When you create reports connected with each other by links, you want to stay in the same output mode as your source report. When viewing a PDF report, you want the linked report to be PDF too, for instance.

So how would you do that in Pentaho Reporting?

(1) You need to know your current export type.

When you export a report, each output type has a unique identifier similar to this one “pagable/pdf”. The identifier consists of

(a) the basic export type:
  * pagable for paginated reports or
  * table for reports exported as layout-tables
and
(b) the content type
  * pdf for PDF export
  * html for HTML
  * .. and so on.

The BI-Server uses the same identifiers in the reporting plugin to select the correct output target for your reports. The parameter for this is called “output-target” and is documented in the Pentaho Wiki.

You probably know about the “ISEXPORTTYPE” function. This formula function allows you to test for a specific output target when the report runs. To get the export type you now could write a ugly long formula with many nested IF functions.

Or you can use this small BSH-Function instead:

Object getValue()
{
  return runtime.getExportDescriptor();
}

to get the export descriptor string directly.

(2) You need to feed this export identifier into your links.

Use the Drill-Linking functionality to add a manual parameter to your link. Name this parameter “output-target” and link this to your BSH-Function. If your function is named “ExportType”, then you would write “=[ExportType]” into the value field.