4 Managing and Configuring Discoverer

This chapter applies to Discoverer Plus Relational, Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer Portlet Provider, and Discoverer Web Services. For information about configuring Discoverer Plus OLAP, see Chapter 5, "Configuring Discoverer Plus OLAP".

This chapter describes how to manage and configure Discoverer, and includes the following topics:

Section 4.1, "About Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control"
Section 4.2, "About using Fusion Middleware Control to manage Discoverer middle-tier components"
Section 4.3, "How to start, stop, and restart the Discoverer preferences server component using opmnctl"
Section 4.4, "About starting and stopping Discoverer servlets"
Section 4.5, "About enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components"
Section 4.6, "About configuring the Discoverer middle-tier and client-tier components"
Section 4.7, "About monitoring Discoverer performance"
Section 4.8, "How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware"
Section 4.9, "How to change the port on which Discoverer is deployed if Web Cache is not configured"
Section 4.10, "About running Discoverer Plus with different Java Virtual Machines"
Section 4.11, "Configuring Discoverer to export to Web Query format"
Section 4.12, "Configuring Discoverer using the System MBean Browser"
Section 4.13, "Limiting the Number of Sessions for a Discoverer User"

4.1 About Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control

Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control is part of Enterprise Manager, which provides a comprehensive platform for managing Oracle middle-tier products.

Fusion Middleware Control provides Web-based management tools that enable you to monitor and configure Fusion Middleware components (for example, Oracle Discoverer, Oracle Portal, and Oracle HTTP Server). You can deploy applications, manage security, and create Fusion Middleware clusters.

4.1.1 Why use Fusion Middleware Control with Discoverer ?

You use Fusion Middleware Control with Discoverer to:

Stop and start Java EE applications.
Enable and disable components.
Set configuration options.
Monitor performance.
Diagnose problems.

Note:

To start and stop the Preferences server component, you use an opmnctl command (not Fusion Middleware Control). For more information, see Section 4.3, "How to start, stop, and restart the Discoverer preferences server component using opmnctl".

The following table lists the Discoverer configuration tasks that you can perform by using Fusion Middleware Control:

Discoverer Management Task	For More Information, See ...
Manage connections for Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer.	Chapter 3, "Managing Oracle BI Discoverer Connections"
Start and stop the Discoverer servlets.	Section 4.4, "About starting and stopping Discoverer servlets"
Enable and disable Discoverer client-tier components.	Section 4.5, "About enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components"
Monitor Discoverer metrics.	Section 4.7, "About monitoring Discoverer performance"
Monitor Discoverer metrics.	Section 4.8, "How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware"
Change the port on which Discoverer is deployed.	Section 4.9, "How to change the port on which Discoverer is deployed if Web Cache is not configured"
Customize the look and feel (LAF) of Discoverer Viewer and Discoverer Plus.	Chapter 8, "Customizing Discoverer Look and Feel"
Search for and analyze Discoverer log files.	Chapter 11, "Diagnostics and Logging Facilities in Discoverer"
Configure settings for individual Discoverer client-tier components: Specify caching settings for Discoverer Viewer. Specify delay times for Discoverer Viewer. Specify PDF settings for Discoverer Viewer. Specify printing settings for Discoverer Viewer. Specify the maximum number of sessions, and whether Discoverer Web Services are enabled or disabled. Specify the maximum number of Discoverer Portlet Provider sessions to pool and the number of generic portlet parameters allowed in a Discoverer worksheet portlet. Specify the use of caching, printing paper sizes, PDF generation, e-mail settings and delay times (for Query Progress page and export completion) for Discoverer Viewer.	Section 4.6.1, "How to configure Discoverer client-tier components"
Specify communication protocols for the Discoverer Plus middle tier.	Section 13.6.3.2, "How to display Communications Protocols on the Discoverer Plus Configuration page in Fusion Middleware Control"

4.1.2 How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page

You use Fusion Middleware Control to configure Discoverer and Fusion Middleware components (such as Discoverer Plus and Portal). The tasks you can perform by using Fusion Middleware Control include starting and stopping Discoverer Java EE applications, enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components, viewing current session details, and configuring default preferences for all users.

To display Fusion Middleware Control:

Start a Web browser, and, in the address bar, enter the fully qualified host name and domain of the Discoverer installation to configure.

For example: http://<host.domain>:7001

Note:
To find out the port number for Fusion Middleware Control in your installation, look in the file <ORACLE_HOME>/install/portlist.ini.

Fusion Middleware Control displays the All Targets page.
Click the link corresponding to the Fusion Middleware target to access.
When prompted, enter the user name and password.
Click Login.

The Fusion Middleware Control home page is displayed.

For an overview of Oracle BI Discoverer installations, see Section 1.3, "About Oracle BI Discoverer installations."

4.1.3 How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages

You use the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component home pages to monitor, configure, and manage Discoverer installations.

To display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component home pages:

Start Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Farm Home page (for more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page").

In the left hand pane, the navigation tree displays folders that represent Fusion Middleware system components that are available for an Oracle BI Discoverer installation.
Navigate to the Discoverer folder and select discoverer to display the Fusion Middleware Discoverer Home page, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1 Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home Page and Discoverer Menu

Key to Figure 4-1

a. The navigation pane enables you to navigate to the components that can be managed by Fusion Middleware Control. For more information, see Section 4.1.5, "About the navigation pane in Fusion Middleware Control".

b. You can use the Topology button to display the topology viewer. For more information, see Section 4.1.6, "About using the Topology Viewer to view relationships between components in a Fusion Middleware Farm".

c. The Components region (for more information, see Section 4.1.4, "How to configure application URLs displayed on the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page" and Section 4.2, "About using Fusion Middleware Control to manage Discoverer middle-tier components")

d. The Memory Usage region displays performance information about Discoverer components.

e. The Discoverer menu enables you to do the following tasks:
- Display the Discoverer home page
- Monitor sessions, performance and logs
- Start and stop the Java EE applications
- Configure logging
- Display the Discoverer Administration page.
- Display general information about the Discoverer version, and path information about the Oracle Home and Oracle Instance.

f. The Resource Center region displays links to related documentation.
To go to the home page of a Discoverer component, click the name of the component in the Name column.

4.1.4 How to configure application URLs displayed on the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page

You can access Discoverer components from the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page, by clicking the appropriate URL in the Application URL column of the Components area.

For the URLs to be displayed, you must first configure the ApplicationURL parameter by using the System MBean Browser.

To configure the ApplicationURL parameter, perform the following steps:

Start the System MBean Browser.
1. In the navigation pane of Fusion Middleware Control, go to the WebLogic Domain node, and select the domain in which the Discoverer application is deployed.
2. From the WebLogic Domain menu, select System MBean Browser.
In the navigation tree of the System MBean Browser, navigate to the DiscovererConfig node under Application Defined MBeans, com.oracle, Server: <managed_server>, Application: discoverer, xml.
In the Attributes pane on the right, enter the host name and port in the Value field of the ApplicationURL attribute, in the following format.
```
http://<host_name>:<port_number>/<root context>
```
Note:
Discoverer applications might be hosted on a machine that is different from the machine through which users access the applications (for example, users might be accessing applications through an HTTP server). If this is the case, ensure that the URL that you specify corresponds to the host that is exposed to the users, and not the machine that actually hosts the applications.
Click Apply.

4.1.5 About the navigation pane in Fusion Middleware Control

The navigation pane enables you to navigate to the components of a farm that are managed by Fusion Middleware Control.

You can display or hide lower-level nodes in the navigation pane by clicking the plus (+) or minus (-) sign at each node. When you select a node in the navigation pane, Fusion Middleware Control displays the corresponding page in the right-hand pane.

Depending on the choices made during installation, the following components might be displayed as nodes in the navigation pane:

WebLogic Domain

The domain in which Discoverer applications are deployed.
- AdminServer
  
  The administration server of the domain in which Discoverer applications are deployed.
- <cluster or managed server/s>
  
  The cluster or managed server/s on which Discoverer Java EE applications are deployed.
Discoverer
- discoverer(11.1.1.2.0)
  
  The Discoverer node (Select this node to display the Discoverer pages.)
  
  Note:
  There could be multiple Discoverer deployment in a single domain, allowing users to navigate between the deployments by using the navigation tree.
Web Tier
- <ohs_name>
  
  The Oracle HTTP Server node (Select this node to configure SSL.)
- <wc_name>
  
  The Oracle Web Cache node (Select this node to configure Web Cache settings.)

4.1.6 About using the Topology Viewer to view relationships between components in a Fusion Middleware Farm

The topology viewer provides a graphical, real-time view of the Fusion Middleware farm. The Farm Topology page provides you with a high-level view of the topology, including Oracle instances, WebLogic Server instances, Web servers, and deployed applications. Status and performance information is also displayed in context of the topology viewer. You can also print the topology or save it to a .png file.

To use the topology viewer to view the relationship between components in a Fusion Middleware farm:

Start Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Farm Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page".
To view the entire topology of the farm, click the Topology button. To view the topology for a specific node, select that node in the navigation pane and then click the Topology button.

For more information, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware 2 Day Administration Guide.

4.2 About using Fusion Middleware Control to manage Discoverer middle-tier components

The main tasks that you perform by using Fusion Middleware Control are:

Stopping and starting Discoverer Java EE applications. For more information, see Section 4.4, "About starting and stopping Discoverer servlets".
Enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components. For more information, see Section 4.5, "About enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components".
Configuring Discoverer client-tier components. For more information, see Section 4.6, "About configuring the Discoverer middle-tier and client-tier components".
Monitoring Discoverer metrics. For more information, see Section 4.7, "About monitoring Discoverer performance".

Figure 4-2 depicts the management tasks that you can perform for Discoverer components by using Fusion Middleware Control.

Figure 4-2 Using Fusion Middleware Control to Manage the Discoverer Java EE Applications and Client-Tier Components

Notes

Discoverer Portlet Provider and Discoverer Web Services are displayed only if the Discoverer installation is associated with the Oracle Internet Directory and the Discoverer schemas. For more information, see Section 1.3, "About Oracle BI Discoverer installations".
For more information about the Discoverer preferences server component, see Section 1.9.2, "About the Discoverer CORBA components".
For more information about Discoverer client-tier components, see Section 1.8, "About the Discoverer client tier".

Role-based security for Discoverer configuration pages

Access permissions for configuration pages in Fusion Middleware Control are based on the security roles assigned to users.

Users who are assigned the following logical security roles can configure Discoverer by using Fusion Middleware Control:

Admin
Configurator
ApplicationAdmin
ApplicationConfigurator

All other users can only view the configuration pages in Fusion Middleware Control.

For the mapping between logical and WebLogic security roles, see "Mapping of Logical Roles to WebLogic Roles" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

For information about assigning roles to users, see "Add users to roles" in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

4.3 How to start, stop, and restart the Discoverer preferences server component using opmnctl

You might need to stop and restart the Discoverer preferences server component for maintenance (for example, when you apply a Discoverer patch. You can stop, start, and restart the Discoverer preferences server component by using opmnctl commands.

To stop, restart, or start the Discoverer preferences server component by using opmnctl commands:

At the command line, navigate to the <ORACLE_INSTANCE>/bin directory.
Enter the following command:
- To stop the preferences server component: opmnctl stopproc ias-component=Discoverer_<instance-name>
  
  Note:
  When you stop the Discoverer preferences server component, Discoverer continues to work using the current set of default preferences. Any changes made are valid only for the current session; changes to preferences made during the current session are lost when the session is closed.
- To start the preferences server component: opmnctl startproc ias-component=Discoverer_<instance-name>
- To restart the preferences server component: opmnctl restartproc ias-component=Discoverer_<instance-name>

4.4 About starting and stopping Discoverer servlets

You might need to stop and restart Discoverer servlets (to perform maintenance tasks for example). You can start and stop Discoverer servlets running on a standalone machine in an Oracle farm from any machine in the farm.

For more information about the Discoverer servlets, see Section 1.9.1, "About the Discoverer Java EE applications".

4.4.1 What happens when you start Discoverer servlets?

When you start the Discoverer Java EE applications:

If all the Discoverer servlets are running, Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer Plus, Discoverer Portlet Provider, and Discoverer Web Services can connect to Discoverer sessions and serve requests. Users can, for example, open workbooks by using Discoverer Viewer, build worksheets by using Discoverer Plus, create portlets by using Discoverer Portlet Provider, and return data by using Discoverer Web Services).

The Current Status indicator is set to Up, showing that the Discoverer Java EE applications are running.
If the Discoverer Java EE applications fail to start:
- The Current Status indicator is set to Down, showing that the Discoverer Java EE applications are not running.
- Fusion Middleware Control displays an error message indicating why the Discoverer Java EE applications failed to start.

4.4.2 What happens when you stop Discoverer servlets?

When you stop the Discoverer Java EE applications:

Discoverer Plus and Viewer users cannot access the Discoverer Plus and Viewer URLs and an information message is displayed informing users that the Discoverer Java EE applications are down (that is, a No Response from Web Server).
Discoverer Portlet Provider users cannot publish new portlets, edit defaults, and customize or refresh portlets. An information message is displayed informing users that the Discoverer Java EE applications are down (that is, a No Response from Web Server).
Discoverer servlets release system resources that they are using.
Discoverer displays existing portlets in Oracle Portal pages by using cached data.
All Discoverer sessions are terminated.
The following processes are terminated (if running):
- Discoverer Session
- Discoverer Java EE applications
Discoverer Plus, Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer Portlet Provider, and Discoverer Web Services cannot connect to Discoverer sessions or serve requests (that is, users cannot open workbooks by using Discoverer Viewer, build worksheets by using Discoverer Plus, create portlets by using Discoverer Portlet Provider, or return data by using Discoverer Web Services).
The Current Status indicator is set to Down, showing that the Discoverer Java EE applications are not running.
If the Discoverer Java EE applications service fails to stop:
- If all of the components are running, the Current Status indicator shows that the Discoverer Java EE applications are running.
- If some (not all) of the components are running, the Current Status indicator shows that the Discoverer Java EE applications are in an unknown state.
- Discoverer displays an error message indicating why the Discoverer Java EE applications failed to stop.

4.4.3 How to start and stop the Discoverer Java EE applications by using Fusion Middleware Control

To start and stop the Discoverer Java EE applications using Fusion Middleware Control:

Start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page".
In the navigation pane, select the WLS_DISCO node.
From the WebLogic Server menu, select Availability, and do one of the following:
- To start the Discoverer servlets (Discoverer Plus, Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer Portlet Provider, and Discoverer Web Services), click Start Up.
- To stop the Discoverer servlets, click Shut Down.

Note:

Alternatively, you can start and stop Discoverer Java EE applications through the WebLogic Administration Console, by performing the following steps:

Start the WebLogic Administration Console by using the following URL:

http://<host>:7001/console
Under Domain Structure in the left navigation pane, click Deployments.
In the list of deployments, select the Discoverer row.

The Start and Stop buttons are enabled.
Click the appropriate button, depending on whether you want to start or stop the applications.

4.4.4 About starting and stopping the Discoverer Java EE applications using WLST

You can use the WebLogic Scripting Tool (WLST) to start and stop Discoverer Java EE applications. For more information about using WLST commands, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware WebLogic Scripting Tool Command Reference.

4.5 About enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components

You might want to disable and enable Discoverer client-tier components (Discoverer Plus, Discoverer Viewer, Discoverer Portlet Provider, and Discoverer Web Services) for the following reasons:

To prevent new users from connecting to Discoverer
To restrict access to Discoverer components

4.5.1 What happens when you enable and disable Discoverer client-tier components

When you enable Discoverer client-tier components,

If Discoverer Java EE applications are running, the client-tier components continue normal operation.
If Discoverer Java EE applications are not running, nothing happens immediately. When you start the Discoverer Java EE applications, the Discoverer client-tier components resume normal operation

When you disable Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer,

If Discoverer Java EE applications are not running, nothing happens.
All existing Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer sessions continue to run until users end their sessions.
A message is displayed informing the Discoverer end user that the component is disabled.
Requests for new user sessions are not accepted. Users whose sessions time out due to inactivity cannot continue to use Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer.

Note: A user time out is determined differently between Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer as follows:
- Discoverer Plus uses the server process to determine user time outs
- Discoverer Viewer uses the servlet to determine user time outs
When a user attempts to access a Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer URL, Discoverer displays an error message explaining that the service is unavailable.

When you disable Discoverer Portlet Provider,

If Discoverer Java EE applications are not running, nothing happens.
New Discoverer portlets cannot be added to Portal pages.
A user cannot use the Edit Defaults option or the Customize option for existing portlets.
If a user is editing defaults or customizing a portlet when the component is disabled, they can finish the task.
Scheduled refreshes that are in progress can continue until they are complete. However, scheduled refreshes that have not yet started do not run until you enable the Portlet Provider component.
If a user attempts to add a new portlet, edit defaults, or customize an existing portlet, Discoverer displays a message explaining that the service is not available.
Discoverer continues to display data in existing Discoverer portlets using the last cached data.

4.5.2 How to disable Discoverer client-tier components

You might need to disable one or more Discoverer client-tier components to perform maintenance (for example, to apply a Discoverer patch, or to restrict user access to a Discoverer component).

To disable Discoverer client-tier components:

Display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages".
In the Components area, select the Discoverer component to disable.

For example, to disable Discoverer Plus, select the Discoverer Plus row.
Complete the following steps to disable the selected Discoverer component:
1. Click Disable.
  
  Fusion Middleware Control displays a warning message.
2. Click Yes.
  
  Fusion Middleware Control displays a Processing message.
The Status column displays Disabled for the Discoverer component that you selected.

Note:

Alternatively, click a link in the Name column to display the home page for the component you selected, and then click Disable.

4.5.3 How to enable Discoverer client-tier components

You might need to enable one or more Discoverer client-tier components after performing maintenance (for example, after you apply a Discoverer patch, or to enable user access to a Discoverer component).

To enable Discoverer client-tier components:

Display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages".
In the Components area, select the Discoverer component to enable.

For example, to enable Discoverer Plus, select the Discoverer Plus row.
Complete the following steps to enable the selected Discoverer component:
1. Click Enable.
  
  Fusion Middleware Control displays a warning message.
2. Click Yes.
The Status column displays Enabled for the Discoverer component that you selected.

Note:

Alternatively, click a link in the Name column to display the home page for the component you selected, and then click Enable.

4.6 About configuring the Discoverer middle-tier and client-tier components

You use Fusion Middleware Control to configure options for the Discoverer middle-tier and client-tier components as follows:

By using the Discoverer menu, you can perform the following tasks:
- Manage public connections (that is, create, edit, and delete connections)
- Enable users to create their own private connections
- Configure logging level for Discoverer session processes
- Select the user ID to be used in Virtual Private Database (VPD) policies
- Configure logging level for Discoverer components
By using the Discoverer component pages, you can perform the following tasks:
- Specify the communication protocol, and look and feel settings for Discoverer Plus
- Specify caching, delay time, printing, e-mail, PDF generation, Connection supported, and customization settings for Discoverer Viewer
- Specify session, and generic parameter settings for Discoverer Portlet Provider (available if the Discoverer installation is associated with the Oracle Internet Directory and the Discoverer database schemas).
- Specify maximum number of sessions for Discoverer Web Services
By using the System MBean Browser, advanced middle-tier administrators can specify values for Discoverer middle-tier configuration attributes.

For more information about configuring Discoverer and Discoverer component options, see:

Section 4.6.1, "How to configure Discoverer client-tier components"
Section 4.12, "Configuring Discoverer using the System MBean Browser"

4.6.1 How to configure Discoverer client-tier components

To change configuration options for individual Discoverer client-tier components:

Display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages".
In the Components area, in the Name column, select the link for the Discoverer component to configure.

For example, select the Discoverer Plus link to display the Home page for Discoverer Plus.

Fusion Middleware Control displays the home page for the component you selected.
On the home page, click Configure to display the configuration page for that component.
- The Discoverer Plus Configuration page has the following options:
  - The Look and Feel and Logo regions enable you to change these settings for Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Plus OLAP. For more information, see Section 8.1, "Customizing the Discoverer Plus LAF".
  - The Communication Protocols region enables you to specify either the JRMP, HTTP, or HTTPS protocol. For more information, see Section 13.6.3.1, "About specifying a Discoverer Plus communication protocol".
- The Discoverer Viewer Configuration page has the following options:
  - The UseWebCache check box lets you enable and disable Web Cache.
  - The Viewer Delay Times region enables you to specify how long to wait before Discoverer Viewer displays a query progress page, or the frequency for checking for export completion.
  - The Email region enables you to specify an SMTP server for sending e-mail, maximum attachment size, and timeout setting. For more information, see Section E.11, "Configuring a SMTP Server for Discoverer Viewer".
  - The Printer Paper Sizes region enables you to specify paper sizes available for printing.
  - The PDF Generation region enables you to specify a PDF resolution, maximum memory, and maximum users settings.
- The Discoverer Portlet Provider Configuration page has the following options:
  - The Discoverer Session region enables you to fine-tune the caching for Discoverer portlets, to maximize Discoverer performance.
  - The Portlet Generic Parameters region enables you to specify the number of generic parameters that you want the Discoverer Worksheet Portlet to expose.
- The Discoverer Web Services Configuration page enables you to set the maximum number of concurrent Discoverer sessions.
Note: For more information about configuration fields, see Fusion Middleware Control Help. You can also find more information about settings in Section A.2, "Configuration settings in configuration.xml" and in Section 10.3.12, "How to improve Discoverer Portlet Provider performance".
Modify the configuration options as required.

For more information about each option, see Fusion Middleware Control Help.
Click Apply to save the changes you have made.

Configuration changes take effect the next time Discoverer users log in to Discoverer. You do not have to restart the Discoverer Preferences server component or the Discoverer servlets.

4.7 About monitoring Discoverer performance

As the Discoverer middle-tier administrator, you might want to analyze system performance by monitoring several metrics. The Metrics enable you to easily compare the total resources used by Discoverer with other installed applications and services.

You can use Fusion Middleware Control to monitor the following Discoverer performance metrics:

Current status
Memory usage
CPU usage
Session information

You can view the Discoverer performance of all Discoverer client-tier components or of an individual component.

Note:

Metrics displayed on the Fusion Middleware Control page are based on a snapshot of performance and do not get updated automatically. To get up-to-date metrics, refresh the Web page.

4.7.1 How to monitor performance of all Discoverer client-tier components

To monitor performance metrics for all Discoverer client-tier components:

Go to the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages".

The Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer home page displays the following performance information:
- Session CPU and memory usage for each Discoverer component
- A chart showing total memory usage
Note the following:
- The CPU and memory consumption of the Discoverer servlets are not shown here.
- If the current status is Disabled, Fusion Middleware Control does not display figures for CPU Usage and Memory Usage.
(optional) From the Discoverer menu, select Monitoring and then Performance to display the Performance Summary page.

The Performance Summary page contains charts for selected performance metrics. To add or remove metrics in the Performance Summary page, click the Show Metric Palette button. Then, in the Metric Palette, select or deselect the metric to add or remove. For example, in the Metric Palette, if you click the Response folder and select the UpDown Status check box, a new chart is displayed in the Performance Summary page showing the value of the UpDown Status Response metric.
(optional) From the Discoverer menu, select Monitoring, and then Sessions, to display the Discoverer Sessions page.

The Discoverer Sessions page shows a list of current sessions, determined by the search criteria specified in the Search field.

For more information about the Discoverer session details displayed on this page, see Fusion Middleware Control Help.
(optional) Click a file icon in the View Log column to go to the Log Messages page.

The Log Messages page enables you to display log details for the selected Discoverer session.

4.7.2 How to monitor performance of a single Discoverer client-tier component

You might want to monitor metrics for a single Discoverer component. For example, you might want to find out the number of sessions currently used by Discoverer Plus users when compared with the number of sessions used by Discoverer Viewer users.

To monitor performance metrics for a single Discoverer client-tier component:

Go to the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.3, "How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages".
In the Name column of the Components area, select the Discoverer link for the component to monitor.

Fusion Middleware Control displays the home page for the Discoverer component that you selected.

The home page of each Discoverer component shows CPU and memory usage performance charts for that component. These charts are similar to the charts displayed on the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer home page, except that the performance information is now specific to a Discoverer component.
(optional) From the Discoverer menu, select Monitoring, and then Sessions, to display the Discoverer Sessions page.

The Discoverer Sessions page shows a list of current sessions, determined by the search criteria specified in the Search field.

For more information about the Discoverer session details displayed on this page, see Fusion Middleware Control Help.

Notes

CPU and memory usage of the Discoverer servlets (that is, Discoverer Viewer, Plus and Portlet Provider servlets) are not shown in the charts.
If the current status is Disabled, Fusion Middleware Control does not display charts for CPU Usage and Memory Usage.
Discoverer Plus OLAP connects directly the database, and does not create sessions on the middle tier.

4.8 How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware

Discoverer uses the same listen ports as the Oracle HTTP Server (http_main or http_ssl).

To view the ports used by Fusion Middleware:

Start Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page."
Navigate to the Oracle HTTP Server node in the navigation pane.
From the Oracle HTTP Server menu, select Port Usage.

The port number is displayed in the Port in Use column (for http_main and http_ssl).

Note:

You can also view the port numbers by using the topology viewer. In the Topology Viewer, right-click the node for which you want to find out port numbers and select Port Usage.

4.9 How to change the port on which Discoverer is deployed if Web Cache is not configured

Note: For information about deploying Discoverer when Web Cache is configured, see Section 6.5, "How to configure Discoverer with load balancing using Oracle Web Cache".

To change the port on which Discoverer is deployed:

Start Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control and go to the Fusion Middleware Control Farm Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page."
Navigate to the ohs1 node in the navigation pane.
Change the port number, as described in the "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Edit Ports" section of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle HTTP Server.

If you change a Discoverer port number, ensure that other Fusion Middleware components that use that Discoverer port number are synchronized.

4.10 About running Discoverer Plus with different Java Virtual Machines

Discoverer Plus supports the Sun Java Plug-in JVM:

You might want to change the JVM in the following circumstances:

To use a newer version of the JVM to improve performance
If a different JVM is installed and you want to use that JVM
To deploy Discoverer Plus on a non-Windows browser that requires a different JVM

Note:

If you use a different JVM, you must ensure that it is certified to work with Oracle Business Intelligence.

You can specify a different JVM in the following ways:

Edit the <jvm name = "sun" ...> entry by using the System MBean Browser in Fusion Middleware Control.
1. Start the System MBean Browser and navigate to the Discoverer PlusConfig node.
  
  For more information about using the System MBean Browser, see Section 4.12, "Configuring Discoverer using the System MBean Browser".
2. Edit the <jvm name = "<plug-in_name>" ...> attribute value.
  
  Specify details for the new JVM.
The specified JVM is now be available to use for Discoverer Plus sessions.
Edit the configuration.xml file directly.

4.11 Configuring Discoverer to export to Web Query format

Microsoft Excel Web Query is an external data format in Microsoft Excel that enables you to include dynamic data from a URL (for example, a Discoverer worksheet) in a Microsoft Excel worksheet. For example, you might want to create a Microsoft Excel worksheet that contains a Discoverer sales report for a range of dates that you specify when you open the worksheet in Microsoft Excel. The Microsoft Excel worksheet stores the query used to obtain the Discoverer data, so that the data can be refreshed automatically.

You can export data to Web Query format from Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer.

Note:

To access Discoverer data in Web Query format, you need Microsoft Excel 2000 or later.

Discoverer enables Microsoft Excel Web Query format by default using the default Discoverer URL: http://machine-name:port/discoverer/viewer. If you want to disable Microsoft Excel Web Query format or change the Discoverer URL, you must add the following preferences to the pref.txt file on each Discoverer host:

ExportToWebquery=<0 or 1>
WebQueryBaseURL=<Discoverer URL>
EnableWebqueryRun=<0 or 1>

Note:
The EnableWebqueryRun preference enables you to turn the Discoverer response on or off when a query is run in Microsoft Excel.

For more information about preferences, see Chapter 9, "Managing Oracle BI Discoverer Preferences".

Notes

If export to Web Query is enabled in Discoverer, when Discoverer end users export worksheets they see the Web Query option (Web Query for Microsoft Excel (*.iqy)) in the list of export types.
If Discoverer end users open an exported file, Microsoft Excel uses the IQY file to create an XLS file. If Discoverer end users save the exported file after the export, they get an IQY file that is converted to an XLS file when they next open the IQY in Microsoft Excel. To display a prompt to either save or open the Web Query file, Discoverer end users must do the following on their machine:
1. Start Windows Explorer.
2. Display the Folder Options dialog (for example, choose Folder Options from the Tools menu).
3. Select the File Types tab.
4. Select IQY Microsoft Excel Web Query File; then, click Advanced.
  
  The Edit File Type dialog is displayed.
5. Select the Confirm open after download check box.
6. Click OK to save the settings.
Exporting to Microsoft Excel Web Query format is not possible for users accessing Discoverer through Single Sign-On. You must disable Single Sign-On if you want Discoverer end users to be able to export to Web Query format. For more information, see Section 13.8.1.2, "How to enable and disable Single Sign-On for Discoverer."
Due to a limitation in Microsoft Excel, when Microsoft Excel end users enter a database password or Oracle e-Business Suite password, the password is displayed in readable text rather than with asterisks.
The maximum length for dynamic prompts in Microsoft Excel is 257 characters. When you define dynamic prompts for parameters in Discoverer Plus, do not exceed the 257-character limit.
Graphics bars are not exported to Microsoft Excel.
In Microsoft Excel, worksheet data is formatted by using the left-to-right HTML tag (LTR). Microsoft Excel does not support the right-to-left HTML tag (RTL).
Due to a limitation in Netscape Navigator, when you export a Discoverer worksheet to Web Query format, Netscape Navigator might not launch Microsoft Excel within the browser. In this scenario, run Microsoft Excel separately and open the exported Web Query file.
If you delete a Discoverer workbook that has been exported to Web Query format while its export file is open in Microsoft Excel, Excel can continue to access the deleted workbook until the Microsoft Excel session is restarted.
Discoverer users using a public connection do not get the Do you want to prompt Excel users for connection information? option when they use the Discoverer Export Wizard. A Microsoft Excel end user accessing this exported query file is always prompted for a database password. In other words, the Discoverer user must provide the public connection password to Microsoft Excel end users who want to access the data.
Due to limitations in Microsoft Excel, the exported font size for headings and data might be reduced from the original size specified in the worksheet.
For negative numbers formatted to be displayed with angle brackets (for example, <1,234>) in Discoverer, the angle brackets are omitted in Microsoft Excel.

4.12 Configuring Discoverer using the System MBean Browser

The System MBean Browser is a part of Fusion Middleware Control, and is used to update configuration settings for middle-tier components.You can use the System MBean Browser to enter or modify Discoverer configuration settings that are not available in Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer pages.

Note:

You should not use the System MBean Browser unless you are an advanced middle-tier administrator.

To modify Discoverer configuration settings by using the System MBean Browser:

Start Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control and navigate to the Farm Home page. For more information, see Section 4.1.2, "How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page".
Navigate to the WLS_DISCO node.
From the WebLogic Server menu, select System MBean Browser.

Fusion Middleware Control displays the System MBean Browser page.
Click the plus (+) symbol to the left of the appropriate node in the navigation tree, and drill down to the specific MBean to modify.

The navigation tree expands to display links for viewing or updating settings. Each node in the navigation tree represents settings in a configuration file.
Click a node in the navigation tree and select the Attributes tab, to display the details for a group of attributes.

For example, click the PlusConfig node and the Attributes tab to display attributes for Discoverer Plus configuration settings.
Update values of the attributes to modify by entering the new value in the Value field.
Click Apply.

4.13 Limiting the Number of Sessions for a Discoverer User

The Discoverer administrator can limit the number of concurrent sessions for a Discoverer user by using the database profiles.

To limit the number of sessions for a Discoverer user, login to the database as database administrator (SYSDBA) and execute the following SQL queries:

Create a new user profile as follows:

create profile new_profile-name limit sessions_per_user number_of_sessions;

Associate the Discoverer user to the new user profile by executing the following SQL statement:
```
alter user discoverer_user profile new_profile-name;
```
Enforce resource limits assigned to the Discoverer user by setting the resource_limit parameter to true as follows:
```
alter system set resource_limit=true scope=both;
```

For example, if you want to set the maximum number of concurrent sessions for the user disco1 to two sessions, execute the following SQL statements:

create profile db_limit_user limit sessions_per_user 2;
alter user disco1 profile db_limit_user;
alter system set resource_limit=true scope=both;

where db_limit_user is the new user profile associated with the Discoverer user disco1.

4 Managing and Configuring Discoverer

4.1 About Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control

4.1.1 Why use Fusion Middleware Control with Discoverer?

4.1.2 How to start Fusion Middleware Control and display the Farm Home page

4.1.3 How to display the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page and Discoverer component Home pages

4.1.4 How to configure application URLs displayed on the Fusion Middleware Control Discoverer Home page

4.1.5 About the navigation pane in Fusion Middleware Control

4.1.6 About using the Topology Viewer to view relationships between components in a Fusion Middleware Farm

4.2 About using Fusion Middleware Control to manage Discoverer middle-tier components

4.3 How to start, stop, and restart the Discoverer preferences server component using opmnctl

4.4 About starting and stopping Discoverer servlets

4.4.1 What happens when you start Discoverer servlets?

4.4.2 What happens when you stop Discoverer servlets?

4.4.3 How to start and stop the Discoverer Java EE applications by using Fusion Middleware Control

4.4.4 About starting and stopping the Discoverer Java EE applications using WLST

4.5 About enabling and disabling Discoverer client-tier components

4.5.1 What happens when you enable and disable Discoverer client-tier components

4.5.2 How to disable Discoverer client-tier components

4.5.3 How to enable Discoverer client-tier components

4.6 About configuring the Discoverer middle-tier and client-tier components

4.6.1 How to configure Discoverer client-tier components

4.7 About monitoring Discoverer performance

4.7.1 How to monitor performance of all Discoverer client-tier components

4.7.2 How to monitor performance of a single Discoverer client-tier component

4.8 How to view ports used by Fusion Middleware

4.9 How to change the port on which Discoverer is deployed if Web Cache is not configured

4.10 About running Discoverer Plus with different Java Virtual Machines

4.11 Configuring Discoverer to export to Web Query format

4.12 Configuring Discoverer using the System MBean Browser

4.13 Limiting the Number of Sessions for a Discoverer User

4.1.1 Why use Fusion Middleware Control with Discoverer ?