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Lesson 1: Getting started

It will probably take you about 30 minutes to complete this lesson.

In this lesson you learn how to start Discoverer and open the tutorial workbook.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

• "Prerequisites"

• "Exercise 1: Starting Discoverer Plus"

• "Exercise 2: Opening the tutorial workbook"

• "Exercise 3: Saving a copy of the tutorial workbook"

• "Lesson summary"

• "Frequently asked questions"

Prerequisites

To begin this tutorial, you need one of the following:

• a public connection called 'Start tutorial' created by the Discoverer manager for accessing the Discoverer tutorial database

• a private connection that you have created for accessing the Discoverer tutorial database

  Note: For more information about how to create a private Discoverer connection for accessing the tutorial database, see "How do I create a Discoverer connection for accessing the tutorial database?".

Exercise 1: Starting Discoverer Plus

In this exercise, you will learn how to start Discoverer Plus.

To start Discoverer Plus:

1. Launch a Web browser.

2. Go to the Discoverer web address given to you by the Discoverer manager.

   Note: The Discoverer web site address might be:

   • the default web page that you access when you start a browser

   • a URL that you enter in the URL field in the browser

   • a link from a portal or other internet or intranet site to which you have access

   Note: The first time you run Discoverer, if you do not have the required plug-ins, Discoverer installs the required plug-ins for you.

   The Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page is displayed (see figure below).

   Figure 2-1 Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page

   
   
   Text description of the illustration cm_1.gif

   Discoverer displays a list of the existing Discoverer connections in the Connection column.

3. Click the tutorial connection name in the Connection column to start Discoverer.

   For example, to start Discoverer using a connection called 'Start tutorial', click 'Start tutorial' in the Connection column.

   Note: The Discoverer manager will tell you which connection to use.

   After a few moments, Discoverer displays the Workbook Wizard, which means that you are connected to the tutorial database and you are ready to continue with the tutorial.

   Figure 2-2 Workbook Wizard: Create/Open Workbook dialog

   
   
   Text description of the illustration open_wb.gif

The Workbook Wizard guides you through the necessary steps for getting the data you want from the database.

You are now connected to the database and can begin using Discoverer's powerful business analysis tools.

Having learned how to start Discoverer, you are now ready to learn how to open a workbook from the database.

Exercise 2: Opening the tutorial workbook

In this exercise you will open the tutorial workbook from the database.

Discoverer stores workbooks in the database. The Discoverer manager will tell you the name of the tutorial workbook that you need to open. In this tutorial, the workbook is called Video Tutorial Workbook.

Note: Before you can open a workbook, you must start Discoverer (for more information, see "Exercise 1: Starting Discoverer Plus").

To open the tutorial workbook:

1. In the Workbook Wizard, click the Open an existing workbook button to display the Workbook Wizard: Create/Open Workbook dialog.

   Figure 2-3 Workbook Wizard: Create/Open Workbook dialog

   
   
   Text description of the illustration ww0.gif

   Note: If the Workbook Wizard: Create/Open Workbook dialog is not displayed, choose File | Open to first display this dialog, then begin step 1.

2. Click the Database button to display the Open workbook from Database dialog, which lists all workbooks available to you.

   Figure 2-4 Open Workbook from Database dialog

   
   
   Text description of the illustration open.gif

3. Select the Video Tutorial Workbook in the Choose a workbook to open list.

   Note: If you saved a copy of the Video Tutorial Workbook earlier, open the copy of the Video Tutorial Workbook that you made. The copy should be called Video Tutorial Workbook followed by your initials.

4. Click Open to open the selected workbook.

5. If you are asked whether you wish to run the query for the worksheet, click Yes.

Discoverer displays the tutorial workbook.

Figure 2-5 Video Tutorial Workbook

Text description of the illustration wbfull.gif

Exercise 3: Saving a copy of the tutorial workbook

Before continuing, you need to save a copy of the Video Tutorial Workbook to work on.

1. Choose File | Save as to display the Save Workbook to Database dialog.

2. Type Video Tutorial Workbook followed by your initials in the New name field.

   For example, if your initials are A.B, type Video Tutorial Workbook AB in the New name field.

3. Click Save to save the workbook and close the Save Workbook to Database dialog.

   Now that you have saved a copy of the Video Tutorial Workbook to work on, you are ready to look in more detail at the Discoverer workarea.

Discoverer Plus enables you to analyze data stored in workbooks. Workbooks are Discoverer files containing worksheets that display data retrieved from the database.

Hint: If you are familiar with spreadsheet applications (e.g. Microsoft Excel), think of a workbook as a spreadsheet file, and worksheets as different sheets in that spreadsheet file.

Worksheets contain the data that you want to analyze, together with a number of Discoverer components to help you analyze the data. For example, a worksheet can contain parameters, totals, percentages, exceptions, and calculations (for more information, see figure below).

Figure 2-6 Discoverer Plus workarea

Text description of the illustration wb.gif

Key to figure:

1. Menu bar - click on the menu bar to display drop down menus.

2. Toolbar - use the toolbar options as a short-cut to menu options.

3. Title bar - displays the title of the workbook.

4. The Page Items area. In this example, the worksheet contains data for three years: 1998, 1999, and 2000. This page only shows data for 2000. If you select a different year value from the Page Item drop down list, Discoverer displays data for that year.

5. Top Axis showing item headings.

6. Left Axis - showing item values.

7. Data Points - notice that data is organized in rows and columns similar to a spreadsheet. The worksheet contains four items from the database: Year, Region, Department, Profit SUM. The items Region, Department, Profit SUM are columns on the worksheet. The Year item is a page item, which means that you display data for one year at one time (e.g. 2000).

8. Worksheet navigation buttons - use these controls to move to other pages in the worksheet. For example, if Discoverer is configured to display 25 rows at a time, clicking the next page button displays the next 25 rows from the database.

9. Worksheet Tabs - enabling you to quickly display another worksheet in the workbook. The tutorial workbook contains two worksheets: Tabular Layout and Crosstab Layout.

10. Scroll bar - use to scroll up and down data in a worksheet.

11. Worksheet subtotal and grand totals - this worksheet contains totals that aggregate data on the worksheet. Notice the sub-total for each region, and the grand total at the bottom (called Total for All Values)

12. Sheet format button - click to change how many rows are displayed on each page.

Lesson summary

Congratulations on finishing Lesson 1. In this lesson you have:

• learned how to connect to a database from Discoverer

• learned how to open a workbook from the database

• learned how to save a copy of a workbook

• learned about the main features of a workbook, such as worksheets, items, and page items

Now you are ready to find out how easy it is to create your own workbooks in Discoverer, described in "Lesson 2: Getting the data you want".

Frequently asked questions

What is the difference between a workbook and a worksheet?

Workbooks are Discoverer files that contain worksheets displaying related data retrieved from the database. If you are familiar with spreadsheet applications (e.g. Microsoft Excel), think of a workbook as a spreadsheet file.

For example, you might choose to have a workbook with separate worksheets for Sales by Region, Sales by Department, and Sales by Product; each worksheet contains sales information grouped by region, department, and product.

Worksheets contain the data that you want to analyze, together with a number of Discoverer components to help you analyze the data. If you are familiar with spreadsheet applications (e.g. Microsoft Excel), think of worksheets as different sheets in a spreadsheet file.

How do you navigate through pages of a worksheet?

If a worksheet contains more rows that can fit on one screen page, you can navigate through pages using the navigation tool bar beneath the worksheet. For example, click the right-arrow to display the next set of rows in the worksheet.

Note: Pages relating to rows on a screen page should not be confused with page items displayed in the Page Items area, which relate to different areas of data.

How do you switch between worksheets in a workbook?

If there is more than one worksheet in a workbook, click a tab located at the bottom of the workbook to switch to another worksheet. The first time you click a tab, Discoverer might ask you if you want to run the query for that worksheet, (depending on how Discoverer is configured in the Tools | Options | General tab). If you choose Yes, or if Discoverer is configured to automatically run the query, Discoverer retrieves the most current information for that worksheet from the database.

How do I create a Discoverer connection for accessing the tutorial database?

To create a new Discoverer connection, do the following:

1. Launch a Web browser.

2. Go to the Discoverer Web address given to you by the Discoverer manager.

   Note: The Discoverer web site address might be:

   • the default web page that you access when you start a browser

   • a URL that you enter in the URL field in the browser

   • a link from a portal or other internet or intranet site to which you have access

   Discoverer displays the Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page (see figure below).

   Figure 2-7 Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page

   
   
   Text description of the illustration cm_1.gif

   Discoverer displays a list of the existing connections in the Connection column.

3. Click Create Connection to display the Create Connection: Connection Details page.

   Figure 2-8 Create Connection: Connection Details page

   
   
   Text description of the illustration cm_2.gif

   The Create Connection: Connection Details page is a web form for entering login details that you want to save in a connection.

4. Type Start tutorial in the Connection Name field.

   The connection name that you enter is displayed in the Connections column on the Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page.

5. Type Open the Video Tutorial Workbook from the tutorial database in the Connection Description field.

6. Select the language that you want to use from the Locale drop down list.

7. Type VIDEO5 in the User Name field.

8. Type VIDEO5 in the Password field.

9. Enter the database name given to you by the Discoverer manager in the Database field.

10. Clear the Oracle Applications User check box.

11. Click Apply to save the details entered.

Discoverer displays the Connect to Oracle9iAS Discoverer Plus page. The new connection that you have created is included in the Connections list. Click Start tutorial to start Discoverer and connect to the tutorial database.