iReport 5.0 finding your way around

iReport is used to design your report templates. Here is the high level diagram of the key buttons and windows. If any of the windows are not there, you can add them from the menu item "Window".

The report is divided into "bands" and you can drag and drop report elements from the "palette" into the relevant bands. You can define the band and report elements properties via the "properties" window. New parameters, fields, etc can be added from the "Report Inspector" by right-clicking to bring up the contextual menu.

You can bring up the contextual menu on a "report element" as shown below to perform relevant tasks. Here is an example on a "Static Text" report element.

You can also bring it up on a "Text Field" report element as shown below. The "Edit expression" brings up the expression editor.

Finally, you can view it on three different layouts.

1. Designer (as shown above)
2. XML (shows the .jrxml file)
3. The Preview in your preferred output like "PDF Preview", "HTML Preview",  "XLS Preview (Using JExcelAPI)", etc that you select from the top "Preview" menu. This allows you to preview the actual report generated.