[Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

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pjwalkerpj
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[Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by pjwalkerpj »

I have just downloaded and installed RC 3.4 and it appears to run my database and writer files as expected up to the point where I try to create a report. It asks for the Report Builder to be installed so I go and get the latest version (1.2.1 rev2) and use the Extension manager to install it, but it needs to be enabled which throws up an error message
"Error: The status of this extension is unknown" and pressing the enable button
"Could not create Java implementation loader"
Hunting this Forum and other areas within the Apache environment yields no reference to this problem that I can find.
Has anyone else had this experience? If so is there a work around or do I just hope that Apache will find it and fix it.
The previous version of OO 3.3 works on the computer where I installed RC3.4 under Windows 7.
Pete

Title Edited. A descriptive title for posts helps others who are searching for solutions and increases your chances of a reply. (TheGurkha, Moderator)
Last edited by Hagar Delest on Tue May 15, 2012 10:41 am, edited 3 times in total.
Reason: tagged [Solved].
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Re: AOO3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by r4zoli »

Due to the missing developer and license problems with used libraries (jfreereport etc.) the report builder development stopped.
It will not developed until somebody picks it, or brings source code out of AOO svn, and make a report builder independently from AOO.
Under win7 when I installed AOO 3.4 after OOo 3.3 removal the report builder 1.2.1rev2, still working exclude the chart creation reports. It is caused some changes in chart changes in AOO 3.4.
Another possibilty if somebody develop a new reporting facilities.

Please change first post subject line AOO version to 3.4. [changed, RoryOF, Moderator]

It is loss to the AOO, which I regret, I spent lot of time on QA on it in last two year, but I'm not a coder, I can not develop it.
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Re: AOO2.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Villeroy »

What are your exact requirements? Being a little bit familiar with spreadsheets, you can build satisfying reports with Calc. Just do all the SQL in a Base query (which rows and which columns in which order under which colunm labels) and drag the query icon into a sheet. All the formatting and page layout is up to you. Charts are a matter of course. Permanent linking, pivot tables and auto-refresh timers are possible with registered databases.
I use to use throw-away reports mostly. Someone asks for a report, I create a query, drag it into a prepared Calc template, apply some cell styles and the right page layout, export PDF and throw away the thing after two minutes or so.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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pjwalkerpj
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Re: AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by pjwalkerpj »

Thanks for your suggestion Villeroy, but I have a database set up that generates invoices and reports of students etc for my wife's Reading Clinic. I do not have the time or inclination to rehash this operation (it has taken 2 years to get it where we want it as it is). The simplest thing for me to do is to continue with 3.3 since it is working (?) OK for me.
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Re: AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by eremmel »

This implies that OOo 3.4 is a dead end for me. What about LibreOffice, are they gonna continue with ORB?
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Re: (SOLVED) AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by pjwalkerpj »

I have posted a solution on the 'AOO 3.4 has been released' thread. I now realise it should have been here.
However the gist of it is
All references to previous installations of OOo must be removed
Download new copies of 3.4 and Oracle Report builder (ORB)
Make sure you have an up-to-date version of Java (jre) installed (I haven't tried version 7 yet so 6.31 is OK)
Instal 3.4
Enable the jre in Options/java
Change the extension of ORB from zip to oxt
Use extension manager to instal ORB
Close 3.4 and reopen
The forms area should then give you a working Report Builder
Good luck
Pete
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Re: (SOLVED) AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by jcanns85 »

pjwalkerpj wrote:I have posted a solution on the 'AOO 3.4 has been released' thread. I now realise it should have been here.
However the gist of it is
All references to previous installations of OOo must be removed
Download new copies of 3.4 and Oracle Report builder (ORB)
Make sure you have an up-to-date version of Java (jre) installed (I haven't tried version 7 yet so 6.31 is OK)
Instal 3.4
Enable the jre in Options/java
Change the extension of ORB from zip to oxt
Use extension manager to instal ORB
Close 3.4 and reopen
The forms area should then give you a working Report Builder
Good luck
Pete
I have tried these steps and still get the Java Implementation error...what do i do now?
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Re: (SOLVED) AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Villeroy »

jcanns85 wrote: I have tried these steps and still get the Java Implementation error...what do i do now?
You may need to install some obscure Microsoft package http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download ... px?id=8328 and any recent 32-bit version of Java: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/java/ ... index.html (even if your sysem may run 64 bit, the office always runs on 32 bit)
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Nocton »

I had this problem some time ago. This thread may help, although the 'solution' looks similar to the suggestions here.
http://forum.openoffice.org/en/forum/vi ... 42&t=38873

Regards, Nocton
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Nocton »

This implies that OOo 3.4 is a dead end for me. What about LibreOffice, are they gonna continue with ORB?
I tend to agree with eremmel. Although Calc can do useful reporting, it is no substitute for a proper report writer to process db records.

I would like to see embedding a reporting like ORB given a high priority for OO 4.0, i.e. a decent report writer should not be an extension, which implies it is a sort of optional extra. Databases are only as good as the information you can get out of them. For non-techie users that has to be as a report accessed with one-click from a menu. And one thing that even ORB lacks is the ability to have sub-reports.

Regards, Nocton
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Villeroy »

Nocton wrote:
This implies that OOo 3.4 is a dead end for me. What about LibreOffice, are they gonna continue with ORB?
I tend to agree with eremmel. Although Calc can do useful reporting, it is no substitute for a proper report writer to process db records.
Proper=Accurate, clean, suitable.

Does Calc import wrong data?
Are the layout and formatting options insufficient?
Does Calc calculate incorrectly?

There have been so many bugs, glitches and dependencies in both types of Base reports (ORB and Writer table) while the very same import ranges and pivot tables do work for me since OOo 1.0.

Does the ORB provide anything as useful as pivot tables?
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Nocton »

Villeroy, we have had this debate before. A database report writer as in Access or crystal reports, processes records in a different way from a spreadsheet. Yes, is the answer to your question "Are the layout and formatting options insufficient?". I think the sort of reports you design from Calc must be quite different from the ones that most database report writers generate, where a report runs to many pages following a set format for each record.
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Villeroy »

As a matter of fact ORB never worked. Each office version needs another version of ORB. Each new version of ORB has another set of regressions. Many reports designed with an older version do not work with the new version.
where a report runs to many pages following a set format for each record.
The same set of cell styles applies to each record.

So what are the differences?
1) ORB offers more options to lay out the fields on a print page where Calc prints flat 2D tables.
2) ORB can report picture fields.
3) Calc has pivot tables.
4) The same Calc reports of OOo 1.0 (*.sxw files) work until today. They do not even depend on Java.
Please, edit this topic's initial post and add "[Solved]" to the subject line if your problem has been solved.
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by arfgh »

I'm not sure about the 'real last version' of the Report Builder.
I have two version called the same 1.2.1 but different file sizes. One is dated in the 2013 and other in the 2012. But the 2012 one is also called rev2 and with a file size of 3,29 MB. The one dated in the 2013 has a file size of 2,19 MB.

Which is really the last version of the extension ?
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by Nocton »

If you use the OO extensions online feature then you get a version 1.2.1 which is 3.29MB and works quite OK with OO 4.0.. The only feature that does not work, since OO 3.4, is the charting. But you can do charts well in a Calc report.
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by arfgh »

is there some new about that missing component, the charts, to be added on AOO 4.1.4 ?
it is a nice feature.

also, which was the last AOO version that worked with the chart feature on the extension ?
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by longi »

Hi!
If you use the old fashioned report builder (No ORB), you can try this:

viewtopic.php?f=42&t=79116

You can see that it is possible, dedpite using old technology!

Bye! :super:
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by arfgh »

yes but that way is speaking about calc, and i am speaking about base...
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by longi »

No, I'm speaking about base, I got a chart inside a report made in the old sistem.
The code I used could be a bit weird, but it works properly (see the example on the third answer).
I use the report in several ways, as you can see here:

https://forum.openoffice.org/es/forum/v ... 70&t=11605

But you can get a beter piece of code in this other thread, but to make charts inside a form (I've just discovered it, so I'll change things to improve my old code):

viewtopic.php?f=21&t=88567

I hope all of this would be useful for you!
Bye!
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Re: [Solved] AOO 3.4 Report Builder Extension error

Post by arfgh »

increíble longi, those examples are increíble ;)
Yes please, refine the code and put comments to learn how to do it.

So we can add charts to base forms and base reports.... increíble.
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