## Hierarchical data sources

JReport Designer supports hierarchical data sources (HDS). This feature uses the hierarchical data source API provided by JReport.

In addition, as the XML technology has become a popular standard for data interchange on the web, JReport Designer directly supports XML format data source by wrapping the provided HDS API. JReport Designer's built-in classes can implement the XML format hierarchical data source interface. You can directly import an XML data source to a catalog using the Catalog Browser.

The following are some specific topics about working with HDSs in a catalog:

- Adding an HDS to a catalog
- HDS with a parallel structure
- Developing reports from HDS