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Exporting data to other applications

Exporting data to other applications

This chapter explains how to export worksheet data and graphs in Discoverer, and contains the following topics:

• "About exporting Discoverer data to other applications"

• "About exporting worksheets to Oracle Reports"

• "About exporting worksheets to Microsoft Excel"

• "About how worksheets and graphs are exported"

• "About exporting worksheets that contain page items"

• "About accessing exported files"

• "How to export Discoverer data"

About exporting Discoverer data to other applications

You can share your worksheets and graphs with other people by exporting the worksheets to popular application formats (e.g. Oracle Reports, Microsoft Excel). For example, you might want to:

• e-mail a Discoverer report in HTML format to your manager

• use the power of Oracle Reports to customize a Discoverer report

You can use Discoverer's Export Wizard to export worksheets and graphs in other formats (for more information, see "How to export Discoverer data"). You can also use buttons on the toolbar to export Discoverer data to Microsoft Excel and HTML formats.

When you export a worksheet, you export the data in the worksheet. Depending on the export format you choose, the exported worksheet might also contain its formatting and layout information. In some application formats, the exported worksheet might also contain Discoverer items. For example, if you export to Oracle Reports you export Discoverer calculations and totals. In other words, you can view the exported data in another application, but you cannot apply all Discoverer features to the data in that application.

In Discoverer, you export data for items currently displayed on the worksheet. If you want to export data that is not currently displayed, make sure that you display the items on the worksheet before you start. If you do not want to export data displayed on the worksheet, make sure that you remove the items from the worksheet before you start.

You can export:

• single worksheets

• all worksheets in a workbook

• graphs associated with worksheets (except when exporting to Oracle Reports)

Notes:

• When you export a worksheet and a graph to Excel format, the worksheet data is displayed in the spreadsheet. The graph file (a GIF filed placed in the default drive location) can be inserted manually into the spreadsheet using Excel's Insert | Picture option.

  By default, export files are created in the operating system's default file location. For example, in Windows NT, this might be c:\winnt\profiles\user name\. You must have write access to the directory to which you export (e.g. c:\winnt\).

• Discoverer's Export Log displays a list of files created during the export.

• Your computer platform and default settings determine which application is used to open files of different types.

• Some Internet browsers impose a limitation on the number of columns that can be displayed. If you export a worksheet with a large number of columns (e.g. over 1000) in HTML format, the Internet browser might not be able to display all columns. For example, Microsoft Internet Explorer only displays up to 1000 columns.

About exporting worksheets to Oracle Reports

You can export worksheet data from Discoverer to Oracle Reports. You can then use Oracle Report's reporting features (e.g. multi-component reports, break charts) to further enhance the worksheet data.

When you export worksheets to Oracle Reports, the export file includes the Discoverer query definition used to create the worksheets. When Oracle Reports opens the export file, this query is executed and the report is refreshed with up-to-date data. In other words, you do not have to repeat the export from Discoverer to get up-to-date data in Oracle Reports.

When you export Discoverer worksheets to Oracle Reports, worksheet data is exported in the Extensible Markup Language (XML) format used by Oracle Reports. During export, Discoverer populates Oracle Report's data model, reports layout, and previewer.

Exported worksheet data is displayed in Oracle Reports. When you open an exported Discoverer report in Oracle Reports, you have everything that you need to continue to work on the report definition on a standalone machine.

The table below shows Discoverer features that are supported by Oracle Reports:

Discoverer feature	How it works in Oracle Reports
calculations	Oracle Reports preserves worksheet calculations.
format styles and symbols	Oracle Reports preserves the following worksheet formatting: font alignment text color background color NULL value substitution currency symbols format masks text style (e.g. upper/lower case, capitalization)
formatting	Oracle Reports users can add, edit, and delete format and exception formats defined on items.
layout	Oracle Reports users can move items around.
NLS	Oracle Reports must be started using the NLS settings used in the original Discoverer worksheet.
parameters	Oracle Reports users can continue to use worksheet parameters.
SQL	Discoverer exports an easy-to-read SQL statement for each report that you can edit in Oracle Reports. For example, you can edit SQL for calculations and totals.
titles	Oracle Reports preserves worksheet titles.
totals	Oracle Reports preserves worksheet totals, which are mapped to Oracle Reports summaries.
worksheet items	Oracle Reports users can edit the conditions and parameters used in the worksheet.

Notes

• When you export worksheet data to Oracle Reports, note the following limitations:
  • Oracle Reports does not support Discoverer graphs

  • Oracle Reports does not support Discoverer percentages

• If errors occur during the export process, Discoverer generates warning messages. You can use these messages to diagnose discrepancies between a report in Discoverer and the same report in Oracle Reports.

• To automatically open a file you export in Oracle Reports, files with a filename suffix of '.xml' must be associated with Oracle Reports. Because many different applications can open '.xml' files, you might have to change an existing association between '.xml' files and another application.

About exporting worksheets to Microsoft Excel

You can export worksheet data from Discoverer to Microsoft Excel. You can also export formats and formulas to Microsoft Excel. When you export to Excel, your worksheet fonts, colors, and styles are preserved in Excel.

The table below shows how different versions of Microsoft Excel impose limits on the maximum number of Discoverer rows allowed in an Excel sheet.

Microsoft Excel version	Maximum number of Discoverer rows per Excel sheet	How Microsoft Excel handles additional rows
Excel 97	65,536	Any additional rows are placed on additional Excel sheets.
Excel 2000	65,536	Any additional rows are placed on additional Excel sheets.

Notes

• When you export a worksheet and a graph to Excel format, the worksheet data is displayed in the spreadsheet. The graph file (a GIF filed placed in the default drive location) can be inserted manually into the spreadsheet using Excel's Insert | Picture option.

• Contact the Discoverer manager to find out whether Discoverer is configured to export to Microsoft Excel 95 or Microsoft Excel 97.

• When export worksheets to Microsoft Excel, you must export to a version of Microsoft Excel in the same local language as Discoverer Plus.

About how worksheets and graphs are exported

When you export a workbook containing worksheets with associated graphs, Discoverer creates worksheets and their graphs as separate files:

• one export file for each worksheet in the workbook

• one export file for each graph

For example, if you export a worksheet called Sales and its graph in HTML format, Discoverer creates the following files:

• Sales.html - this file contains a HTML version of the worksheet

• Sales.gif - this file contains the graph in GIF format

Notes

• Discoverer exports graphs as GIF files. GIF is an image file format that is common on the Web and supported by many business applications.

• You can also choose to export graphs at different sizes. You can export a graph as the same size that you see it on the screen, or you can resize the graph to make it larger or smaller (for more information, see "Export Wizard dialog: Define Graph tab").

About exporting worksheets that contain page items

When you export a worksheet that contains page items, you export exactly what you see on the screen. In other words, you export data for the currently selected page item.

To export other combinations of page items, first pivot the page items and then export the modified worksheet.

If you want to export all page items, pivot the page item to the body of the worksheet so that all page items are visible on the worksheet.

About accessing exported files

When you export data from Discoverer, you can start the application associated with the format of exported data. For example, when you export to Excel format, you can start Microsoft Excel (for more information, see the "Export Wizard dialog: Log tab").

How to export Discoverer data

You export worksheet data so that you can use the data in a Discoverer worksheet in a different application. For example, you might want to produce a Discoverer worksheet and graph in HTML format.

To export worksheet data:

1. Open the worksheet that you want to export.

2. Choose File | Export to display the "Export Wizard dialog: Select Objects tab".

3. Use the "Export Wizard dialog: Select Objects tab" to specify which parts of the workbook you want to export.

   
   
   Text description of the illustration expwiz1.gif

   For example, you might want to export only the current worksheet and its graph, or you might want to export all worksheets in the workbook.

   Hint: If you export all the worksheets in a workbook, make sure that each worksheet currently displays the combination of page items that you want.

4. Use the "Export Wizard dialog: Define File Details tab" to specify which export format to use and specify where to save the export files.

   
   
   Text description of the illustration expwiz2.gif

5. If you are exporting graphs, use the "Export Wizard dialog: Define Graph tab" to specify graph options.

   
   
   Text description of the illustration expwiz3.gif

   For example, you might want to preserve the graphs' height and width ratios, or the on screen font size.

   Note: If you export more that one graph, these options affect all graphs exported.

6. If the worksheet contains parameters, you can restrict the data that you export by entering a parameter value on "Export Wizard dialog: Edit Parameter Values tab").

   For example, you might want to export data for a single year, or export data for all years.

7. Use the "Export Wizard dialog: Supervise tab" to choose whether or not to supervise the export to confirm warning messages.

   
   
   Text description of the illustration expwiz4.gif

   For example, in Supervised mode, if you exceed the maximum number of rows allowed in a query, a warning message is displayed. You can confirm this warning by clicking OK or click Cancel to stop the process.

8. Click Finish to start the export.

   Discoverer displays the "Export Wizard dialog: Log tab", which displays a list of files created during the export.

   
   
   Text description of the illustration expwiz5.gif

9. If you want to open the first export file in its associated application, select the Open the first exported sheet check box.

10. Click OK to close the Export Log.

If you selected the Open the first exported sheet check box on the "Export Wizard dialog: Log tab", the Discoverer data is automatically displayed in an appropriate application. For example, if you export to HTML format, the first sheet is automatically displayed in an Internet browser.

Notes

• You do not have to use the Export Wizard to export the current worksheet (and an associated graph) to HTML or Microsoft Excel format. You will find it quicker to use the following menu options (and their equivalent toolbar buttons):
  • File | Export to Excel

    Use this menu option to export the current worksheet to Microsoft Excel format.

  • File | Export to HTML

    Use this menu option to export the current worksheet to HTML format.

• If you select the Open the first exported sheet check box, an association must already exist between the file-type (i.e. as indicated by the filename suffix) and the application you want to use to open the file. For example, to open a worksheet that you exported to Excel format using Microsoft Excel, an association must already exist between Excel and files with a filename suffix of '.xls'.

  How to set up an association between file-types and applications depends on your environment. For example:

  • if you are using Netscape Navigator, you set up an association using Netscape Navigator's Preferences dialog

  • if you are using Internet Explorer, you set up an association using the Windows Explorer Options dialog