How can I generate reports containing charts with Pentaho and Java?

We have a Java EE based web application and we want to integrate Pentaho reporting API into this application.

So, I'm trying to learn how Pentaho can automatically generate reports containing charts. I have downloaded Pentaho BI server and played with it for a few days. But I'm still clueless about the following issues:

1. How to generate reports dynamically at runtime without loading those *.prpt files.
2. Where I can get a simple tutorial about dynamic report generation
3. What the difference is between Community Dashboard Framework, charting tools and reporting tools.

The documentation on the Community Dashboard Framework site is no开发者_开发技巧t properly organized, and there is not a single tutorial about getting started.

If anyone can help me find the answers to some of my questions, it will be great!

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You can define reports purely via the API of the reporting engine. Samrat is right on that the preferred way of defining reports is the report designer - as code changes are harder to maintain than changes of a GUI-editable external report definition.

I think the best way to go forward is to grab Will Gorman's book about "Pentaho Reporting 3.5 for Java Developers" which gives you a deep insight into the inner workings of the reporting engine and also how to define reports dynamically.

CDF vs Reporting: CDF is a javascript toolkit for creating interactive dashboards. Dashboards are aimed to provide a high-level overview over the state of your company with the ability to drill down or even customize them. Reports produced by the reporting engine are predefined/"canned" reports that we expect to be run frequently to answer specific business questions. Charts components are just components that produce a given chart for dashboards based on a set of input parameters.

CDF uses reports and charts as content in dashboards.

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Without prpt files there is no pentaho reporting. To achieve dynamically, run the pentaho BI server and pass the parameters to the report. Load the report in iframe.