Extending QBR in BIRT Designer tool

When Ad Hoc Report is created and saved, its resulting design file (.rptdesign) is saved to the database.
This enables the report to be accessed in the future for immediate run access or scheduling and emailing.

Once the report is saved in the database, it can be extended within the Report Designer tool. By exporting the report, you can quickly build upon the report design by adding calculations, graphs or additional features.

This can become a significant time saving feature for your custom report development. 

Instead of having the report developer start with a blank template, he can streamline the development process by using a QBR report which would have the initial sql, field selection, sorting, grouping etc - which he can then extend in the designer.. The top level steps in how this can be done are detailed below.

1. Create QBR:   First, an Ad Hoc report is created and saved.

2. Export QBR:  Navigate to the Report Administration application in Maximo.  Find the QBR report to export, and select the action 'Export report'.

This action will generate a zip file, which contains the .rptdesign and properties files.

3. Open Report: Once you have exported the ad hoc report, open up the Report Designer tool. From the menu, click File - Open File and navigate to the directory where you exported your reports. Select the Ad Hoc Report's .rptdesign file, and it displays in the designer.
You can immediately see that you have an excellent beginning to extend this report further for any other customizations you may need. Multiple data sets (subreports) may be populated, parameters included and complex sql statements including application queries can already be formed for you.

4. Modify Report: Next, make any report design file changes you need. *Note: It is recommended that the changes be made to an updated report file name to identify it from the original file.

5. Import Report: After the changes are made, import the new report from the Import Action in the Report Administration application. The new, imported report is now a standard, enterprise Report.

Reference Materials: For more details on this process, including screen shots and detailed examples, reference the QBR Ad hoc reporting guides or Report Development guides referenced in the Report Reference worksheet