Missing UTF 8 Characters in Jaspersoft 7

[Some Company Name]

I have been using Jaspersoft Studio 7 and created a text expression that should output a UTF-8 character based on a Boolean value. The default encoding will not print the value and there does not appear to be a UTF-8 encoding available in the drop down. My assumption is that it is outputting UTF-8 by default. Character 'B' or 'A' will print. I feel I am missing something simple.  I saw in older versions people used WingDings, but that doesn't appear to be available in the Studio.  In what direction should I proceed with this?

 

<field name="serviceJasperModel.service" class="java.lang.Boolean"/>
<element kind="textField" uuid="ee599154-57af-4dda-b99f-e86ad669d457" mode="Transparent" x="153" y="56" width="100" height="30" pdfEncoding="">
<expression><![CDATA[$F{serviceJasperModel.service} ? "\u2713 B":"\u2717 A"]]></expression>
</element>

 

[Some Company Name]

Some more info, the default file encoding for the running JVM  has been verified to be UTF-8.

[Some Company Name]

In the below code when I preview I can see the check mark. You can see this in the attached ss.

<element kind="textField" uuid="c24d9bba-e36f-455e-b649-4d839eb375c5" x="310" y="50" width="100" height="30">
	<expression><![CDATA["\u2611"]]></expression>
</element>

 

However, when I click run the report, the checkbox is no longer visible.

 

[Some Company Name]

No idea why the preview would display one way and when the report is run it would display another.

[Some Company Name]

So the solution for this comes down to a few things. I cannot find the original official link that discusses this support.  In JR 7 you must use a font that supports unicode characters 2610 and 2611.  DejaVu Sans was specifically created for this and you MUST use THOSE characters. In addition you MUST set the properties below into your report.

 

	<property name="net.sf.jasperreports.export.docx.embed.fonts" value="true"/>
	<property name="net.sf.jasperreports.export.pptx.embed.fonts" value="true"/>

	<element kind="textField" uuid="19b99216-3094-4d7b-aa86-e3a7cc9dab84" x="0" y="-10" width="30" height="30" fontName="DejaVu Sans" fontSize="22.0">
		<expression><![CDATA[$F{serviceJasperModel.service} ? "\u2611":"\u2610"]]></expression>
	</element>