Export FAQ

Yes, i-net Clear Reports supports the export in multiple file formats, e.g.: PDF, RTF, HTML, … (see Supported Output Formats). You can start the export either with the button in the Java Client, via the API of the Java Client or via the Engine API without a preview in the Java Client.

For more information about this please refer to the API documentation. The Java code samples can be installed using the i-net Clear Reports setup that you can download from i-net software's website.

You can find the list of the supported output formats in the documentation.

Yes, it is possible to export a report to the .xls, .pdf, .doc format. In the documentation you can find the complete list of the supported export formats.

With Microsoft Word you can import *.rtf documents.

The HTML export currently only supports the HTML 3 format.

Yes, it is possible to embed ttf fonts in the exported pdf file.
To do you need to:

• Create a font directory, e.g.: “C:/ClearReports/fonts”.
• Set this font directory in the property “fontpath”. You can do this either with the Configuration Manager (double click on ClearReports.jar) or in file crystalclear.properties directly.
• Copy the .TTF and/or .TTC files for the used fonts in this font directory.
• Restart i-net Clear Reports and export your report to PDF.

The i-net Clear Reports XLS export supports MS Excel version 97 (or higher).

You can use all supported export formats on the:

• Client with a Java viewer
  You can use the export button in the viewer or the viewer API to export a report on the client.
  
• Client without a Java viewer (init parameter in the report URL, e.g.: …&init=xls).
  In this case i-net Clear Reports (listener or Servlet) returns the rendered report to the client in the requested format.
  
• Server without a Java viewer
  You can use the Engine API to export the reports on the server without preview (e.g. to XLS):

  …
  Engine eng = new Engine(Engine.EXPORT_XLS);
  eng.setReportFile( "file:C:/report/MySample.rpt" );
  …
  eng.execute();
  File exportedFile = new File("c:/sample.xls");
  FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(exportedFile);
  for(int i=1;i<=eng.getPageCount();i++) {
  	fos.write(eng.getPageData(i));
  }
  fos.close();
  … 

  This code works for all export formats except the HTML format. The export to HTML produces an HTML file for each report page and an image file for each image in the report. The format of the byte array that is returned by getPageData is the following:

  size of the file name
  file name
  size of the file content
  file content
  size of the file name
  file name
  size of the file content
  file content
  …

  The sample “Export_without_Viewer_to_HTML.java” demonstrates how you can export to HTML on the server without preview.

After you have created a report template with the i-net Designer you can export this report:

1. With Java viewer:
   • using export button of the Java viewer (Java viewer in the browser or in the Result tab of the i-net Designer).
   • using API of the Java viewer (you can find the complete Java code sample “Export_with_Viewer.java” in the directory “samples/export” of the i-net Clear Reports documentation):

     // Initialize the viewer, add a report view connected to the URL of a report.
     URLRenderData renderData = new URLRenderData("http://<ServerName>:9000/?report=file:C:/samples/sample.rpt");
     SwingReportViewer viewer = new SwingReportViewer();
     ReportView view = viewer.addNewReportView(renderData);
      
     // Export report to desired file 
     view.export(ReportView.EXPORT_PDF, "C:/myExports/sample.pdf");

2. Without Java viewer (using Acrobat Reader on the client as report viewer)
   • init parameter in the report URL (e.g. init=pdf); in this case i-net Clear Reports returns the pdf document to the client instead of the Java viewer, e.g.: http://ServerName:9000/?file:c:/sample.rpt&init=pdf
   • using API of i-net Clear Reports without preview on the screen (you can find the complete Java code sample “Export_without_Viewer.java” in the directory “samples/export” of the i-net Clear Reports documentation)

     Engine eng = new Engine(Engine.EXPORT_PDF); // Set the export format e.g. pdf
     eng.setReportFile( "file:C:/MyReports/Sample.rpt" );
      
     // Set values for needed parameters
     //eng.setDll("....dll");
     //eng.setHost("...");
     //eng.setPrompt("...",0);
      
     eng.execute();
     File pdfFile = new File("C:/MyExports/Sample.pdf");
     FileOutputStream fos = new FileOutputStream(pdfFile);
     for(int i=1;i<=eng.getPageCount();i++){
     	fos.write(eng.getPageData(i));
     }
     fos.close();

You can find the complete sample “Export_without_Viewer.java” in the directory “sample\export” that is part of the i-net Clear Reports documentation.

We assume that you have requested two or more input streams (see java's urlConnection.getInputStream()) by sending the following URL:

http://<server>:port/?report=<reportname>&init=rtf

If stream1 corresponds to the first rtf file and stream2 to the second, then the last byte of stream1 must be deleted, byte string ”/page” must be attached to stream1 and finally stream2 without the first byte must be attached.

If you receive the error: “This operation requires the merged cells to be identically sized.”, then you must split the cells first.

Please mark all cells (with ^A) and then:

• In Open Office: format → merge cells → remove
• In Gnumeric: click on toolbar “split merged cells”
• In MS-Office: cells, format, merge: uncheck the box

After that you can sort the columns.

The i-net Clear Reports postscript export supports postscript levels 1, 2 and 3. In general the PS level 1 export creates larger documents but is very fast. Postscript level 2 export is slower but can be previewed with ghostview for example because it contains proper DSC comments. Postscript level 3 is like postscript level 2 but embeds the TTF fonts used by the document into the document itself.

Assuming that your application to view CSV responds to application/MyApp and you want to view CSV in your application, please create a checkProperties() method:

public void checkProperties (Properties props, Object servletRequest) {
	if(props.getProperty("content").equals("text/x-comma-separated-values") {
		props.put("content", "application/MyApp");
	}
}

After that your application MyApp starts and reads CSV whenever you type init=csv.

If you use quotation marks in the report URL (e.g. for multiple value string prompt fields) and you use the Internet Explorer to display the exported .pdf file directly with init=pdf then you will get a corrupt pdf file that cannot be displayed in the Adobe Acrobat Reader 6 plug-in.

Solution:

1.  Use encoded quotation marks in the report URL, e.g.: use …&prompt0=[%22promptValue%22]&… instead of …&prompt0=['promptValue']&… or
2. Use the Adobe Reader 7.0 (or higher). This version of the Adobe Reader does not have this bug.