Setup external JavaScript function (debugWindow.js)

importPackage(Packages.java.util.logging);
importPackage(Packages.javax.swing);
 
/****************************************************
 * Set "blnDisplayDebugWindow" to true/false
 * to enable/disable the debug window
 ***************************************************/
blnDisplayDebugWindow = true;
 
/*****************************************************
 * Name:        logToDebugWindow
 * Description: Quick and dirty way of displaying a debug
 *              messages to a Window in eclipse using Swing.
 *              Uses global variable so all function calls
 *              print to same window
 * Parameters:  strMessage - message to display
 * Returns:     void
 ****************************************************/
function logToDebugWindow(strMessage) {
 
    // can turn on/off using this variable
    if(!blnDisplayDebugWindow) { return; }
 
    // current JTextArea - global parameter
    var currJTextArea = reportContext.getGlobalVariable("jfDebugWindow");
 
    // if null, then create and store as global variable
    if(currJTextArea == null) {
 
        // Create JFrame
        var jFrame = new JFrame("Debug Window");
 
        // Create JTextArea - append message and new-line
        var jTextArea = new JTextArea(20, 100);
        jTextArea.append(strMessage);
        jTextArea.append("\n");
 
        //Create a JPanel
        var jPanel = new JPanel();
        // add text area to scroll pane
        jPanel.add(jTextArea);
 
        //Create a vert and horiz scroll bar using JScrollPane
        var jScrollPane = new JScrollPane(jPanel, JScrollPane.VERTICAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS, JScrollPane.HORIZONTAL_SCROLLBAR_ALWAYS);
        jScrollPane.getHorizontalScrollBar().setUnitIncrement(5);
        jScrollPane.getVerticalScrollBar().setUnitIncrement(5);
 
        //Add JScrollPane into JFrame
        jFrame.add(jScrollPane);
        jFrame.setSize(400, 400);
        jFrame.show();
 
        // set JTextArea as a Global Parameter for future reference
        reportContext.setGlobalVariable("jfDebugWindow", jTextArea);
    } else {
        // Print to Global Reference of the JTextArea
                currJTextArea.append(strMessage);
	        currJTextArea.append("\n");
	    }
	}



=============================================================================================
In the Report Design - Add debugWindow.js to the Resource tab: JavaScript Files

=============================================================================================
You can then add the following in any method you want to track

logToDebugWindow(‘myText i.e. In the initialize method’) 
or
logToDebugWindow('In the onFetch method of MySource: ' + dataSetRow["MySource"]);


From:  "LeBIRT Expert Guide to BIRT Best Practices" by David Mehi