Data Sources

ReportShell supports pluggable data sources for filling reports and populating input control options via JasperReports Library APIs.

A report dataset or input control may define a data source path string that identifies a registered data source on the server.

How it Works

When filling a report or loading input control options, ReportShell resolves a data source service that can contribute parameters such as report connections. ReportShell uses JasperReports Library’s parameter contributor concept for both reports and input controls. This provides a unified approach for providing and disposing data source resources.

Resolution Strategies

ReportShell comes with default strategies for resolving data sources:

• Path-Based Resolution: Resolves a data source based on a path/URI string defined in the JRXML template for a report DataSet or an input control.
• Fallback Resolution: Attempts to resolve a default data source if none was explicitly specified in the report.

These strategies are implemented as ParameterContributorFactory beans. You can register your own contributor factory beans for custom data source resolution logic.

Default Behavior

1. If a data source path is provided in the dataset (via Report Unit DataSource Path property) or control properties (via DataSource property), ReportShell treats the path as the bean name of a data source bean registered in your Spring application context.
2. If no data source is specified and the query is a SQL query, it checks for a primary javax.sql.DataSource bean. This allows standard SQL queries to work out-of-the-box in most Spring Boot applications using the main application database.

This default behavior lets you simply register a bean of type javax.sql.DataSource for SQL queries with a custom bean name e.g. my-custom-data-source and reference that bean from your reports by its bean name.

For more complex scenarios, you can register one or more ReportDataSourceFactory beans. Such beans are tried in order to get a non-null parameter contributor instance for a specific data source path.

Data Adapters

ReportShell does not use JasperReports data adapters such as the .jrdax files you may use in Studio projects. This is intentional, because design-time data source configurations do not map cleanly to server applications. Instead, ReportShell follows the same model as JasperReports Server, where a data source is a server-defined construct referenced by a data source path setting.

If your reports reference data adapters and jasperreports-data-adapters-xxx.jar is on the classpath, JasperReports Library will attempt to resolve the adapter as the data source before ReportShell gets a chance to apply the data source resolution logic described here. This can cause errors when the data adapter file cannot be found, depending on your repository service configuration.

This approach is generally viable for file-based adapters such as CSV or Excel data sources. For network-connected adapters (JDBC, MongoDB, REST), a safer approach is to manage their lifecycle at the server level through your own ReportDataSourceFactory. Your factory can still build on similar data adapter definitions, but the server remains in control of credentials, connection targets, and pooling.

Configuring Report Data Source Paths

ReportShell uses the same settings and properties as JasperReports Server to simplify the mental model. This applies to data source paths as well. To configure a report data source path in JasperSoft Studio:

1. Select a DataSet or the main report for the report dataset
2. Open Misc in the properties pane
3. Click Edit Properties
4. Find Report Unit Datasource Path under the JasperReports Server section and enter your data source name or path

Input Control Data Sources

ReportShell uses the same data source resolution logic for both reports and input controls. This allows you to use the same data source for both or configure different data sources for each through a consistent API.

ReportShell ensures that any data source used for executing a control query is properly closed and disposed of after the control has been populated.

See Input Controls for how to set control data sources.