21 Discoverer Registry Settings

This chapter describes the Discoverer registry settings, and contains the following topics:

21.1 What are Discoverer registry settings?

Discoverer registry settings control how Discoverer behaves under certain conditions. A Discoverer registry setting comprises:

  • the name of the registry setting, which is usually a character string (for example, QPPEnable)

  • the value of the registry setting (for example, 1, 0, a character string)

By default, each registry setting is set to the most commonly required value. However, in some cases you might want to change the value of a registry setting.

The location of Discoverer registry settings depends on the Discoverer product you are using:

  • Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer registry settings are held on the middle tier in a registry file called .reg_key.dc

  • Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings are held in the Windows registry

21.2 About Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer registry settings

Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer use registry settings stored in a file called .reg_key.dc. The .reg_key.dc file is located on the middle tier server machine and is updated indirectly by applying changes to a file called pref.txt.

When an end user changes a preference in Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer writes the change (for the current user) to the .reg_key.dc file.

For more information about the Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer registry settings, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuration Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer.

21.3 About Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings

Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop use registry settings stored in the Windows registry.

When an end user changes a user preference in Discoverer Administrator or Discoverer Desktop, Discoverer writes the change (for the current user) to the Windows registry under the following registry key:

\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 11\

If you want to change Windows registry settings:

  • take a copy of the Windows registry before making any changes

  • be careful not to make any unintended modifications

  • if in any doubt about what to do, contact your system administrator

21.4 Which registry settings improve Discoverer Desktop performance?

The following registry settings can affect the performance of Discoverer Desktop:

  • BusinessAreaFastFetchLevel

  • ObjectsAlwaysAccessible

For more information about these settings, see the appropriate entry in "What are the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings?".

21.5 What are the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings?

The following table contains the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings in the Windows registry that you might need to change.

Tip: To change the value of a registry setting or to add a registry setting that is not visible in the Windows Registry Editor, see "How to edit Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings". The following table displays Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings:

Registry setting name Directory Description Default value Valid values
AggregationBehavior Application This setting determines the default aggregation behavior (applied to all Discoverer Desktop worksheets) when a Discoverer Desktop user selects the check box Use the default aggregation behavior in the Desktop Options dialog: Aggregation tab.

If you set this Registry setting value to 0 and a Discoverer Desktop user selects the check box Use the default aggregation behavior in the Desktop Options dialog: Aggregation tab, Discoverer Desktop uses the value selected in the field Show the values that cannot be aggregated option in the Desktop Options dialog: Formats tab.

If you set this Registry setting value to 1 and a Discoverer Desktop user selects the check box Use the default aggregation behavior in the Desktop Options dialog: Aggregation tab, Discoverer Desktop shows the sum of the values displayed in the contributing cells.

Note: When a Discoverer Desktop user clears the check box Use the default aggregation behavior in the Desktop Options dialog: Aggregation tab, this registry setting will have no effect on the current workbook. Instead, the aggregation behavior for the current worksheet is determined by the option that the user selects (for more information, see the Discoverer Desktop Help).

Note: The AggregationBehavior registry setting does not apply to Discoverer Plus. For more information about specifying the default aggregation behavior for Discoverer Plus, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus.

0 0 - Discoverer Desktop displays the value selected in the Show the values that cannot be aggregated option selected in the Desktop Options dialog: Formats tab.

1 - Discoverer Desktop displays the sum of the values displayed in the contributing cells.

ArchiveCacheFlushInterval Database This setting controls the interval between EUL cache flushes during Export and Import of EEX files. Used to avoid excessive memory usage during the export or import of a very large archive 1000 >=0 The number of objects that are processed between EUL cache flushes when importing and exporting EEX files
AutogenNameOnCreate Database This setting determines the default value of the Auto-Generate name property for:
  • newly loaded secondary elements

  • newly created secondary elements

  • imported EEX files that are imported using Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer command-line interface (or the Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java Interface) and the /auto_gen_name command modifier

For more information, see "About generating and updating EUL item names automatically".

0 0 - Do not generate the names of secondary elements.

1 - Generate the names of secondary elements.

BusinessAreaFastFetchLevel Database This setting controls the amount of pre-caching that occurs for folders and items whenever a business area is fetched.

In general terms, the lower the value, the fewer folders and items are immediately fetched into the Navigator dialog.

1 0 - No Fast Fetch

1 - Fast Fetch the folders within each business area

2 - Fast Fetch folders within each business area and items in Discoverer Desktop only

3 - Fast Fetch folders within each business area and items in Discoverer Administrator only

4 - Fast Fetch folders and items within each business area

CreateJoinInOtherBAs Administrator This setting enables you to control the extent to which Discoverer Administrator generates joins when you load or refresh a folder. By default, joins are only generated automatically between folders within the same business area. However, you can specify that joins are created automatically across business areas as well.

This setting controls that option.

0 0 - Do not generate/check joins to folders outside the current business area.

>0 - Generate/check joins to folders outside the current business area.

DefaultPreserveDisplayPropertyForRefresh Database When refreshing, specifies whether an updated item description is discarded and replaced with the original description, or whether the updated description is retained 0 0 - Use updated description

1 - Use original description

DisableAlternateSortOptimisation   This setting specifies whether Discoverer writes optimized Alternate Sort queries.

Tip: Set to 1 only if you use external registered summaries.

0 0 - Do not write optimized Alternate Sort queries

1 - Do write optimized Alternate Sort queries

DisableAutoOuterJoinsOnFilters Database This setting toggles the behavior of Discoverer when running queries involving an outer join with a condition (or conditions) applied. The effect of this setting is explained in an example in Chapter 10, "Creating and Maintaining Joins" 0 0 - Do not disable outer joins on filters

1 - disable outer joins on filters

DisableMultiJoinDetection Database This setting toggles multiple join path detection when creating worksheets in Desktop.

If this setting is set to 1, Desktop selects all join options when creating a worksheet.

If this setting is set to 0 and multiple joins exist, Desktop displays the Join Folders dialog where you choose the join(s) to use for the worksheet. Note: It is recommended that Desktop users select all available joins for Discoverer to display accurate results data.

0 1 - Disable multiple join detection.

0 - Do not disable multiple join detection.

EnableTriggers Database Specifies whether database triggers are disabled.

For example, Discoverer attempts to make a database call for every new column found during a refresh. If this value is set to 0, Discoverer will not make the database call.

0 0 - Disable database triggers

1 - Enable database triggers

EULUpgradeForceCommitForAllSteps Database This affects the commit processing and hence rollback space usage during the upgrade of a previous version EUL. If you are having problems upgrading an EUL due to limited rollback space, it is possible to commit more frequently using this setting. 0  
EULUpgradeRollbackSegment Database If this setting is defined then it should be the name of the rollback segment that you want to be used for the duration of the upgrade. In other words, if set to "Large_RB1", a "SET TRANSACTION USE ROLLBACK SEGMENT Large_RB1" statement would be issued. No default  
ExportJoinFromMaster Database When exporting a business area, specifies whether joins from the master folder are also exported. 0 0 - Do export joins from Master Folder

Any value other than 0 = Do not export joins from the Master Folder

FormatXML Database Set the value to 1 if you want the XML export file to include spaces that make the file more readable, but larger.

If the value is 0 or the entry is not present, the export file will not use indentation thus reducing file size.

0 0 = not use indentation

1 = include spaces

MaxNumberJoinPredicates Database During bulk load you have an option to create an automatic join based on column names (rather than primary/foreign keys). If you have the same table already loaded, then a join will be created that matches every column in the table. You can stop these being created by specifying the maximum number of predicates in one join using matching column names during bulk load. 20  
ObjectsAlwaysAccessible Database Specifies (in Discoverer Desktop) whether to display Business Area objects and items even when the underlying database tables they are built on do not exist (or are inaccessible for some other reason).

Disabling this verification speeds up the display of Business Area objects and items. When a user executes a query, if the database objects do not exist or the user does not have access to them and this setting is set to 1, Desktop displays an error (for example, "ORA 942 Table or View does not exist”).

1 0=verify1=do not verify and assume that the objects and items exist
QPPCBOEnforced Database Will use cost-based optimizer if set to 1. Will use default optimizer if set to 0.

Query Prediction must parse statements to obtain their cost. The cost is only available when parsing with the cost based optimizer (it is not produced if parsing with the rule based optimizer). The default behavior in Discoverer is to force the use of the cost based optimizer when parsing these statements.

If this registry setting is set to 0 Discoverer will use the default optimizer for the database and for the tables involved in the query. In other words if the default optimizer is rule-based and the tables have not been analyzed, query prediction will not be available.

1 0 - use the default query optimizer

1 - use the cost based optimizer

QPPCreateNewStats Database Records new statistics if set to 1. These statistics are used by Query Prediction

If you set this to zero, Discoverer does not create any new statistics for query prediction.

1 0 - false

1 - true

QPPEnable Database Enables you to turn Query Prediction on or off.

Uses Query Prediction (QPP) if set to 1.

1 0 - false

1 - true

RdbFastSQLOff Database This only applies to Discoverer against RDB. If set to 1, it turns off "fast sql" on the RDB server.

Only use this registry setting if errors are encountered against Oracle Rdb because it might help avoid some types of problems. See Chapter 23, "Discoverer Support for Non-Oracle Databases and Oracle Rdb" for further information about support for Oracle Rdb.

1 0 - false

1 - true

SetNULLItemHeadingOnBulkLoad Database When performing a bulk load, specifies whether item headings are set to the same value as item display names, or set to null 0 0 - Set item headings to item display names

1 - Set item headings to null

ShowReadOnlyPrompt Application You can set the operating system privilege for a file-based workbook to read-only. In this instance, when a user opens the workbook they get a warning message informing them that the workbook cannot be opened for read/write and to save any changes to another workbook. This registry setting enables you to switch this warning on and off. 0 0 - false

1 - true

SQLFlatten Database Controls whether Discoverer attempts to flatten the SQL, minimizing the use of inline views in the query SQL. 1 1 - enabled

0 - disabled

SQLItemTrim Database Controls whether Discoverer attempts to trim the SQL for irrelevant or unused items. 1 1 - enabled

0 - disabled

SQLJoinTrim Database Controls whether Discoverer attempts to remove the joins from the SQL (for more information, see "What effect do joins have on query results and query performance?"). 1 1 - enabled

0 - disabled

SqlTrace Database Creates an Oracle server trace file and all Discoverer SQL statements sent to the database server are written to the trace file.

The default locations for the server trace files (extension trc) are as follows:

<ORACLE_HOME>\rdbms\trace (on Windows machines)

$ORACLE_HOME/log (on UNIX machines)

Note: After the trace file is created and the required SQL statements are written to the trace file, you must reset the value of SqlTrace to the numeric value zero (0) to stop any further SQL statements being written to the file. Resetting the value of SqlTrace to zero (0) avoids unnecessary processing after the trace file is written.

Note: The database user must have the dba privilege to use Discoverer with this setting enabled.

For more information, see Chapter 26, "Using SQL Files and Trace Files".

0 1 - enabled
SQLType Database Determines how SQL is displayed in the SQL Inspector dialog.

For more information, see "About configuring how Discoverer displays SQL in the SQL Inspector dialog".

0 0 - flattened SQL, (standard Oracle format)

2 - native SQL (Discoverer SQL sent to the kernel, with inline views)

3 - flattened SQL (standard Oracle format) without object aliases

SummariesAlwaysAccessible Database Displays summary folders quickly from the Summaries tab and makes them all appear to be accessible (regardless of whether they are or not). This setting avoids validation and checks (which can be slow) and enables users to display/modify summary folders quickly. Only setups with large numbers of summary folders are likely to need to use this setting.

Note: Be aware that if you enable this setting, invalid summary folders are not shown as being invalid in the UI and the UI will not reflect this until this setting is disabled. This might cause the Discoverer manager to miss required action.

Set this to "1" for faster display of summary folders from the Summaries tab.

Set this to "0" to validate summary folders before displaying them at the Summaries tab.

0 0 = false

1 = true

MaxNumListRows Administrator Specifies a maximum number of users/roles to display. For example, if your system has one million users, it might take a long time to display all of these users and might also use a lot of memory.

If the limit specified by this registry setting is exceeded, Discoverer displays an error message informing you that the maximum number of results have been retrieved. To enable Discoverer to display more results, you must increase the number of rows specified by this registry setting.

Note: You can use this registry setting with the UserRoleFilter registry setting to refine the list of users or roles displayed.

If not set, the result limit defaults to 100,000 rows.  
UserRoleFilter Administrator Enables Discoverer Administrator to display only users and roles that start with the value used for this setting. This setting is case sensitive.

This setting can improve the time it takes for Discoverer to display very large lists of database users and roles in the Privileges and Security dialogs. For example, if you set the value to SYS, Discoverer will only display users and roles that begin with the letters SYS (for example, SYS, SYSMAN, SYSTEM).

For changes to take effect, you do not have to restart Discoverer Administrator. It is sufficient to just close the Security or Privileges dialog, update the registry, and display the dialog. When this setting has no value (default), Discoverer displays all users and roles.

Note: This setting does not affect display of users, roles that are granted a privilege, or the PUBLIC user; they are displayed regardless of this setting.

Note: You can use this registry setting with the MaxNumListRows registry setting to refine the list of users or roles displayed.

No default  

21.6 How to edit Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings

You edit Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings using the Windows registry editor.

How to start the Registry Editor and edit registry settings will depend on the environment you are using.

To start the Registry Editor and edit Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings in a Windows environment:

  1. Choose Run from the Windows Start menu.

  2. In the Run dialog box, type regedt32 and click OK.

  3. Open the \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 10\ registry key to view the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings.

  4. If you want to edit the value of a Discoverer Administrator or Discoverer Desktop registry setting shown in the Registry Editor:

    1. Double-click the registry setting in the right-hand pane of the Registry Editor to display the DWORD Editor dialog.

    2. Replace the existing value of the registry setting with a new value and click OK.

  5. If you want to edit the value of a Discoverer Administrator or Discoverer Desktop registry setting and the registry setting is not currently shown in the Registry Editor:

    1. Click the key name below which the registry setting should appear.

      For example, if you want to set QPPEnable to 0, and QPPEnable does not appear in the Registry Editor, click the \\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 10\Database\ key to select it. For more information about the registry key for a particular registry setting, see "What are the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings?".

    2. Choose Edit | Add Value to display the Add Value dialog.

    3. Enter the name of the Discoverer registry setting you want to add (for example, QPPEnable) and click OK.

      The String Editor dialog appears.

      Note: Discoverer Administrator Registry settings must be in the case specified in the table in the section "What are the Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Desktop registry settings?".

    4. Enter the value you want the Discoverer registry setting to have (for example, 1) and click OK.

      The registry setting appears in the Registry Editor with the value you specified.

  6. Choose Registry | Exit to close the Registry Editor.