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Oracle® Business Intelligence New Features Guide
Release 10.1.3.4.2

Part Number E10416-07
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21 Support for Digital Signature in PDF Documents in Release 10.1.3.3

This chapter describes a feature of BI Publisher that was introduced in Release 10.1.3.3 and that applies to Releases 10.1.3.3 through 10.1.3.4. Information about this feature is also provided in the BI Publisher documentation set that has been updated for Release 10.1.3.4.

Release 10.1.3.3 introduces BI Publisher's support for Digital Signature in PDF Documents, as described in this chapter. This chapter includes the following sections:

21.1 Introduction

You can add a digital signature to PDF output documents. Digital signatures enable you to verify the authenticity of the documents that you send and receive.

BI Publisher can access a digital ID file from a central, secure location and at run time, sign the PDF output with the digital ID. The digital signature verifies the signer's identity and ensures that the document has not been altered after it was signed.

For additional information on digital signatures, see the following sources:

21.2 Prerequisites

Before you can implement digital signatures with BI Publisher output documents, you need the following:

21.3 Limitations

Use of digital signatures with BI Publisher output documents has the following limitations:

21.4 Integration with BI Publisher

The following steps summarize the tasks required to set up and use digital signature with BI Publisher:

  1. Register the digital ID in the BI Publisher Admin interface.

  2. Specify the Roles that are authorized to sign documents.

  3. (Optional for PDF templates) Add a signature field to the PDF template in which to place the digital signature at run time.

  4. Enable Digital Signature for the report in the Runtime Configuration properties and specify the position to place the digital signature on the completed document. This can be a signature field (for PDF templates), general location (top left, top center, or top right), or you can specify x and y coordinates.

  5. Log in to BI Publisher as a user with an authorized role and submit the report through the BI Publisher scheduler, choosing PDF output. When the report completes, it is signed with your digital ID in the specified location of the document.

21.4.1 Digital Signature ID Registration and Allowed Role Assignment

In this release, BI Publisher supports the identification of a single digital ID file only. Register the digital ID in the BI Publisher Admin page as follows:

  1. Log in to BI Publisher with Administrator credentials.

  2. Select the Admin tab, and then from the Security Center menu select Digital Signature.

    The following screenshot shows the new Digital Signature entry available from the Admin tab.

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.
  3. On the Digital Signature sub-tab, enter the file path to the digital ID file and enter the password for the digital ID.

  4. Enable the Roles that have the authority to sign documents with this digital ID. Use the shuttle buttons to move Available Roles to the Allowed Roles list.

  5. Click Apply.

    The following screenshot shows the Digital Signature sub-tab:

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.

21.4.2 Specify the Signature Display Field or Location

You must specify the location for the digital signature to display in the completed document. If the template is PDF, then you can either specify a template field in which to put the digital signature or you can just specify a location on the document using Runtime Configuration properties. If the template is RTF, then you can only specify a location; you cannot specify a field.

21.4.2.1 Designating a Field in a PDF Template for the Digital Signature

If the template is a PDF, then you can designate an existing field in which to place the digital signature or insert a new signature field on the form.

To add a signature field:

  1. Open the template in Adobe Acrobat Professional.

  2. Select Sign from the toolbar and select Create a Blank Signature Field. The following figure displays this selection from the Adobe Acrobat Professional toolbar.

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.
  3. Draw the signature field in the desired location on the template. When you are finished drawing (that is, when you release the mouse button), the Digital Signature Properties dialog is displayed.

  4. Assign a name to your signature field. The following figure shows an inserted digital signature field called "My_Signature."

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.
  5. Save the template.

Now perform the following task to configure BI Publisher to insert the digital signature to this field.

To upload the template and configure the report:

  1. Log in to BI Publisher with Developer or Administrator credentials.

  2. Upload the template to the appropriate report definition.

    1. Navigate to the report.

    2. Select the Edit link.

    3. From the Report definition pane select Layouts.

    4. Select Browse to locate the template, then select Upload.

    5. After the template uploads successfully, with Layouts still selected on the Report definition pane, select New to add a layout.

    6. In the General Settings of the Layout definition, enter a Name for the layout, then select the uploaded template from the list. Select the appropriate Template Type and Output Formats.

    7. Click Save.

  3. Select the Configure link for the report.

  4. Scroll down to the PDF Digital Signature group of properties.

  5. Set Enable Digital Signature to True.

  6. Enter the field name from the PDF template for the property Existing signature field name.

    The following screenshot shows the "My_Signature" field name entered into the properties field.

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.
  7. Select Apply.

    Note that the run-time properties that you have just set are at the report level and not the template level. Therefore any templates associated with the report now include the digital signature as specified in the Runtime Configuration properties for the report. When an Existing signature field name is specified, the template must contain the field for the signature to be applied.

21.4.2.2 Specifying a Location in the Document to Insert the Digital Signature (for RTF and PDF Templates)

When you specify a location in the document to place the digital signature, you can either specify a general location (Top Left, Top Center, or Top Right) or you can specify x and y coordinates in the document. You can also specify the field height and width. This is done through properties on the Runtime Configuration page. Therefore you do not need to alter the template to include a digital signature.

  1. Log in to BI Publisher with Developer or Administrator credentials.

  2. Navigate to the report that allows authorized users to sign with the digital ID.

  3. Select the Configure link for the report.

  4. Scroll to the PDF Digital Signature group of properties.

  5. Set Enable Digital Signature to True.

  6. Specify the location in the document where you want the digital signature to display by setting the appropriate properties as follows (note that the signature is inserted on the first page of the document only):

    • Existing signature field name – does not apply to this method.

    • Signature field location – provides a list that contains the following values: Top Left, Top Center, Top Right. Choose one of these general locations and BI Publisher inserts the digital signature to the output document sized and positioned appropriately. If you set this property, then do not enter X and Y coordinates or width and height properties.

    • Signature field X coordinate – using the left edge of the document as the zero point of the X axis, enter the position in points for placing the digital signature from the left. For example, if you want the digital signature to be placed horizontally in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 306.

    • Signature field Y coordinate – using the bottom edge of the document as the zero point of the Y axis, enter the position in points for placing the digital signature from the bottom. For example, if you want the digital signature to be placed vertically in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 396.

    • Signature field width – enter in points the desired width of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are setting the X and Y coordinates.

    • Signature field height – enter in points the desired height of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are setting the X and Y coordinates.

    The following screenshot shows a report configured to place the digital signature at specific x and y coordinates in the document.

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.

21.4.3 Running and Signing Reports with the Digital Signature

Users assigned a role with the digital signature privilege can attach the digital signature to their generated reports. The digital signature can only be inserted on scheduled reports.

  1. Log in to BI Publisher as a user with a role granted digital signature privileges.

  2. Navigate to the report that has been enabled for digital signature and select Schedule.

  3. Complete the scheduler fields, selecting PDF output, and then submit the job.

  4. The completed PDF displays the digital signature.

21.4.4 Additional PDF Security Features

BI Publisher also supports secured PDF to prevent unauthorized users from opening, printing, updating or cutting and pasting the PDF document contents. Digital signature is also supported for PDF reports configured with these security features enabled.

Users with the Developer or Administrator role can change PDF security settings for a report. To set PDF security properties, select the Configure link for the report. For more information about the PDF security properties, see the topic "Setting Run-time Properties" in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide.