BIRT report components aren't radically different from other visual components,
used in other visual development environments and Report Designers. You have
some of the more common visual components, such as text labels, data-bound text
elements, and graphics. For those who are already familiar with Web development
environments there are formatting components that you might already be familiar
with, such as grids that are similar in function to HTML tables. Then, there are some
more advanced components such as graphs, tables, and in later BIRT releases the
cross-chart component.
In this chapter, we will take a look at a number of these components and some of
their common uses. In the last chapter, we worked with a few of these components,
such as the data element, text label, and table, and their properties. Report
components are available from the Palette, and their properties are accessible from
the Property Editor. So in this chapter, we will be working mainly with the Palette,
the Property Editor, and the Report Designer panes in the workbench.
Visual Report Components
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Adding Labels
In almost any development environment, you have static text elements. These
are text elements that for one reason or another will not change. Common uses of
static text elements are for field identifiers in online Web forms, identification of
what some piece of data is, instructions for how to use an application, on-screen
prompts, and titles.
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