9 Using BI Publisher with Oracle JDeveloper

This chapter describes how to add a BI Publisher report to an ADF application using Oracle JDeveloper.

It includes the following sections:

• Section 9.1, "About Including Oracle BI Publisher Content in ADF Applications"

• Section 9.2, "Adding BI Publisher Content to an ADF Project"

Note:

This chapter assumes familiarity with Oracle Application Development Framework (ADF) and Oracle JDeveloper. For more information about these see:

• Oracle Fusion Middleware Fusion Developer's Guide for Oracle Application Development Framework

• Oracle JDeveloper 11g Online Help

9.1 About Including Oracle BI Publisher Content in ADF Applications

A report designer uses Oracle BI Publisher to create content intended for inclusion in ADF applications. When a developer adds a BI Publisher report to an ADF page, that form contains a reference to the BI Publisher object and does not contain a copy of the object. When the report is modified within the BI Publisher application, any changes will appear in the ADF application the next time the user runs the form.

The Oracle BIPublisher and ADF JDeveloper integration is available from the Oracle Fusion Applications Development Environment extension bundle. For more information about obtaining this bundle, see the Oracle Fusion Applications Developer's Guide.

9.2 Adding BI Publisher Content to an ADF Project

The following procedures describe how to add BI Publisher content to an ADF project:

• Section 9.2.1, "Adding the Required Technology Scopes"

• Section 9.2.2, "Adding a BI Publisher Region to the JSF Page"

• Section 9.2.3, "Creating a Connection to the Catalog"

• Section 9.2.4, "Deploying and Running the Application"

• Section 9.2.5, "Setting Properties for a BI Publisher Region"

9.2.1 Adding the Required Technology Scopes

Perform this procedure to add the proper technology scopes to the ADF project.

1. In Oracle JDeveloper, go to the Projects Pane and right-click the project to which you want to add the technology scopes and select Project Properties.

2. Select Technology Scope.

3. In the Available Technologies list, select BI Publisher as shown in Figure 9-1:

   Figure 9-1 Selecting the BI Publisher Technology Scope

   
   

4. Click the right shuttle button to add BI Publisher and its dependent technologies to your project. Dependent technologies are moved together. Figure 9-2 shows the results of this action.

   Figure 9-2 BI Publisher and Dependent Technologies

   
   

5. Click Finish.

9.2.2 Adding a BI Publisher Region to the JSF Page

The BI Publisher region must reside on a JSF page. The page could be either JSP or JSPX. To add a JSF page to your project:

1. Right-click your project and select New.

2. From the Gallery dialog, on the Categories pane, under Web Tier, select JSF.

3. From the items presented in the right pane, select JSF Page, as shown in Figure 9-3.

   Figure 9-3 Selecting a JSF Page

   
   

4. On the Create JSF Page dialog, enter a name for your JSF page as shown in Figure 9-4.

   Figure 9-4 Create JSF Page Dialog

   
   

5. Select a Component Palette list. BI Publisher will be an option, as shown in Figure 9-5.

   Figure 9-5 Component Palette List

   
   

6. Drag and drop the BI Publisher ADF component from the palette to the page you just created.

7. Once the BI Publisher Region is dropped to the JSPX page, the Insert BI Publisher Region dialog, shown in Figure 9-6, appears. Enter a region ID for the BI Publisher Region. The region ID must be unique and must not include the underscore "_" character.

   Figure 9-6 BI Publisher Region Dialog

   
   

   Click OK. When the BI Publisher region is inserted, the following will occur:

   • A report image is displayed in Design Mode.

   • The BI Publisher configuration file, /WEB-INF/xmlp-client-config.xml is created. Click Refresh on the Projects pane if it does not display immediately.

   • The Property Inspector presents the BI Publisher region properties for update when the BI Publisher region is selected.

   Figure 9-7 shows these items:

   Figure 9-7 Report Image, Configuration File, and Property Inspector

   
   

9.2.3 Creating a Connection to the Catalog

To establish a connection to the catalog, update the xmlp-client-config.xml file under Project > Web Content > WEB-INF with the connection information as follows:

1. Double-click xmlp-client-config.xml to open the file for editing. Figure 9-8 shows the xmlp-client-config.xml file.

   Figure 9-8 Entering the Connection Keys

   
   

2. Update the following properties (keys):

   <properties>   <comment>BIP Server Information</comment>
           <entry key="bipuri"></entry>
           <entry key="username"></entry>
           <entry key="password"></entry>
   </properties>
   

   • bipuri - enter the URL for the BI Publisher server. For example: http://example.com:7001/xmlpserver

   • username - enter the BI Publisher user name

   • password - for the BI Publisher user name entered above

   Note that the username and password are for testing purposes only and are not needed in the production environment. In production, the OWSM layer, in conjunction with the server and client side policy, handles the security between the ADF BIP client and server.

3. Double-click the JSPX and enter values for reportId, width, and height, for example:

   <xdo:BIPRegion id="bipRegion1" reportId="/Executive/Quarterly Income Statement.xdo" width="800px" height="600px">
   

9.2.4 Deploying and Running the Application

To deploy and run:

1. From Project Properties, click Deployment, click New and enter a value for the J2EE application name. Figure 9-9 shows the Create Deployment Profile dialog.

   Figure 9-9 Create Deployment Dialog

   
   

2. Click WEB-INF/lib. BI Publisher Runtime does not have to be included so long as weblogic.xml and weblogic-application.xml are properly configured. Figure 9-10 shows libraries selected for deployment.

   Figure 9-10 Libraries Selected for Deployment

   
   

3. Ensure that Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher shared libraries are installed on your target WebLogic Server instance.

   • oracle.xdo.runtime: $MW_HOME/jdeveloper/xdo/lib/xdoruntime.ear

   • oracle.xdo.webapp: $MW_HOME/jdeveloper/xdo/lib/xdowebapp.war

4. Once all the shared libraries are properly installed, you can see them in the WebLogic Server console as shown in Figure 9-11.

   Figure 9-11 Libraries Shown in WebLogic Server Console

   
   

5. Add a shared library reference to weblogic.xml and weblogic-application.xml as shown in Figure 9-12 and Figure 9-13.

   Figure 9-12 Library Entry in weblogic.xml

   
   

   Figure 9-13 Example weblogic-application.xml

   
   

6. From the JDeveloper menu, select Run > Start Server Instance. Do not run the JSPX page directly.

7. Right-click the application and select Deploy - (your BIP ADF App1ication name) - to IntegratedWLSConnection as shown in Figure 9-14. Make sure the BIP ADF Application deployment profile has your J2EE application name (webapp21 in this example) selected on Application Assembly.

   Figure 9-14 Deploying an Application to a Connection

   
   

   The deployment completed message will display in the Log window.

8. Open your browser and enter http://hostname:port/j2eeWebAppName/faces/report.jspx in the address field. Template, OutputFormat, and Locale fields display, as shown in Figure 9-15.

   Figure 9-15 Displayed Fields

   
   

9. Click Go. A generated report displays, as shown in Figure 9-16.

   Figure 9-16 Generated Report

   
   

9.2.5 Setting Properties for a BI Publisher Region

The following properties are available in the Property Inspector:

Table 9-1 Common Properties

Property	Description
id	The unique ID for each BI Publisher region.
reportID	The path to the report in the BI Publisher catalog. A report will have the extension ".xdo". For example: "/HR Reports/Manager/EmployeeSalaryReport.xdo"
rendered	The control to show or hide the BI Publisher region when the page is rendered. The default is true (show).

Table 9-2 Advanced Properties

Property	Description
TemplateId	Sets the default template id. The TemplateID is the layout name.
OutputFormat	Sets the default output format. For example: PDF, HTML.
Parameters	Allows to pass report parameters with Hashtable type.
ReportData	This enables to support push data model.

Table 9-3 Appearance Properties

Property	Description
width	Sets the report region width. The unit can be either px or %
height	Sets the report region height. The unit can be either px or %.
RenderActionPanel	Controls whether to show or hide the action panel. The default is true. Note that if you set this to 'false', then you should set renderReportOnLoad to 'true'.
RenderFormatList	Controls whether to show or hide the Format List. Default is true.
RenderReportOnLoad	Determines whether a report is generated when the ADF page is launched. Default is true.

Table 9-4 Other Properties

Property	Description
Locale	Sets a default locale for the report.
RenderLocaleList	Controls whether to show or hide the Locale List. The default is true.