Pieces to the Puzzle

The Java Viewer is one of the reporting components that enables your JSP application to display a Crystal report in a web page. The Java application server is the central component and is the program that serves web pages generated by your JSP application at the request of a web browser.

Also running on the Java application server is the Java Reporting Component, which is one of three Crystal Reports report engines that render reports . The others are the Crystal Enterprise report engine and the Report Application Server report engine (information on Crystal Enterprise can be found in Chapters 24, 25, and 26, and information on the Report Application Server, also known as CE Embedded, can be found in Chapter 22). Each has its own Java software development kit and runs independently of the others. While you can use Java interfaces with the CE or RAS engines, you don t require either of them if the Java Reporting Component is installed and running.

Java Viewer classes within your JSP application communicate with the Java Reporting Component to cause Crystal reports to be transmitted to the web browser through your JSP application. Your JSP application does more than simply pass along the Crystal report to the web browser. It also controls how the report is displayed in the web page and activates and deactivates reporting features as required by your JSP application.

Furthermore, your JSP application can use Crystal reports from a Crystal Enterprise system or Report Application Server in Crystal Enterprise Embedded Edition, as well as those available from the Java Reporting Component. You ll find this especially useful if your JSP application is built to service a large corporate enterprise where many Crystal reports are available from different servers.