How to Edit an A3 Portrait BIRT Report

Owned by Lucy Minato (Unlicensed)
14 Mar, 2017
2 min read

There is currently a bug with the version of BIRT Weave 2.5 which means it's not possible to edit some reports through the BIRT Report Designer. So if you are using Weave 2.5 or greater, and have an A3 Portrait report, follow the steps below in order to fix your report so that it can be edited with the BIRT Report Designer. 

This BIRT bug is not related to any mapping component so will apply to all A3 Portrait BIRT reports, including those that don't have map elements. 

Step-by-step guide

For an existing report:

  1. When you attempt to open a report that has an A3 portrait size set, BIRT will give an error ("Failed to create the part's controls"). So you can create a new A3 portrait report however once closed, it cannot be opened in BIRT. 
  2. To be able to modify this report through BIRT you need to change the size of the page using a text editor. 
  3. Navigate to your BIRT reports folder (e.g. C:\weave\platform\workspace\reports). 
  4. Open the relevant .rptdesgn file in a text editor. 
  5. Search for "a3" in the file. 
  6. This will generally appear in the "Simple MasterPage" section. 

  7. Replace that with the lines below, or something similar depending on what else you have defined in your Simple MasterPage section. 

    BIRT report file extract
    <page-setup>
     <simple-master-page name="Simple MasterPage" id="2">
         <property name="type">custom</property>
         <property name="orientation">portrait</property>
         <property name="height">420mm</property>
         <property name="width">297mm</property>
          ...
     </simple-master-page>
</page-setup>

  8. The report should now be able to be opened with the BIRT Report Designer and edited as per other reports. 

For a new report:

  1. Start the BIRT Report Designing by double clicking the birt.cmd file in your Weave folder. 
  2. Choose File > New > New Report and give the report a name and press Finish.
  3. Open the Properties window (Windows > Show View > Property Editor). 
  4. Click on the Advanced tab. 
  5. In the Simple Master Page section, scroll to the Type option. Even though you want an A3 size report, don't chose A3 from the list of options, choose "Custom". 
  6. Or in the General tab under the Type option, choose "Custom".  
  7. Then set the Width parameter to "297mm" and the Height parameter to "420mm" as per the image below.

     
     
  8. Save the report file and close the BIRT Report Designer.
  9. The report should now be able to be opened with the BIRT Report Designer and edited as per other reports. 


Also refer to the following sections of the Weave System Administrator Guides: