Introduction
DataVision is an Open Source reporting tool similar to Crystal Reports.
Reports can be designed using a drag-and-drop GUI. They may be run, viewed,
and printed from the application or exported as HTML, XML, PDF, LaTeX2e,
DocBook, or tab- or comma-delimited text files. The output files produced
by LaTeX2e and DocBook can in turn be used to produce PDF, text, HTML,
PostScript, and more.
DataVision is written in Java and runs almost anywhere. It can generate
reports from databases or text data files. Any database with an available
JDBC driver should work: Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, Informix, hsqldb,
Microsoft Access, Progress, and more. Columns read from text files can be
separated by any character.
Report descriptions are stored as XML files. This means you can not only
use the DataVision GUI but you may also edit reports using your favorite
text editor.
DataVision is developed and maintained by Jim Menard (jimm@io.com). The latest version of
DataVision can be found on the DataVision Web page. New
releases are also announced on Freshmeat and on the DataVision mailing list.
Recent Changes
Here is the summary of the major changes in version 0.7.10. For a
complete list of changes, see the ChangeLog file.
Changes
- The layout engine command line options -c, -d, -f,
-h, -l, and -x now take optional output file name
arguments.
- The Table Linker, Group By, and Sort By dialogs now only list columns
in tables used by the report instead of listing every column in the
database. This should make opening these dialogs much quicker with large
databases.
- Added an ``OK'' button to the SQL Query window to make it easier to
close.
Bug Fixes
- On Mac OS X with Java 1.4.1 the app hung after running a report from
the command line. The app now exits properly.