > Default Data Adapter and click ...

c.

In the Open Data Adapter dialog, select Custom Value.

d.

Enter OneEmptyRecord.xml in the Path entry box.

Default Data Adapter

e.

Click Finish.

Create a report with multi-lingual text:

1.

Create a new report with a blank template

2.

Drag the Static Text element into the Title band of the report.

3.

Enter English and Cyrillic text in the element you just created:

Report Отчёт

4.

Select the element.

5.

Expand the Font menu on the Static Text tab of the Properties View for the static text element.

The menu is divided into two sections. Installed font extensions or font sets appear above the line. Fonts below the line are not installed as font extensions. In this example, Amaranth, Lobster, and SampleFontSet are all above the line.

Font menu with font extensions

The default font used for a new static text element is SansSerif. This font does support for extended characters, but because it's a Java logical font that is translated to a physical font by the JVM, you won't know what font will be selected when the report is run.

6.

Select SampleFontSet from the Font menu and 24 from the size menu next to it. Then resize the static text element so it is large enough to display the text.

Font set in design view

7.

Save and preview the report. The license for these fonts let you preview the report as a PDF.

Font set in preview

Deploying Font Extensions to JasperReports Server

When you use font extensions in a report, the font extensions are not automatically available on the server. You need to export your font extensions as a jar and upload them to the server. For reports in HTML, add the jar to the server classpath and enable font support in jasperreports.properties. For reports in PDF, add the jar to the report as a resource.

Deploy the report to JasperReports Server:

1.

Click on the main menu bar.

2.

In the Publish To JasperReports Server dialog, select the JasperReports Server instance you want and choose a location for the report. This example uses Public > Samples > Reports.

3.

Enter a name for the report on JasperReports Server. This example uses SampleFontSetReport.

4.

Click Next.

5.

Verify that OneEmptyRecord appears as a resource to publish on the next page, then click Next.

6.

Verify that Don't use any Data Source is selected on the Configure the Data Source page. Making this selection ensures that the uploaded adapter will be used for the report.

7.

Click Finish. If the publishing process succeeds, a success dialog is displayed.

8.

Click OK to exit the success dialog.

View the report on JasperReports Server:

1.

Log in to the server, navigate to the report you just created, and run the report.

You will see that the report does not use the correct fonts. You need to export the fonts in Jaspersoft Studio and upload them to the server.

When working with fonts, look carefully at your uploaded reports. For some fonts or character sets, you will not see misformatted text; instead, the text will not be displayed at all.

Export the font set in Jaspersoft Studio:

1.

In Window > Preferences > Jaspersoft Studio > Fonts, select the font set and the fonts within it and click Export. For this example, select Amaranth, Lobster, and SampleFontSet.

2.

In the Export Font to Jar dialog, select a name and location for the exported file and click Save. For this example, use SampleFontSet.jar.

The font set is exported as a jar in the location you chose. This is not a regular font jar; it is a jar file that includes additional information used by Jaspersoft.

Add the font set as a jar on your JasperReports Server instance:

1.

On the machine hosting your JasperReports Server instance, enable font support by adding the following to your <js-install>\WEB-INF\classes\jasperreports.properties file:

net.sf.jasperreports.web.resource.pattern.fonts=fonts/.*

You only have to enable font support once.

2.

Add the exported font set jar to your <js-install>WEB-INF\lib directory.

3.

Stop and restart your JasperReports Server instance. See the JasperReports Server Installation Guide for more information.

Upload the font set as a resource:

You can attach the resource directly to the report, or you can upload it to another location, for example the report directory and link the report to it. Uploading a resource to another location makes it easier to reuse the resource.

1.

In the Repository Explorer in Jaspersoft Studio, navigate to the folder on your JasperReports Server instance where you want to add this resource. For this example, it is the Public > Samples > Resources folder.

2.

Right-click the folder and select New from the cascading menu.

Adding a resource in the Repository Explorer

3.

Select Jar in the Add Resource wizard and click Next.

4.

Enter a name and ID for your jar and click Next.

5.

Select Upload from File System, select the jar you want, and click Open.

6.

Click Finish to upload the selected jar.

Add the resource to your report:

1.

Right-click your report in the Repository Explorer and select New from the cascading menu.

2.

Select Link in the Add Resource Wizard and click Next.

3.

Enter a name and ID for the link and click Next.

4.

Click to open the Find Resource dialog.

5.

Navigate to the jar you uploaded and click Open.

6.

Click Finish to attach the jar to the report as a resource.

View the report on JasperReports Server:

1.

Open a web browser, log in to the server, navigate to the report you just created, and run the report. You should see the correct fonts. If you do not see your fonts, there has been a problem with uploading the jar to the file system.

2.

Export the report as PDF. You should see the updated fonts. If not, there has been some problem uploading and linking the resource.

When verifying font extensions and sets, it is best to run the report in JasperReports Server from a web browser. Running the report from Repository Explorer in Jaspersoft Studio may not show the fonts correctly.