Data Sources

About Data Sources and Data Sets#

BIRT reports use a data source element to connect to a database or other data provider. BIRT uses a data set element to retrieve data from the data provider. Think of the data source as a connection, and the data set as a query.

Build a Data Source#

Let's build our data source:

Open the Data Explorer View, if it is not already visible.
Select the Data Sources node within the tree view.
Right-click to open the context menu.
Choose New Data Source. The New Data Source dialog appears.
Choose Classic Models Inc. Sample Database.
In the Data Source Name field, enter "Sample".
Click Next.
Click Finish.

Your new data source appears within the Data Sources node in the Data Explorer.

Edit a Data Source#

For future reference, let's review how you would go about changing the data source:

Find or open the Data Explorer View.
Open the Data Sources node.
Double-click the data source.
The Data Source editor opens. You can make any needed changes.
Click OK to save your changes.