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Preface

1 Overview of Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer and Oracle9i Application Server

1.3 Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer in context

1.4 The n- tiered architecture of Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer

1.4.1 First tier - the Client

1.4.2 Second tier - the HTTP Server

1.4.2.1 What is a Servlet?

1.4.2.2 What is a Servlet Engine?

1.4.2.3 What is the Discoverer 3i Viewer Servlet?

1.4.3 Third tier - the Discoverer Services

1.4.3.1 Discoverer Services Software Components

1.4.4 Fourth tier - the database

1.4.5 Discoverer 3i Viewer Components and Hardware

1.4.5.1 The HTTP Server

1.4.5.2 The Application Server machine(s)

1.4.5.3 The Master Discoverer Application Server

1.5 How Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer Works

1.5.1 The Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer process

1.5.2 Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer Architecture

1.5.3 Invoking Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer

1.5.4 Processing the HTTP request

1.5.5 Scalability and load balancing

2 Running, Maintaining and Supporting
Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer

2.1 Running Discoverer 3i Viewer

2.2 Using the Discoverer NT Service

2.2.1 What is an NT Service?

2.2.2 What is the Discoverer NT Service?

2.2.3 How does the Discoverer NT service start?

2.2.4 To start and stop the Discoverer NT service manually:

2.2.5 To change the Discoverer NT service to manual startup:

2.2.6 Seeing Service Errors

2.3 Registering and Unregistering Discoverer Services Components

2.3.1 To make sure the OAD is running and responding:

2.3.2 To see the registered components on one machine:

2.3.3 To see all the registered components on the network:

2.3.4 Registering and Unregistering Components from the Windows Start Menu

2.3.5 Registering and Unregistering from the Command Line

2.3.5.1 To Register the Preferences and Session components with the OAD

2.3.5.2 To Unregister the Preferences and Session components from the OAD

2.4 Editing the End User Preferences

2.4.1 What are the End User Preferences?

2.4.2 To set End User Preferences:

2.5 Shutting Down

2.5.1 Shutting Down Individual Servers

2.5.1.1 To Shut Down Individual Servers Gradually

2.5.1.2 To Shut Down Individual Servers Immediately

2.5.2 Shutting Down the Entire Discoverer System

2.5.2.1 To Shut Down the Discoverer System Gradually

2.5.2.2 To Shut Down the Discoverer System Immediately

2.6 Adding and Removing Server Machines

2.6.1 Adding an Additional Discoverer Server machine

2.6.2 To Permanently Remove an Additional Discoverer Server machine

2.7 Setting up a secure link using HTTPS

2.8 Frequently Asked Questions

3 Installing Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer on multiple machines

3.1 What are the differences between a default installation and a distributed installation of Discoverer 3i Viewer?

3.1.1 Default Installation of Discoverer 3i Viewer

3.1.2 Distributed Discoverer 3i Viewer Installation

3.2 Performing a distributed installation

3.2.1 Confirming connection to the default Master Discoverer Server machine

3.2.2 Confirming the name of the Master Discoverer Server machine

3.2.3 Installing Oracle Discoverer on Additional Discoverer Server machines

3.2.4 Editing the Discoverer Services pref.txt file

3.2.4.1 What is the pref.txt file?

3.2.4.2 Why edit the pref.txt file?

3.2.4.3 What is load balancing?

3.2.4.4 Examples of Load Balancing

3.2.4.5 How to edit the pref.txt file

3.2.5 Editing the tnsnames.ora file

3.2.5.1 What is the tnsnames.ora file?

3.2.5.2 Why edit the tnsnames.ora file?

3.2.5.3 How to copy the tnsnames.ora file

3.2.5.4 How to edit the tnsnames.ora file

3.2.6 Editing the disco3iv.xml file

3.2.6.1 What is the disco3iv.xml file?

3.2.6.2 Why edit the disco3iv.xml file?

3.2.6.3 How to edit the disco3iv.xml file and what to change

3.2.7 Confirming connection to the Additional Discoverer Server

4 Accessing Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer From Other Web Applications

4.1 Using arguments in URLs

4.1.1 What is the format of the URL to start Discoverer 3i Viewer automatically?

4.1.2 Mandatory URL arguments

4.1.2.1 Username

4.1.2.2 Database

4.1.2.3 Workbook

4.1.2.4 Worksheet

4.1.3 Optional URL arguments

4.1.3.1 Worksheet parameter

4.1.3.2 Page number

5 Customizing Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer

5.1 Using Oracle Discoverer 3i Viewer for Customized Web Applications

5.1.1 Customize the general appearance

5.1.2 Customize the application

5.1.3 How the HTML is produced

5.1.4 Steps to Generate the HTML needed to build a specific Discoverer Application

5.1.4.1 Step 1 Browser sends URL

5.1.4.2 Step 2 XML generation

5.1.4.3 Step 3 Apply XSL

5.1.4.4 Step 4 Generate HTML

5.2 Customization Examples

5.2.1 Files needed for customization

5.2.2 Quick Customization

5.2.2.1 Quick customization attributes

5.2.2.2 Quick customization steps

5.2.2.3 Example of editing the style.xsl file

5.2.3 Full Customization

5.2.3.1 Background

5.2.3.2 Prerequisites

5.2.3.3 File Structure

5.2.3.4 Servlet Programming Interface

5.2.3.5 Customizing Look and Feel - XML/XSL Example

5.2.4 Video Stores Demo - an example of an alternative user interface

5.2.4.1 What is installed

5.2.4.2 Set up steps

5.2.4.3 Set up Web Server

5.2.4.4 Run the Video Stores demo

5.2.4.5 Modify the video.xsl file

5.2.5 Customization Summary

A Appendix

A.1 Specifying display of the Applications User Checkbox in Connect Dialog

A.2 NT Registry Settings for Oracle Applications Users