## Creating a catalog

A report set can only exist within a catalog. Therefore you must create and open a catalog before you create or edit a report.

A catalog is represented at the operating system level as a directory that contains the catalog file (.cat) as well as the other report objects.

To create a catalog:

1. In JReport Designer, click File > Catalog Management > New Catalog on the menu bar.

   If necessary, JReport Designer will prompt you to save changes to the current open catalog. Only one catalog can be opened at a time.

2. In the Input New Catalog Name dialog, enter a name for the catalog in the Name field, and a path where to save the catalog in the Directory field.

   You can also click the chooser button to browse to and select the directory in which to create the catalog.

   Note: The catalog name must include the extension (.cat or .xml) and the directory you choose must not already contain a catalog file.

3. Click OK to create the catalog.

   The Catalog Browser displays with a default data source for the catalog. You can then set up the required connection to connect your data source to the catalog. For details, see Data Source Connections.

JReport Designer supports the Multiple Data Sources feature, which means in one catalog, you can connect to multiple data sources as you like. If you want to connect another data source to a catalog, follow the steps below:

1. Do either of the following:
   - In the Catalog Browser, select the Data Source 1 node that represents the default data source of the catalog, then click the New Data Source button on the Catalog Browser toolbar.
   - Click File > New > Data Source on the menu bar.
2. In the New Data Source dialog, specify a name for the data source in the Data Source Name field (make sure the name you give follows the Java class naming rule), specify the connection type as required, and then click OK.
3. Set up the connection according to your requirements.