The BIRT reporting framework offers a quite powerful and flexible chart framework, at least by just checking some result pictures in the net. There is a lack of examples how to use BIRT charts and medini so this article is the first one to improve here.
The Start
I thought it may make sense to create a very simple chart in the beginning, so I went for a Pie chart, showing the ASIL distribution of all safety goals in my medini project. I used the same native data sets as for other examples, but it should work for OCL based DS as well. In this example I only used the ASIL column anyway.
Next I did create a new chart from the palette. I selected a 2D Pie chart in the upcoming wizard and kept image format at "SVG". The data configuration was the most tricky part. I bound the chart to the "SafetyGoal" data source. All columns are shown in the table below. I selected the "ASIL" column and in the context menu (right click) used "Use as Category series". That put row["asil"] into the right place.
After that I played a bit with the mandatory "Slice Size Definition" until I recognized that 1 is the right value here, meaning each safety goal's ASIL is counted just once. I configured the look and feel a bit (title etc.) and finally got my first simple chart design.
You can find my example attached. If you have own experiences with BIRT and charts, please post them here. Same is true for any kind of related questions.
Happy Reporting
Jan
