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About Oracle BI Publisher Desktop

The Oracle BI Publisher Desktop is a Microsoft Word plug-in that you can use to create a report template. A report template is a type of template that includes layout information for a report, such as the fields that the report contains and the placement of these fields in the report. Siebel CRM saves a report template as an RTF (Rich Text Format) file. Oracle BI Publisher Desktop includes layout, query, and language functionality. It separates logic from the layout, and the layout does not depend on a specific language. It provides flexibility during deployment and helps to reduce maintenance costs. It also includes documentation, demonstrations, and examples.

Figure 3 includes the Oracle BI Publisher toolbar and Oracle BI Publisher menu. Microsoft Word displays this toolbar and menu after you install Oracle BI Publisher Desktop.

Figure 3. Oracle BI Publisher Toolbar in Microsoft Word

Note the following:

• It is recommended that you use this publisher to create report templates. If you use some other tool to create these templates, then you must manually code the XSL statements and references to the data fields. This book does not describe how to code XSL statements.
• Siebel CRM allows you to use only some of the functionality the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop provides. Oracle only supports the features that this guide describes.
• It is recommended that you use the same version of Oracle BI Publisher Server and Oracle BI Publisher Desktop in your environment.
• The Oracle BI Publisher Desktop is also known as the Oracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word.

Advantages of Using Oracle BI Publisher Desktop

Oracle BI Publisher Desktop provides the following advantages:

• You can create the report layout and rules for reports, or you can reuse the report layouts for documents that your organization currently uses.
• Allows a novice user to create a report template in Microsoft Word, and then allows a business user to use this template to finalize the report.
• Makes report customization more efficient because the user can create a report without involving a developer.
• Reduces testing cycles because the user can modify the report without involving a developer.
• Allows the business user to get data, and to get it from multiple sources.
• Allows the business user and report administrator to create and maintain reports.
• Works with other reporting engines that use standards, such as Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, BI EE (Business Intelligence Suite, Enterprise Edition Plus), and so on.

Oracle BI Publisher Desktop Features

Oracle BI Publisher Desktop provides the following features:

• Template Builder. Allows you to modify and customize report templates. A user can create a template, and then a business user can use this same template to determine how to get data from the database. These users use the same template and authoring tool, so it is more likely that the business user will accurately interpret the requirements than if these users use different templates and tools. The Template Builder uses Form fields to specify the XSL instructions that Siebel CRM uses to parse XML data. A Form field is a feature in Microsoft Word that you use to create a report template in Oracle BI Publisher Desktop. To create these form fields, the Template Builder uses XML code that you create from the Siebel application and the report template. For more information about using the template builder, see Process of Creating Custom Reports.
• Template Viewer. Allows you to use sample data to preview the report in multiple output formats.
• Excel Analyzer. Allows you to do the following work:
  • Export report query results to an Excel spreadsheet.
  • Log in to Oracle BI Publisher Desktop from Excel to refresh your data, apply new parameters, and apply a template to the report data.
  • Create a template in Excel, upload it to the Oracle BI Publisher repository, and then access and run the report from Excel.

    Excel Analyzer is available only in a connected client. For more information, see About the Siebel Reports Architecture.

For more information about using Oracle BI Publisher Desktop, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide available on Oracle Technology Network (http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/indexes/documentation/index.html).