Reporting software is usually used in order to generate the reports that are perfectly readable by people. The reports can come from any accessible data sources. The open source reporting software is rather popular nowadays, so you can find a lot of variations of this software in the Internet.
Consider using the JasperReports as really powerful open source. This program will easily sent the XML, XLS, PDF, CSY. HTML and other files right to your screen.
The other nice option is actually BIRT. It’s also open source and based on Eclipse from the very beginning. You can compile the different reports even if they come fro the different sources.
The latest accessible version is known as BRIT release 1.0, with its help you can perform the report layout as well as an easy access to the data. Scripting is also available here.
The other version of the modern open source reporting software is the popular Pentato. If you’re going to get the best possible solution for your organization, still you don’t feel like paying for it. Use this program ans you will definitely be satisfied. This program offers most of the features the other paid versions obtain, but this one you will be able to use for free.
If all the programs mentioned above appeared to be not exactly what you’re looking for, try JFreeChart. Here you will find all the options for comfortable chart generation. You will be able to work with pie charts, line and area charts, and various bar charts, scatter plots and even bubble charts that are used rather often now. Here are some special features offered here: the source code is included in the complete form, the interface allows the quick access to the database from any source, JPEG and PNG images can be exported instantly.