Oracle Reports Services Publishing Reports to the Web with Oracle9i Application Server
Release 1.0.2 for Windows NT and UNIX

Part Number A86784-02

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G
Troubleshooting

This appendix contains information on how to troubleshoot your Oracle Reports Services configuration.

Problem Description  Probable Cause and Solution 

Oracle Reports Services appears to hang when you start it.  

You might have made a syntactical error in the tnsnames.ora file and Oracle Reports Services cannot resolve the TNSname.

Alternatively, you could try rebooting in case the cause is a memory problem. 

You get the error "Daemon failed to listen to port."  

If you start up an Oracle Reports Services that is listening to the same port as an already running Oracle Reports Services, then you receive this error. It could also be a problem with your Net8 or TCP/IP setup. 

You get an error about being unable to initialize the printer (REP-3002). 

Ensure Oracle Reports Services has access to printers. For Windows NT, the System Account does not usually have access to printers. It could be that you installed Oracle Reports Services as an NT service and used the System Account or another account without printer access in the Log On As field. You must specify an account in the Log On As field that has a default printer access. This printer does not have to exist, but the driver must be installed.

For UNIX, configure the printer in the uiprint.txt file. 

Upon starting Oracle Reports Services, you get server specific error 186.  

Typically this indicates a problem in tnsnames.ora or sqlnet.ora. Check the entry for Oracle Reports Services in tnsnames.ora. A typical entry should look something like the following:

repserver.world = (ADDRESS=(PROTOCOL=tcp) (HOST=144.25.87.182)(PORT=1951))

In this example .world is appended to the name because it is the domain specified in the sqlnet.ora file. If the NAMES.DEFAULT_DOMAIN setting is not defined in the sqlnet.ora, then omit .world from the name of the server instance.

If your tnsnames.ora file appears to be correct, then check your sqlnet.ora file. Good default settings to use in this file are:

TRACE_LEVEL_CLIENT=OFF names.directory_path = (TNSNAMES) names.default_domain = world name.default_zone = world

If your protocol is TCP, then ensure the Net8 TCP/IP adapter and Net8 have been installed. Lastly, be sure that your installed version of Net8 is not older than the version that came with Oracle Reports Services. 

Error reported when opening the report.  

Check the name and extension carefully. On UNIX machines, the actual report name must be in the same case as specified in the URL. If you are using Windows Explorer in Windows, then do not hide extensions for the displayed files that you are copying and renaming. (Check View->Options in the Explorer window.) This prevents you from creating files with names like your_report.rdf.txt. Alternatively, use a DOS window for file manipulation.

Alternatively, ensure the report is located in the path defined by the REPORTS60_PATH environment variable. 

Problems running Oracle Reports Services as a Windows NT Service. 

If you install Oracle Reports Services service to run under a user other than SYSTEM, then ensure the user account:

  • Has the Password Never Expires option selected in the User Manager.

  • Has membership in the appropriate groups to run Oracle Reports Services and access the report files.

  • Has at least print permission to a default printer.

  • Can log on to a service. Choose Start->Programs->Administrative Tools->User Manager, then Policies User Rights. Check Show Advanced User Rights. From the Right list, choose Log on as a service. If the user is not already in the Grant To list, then click the Add.

When starting the service, you might need to explicitly specify the domain as well as the user name (user name and domain). If you get a Windows NT error reporting that the service failed and returning the error message number, then you can look up the message number in the Oracle Reports Services Builder online help.  

ops$ account is not working. 

For security reasons, ops$ accounts are not supported by Oracle Reports Services. If you pass a command line with USERID=/ to Oracle Reports Services, then an error is generated because it tries to use the user name of Oracle Reports Services process rather than the user name of the client.  

Database roles not working as expected. 

If you are using database roles, then Oracle Reports Services gets and then sets the default roles for the job request's database connection. If the default roles require a password, then Oracle Reports Services logs off and then back on to the database. As a result, it is best to include roles that require passwords in the report itself using the Role Name report property. Since Oracle Reports Services gets and then sets the default roles on a per job basis, you cannot share roles between jobs. This is done to preserve security. 

URL mapping is not working. 

Ensure you have a valid key mapping file. It must be named cgicmd.dat (for the Oracle Reports Services server CGI or servlet) in the REPORT60 directory, or named according to the value set in the REPORTS60_CGIMAP environment variable.

To ensure the key mapping file can be found, first try the following (a CGI example) and verify that your key entry has been correctly parsed in the resulting page:

http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60.exe/showmap?

Then try, running the report using the key map entry, where your_key is a valid key entry in the key mapping file:

http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60.exe?your_key 

Cannot shutdown the queue from the Oracle Reports Services Queue Manager. 

You should not leave the user name and password blank the first time that you log in as the administrator. The first time that you log in as the queue administrator from the Oracle Reports Services Queue Manager (Options->Privileges->Administrator), you can specify any user name and password. The user name and password that you specify the first time are the administrator's until you change it.  

Cannot run Oracle Reports Services as an NT Service under LocalSystem. 

If Oracle Reports Services is to be run as an NT service under the LocalSystem user ID, then the system administrator must ensure that the following line is in the sqlnet.ora file, otherwise the server cannot be accessed:

sqlnet.authentication_services=(NONE)  

Problems finding files.  

Since network drives are mapped to a drive letter on a per user basis, these mappings are no longer in effect when the Windows NT user logs off. Oracle Reports Services must not refer to these drives through their drive letters. Instead you should use UNC path names. For example:

\\SALES\DOCUMENTS\REPORTS)

This applies to Oracle Reports Services parameters, CGI and servlet command mappings, and each hard-coded path name in each report being run.  

The Web server reports an error opening the report output.  

If the Web server reports an error opening the report output, then check the name and extension carefully. On UNIX machines, the actual report name must have the same case as specified in the URL. If you are on Windows using the Windows Explorer, then be sure not to hide extensions for displayed files (View->Options) in the Explorer window that you are copying and renaming. This prevents you from creating files with names like your_report.rdf.txt. Alternatively, use a DOS window for file manipulation.  

Report runs fine on design platform (for example, Windows), but fails on server platform (for example, UNIX). 

Check whether the release you are using on the design platform is the same as that on the server. If they are not the same, then it could be that a difference between the two releases is causing the problem. 

An invalid package was created when trying to create access to an Oracle Reports Services report definition file in Oracle Portal. 

In Oracle Portal, verify the access controls that you defined for the printer, Oracle Reports Services server, and report definition file.

Check for the following:

  • The OS Printer name defined in the Printer Access wizard is correct. If the printer does not appear in the Required Parameters page of the Report Definition File Access wizard, then it is possible that you incorrectly entered the OS Printer name.

  • Access to Oracle Reports Services server and optionally, the printer has been created.

  • Users who require access to the report definition files, servers, and printer have been given access to them.

Make the necessary changes and then try to create a valid production package for the report definition file. You must create a valid production package in order to run this restricted report to a restricted Oracle Reports Services server. 

Reports are not running when the URL is requested. 

Check for the following:

  • Ensure the Web server is responding (for example, by trying to bring up your Web server administration page). Refer to your Web server installation documentation.

  • Ensure your CGI or servlet executable has been found and is responding. For Windows 95 and Windows NT, type one of the following in your browser URL field:

    http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgim60.exe or http://your_webserver/rwows

    For UNIX, type:

    http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60 or http://your_webserver/rwows

    A help page should appear. If it does not, then check the mapping of your_virtual_cgi_dir (usually called cgi-bin) in your Web server configuration file. It should be mapped to an existing physical directory on your Web server. You must have a copy of the RWCGI60 executable in this physical directory.

  • Ensure that the REPORTS60_CGINODIAG (for CGI or servlet) environment variable is not defined, otherwise all diagnostic output is disabled. Test this by typing one of the following:

    http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60.exe/ showenv?

    http://your_webserver/rwows/showenv?

    This also allows you to view the other parameters or environment variables.

 

 

  • Ensure the REPORTS60_PATH environment variable is defined. Check the environment variable by typing one of the following:

    http://your_webserver/you_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60.exe/ showenv?http://your_webserver/rwows/showenv?

  • Try running a simple report to your browser, by typing one of the following:

    
    
    http://your_webserver/your_virtual_cgi_dir/rwcgi60.exe?s
    erver=your_repserver+report=your_report.rdf+ 
    userid=scott/tiger@mydb+desformat=html
    http://your_webserver/rwows?server=your_repserver+ 
    report=your_report.rdf+userid=scott/tiger@my_db+ 
    desformat=html 
    
    

If the report does not display, then check to ensure that:

  • Your_report.rdf runs correctly from Oracle Reports Services Builder or Oracle Reports Services Runtime Your_report.rdf is located in a directory specified under REPORTS60_PATH.

  • The database connection string is correct.

  • The Oracle Reports Services server you are trying to run your report to might be restricted. If so, then you need to be given access privileges to the server. Contact your Oracle Reports Services system administrator.

  • The report you are trying to run might be restricted. If so, then you need to be given access privileges to run it to a restricted Oracle Reports Services server. Contact your Oracle Reports Services system administrator.

Remember that the Oracle Reports Services server must have access to the report and any external files used by the report.

When sending a report to the Oracle Reports Services server, you should only use the In Report value for parameters if they have their values explicitly set in the report definition. For example, suppose that you are launching a report from the Oracle Reports Services Queue Manager (Job->New). If you specify In Report for the Report Mode and Orientation parameters, and neither of them has a value specified in the report definition, then the job fails.  

Report does not output to the printer. 

You might have access privileges to run a report to restricted Oracle Reports Services Server, but might not have access privileges to the printer you are trying to output to. Contact the Oracle Reports Services system administrator. 

Host name lookup failure. 

You typed an incorrect URL when trying to run a report request. Resubmit the report request using the correct URL. If you are unsure of the URL, then contact your system administrator.

If you trying to run your report to a restricted Oracle Reports Services server, then the Web Gateway URL defined in the Server Access in Oracle Portal might be incorrect.

In Oracle Portal, click Administrator from the Oracle Portal main menu. Then, click Oracle Reports Developer Security and Server Access. Search for the Oracle Reports Server Access you want to edit. Confirm the Web Gateway URL on the Server Name and Printers page of the Server Access wizard.

Note: Only users with Oracle Reports Services system administrator privileges can access Oracle Reports Services Security in Oracle Portal. 


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