Contents

Title and Copyright Information

Preface

• Intended Audience
• Documentation Accessibility
• Related Documents
• Conventions
• JGoodies License Agreement

1 Introducing Oracle BI Discoverer

• 1.1 What is Oracle BI Discoverer?
• 1.2 What are the new features in Discoverer 11g Release 1 (11.1.1)?
• 1.3 About Oracle BI Discoverer installations
  • 1.3.1 About Discoverer installations that are associated with Oracle Internet Directory and schemas
  • 1.3.2 About Discoverer standalone installations
  • 1.3.3 About Discoverer installations and the Oracle Database
• 1.4 About configuring Oracle BI Discoverer
• 1.5 How to confirm an Oracle BI Discoverer installation
• 1.6 About connecting to Discoverer
• 1.7 What is the Oracle BI Discoverer architecture?
• 1.8 About the Discoverer client tier
  • 1.8.1 About the Discoverer client tier and Discoverer Plus
  • 1.8.2 About the Discoverer client tier and Discoverer Viewer
• 1.9 About the Discoverer middle tier
  • 1.9.1 About the Discoverer Java EE applications
    • 1.9.1.1 What is the Discoverer servlet?
    • 1.9.1.2 What is the Discoverer Plus servlet?
    • 1.9.1.3 What is the Discoverer Portlet Provider servlet?
    • 1.9.1.4 What is the Discoverer Web Services servlet?
  • 1.9.2 About the Discoverer CORBA components
    • 1.9.2.1 What is the Discoverer session component?
    • 1.9.2.2 What is the Discoverer Preferences server component?
• 1.10 About the Discoverer database tier
• 1.11 How does Oracle BI Discoverer work?
  • 1.11.1 How does Discoverer Plus Relational work?
  • 1.11.2 How does Discoverer Plus OLAP work?
  • 1.11.3 How does Discoverer Viewer work?
• 1.12 Oracle BI Discoverer Navigation

2 Starting Oracle BI Discoverer

• 2.1 General information about starting Discoverer
• 2.2 Which Web browsers does Discoverer support?
• 2.3 About restricting how users can start Discoverer
• 2.4 What are the storage requirements and privileges required to start Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer?
• 2.5 About running Discoverer over HTTPS
  • 2.5.1 How to install a security certificate on a Discoverer Plus client machine
  • 2.5.2 How to import certificate details into the Java Plug-in certificate store
• 2.6 About running Discoverer Plus over HTTP for the first time on a client machine
• 2.7 How to start Discoverer Plus
• 2.8 How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Microsoft Internet Explorer for the first time on a Windows client machine
• 2.9 How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a Windows client machine
• 2.10 How to start Discoverer Plus over HTTP in Netscape Navigator for the first time on a UNIX client machine
• 2.11 How to start Discoverer Viewer over HTTP
• 2.12 How to modify the URL that starts Discoverer

3 Managing Oracle BI Discoverer Connections

• 3.1 What is an Oracle BI Discoverer connection?
  • 3.1.1 About Discoverer private connections and Single Sign-On
• 3.2 What are the types of Discoverer connections?
• 3.3 About managing Discoverer connections
• 3.4 About the Discoverer connections page
• 3.5 About specifying whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections
• 3.6 How to create public connections
• 3.7 How to delete public connections
• 3.8 How to specify whether Discoverer end users can create private connections

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

5 Configuring Discoverer Plus OLAP

• 5.1 Overview of the Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.1.1 What is the Discoverer Catalog?
  • 5.1.2 What is the OLAP Catalog?
  • 5.1.3 What properties can objects in the Discoverer Catalog have?
  • 5.1.4 What is the architecture of the Discoverer Catalog?
  • 5.1.5 Differences between the Discoverer Catalog and the BI Beans Catalog
• 5.2 Maintaining the Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.2.1 Database privileges assigned to the D4OSYS user
  • 5.2.2 Installing a Discoverer Catalog
    • 5.2.2.1 Checking the block size when installing the Discoverer Catalog
    • 5.2.2.2 Certifying Discoverer Plus OLAP with Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2)
  • 5.2.3 Uninstalling a Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.2.4 Exporting a Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.2.5 Importing a Discoverer Catalog
• 5.3 Maintaining authorized users and roles for the Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.3.1 Characteristics of the folder structure of the Discoverer Catalog?
  • 5.3.2 Folders in the structure
  • 5.3.3 Types of privileges for objects and folders
  • 5.3.4 Managing privileges as the D4OSYS user
  • 5.3.5 Ensuring that users can use Discoverer Plus OLAP
  • 5.3.6 Authorizing user and role access to the Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.3.7 Revoking user or role access to the Discoverer Catalog
  • 5.3.8 Using private versus public connections when accessing OLAP data
• 5.4 Customizing the look and feel of Discoverer Plus OLAP
• 5.5 Information to be provided to end users
• 5.6 Configuration diagnostic utility for Discoverer Plus OLAP
  • 5.6.1 Forms of output from the utility
  • 5.6.2 Description of output from the utility
    • 5.6.2.1 JDK version
    • 5.6.2.2 BI Beans internal version
    • 5.6.2.3 Discoverer Plus OLAP version
    • 5.6.2.4 Discoverer version
    • 5.6.2.5 Connect to database
    • 5.6.2.6 JDBC driver version
    • 5.6.2.7 JDBC JAR file location
    • 5.6.2.8 Database version
    • 5.6.2.9 OLAP Catalog version, OLAP AW Engine version, OLAP API Server version
    • 5.6.2.10 BI Beans Catalog version
    • 5.6.2.11 Discoverer Catalog version
    • 5.6.2.12 Authorized for Discoverer Plus OLAP
    • 5.6.2.13 OLAP API JAR file version
    • 5.6.2.14 OLAP API JAR file location
    • 5.6.2.15 Load OLAP API metadata
    • 5.6.2.16 Number of metadata folders
    • 5.6.2.17 Number of metadata measures
    • 5.6.2.18 Number of metadata dimensions
    • 5.6.2.19 Metadata description
    • 5.6.2.20 Error message description
• 5.7 URL parameters for the Discoverer Plus OLAP
• 5.8 URL parameters for an OLAP worksheet in Discoverer Viewer
• 5.9 Using the Discoverer Plus OLAP command line utility to manage the Discoverer Catalog

6 Managing Discoverer in a Multi-Machine or Multi-Instance Environment

• 6.1 About Discoverer topologies
  • 6.1.1 Discoverer topology with a single instance
  • 6.1.2 Discoverer topology with multiple instances
• 6.2 About Discoverer topologies in a multiple-machine or multiple-instance environment
  • 6.2.1 About providing load balancing
  • 6.2.2 About using Fusion Middleware Control to manage multiple machines
• 6.3 What are the prerequisites for using Oracle Web Cache to provide load balancing for Oracle BI Discoverer?
• 6.4 About using Oracle Web Cache to configure load balancing for Discoverer
• 6.5 How to configure Discoverer with load balancing using Oracle Web Cache
  • 6.5.1 How to configure Oracle Web Cache for load balancing
  • 6.5.2 How to verify that Oracle Web Cache is configured correctly for load balancing
• 6.6 About the Discoverer Preferences component in a multiple-machine environment
  • 6.6.1 How to specify a centralized Discoverer Preferences component
  • 6.6.2 How to find out the host name and port number of the Preferences server machine
  • 6.6.3 How to specify a Discoverer Preferences Server on other machines
• 6.7 About configuring the tnsnames.ora file in a multiple-machine environment

7 Using Discoverer Viewer with Oracle Web Cache

• 7.1 About Oracle Web Cache
• 7.2 What are the benefits of Oracle Web Cache?
• 7.3 How does Oracle Web Cache work?
• 7.4 When to use Discoverer Viewer with Oracle Web Cache
• 7.5 How to use Discoverer Viewer with Oracle Web Cache
  • 7.5.1 How to create Discoverer caching rules
  • 7.5.2 How to enable Oracle Web Cache for Discoverer Viewer
  • 7.5.3 How to configure Discoverer Viewer to enable maximum caching

8 Customizing Discoverer Look and Feel

• 8.1 Customizing the Discoverer Plus LAF
  • 8.1.1 About LAF styles available in Discoverer Plus
  • 8.1.2 How to change the Discoverer Plus LAF for all end users
  • 8.1.3 How to define a custom LAF for Discoverer Plus
• 8.2 Customizing Discoverer Viewer
  • 8.2.1 About Discoverer Viewer customization
  • 8.2.2 How to change the default Discoverer Viewer LAF
  • 8.2.3 How to change the default Discoverer Viewer layout

9 Managing Oracle BI Discoverer Preferences

• 9.1 What are Discoverer preferences?
• 9.2 About Discoverer system preferences
• 9.3 About Discoverer user preferences
• 9.4 How to set default user preferences for all users
• 9.5 How to set individual preferences for specific users
• 9.6 List of Discoverer user preferences
  • 9.6.1 About the EnhancedAggregationStrategy user preference setting
  • 9.6.2 About setting the timeout value for Discoverer
  • 9.6.3 How to set the timeout value for Discoverer Viewer
• 9.7 How to convert a Discoverer preferences file to a different platform format
• 9.8 About migrating Discoverer preferences

10 Optimizing Oracle BI Discoverer Performance and Scalability

• 10.1 About Discoverer and performance
• 10.2 About Discoverer and scalability
• 10.3 How to improve Discoverer performance
  • 10.3.1 How to improve Discoverer performance by using worksheets and page items appropriately
  • 10.3.2 How to improve Discoverer performance by reducing the time taken to display business areas and folders
  • 10.3.3 How to improve Discoverer performance by using summary folders
  • 10.3.4 How to improve query performance by optimizing the SQL that Discoverer generates
  • 10.3.5 How to improve Discoverer performance by using Discoverer Administrator hints
  • 10.3.6 How to improve Discoverer performance by setting the Case Storage item property appropriately
  • 10.3.7 How to improve Discoverer performance by increasing the size of the array used to fetch rows from the database
  • 10.3.8 How to improve Discoverer performance by basing lists of values on tables containing distinct values
  • 10.3.9 How to improve Discoverer performance by changing cache settings for your system
  • 10.3.10 How to improve Discoverer performance by scheduling worksheets to run overnight
  • 10.3.11 How to improve Discoverer Viewer performance by using Oracle Web Cache
  • 10.3.12 How to improve Discoverer Portlet Provider performance
  • 10.3.13 Troubleshooting Discoverer performance and scalability
• 10.4 How to take advantage of Discoverer's scalable architecture using the scalability features of Oracle

11 Diagnostics and Logging Facilities in Discoverer

• 11.1 What Discoverer diagnostics and logging capabilities are available?
• 11.2 What is the checkdiscoverer utility?
• 11.3 How to view Discoverer log files using Fusion Middleware Control
• 11.4 How to set the log level for Discoverer component loggers
• 11.5 How to copy Discoverer log files

12 Starting Oracle BI Discoverer Using URL Parameters

• 12.1 Why use Discoverer with URL parameters
• 12.2 What is the URL parameter syntax?
  • 12.2.1 About URL parameters and format masks
• 12.3 About specifying login information using URL parameters
  • 12.3.1 About using URL parameters with private connections
  • 12.3.2 How to specify login information using a Discoverer connection
• 12.4 About specifying workbooks and worksheets using URL parameters
  • 12.4.1 How to find out the unique workbook ID of a workbook
  • 12.4.2 How to find out the unique worksheet ID of a worksheet
  • 12.4.3 How to find out the connection ID of a connection
  • 12.4.4 How to find out the unique run ID of a set of scheduled workbook results
• 12.5 Examples of using URL parameters
  • 12.5.1 Example 1: Starting Discoverer Viewer
  • 12.5.2 Example 2: Starting Discoverer Viewer using a worksheet parameter
  • 12.5.3 Example 3: Starting Discoverer Plus
  • 12.5.4 Example 4: Starting Discoverer without prompting for connection details
  • 12.5.5 Example 5: Starting Discoverer Viewer and prompt for a password
  • 12.5.6 Example 6: Starting Discoverer Plus OLAP
  • 12.5.7 Example 7: Starting Discoverer Plus and opening a scheduled workbook
  • 12.5.8 Example 8: Starting Discoverer Viewer and opening a scheduled workbook results set
  • 12.5.9 Example 9: Opening an OLAP worksheet in Discoverer Viewer
• 12.6 About syntax and notation used in URL parameter tables
• 12.7 List of URL parameters common to Discoverer Plus and Viewer
• 12.8 List of URL parameters specific to Discoverer Plus
• 12.9 List of URL parameters specific to Discoverer Viewer

13 Maintaining Security with Oracle BI Discoverer

• 13.1 About Discoverer and security
• 13.2 About Discoverer and the database security model
• 13.3 About Discoverer and the Discoverer EUL security model
• 13.4 About Discoverer and the Oracle Applications security model
• 13.5 About Discoverer and the Oracle Fusion Middleware Security model
  • 13.5.1 About Discoverer public connections and the Oracle Fusion Middleware Security model
• 13.6 Using Discoverer with Oracle Fusion Middleware Security
  • 13.6.1 About specifying Discoverer communication protocols
  • 13.6.2 About Discoverer Viewer security and communication protocols
  • 13.6.3 About Discoverer Plus security and communication protocols
    • 13.6.3.1 About specifying a Discoverer Plus communication protocol
    • 13.6.3.2 How to display Communications Protocols on the Discoverer Plus Configuration page in Fusion Middleware Control
    • 13.6.3.3 How to set up Discoverer Plus to use the Default communication protocol
    • 13.6.3.4 How to set up Discoverer Plus to use the Tunneling communication protocol
    • 13.6.3.5 How to set up Discoverer Plus to use the Secure Tunneling communication protocol
• 13.7 Configuring End-to-End Secure Sockets Layer for Discoverer
• 13.8 Using Discoverer with Oracle Identity Management Infrastructure
  • 13.8.1 Using Discoverer with Oracle Single Sign-On
    • 13.8.1.1 About Oracle Single Sign-On and Discoverer
    • 13.8.1.2 How to enable and disable Single Sign-On for Discoverer
    • 13.8.1.3 An example showing how Discoverer works with Oracle Portal and Single Sign-On
  • 13.8.2 Using Discoverer with Oracle Access Manager
    • 13.8.2.1 Single Sign-On using Oracle Access Manager 11g
    • 13.8.2.2 Upgrading your Oracle Single Sign-On 10g Environment
  • 13.8.3 Using Discoverer without Oracle Single Sign-On or Oracle Access Manager
• 13.9 Discoverer support for Single Sign-On details propagation
  • 13.9.1 Introducing Virtual Private Databases, Single Sign-On, and Discoverer
  • 13.9.2 Example for using GUID or SSO user name to limit Discoverer data
  • 13.9.3 About tasks for using SSO user names to limit Discoverer data
  • 13.9.4 How to set up Worksheet Portlets to show data based on GUID, SSO or OAM user name
  • 13.9.5 When to use other options in the Users Logged In region of the Select Database Connections page
  • 13.9.6 How to modify database LOGON (and subsequent) triggers to use the GUID, SSO, or OAM user name
  • 13.9.7 How to use the eul_trigger$post_login trigger
• 13.10 Frequently asked questions about security
  • 13.10.1 What is a firewall?
  • 13.10.2 What is a demilitarized zone (DMZ)?
  • 13.10.3 What is HTTPS and why should I use it?
  • 13.10.4 How do I configure Discoverer to work in an intranet
  • 13.10.5 How do I configure Discoverer to work through a firewall?
  • 13.10.6 Can I configure Discoverer to work through multiple firewalls?
  • 13.10.7 How do I configure Discoverer to use encryption in an intranet?
  • 13.10.8 How do I configure Discoverer to use encryption through firewalls?
  • 13.10.9 How can I verify that Discoverer is encrypting communications?
  • 13.10.10 Can I configure Discoverer for both intranet users and users accessing Discoverer through a firewall?
  • 13.10.11 Can I use Discoverer with a NAT device?

14 Oracle BI Discoverer and Oracle e-Business Suite

• 14.1 About Discoverer connections and Oracle e-Business Suite
• 14.2 About Discoverer private connections, Oracle Single Sign-On and Oracle e-Business Suite users
  • 14.2.1 About conditions for enabling Oracle Applications users to create or use private connections when using SSO-enabled Oracle Applications databases?
  • 14.2.2 How to enable Oracle Applications users to create or use private connections to SSO-enabled Oracle Applications databases
• 14.3 About Discoverer preference settings for Oracle e-Business Suite

A Oracle BI Discoverer Configuration Files

• A.1 Discoverer file locations
• A.2 Configuration settings in configuration.xml
• A.3 Configuration settings in opmn.xml

B Upgrading from Earlier Versions of Discoverer

• B.1 About upgrading from Discoverer Version 10.1.2.x to Version 11.1.1
• B.2 About upgrading to Discoverer Version 10.1.2.1 from earlier versions
  • B.2.1 About using the OracleAS Upgrade Assistant for Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.2 Upgrade summary for Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.3 About upgrading from Discoverer Version 9.0.2/9.0.4 to Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.4 How to upgrade from Discoverer Version 9.0.2/9.0.4 to Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.5 How to upgrade from Discoverer Release 4.1 to Version 10.1.2.1
    • B.2.5.1 Upgrading preferences to Version 10.1.2.1
    • B.2.5.2 Updating URL references for Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.6 How to migrate Oracle Applications private connections created in earlier versions of Discoverer to make them available in Version 10.1.2.1
  • B.2.7 How to upgrade a Version 9.0.4 metadata repository to work with Discoverer Portlet Provider Version 10.1.2.1 and Oracle Portal Version 10.1.2.1
    • B.2.7.1 How to upgrade just the Oracle BI Discoverer part of a Metadata Repository to Version 10.1.2.1

C Discoverer Connections API

• C.1 What is a Oracle BI Discoverer Connection?
• C.2 What is the Discoverer Connections API?
• C.3 What is a Discoverer Connections API Command?
• C.4 What is a Discoverer Connections API Command Modifier?
• C.5 What are the Prerequisites for Using the Discoverer Connections API?
• C.6 What Command Syntax Conventions Does This Guide Use?
• C.7 What is the Syntax for Commands?
• C.8 How to Run Discoverer Connections API Commands
• C.9 How to Run a Command Directly at an Operating System Command Prompt
• C.10 How to Run Multiple Commands Stored in an Operating System Command File
• C.11 How to Create, Edit, and Delete Oracle BI Discoverer Connections
  • C.11.1 How to Create a Private Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for a Relational Data Source
  • C.11.2 How to Create a Public Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for a Relational Data Source
  • C.11.3 How to Create a Private Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for an OLAP Data Source
  • C.11.4 How to Create a Public Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for an OLAP Data Source
  • C.11.5 How to Create a Private Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for an Oracle Applications Data Source
  • C.11.6 How to Create a Public Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for an Oracle Applications Data Source
  • C.11.7 How to Update a Private Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for a Relational Data Source
  • C.11.8 How to Delete a Private Oracle BI Discoverer Connection for a Relational Data Source
• C.12 Discoverer Connections API Command Reference
  • C.12.1 -ldapurl
  • C.12.2 -ldapconnect
  • C.12.3 -wlsurl
  • C.12.4 -wlsconnect
  • C.12.5 -create_conn
  • C.12.6 -update_conn
  • C.12.7 -delete_conn
• C.13 Discoverer Connections API Command Modifier Reference
  • C.13.1 -apps
  • C.13.2 -cdesc
  • C.13.3 -cname
  • C.13.4 -dbname
  • C.13.5 -dbpasswd
  • C.13.6 -dbuser
  • C.13.7 -eul
  • C.13.8 -locale
  • C.13.9 -olap
  • C.13.10 -resp
  • C.13.11 -sg
  • C.13.12 -showdetails
  • C.13.13 -sso_user
  • C.13.14 -type

D Oracle BI Discoverer Administrative Account Information

• D.1 Database privileges granted by Oracle BI Discoverer scripts to the PUBLIC user
• D.2 Database privileges granted by Oracle BI Discoverer scripts to the Discoverer manager

E Troubleshooting Discoverer

• E.1 Additional Configuration Required to Display Graphics in SSL-Enabled Discoverer Viewer
• E.2 Discoverer Viewer reports errors when exporting using Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0
• E.3 Discoverer and Oracle Applications certification
• E.4 Discoverer reports a network error
• E.5 Discoverer reports the error ORA-12154
• E.6 Pop-up blocker issues
• E.7 Netscape Navigator 4.x issues
• E.8 Discoverer Plus reports RMI error
• E.9 Discoverer memory issues
• E.10 Discoverer Plus Relational help issues
• E.11 Configuring a SMTP Server for Discoverer Viewer
• E.12 Problem With Microsoft Internet Explorer, HTTP 1.1 Protocol and Compressed Data
• E.13 Error: Could Not Open Web Cache Connection (WWC-40019)
• E.14 Opening an exported Web Query file in Microsoft Excel containing non-ASCII dynamic parameter values
• E.15 List of values (LOV) is too long for a Discoverer portlet URL
• E.16 Specifying a parameter by index value in Microsoft Excel does not work for Web Query file
• E.17 Redirect conflicts with Oracle Single Sign-On and Secure Sockets Layer (SSL)
• E.18 Worksheet customization issues
• E.19 Graphs do not display in Discoverer Viewer
• E.20 Discoverer Portlet Provider issue
• E.21 Availability of Discoverer connections
• E.22 Passwords not accepted as a URL parameter
• E.23 Customizing Discoverer Viewer
• E.24 Discoverer Desktop and Plus worksheet font size issue
• E.25 Resource limit exception in Discoverer Portlet Provider
• E.26 "Portlet data limits exceeded" error in Discoverer Portlet Provider

Index