I can only speak from integrating JBOSS 5.1 and Jasper Reports 4+
The files I included were jasperreports-4.0.2.jar jasperreports-fonts-4.0.2.jar jasperreports-javaflow-4.0.2.jar
We build simple templates (.jrxml) and compile to .jasper files. You package the .jasper files into your WAR file or whatever your deployment file is. Then in your JAVA code, you marry the correct .jasper file to the data you pull from the DB to produce the report. Depending on how large the data is to use for the report, your user experience will be somewhat uncomfortable. Example,let's say the data is 100,000 records of "something". When you transform the data to the report, it will take some time so you need to prep the user to understand this. Here is the flow of what we do: 1. User selects an operation that allows them to pull data back. Usually date driven. 2. This data is displayed in a table (JSP type form ) 3. Below this table are icons to generate or export a Jasper PDF or Excel report. 4. User clicks the icon, which goes to another form that informs user that report may take some time. User presses button to confirm or abort. 5. Then pop up a small window informing "report being generated or ????"
