How can I create a custom report item such as a stop light?
Java developers could extend the basic BIRT model through the creation of Java objects that are accessed through BIRT script. For instance, a company would like to develop a proprietary Stop Light Display for use in a management summary report. This display would have a significant amount of business logic and display logic that they would like to implement in Java. ROM calls this an “extended item.” The development team is working on a specification of exactly how this will happen. Briefly, you start by creating an extension definition file, something like that created for plug-ins in Eclipse. In that file you identify the element name, the properties, and the Java classes to use in the Designer, Report Engine. The Designer class paints the design-time view of the element using SWT (or can just return an image.) The Report Engine has two phases: the Factory (which creates the report) and the Presentation phase which renders the report to HTML, FO, PDF, etc.
