If you do not already have the Express Connection Editor installed and you
do not want to install it, then you can create XCF files manually using a text
editor. You must also create the xconnect.ini
file, which specifies
the location of the XCF files.
To create an XCF file manually:
Navigate to the /olap
subdirectory in the ORACLE_HOME
directory in which Oracle Reports is installed.
In the /olap
subdirectory, create a subdirectory called ecf901
.
In this document, locate the sample file that is closest to the XCF file that you need to create.
Open a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad.
Either cut and paste the text from this document or type the text of the XCF file into the text editor.
Edit the settings of the file as appropriate, using the information that is provided under XCF file settings, below.
Save your changes, giving the file any name that you want and including
the .xcf
extension. Ensure that you save the file into the
/olap/ecf901
subdirectory in the ORACLE_HOME
directory
in which Oracle Reports is installed.
Begin the process of creating the xconnect.ini
file by creating
an empty document in a text editor such as Microsoft Notepad.
Edit the file to contain the following contents, substituting the name
of the ORACLE_HOME
directory in which Oracle Reports is installed
for ORACLE_HOME
:
[General]
ConnectionPath=d:\ORACLE_HOME\olap\ecf901;
Tip: Use semicolons to separate multiple directory specifications
for ConnectionPath
, if you want to store connection files in
multiple locations.
xconnect.ini
. Ensure that
you save the file into the /olap/ecf901
subdirectory in the ORACLE_HOME
directory in which Oracle Reports is installed.The following table briefly describes the main settings in any XCF file. The next table describes the settings that apply only to connections through Oracle Express Relational Access Manager. All these settings are described in more detail in the online help for the Express Connection Editor and in the Oracle Express Database Administration Guide.
Setting | Description |
ConnectionType |
Enter the type of connection:
|
ServerDescription |
Enter the description for this connection. The description is visible to users when they choose which connection to make to Express Server. Therefore, you should make the description no more than approximately 40 characters. |
ServerVersion |
Enter 1 for Express Server 6.x. No other values
are applicable to connections from Oracle Reports. |
ServerType |
Enter 1 for Express Server 6.x. No other values
are applicable to connections from Oracle Reports. |
ServerLogin |
See the list that follows this table for a description of this setting. |
ServerString |
Enter the name of the server machine on which Express Server 6.x is running. Note: The Express Connection Editor includes more than just the server machine name in the connection file, which is unnecessary for connections from Oracle Reports. |
The following list describes the values for the ServerLogin
setting.
For this setting, you enter the authentication type for this connection:
0
for None, no authentication is required.
-1
for Host (Server Login), which specifies host authentication
with a machine login. Use host authentication when the client machine is
not on the Microsoft network. Use this setting when the server machine is
not in the domain (and/or if there is no domain account) and the user has
a server machine account. Only the user ID and password are required for
logging into the server machine.
-2
for Host (Domain Login), which specifies host authentication
with a domain login. Use host authentication when the client machine is
not on the Microsoft network. Use this setting when the server machine is
within the domain and the user has a domain account. The domain name, user
ID, and password are required for logging into the server machine.
The following settings apply to domain authentication with a domain login. Domain
authentication is the preferred way of authenticating clients for Windows NT
Server and for Express Server 6.x. If you want to use domain authentication,
then the client and the server must be on the Microsoft network. Also, you must
have a domain account within the same domain that the server machine is on.
The domain name, user ID, and password are required for logging into the server
machine.
1
for domain authentication with connection, which specifies
that a user's identification is checked when connecting to Express Server.
A user must have logged into the domain with a valid user name and password.
2
for domain authentication with call, which specifies that
a user's identification is checked on every call to Express Server.
3
for domain authentication with packet, which specifies
that a user's identification is checked on every packet sent to Express
Server.
4
for domain authentication with integrity, which specifies
that a calculated cryptographic checksum is attached to every packet so
that any tampering with the packet can be detected. A user's identification
and the checksum is checked on every packet sent to Express Server. If the
checksum received does not match the checksum sent, then the packet is discarded.
5
for domain authentication with privacy, which specifies
that the packet is encrypted. This option also uses the security measures
that are available with the integrity option.
The following table briefly describes the Oracle Express Relational Access
Manager settings in a connection file, which appear after the main settings
that are described in the previous table.
Setting | Description |
ConnectionType |
Enter 0 . No other values are applicable to connections
from Oracle Reports. |
MasterDB |
Enter the name of the Relational Access Manager database to attach initially. You must specify only the database file name. You can get the database name in either of the following ways:
This database must reside in a folder that is included in the path list
in |
PromptforExpressID |
Enter 1 to prompt for an Express user ID before
making the connection or 0 to not prompt. This setting applies
only when PersonalConfig is set to 1 . |
ServerScript |
Enter the complete file name (including the full path) of the
remote database configuration file on the server. This file specifies information
such as the location of code and data databases. Using UNC (Universal Naming
Convention) syntax allows multiple users to use the same connection to access
the data without having to map the same drive letter to that location. UNC
syntax is \\ServerName\ShareName\ followed by any subfolders
and/or files. |
PersonalConfig |
Enter 1 to create and attach a personal database
with read/write access so that you can use many Oracle Sales Analyzer features
such as custom measures. Enter 0 to not create this database.
To enable this setting, you must have a account on the Express Server system.
If this setting is 0 , then you log in as a guest. This setting
applies only with direct connections to Express Server 6.x. This setting
does not applies when ServerLogin is set to 0 . |
This section provides samples of three types of connection files. You can use these samples as the basis for creating connection files manually.
Sample for connecting without using authenticationThe following example shows a sample XCF file for connecting to Express Server without using authentication.
[Express]
ConnectionType=0
ServerDescription=expservername ExpSrv6.3.0.2 without authentication
ServerVersion=1
ServerType=1
ServerLogin=0
ServerString=expservername
Sample for connecting with using authentication
The following example shows a sample XCF file for connecting to Express Server using authentication.
[Express]
ConnectionType=0
ServerDescription= expservername ExpSrv6.3.0.2 with authentication
ServerVersion=1
ServerType=1
ServerLogin=-1
ServerString=expservername
Sample for connecting with Oracle Express Relational Access Manager
The following example shows a sample XCF file for connecting through Oracle Express Relational Access Manager (RAM).
[Express]
ConnectionType=1
ServerDescription=expservername ExpSrv6.3.0 with RAM
ServerVersion=1
ServerType=1
ServerLogin=-1
ServerString= expservername
[Relational Access Manager]
ConnectionType=0
MasterDB=d:\RAM\dram.db
PromptForExpressID=0
ServerScript=d:\RAM\ram.rdc
PersonalConfig=0
The Express pluggable data source does not support using password-protected Express databases files.
The maximum number of dimensions for an Express query is 10.
You might see the following message:
XR-2005: Express Server cannot execute a command that is specified
by the query. The command is invalid.
This message can be generated for very large queries (row counts in the
millions) if the SNAPI buffer is not sufficiently large. To increase the
buffer size from the default of 2MB, create or edit the xrpdsprefs.ora
file in the ORACLE_HOME/reports/jlib
directory and
add the following line:
options.snapi.FetchAlloc=size
where size
is a value greater that 2M (or 2000K,
or 2,000,000), as shown in the following example:
options.snapi.FetchAlloc=10M
For complete information on this option, refer to Specifying a buffer size for Express data.
When your Oracle database and Express Server are installed on the same
Solaris machine and the Express connection specifies an Authentication Type
of None
, you may see the following error when running a report
that contains Express data:
ORA-20004: Failed to attach to an Express database.
This error indicates that there is an access problem with the Express
database. When the Authentication type is set to None
and your
Oracle database and Express Server are on the same machine, the SNAPI connection
uses the user of the process that is establishing the connection. In this
configuration, it is the user that started the Oracle database. Refer to
the Oracle Express Server Installation and Configuration Guide for Solaris
for information on accessing Express databases.
If you suspect language incompatibilities between Oracle Reports Developer and the data from Express Server, then whenever possible, ensure that the following settings all specify the same language/character set:
If your environment does not permit these settings to match, then you should
add the options.data.XPCharSet
line to the xrpdsprefs.ora
file and specify the language/character set for the data in the Express
database. The format of this setting matches that of the NLS_LANG
setting and a sample setting is as follows:
options.data.XPCharSet=JAPANESE_JAPAN.JA16SJIS
About configuring the Express data source
Preparing for Express connections
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