About the Data Source Options

BI Publisher supports a variety of data source types for creating data sets, which can be categorized into three general types.

The Oracle BI Publisher can retrieve metadata information from the SQL queries submitted against Oracle BI Server, an Oracle Database, or other supported databases. For these data set types, the full range of data model editor functions is supported. These data set types are:

• SQL queries submitted against Oracle BI Server, an Oracle Database, or other supported databases

  See Creating Data Sets Using SQL Queries.

  For information on supported databases, see System Requirements and Certification.

• Multidimensional (MDX) queries against an OLAP data source

  See Creating a Data Set Using a MDX Query Against an OLAP Data Source.

• Queries against your LDAP repository to retrieve user data

  You can report on this data directly, or join this to data retrieved from other sources. See Creating a Data Set Using an LDAP Query.

• Microsoft Excel spreadsheet data sources

  You can store the Excel spreadsheet in a file directory set up as a data source by your administrator, or you can upload it directly from a local source to the data model. See Creating a Data Set Using a Microsoft Excel File.

• XML data file data sources

  You can store the XML file stored in a file directory set up as a data source by your administrator, or you can upload it directly from a local source to the data model. See Creating a Data Set Using a XML File.

• CSV (comma separated value) file data sources

  You can store the CSV file in a file directory set up as a data source by your administrator, or you can upload it directly from a local source to the data model. See Creating a Data Set Using a CSV File.

For the second type, BI Publisher can retrieve column names and data type information from the data source but it cannot process or structure the data. For these data set types, only a subset of the full range of data model editor functions is supported. These data set types are:

• Oracle BI Analyses

  See Creating a Data Set Using an Oracle BI Analysis.

• View objects created usingOracle Application Development Framework (ADF)

  See Creating a Data Set Using a View Object.

For the third type, BI Publisher retrieves data that was generated and structured at the source. You cannot apply additional modifications in the data model editor. These data set types are:

• HTTP XML feeds off the Web

  See Creating a Data Set from an HTTP XML Feed.

• Web services

  See Creating a Data Set Using a Web Service.

  Supply the Web service WSDL to BI Publisher and then define the parameters in BI Publisher to use a Web service to return data for the report.