Scenarios for planning your reporting deployment

This topic presents several scenarios that can help you decide which reporting configuration is best for your environment.
Table 1. ClearQuest reporting scenarios
Use Case Description
Scenario 1 Your existing ClearQuest® deployment uses Crystal Reports data-push reports, and you do not want to migrate to data-pull reports at this time.
Scenario 2 Your existing ClearQuest deployment uses Crystal Reports. You want to continue to use Crystal Reports to design new data-pull reports
Scenario 3 Your existing ClearQuest deployment uses Crystal Reports, and you want to use BIRT to design data-pull reports
Scenario 4 Either you have a new ClearQuest deployment, or your existing deployment does not have any saved data-push reports. You want to design data-pull reports
Scenario 5 You are using BIRT reports that are shared by using the ClearQuest Report Server. You do not plan to use the Rational Team Concert™ entitlement for agile planning.
Scenario 6 We are using BIRT reports and want to host the reports in Rational Team Concert to facilitate agile planning
Scenario 7 You are using Report Launcher for ClearQuest to share reports on a file server and want to add security features to limit access

Scenario 1: Your existing ClearQuest deployment uses Crystal Reports data-push reports, and you have no plans to migrate to data-pull reports at this time

Install and configure the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports and the Crystal Reports Java™ Runtime components. See Deploying the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports.

Note: ClearQuest versions 7.1.x and earlier supported an option to run Crystal data-push reports on the ClearQuest Client by using the Crystal Reports Report Design Component (RDC) runtime. This component is no longer supported because the RDC component has been deprecated. If you can obtain a supported version of the RDC component from SAP, you can continue to run data-push reports on the client. However, customers are encouraged to migrate to the data-pull reporting model. See Migrating Crystal data-push reports to data-pull.

Scenario 2: Your existing ClearQuest deployment uses Crystal Reports. You want to continue designing data-pull reports with Crystal Reports.

In this scenario, you have a version of ClearQuest earlier than 7.1 deployed that uses SAP Crystal Reports to design and run data-push reports, and you want to continue designing data-pull reports with Crystal Reports.

Recommendation:
  1. Purchase one or more licenses for Crystal Reports version 11 release 2.
  2. Configure your ClearQuest clients to run existing data-push reports as described in Table 2.
  3. Migrate existing data-push reports to the data-pull report model.
Report sharing options:
  • To share data-push report formats, migrate the data-push reports to the ClearQuest data-pull reporting model. You can also manage report formats with the ClearQuest for Windows client with the Crystal Reports Designer, but this method is deprecated.
  • To share data-pull reports, you must install and configure the following software components on the same host computer. Both are optional subcomponents when you install ClearQuest using the IBM® Installation Manager: Manage the data-pull reports from the server file system where they are stored.
    • Report Server for Crystal Reports
    • Report Launcher for ClearQuest
Table 2. Software configurations that support Crystal Reports data-push reports
ClearQuest client Client and server software configurations
ClearQuest Client To run data-push reports on the ClearQuest Web server:
  • Install and configure the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports and the Crystal Reports Java Runtime components. See Deploying the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports.
  • ClearQuest Client users must configure the Reporting page of the Preferences dialog box (Window > Preferences > ClearQuest > Reporting):
    • Select the Enable remote reporting check box.
    • Specify the reporting host. By default, this preference is set to the URL for the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports. This pattern is the template for the URL:
      http://localhost:<port>/cqwebreport/CRInvoker
      Where <port> is the port defined in the profile to deploy the application. The default ClearQuest profile uses port 12080. The default WebSphere® Application Server profile uses port 9080
ClearQuest Web client
Attention: Running data push reports with the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports is supported only on a subset of the platforms supported by Rational® ClearQuest Web. See technical note 1216371.
You can run data-push reports on the ClearQuest Web Server by performing the following tasks:
  • Install and configure the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports and the Crystal Reports Java Runtime components. See Deploying the ClearQuest Report Server for Crystal Reports.
  • Log on to ClearQuest Web as administrator. Then, specify the URL of the Report Server for Crystal Reports on the Reporting Options tab of the Site Configuration dialog box (Site Administration > Configuration > Reporting Options).
ClearQuest for Windows client In ClearQuest version 8.0 and later, the Crystal Reports Report Design Component (RDC) is no longer available for download. If you can obtain a supported version of the RDC component from SAP, you can continue to run data-push reports on the client. However, customers are encouraged to migrate to the data-pull reporting model.
  • On the client:
    • Obtain and install a copy of the Crystal Reports Report Design Component (RDC) from SAP.
    • To maintain and create new Crystal Reports report formats for the data-push model, you must purchase a license for a version of Crystal Reports supported by ClearQuest from SAP. For information about the supported versions, see technical note 1216371.

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Scenario 3: Your existing ClearQuest deployment uses Crystal Reports, and you want to use BIRT to design data-pull reports

In this scenario, you have a version of ClearQuest earlier than 7.1 deployed that uses Crystal Reports to design and run data-push reports. You want to use the BIRT Report Designer and runtime engine to design data-pull reports.

Recommendation:

  1. Purchase one or more licenses for SAP Crystal Reports from SAP. For a list of versions supported by ClearQuest, see technical note 126371.
  2. To run data-push reports, use the client and server software configurations described in Table 2.
  3. To design new reports, use Business Intelligence and Reporting tools (BIRT) with the ClearQuest Reporting Driver. For a list of ClearQuest supported BIRT versions, see technical note1509579.
  4. (Optional) Migrate existing Crystal Reports data-push reports to BIRT.

Report management options:

  1. To manage data-push report formats, use the ClearQuest for Windows client with the Crystal Reports Designer.
  2. On the ClearQuest Web server, install the Report Launcher for ClearQuest, which is an optional subcomponent when you install ClearQuest by using the IBM Installation Manager.
  3. Use the Report Launcher for ClearQuest to run and view the ClearQuest reports on the file server.

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Scenario 4: Either you have a new ClearQuest deployment, or your existing deployment does not have any saved data-push reports and you want to design data-pull reports

This scenario applies to an environment with either a new ClearQuest deployment, or a version of ClearQuest earlier than 7.1 deployed with no saved data-push reports. You want to design data-pull reports.

Recommendation:
  • Use BIRT with the ClearQuest Reporting Driver to design new reports.
Report management option:
  • On the server, install the Report Launcher for ClearQuest, which is an optional subcomponent when you install ClearQuest from IBM Installation Manager.

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Scenario 5: You are using BIRT reports that are shared by using the Report Server for ClearQuest. You do not plan to use the Rational Team Concert™ entitlement for agile planning.

Recommendation:

  1. Use the ClearQuest Report Exporter to migrate reports from the Report Server for ClearQuest repository to the file system. See technical note 4029627.
  2. Download a verified version of the BIRT RCP Report Designer http://www.eclipse.org/birt/phoenix/.
  3. Configure the report designer for use with the ClearQuest Reporting Driver. See Configuring the BIRT Report Designer RCP for ClearQuest reporting.
  4. Optional. Update migrated reports to enable passing of credentials as parameters. See Managing credentials for BIRT reports.
  5. To view reports with the Report Launcher for ClearQuest, save them on a file server and make them available using the Report Launcher for ClearQuest. See Deploying the Report Launcher for ClearQuest .

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Scenario 6: We use BIRT reports and want to access them from Rational Team Concert to facilitate agile planning

To access ClearQuest reports created with BIRT reporting tools, perform these steps:

  1. Install the Rational Team Concert Server.
  2. Install the Rational Team Concert Eclipse client.
  3. To run and share reports, configure Rational Team Concert for ClearQuest reporting.
  4. Optional. To configure Rational Team Concert to edit BIRT reports, complete these steps
    1. Load the Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools (BIRT) and its prerequisites in the Rational Team Concert environment. See https://jazz.net/wiki/bin/view/Main/ReportsCreatingANewReport30.
    2. Load the ClearQuest Reporting Driver. See Configuring an Eclipse Workbench for ClearQuest reporting activities.
    3. From the Eclipse Workbench, create a Report Project, then create a ClearQuest report.
  5. Upload the report to Rational Team Concert server as a report template.
  6. Create a report based on the report template.
  7. Run the report from the Rational Team Concert web client.

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Scenario 7: You are using Report Launcher for ClearQuest to share reports on a file server and want to add security features to limit access

See Configuring security for the Report Launcher and reports.

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