Author Topic: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean? (Read 7558 times)

mcsmom · September 15, 2007, 04:13:12 am

Quote

BIRT reports can be run from an Eclipse installation running on a desktop computer with access to a copy of your CiviCRM database. They can also be run as web-accessible reports using the BIRT runtime under a Tomcat server.

http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/CiviReport

Does this mean this is an either/or thing? If the database is accessible on the desktop you don't need the tom cat?

Dave Greenberg · September 15, 2007, 09:10:29 am

Yes - either / or :-)

If you have a copy of your DB on your local computer - you can download and install Eclipse OR the Standalone Report Designer and run the reports (and create new or modified ones). Install instructions for these tools are here: http://www.eclipse.org/birt/phoenix/build/

If you start playing with this more - and have ideas on improving our documentation to make it easier for others to get started - that would be great. I don't think we want to replicate the install instructions maintained by the Eclipse project - but I suspect there are "tips" and perhaps better context explanation we could do on our side.

mcsmom · September 15, 2007, 10:11:45 am

Thanks!

speleo · September 15, 2007, 10:35:53 am

You don't need to have the DB on you local puter if you enable remote access through port 3306 to it.

Dave Greenberg · September 15, 2007, 05:27:21 pm

Can you add some details on the CiviReport doc about this method - a bullet point or so and perhaps a link to MySQL instructions on this...?

http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/pages/viewpage.action?pageId=13255

thx,
dave

speleo · September 17, 2007, 01:29:06 am

OK. I've done a first pass at this. http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/Remote+Access+to+your+DB

I set up remote access to my database ages ago to test out BIRT. My initial impression of BIRT was that it was very powerful but also quite cumbersome for my needs.

A spin off from the process meant I could use Microsoft Query to directly import the report data I need directly into Excel or Word. This is what I use the remote connection for now. Works a treat!

Dave Greenberg · September 17, 2007, 03:30:34 pm

Harry - thx for adding that info, looks great and useful!

mcsmom · September 17, 2007, 05:18:30 pm

Wow, that is really cool.

alfred_nutile · December 08, 2007, 11:27:57 am

Where can I get civi reports?

Dave Greenberg · December 08, 2007, 06:12:47 pm

CiviReport is actually "just" a set of sample reports for CiviCRM that you run using the open source report writer - BIRT from the Eclipse project. The sample reports are included in the 1.9 downloads. Some info to help you get started w/ BIRT, as well as some tips and tricks from other CiviCRM users can be found here:

http://wiki.civicrm.org/confluence/display/CRMDOC/CiviReport

Chris Burgess · February 20, 2008, 01:28:54 pm

There's an alternative (and a better one IMO) to enabling remote access to your DB.

Remote access is not encrypted strongly. An SSH tunnel is, and ensures that your server still only accepts "local" connections, but also allows you to tunnel a local connection from the server to your desktop (yes, this is still "local"!)

You need SSH access to your server to do this, and SSH installed on your desktop machine.

Do the following:

1. On your desktop, shut down any running MySQL server processes that might occupy port 3306
2. On your desktop, run the following command:

Code: [Select]

ssh -f -N -L 3306:localhost:3306 MYHOSTNAME

MYHOSTNAME above should be the hostname / IP of your server.

Then check that you can connect to MySQL on the desktop at localhost:3306 using your login for the server. SSH will tunnel the connection to the remote machine, without your server ever accepting network requests for MySQL.

This allows you to explore reporting "live" without having to mess too much with securing your MySQL server for remote access.

Of course, replicating the DB to your local system is faster

speleo · February 22, 2008, 12:32:12 am

xurizaemon, neat approach! I've added it to the wiki page. thanks!

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Author Topic: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean? (Read 7558 times)

mcsmom

I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

Dave Greenberg

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

mcsmom

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

speleo

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

Dave Greenberg

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

speleo

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

Dave Greenberg

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

mcsmom

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

alfred_nutile

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

Dave Greenberg

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

Chris Burgess

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?

speleo

Re: I'll start--what does this from the wiki mean?