Understanding iReport
Elements



his w'll give a brief introduction about what
'Jasper Reports' are and how to use them , in next part we w'll cover 'Post 2: How to Create a basic iReport in Jasper' 
In this part of tutorial we w’ll
start our discussion with a basic overview of iReport Elements and their
formats.
The complete structure of report is
composed with a set of sections called bands. Each band has its own
dimensions and a particular position in the report, and is used for a
particular objective. The available bands are: Title, Page Header,
Column Header, Detail 1, Column Footer, Page Footer,
Last Footer, and Summary.
The basic structure of a report
 can be seen in the following screenshot
There are different bands with
specific functions and properties. Here is a brief overview of there 
bands:
Title  It is the
vary first band of the report and is printed only once . This area is used to
print title of the document and the information that is needed only once in
whole iReport.
Page Header  This is
like a title per page and printed on each page of the report . This is used to
setup header information on the page .
Column Header  Like page
header this band prints on each page,but it prints only if there is a detail
band on that page.
Detail  This is the most usefull and tricky band of all , This band
is repeatedly prints for each row in the data source. In the List of
emp_detail report, it is printed for each emp_detail.
Column Footer   Is printed on each page if there is a detail band on
that page. If the Floating column footer in report Properties is
checked, then the column footer will be shown just below the last data of the
column, otherwise it will be shown at the bottom of the page (above the page
footer).
Page Footer   This area is usefull place to insert page numbers. If Last
Page Footer is set thab this page prints on each page except the last
page,and If Last Page Footer is not set, then it is printed on the last
page also.
Last Page Footer  This prints at the end of the document , all finishing
text and information can be printed in this area.
Summary  This is used to conclude the document and it prints
only once at the end of the report.
Background This portion is used to set a background image for the
document , it is a good place to insert a watermark image for report pages
 Apart from these tags there is
an another usefull tag ‘No Data’, as the name suggest this band print,
when no data is available for the report.
Properties for bands 
Now, we are going to learn how to
configure these bands according to our needs .
Select Title from the Report
Inspector. You will see the Column Footer - Properties on the left
of the designer.
Now you will see the Title -
Properties on the right of the designer. 
We can set band properties from here
and customize our report.
Deleting and adding a new band 
To add a new band go to Report-Inspector
and select the required band and press add:
- 
Like wise to delete a band select
the band from Report-Inspector and press Delete Band : -  
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