I am creating a j2ee web application with MySQL db. I need to hack some reports, as well as cut and cut data in different ways. Is it best to solve every report requirement, write code to serve the data? Or is there a structure that I should look at?
It is difficult to give an exact answer, since you did not give a lot of details, so I just suggest taking a look at JasperReport (and iReport ), Eclipse Birt or Pentaho Report .
This thread will give you some information about the differences between the two. Or google a bit.
Take a look at JasperReports ( http://www.jasperforge.org ). You can integrate it into your Java application or use it as a standalone reporting application on the same lines as Crystal Reports.
recommend ireport, a subproject in JasperReports
http://jasperforge.org/plugins/project/project_home.php?projectname=ireport
You can also look at Docmosis, as you can do a lot of work in templates that are only doc or odf documents. You cannot do everything in Docmosis, but typical report material can be done faster than small code.
I advise you to work with Birt. "The Birt technology platform for creating data visualizations and reports that can be embedded in rich client and web applications, especially those based on Java and Java EE."