Papyrus is an XML reporting engine for Linux. It generates reports from a variety of different SQL databases. PostgreSQL, MySQL and Oracle databases support Papyrus to generate reports. The reporting is done in two phases. SQL statements and equations are done in the first phase. All the required formatting and layout are managed in the second phase. The reports are generated and represented correctly in PDF, XML, HTML, PostScript, DVI or ANSI-text format, with required support for the user.

The output versions of the reports can be exported to different media without any problem. Latex, ANSI and HTML versions are three major reporting output engines. By using the latex version PDF and PostScript reports are generated. It is thus said that latex version is best suited for paper printed reports. HTML and ANSI are designed for the reports for Web and line printers, respectively.

The Papyrus XML is simple and user friendly. The root tag contains - the description of the report, database configuration, required arguments, data sources, title and tables. The software first defines and retrieves data, configures a database connection and creates data sources. The formatting and the displaying output section covers the elements dealing with what gets displayed and how it is formatted.

Papyrus helps the user to generate best-looking reports at ease. The reports are displayed by using the method ‘loop’. The use of Header, Footer and Tables to form a report, are the important aspects of this software.