Technology Highlight: JasperSoft APIs

Built by developers for developers.

The JasperSoft APIs offer the fastest and most cost-effective way to incorporate professional, full-featured, and secure business intelligence into any application. In combination with our flexible licensing options, our application programming interfaces (APIs) differentiate JasperSoft as the most powerful, flexible, and cost-effective reporting and BI solution for providers of corporate, open source, and commercial software applications.

JasperSoft offers a variety of APIs for deeply embedded integration, as well as convenience APIs using HTTP that are easy enough for report designers to use.

• HTTP Interface
  The HTTP interface is the most commonly used API, and also the easiest to implement. It is used primarily to create “short-cuts” or entry points to commonly used JasperServer features or content, such as:
  • Link to content stored in the JasperServer Repository
  • View a list of resources in the JasperServer Repository
  • Execute JasperReports ReportUnits
  • Execute JasperAnalysis OLAP Views
  • Initiate the JasperServer Professional Ad Hoc Editor
    (You can also pass custom data to the Ad Hoc Editor with the Ad Hoc Launcher HTTP API.)

• Web Services / SOAP

Most of JasperServer’s managed reporting functions are exposed through web services APIs. Use the web services APIs when:

• Your business application is written in PHP, C/C++, Perl, Python, or any language other than Java (thus requiring a common communication protocol between your application and JasperServer).

or

• Your business application runs remotely, even if it is written in Java (on a different computer or network than the JasperServer, thus requiring http to communicate between the two systems).

JasperSoft provides Java, PHP, and C/C++ sample clients that implement our web services API. If you use Java, PHP, or C/C++, you can use these samples as-is. For other languages, you can review these implementations as guidelines.

• Java

The complete JasperServer APIs are expressed as abstract Java interfaces. The Java APIs are appropriate when you embed JasperSoft components into business applications written in Java.

Using the Java APIs, you have full access to all JasperServer functionality, including:  

• Repository Service API: Store, lookup, and retrieve content using the JasperSoft repository. (Also available with web services APIs.)
   
• Report Execution Engine Service API: Generate reports on-demand. (Also available with web services APIs.)
   
• Report Scheduling Service API: Execute, store, and distribute reports on a schedule. (Also available with web services APIs.)
   
• Ad Hoc Service API: Create ad hoc tables, charts, and crosstabs using a web browser. (JasperServer Professional only.)
   
• OLAP Service API: OLAP server and model runtime management. (JasperServer with JasperAnalysis only.)
   
• User Authority Service API: User and role management.
   
• Object Permission Service API: Search, retrieve, and modify repository object permissions.
  
  
• HTTP API for the Ad Hoc Editor
  JasperServer Professional includes an HTTP API that developers can use to modify the Ad Hoc Editor or create your own custom Ad Hoc Editor.