Instant Report Frequently Asked Questions

Table of Contents

General Information

Q: What limitations apply to the trial version?

The following limitations apply:

Q: What software do I need to install and run Instant Report?

A: Since Instant Report runs on a Java platform, at a minimum you will need the Java Development platform J2SE (downloadable from http://java.sun.com/ for free) that comes with the java loaders (java.exe/javaw.exe) to launch Instant Report and java compiler (javac.exe) to compile your report designs. Instant Report 1.4 requires a Java runtime environment having a release version of 1.3 or greater. It will NOT run on versions 1.1 or 1.2. If you want to view your PDF report outputs, you also need Adobe Acrobat reader, freely available from http://www.adobe.com/products/acrobat/readstep.html

Q: How do I obtain the latest version of Instant Report?

The latest version of Instant Report is always available from the Instant Report web site: http://www.surfblvd.com/instantreport

Installing and Starting Instant Report

Q: How do I install and run Instant Report

A: First, make sure you have a working installation of the Java platform. To run Instant Report, you will need a platform package having a version number of at least 1.3. Versions 1.3.x or 1.4 will also work. If you do not have the Java platform, download Java 2 Standard Edition (J2SE) from htttp://java.sun.com for free. This package comes with many tools, two of which you will definitely need. You will foremost need the java launchers (java.exe and javaw.exe) to launch and run Instant Report. Then you will also need the java compiler (javac.exe) to compile your report designs. Also, make sure that the directory containing the launchers java.exe or javaw.exe is found in the value of your PATH environment variable so that you can invoke java from any directory. If you installed J2SE correctly, it should take care of that.

Next, download Instant Report archive distribution, ireport-x.x.zip or ireport-x.x.tar.gz for UNIX users. It contains a file with a name in the style ireport-x.x.jar where x.x is the version number. This file is a compressed archive containing all of the files you need for Instant Report to run. You can put this file in any directory on your hard disk that is convenient.

To run the Instant Report, do whatever you normally do to run a Java jar archive. If this is your first time, follow these steps:

Open a terminal or command interpreter window. Change the current directory to the directory in which you have stored the ireport-x.x.jar file. Run this command: [full path to java application launcher java.exe] -jar ireport-x.x.jar. Instant Report starts running.

Q: What should I do when Instant Report displays the message of the form: Exception in thread "main" ....: No such file or directory?

A: This means that Java runtime cannot read the jar archive file that you specified on the command line. If your Java runtime environment otherwise runs properly, then either you have named the incorrect file name or the jar archive file is corrupt or incomplete. Check the file name, download the distribution again if necessary.

Q: I tried to run the Instant Report jar archive ireport-x.x.jar, but got the error message: Exception in main(), NoClassDefFoundError: ireport-x.x.jar.

A: You need to specify the -jar option for the Java application loader so that the loader will search the archive for the starting class file. Without the option, it treats the archive as a single class file (which it is not!), thus producing the error. The correct command line would be java -jar ireport-x.x.jar.

Q: Is there anything different about running Instant Report on Windows?

A: Apart from running a jar archive with the command line option, Java (with the javaw.exe loader) provides the option of running it simply by double clicking on it. Make sure that the directory containing javaw.exe is found in the value of your PATH environment variable.

Q: When trying to run Instant Report on Windows with an MS-DOS prompt, after entering java -jar ireport-x.x.jar, I get the message: 'java' is not recognized as an internal or external command, operable program or batch file

A: Make sure that the directory containing java.exe or javaw.exe is found in the value of your PATH environment variable. Otherwise you should give the full path to the chosen loader on your command line.

Q: How do I configure an ODBC data source on Windows to connect Instant Report to?

A: On Windows, select Start -> Settings -> Control Panel and double-click on 32-bits ODBC Driver icon (on Windows 2000, this icon has been renamed to 32-bits Data Sources (ODBC) and is under Administrative Tools). Now select the System DSN tab and click on the Add button. A dialog pops up with a list of drivers for Access, Excel, Paradox, SQL Server, FoxPro. Select the driver based on your database and click Finish to fill out a form. Enter the data source name (DSN), description, and, for MS Access, browse to select the path to the data file (*.mdb). The following is an example of settings for the Northwind sample database that comes with MS Access:
Data Source Name = Northwind
Description = default database for MS Access database
Select Path = D:\Program Files\Microsoft Office\Office\Samples\Northwind.mdb

Register and Update License

To register, go to http://www.surfblvd.com/instantreport. After you successfully register, you will receive per email the license file, named irlicense.lic. Open the directory where you installed Instant report, i.e. the directory containing the file ireport-x.x.jar, and put the license file in this directory. Re-start Instant Report and your license will be automatically updated.