8 Customizing Discoverer Look and Feel

This chapter describes how to customize the Discoverer look and feel (LAF). Customization of the LAF includes tasks such as replacing the Oracle logo in Discoverer Viewer with a different logo and changing the background color of the user interface.

This chapter contains the following topics:

You can also use preference settings in pref.txt to hide or display Discoverer user interface components. For example, you can hide or display the Available Items pane in Discoverer Plus (relational) by using the EUL Object Navigator preference. For more information about preferences, see Section 9.6, "List of Discoverer user preferences".

8.1 Customizing the Discoverer Plus LAF

This section describes how to customize the LAF for Discoverer Plus.

8.1.1 About LAF styles available in Discoverer Plus

The following LAF styles are available:

You can also create your own LAF and make this available as an LAF type called custom. For more information, see Section 8.1.3, "How to define a custom LAF for Discoverer Plus."

Note:

To deploy Discoverer Plus with the plastic LAF, you must select plastic as the LAF option in Oracle Fusion Middleware Control. For more information, see Section 8.2.2, "How to change the default Discoverer Viewer LAF."

8.1.2 How to change the Discoverer Plus LAF for all end users

You can change the Discoverer Plus LAF for all end users by specifying the LAF in the middle tier.

Note:

You can change the Discoverer Plus LAF for a specific end user, by using the lookandfeelname URL parameter. For more information, see Section 12.8, "List of URL parameters specific to Discoverer Plus."

To change the Discoverer Plus LAF for all end users:

  1. Start Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Discoverer home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages."

  2. In the Components area, click the Discoverer Plus link in the Name column.

    The Discoverer Plus home page is displayed.

  3. Click Configure.

    The Discoverer Plus Configuration page is displayed.

  4. From the Look And Feel list, select the required LAF.

  5. Click Apply.

When end users start Discoverer Plus, the LAF that you specified is used.

8.1.3 How to define a custom LAF for Discoverer Plus

You can deploy Discoverer with your own LAF (different from the LAFs shipped with Discoverer), by defining a custom LAF.

To define a custom LAF for Discoverer Plus on a global basis:

  1. Copy the JAR file containing the LAF class into the <ORACLE_HOME>/discoverer/lib directory.

  2. Start the MBean browser and navigate to the PlusConfig node.

    For more information, see Section 4.12, "How to configure Discoverer using the System MBean Browser."

  3. Change the value of the LAF attribute to custom.

  4. In the Value field of the LafJar attribute, enter the name of the JAR file containing the LAF.

  5. In the Value field of the LafClass attribute, enter the fully qualified Java class name of the LAF (for example, javax.swing.plaf.metal.MetalLookAndFeel).

  6. Click Apply.

When end users start Discoverer Plus, the custom LAF is applied.

You can revert the LAF to any of the standard LAFs installed with Discoverer, by using Oracle Fusion Middleware Control. For more information, see Section 8.2.2, "How to change the default Discoverer Viewer LAF."

8.2 Customizing Discoverer Viewer

This section explains how to customize Discoverer Viewer.

8.2.1 About Discoverer Viewer customization

By customizing Discoverer Viewer, you can change the following:

  • Layout

    You can change the company logo, and display or hide page elements such as the Exit button, Help button, and Action links. You can also change the targets of some links. For example, you can specify a URL for the Exit button.

    Note:

    You might also change the layout to maximize caching in Oracle Web Cache. For more information, see Section 7.5.3, "How to configure Discoverer Viewer to enable maximum caching."

  • Look and feel (LAF)

    You can change the font size and colors used in Viewer pages (for example, the text that appears in links).

Note:

If you have deployed Discoverer in a multiple-machine installation, and if you want to deploy the same customized Discoverer Viewer user interface across all the machines, you must repeat the customization changes on each Discoverer middle tier.

8.2.2 How to change the default Discoverer Viewer LAF

You change the default Discoverer Viewer interface LAF when you want to provide a customized LAF to end users.

To change the default Discoverer Viewer LAF:

  1. Start Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Discoverer home page for the machine to configure. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages."

  2. In the Components region, select Discoverer Viewer in the Name column.

    The Discoverer Viewer home page is displayed.

  3. Click Customize.

    The Discoverer Viewer Customization page is displayed.

  4. Make the required LAF changes.

    For example, to change the color of all displayed links, click the arrow adjacent to the Links field, and select the required color. Alternatively, you can enter the hexadecimal value in the appropriate field (for example, to use the color blue, enter #0000FF).

    Note:

    Changes that you make to color and fonts are applicable to the Discoverer Viewer user interface, not to the worksheet text styles and colors. Worksheet text styles and colors are specified in Discoverer Plus.

    To preview the changes, click Preview.

  5. Click Apply to save the changes you have made.

The LAF changes that you made are applied to all new or refreshed Discoverer Viewer browser sessions.

8.2.3 How to change the default Discoverer Viewer layout

You change the default Discoverer Viewer layout when you want to provide a customized layout to end users. For example, you might want to change the company logo or hide the Preferences link.

To change the default Discoverer Viewer layout:

  1. Start Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Discoverer home page for the machine to configure. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages."

  2. In the Components area, click Discoverer Viewer in the Name column.

    The Discoverer Viewer home page is displayed.

  3. Click Customize.

    The Discoverer Viewer Customization page is displayed.

  4. Make changes in the Layout region as required.

    For example, you might want to replace the default Discoverer Viewer logo with a different logo using an alternative graphic file:

    1. Select the Logo check box.

    2. Select the File option.

    3. Click Browse to locate the graphic file to use as an alternative logo to appear on Viewer pages.

      Note: If you change the Discoverer Viewer logo, the new logo is also displayed on the Connect to Discoverer Viewer page and the Connect to Discoverer Plus page (for more information, see Section 3.4, "About the Discoverer connections page."

  5. Click Preview to display your changes in the Preview area.

  6. Click Apply to save the changes you have made.

  7. Run Discoverer Viewer and open a workbook.

Tip: If you have an existing Discoverer Viewer session running, refresh the browser to update Discoverer Viewer with the changes that you have made.

The layout changes that you made are applied do all new or refreshed Discoverer Viewer browser sessions.

Notes