This chapter provides an overview of BI Publisher Set Up and discusses how to:
Define system properties and fonts.
Set up BI Publisher.
Assign BI permissions to users.
Before using BI Publisher, there are some set up tasks necessary to set up the environment and facilitate template design. This table lists the categories for the set up tasks:
Set Up |
Description |
Properties |
Properties for BI Publisher can be set at four levels. System and global properties should be configured as part of the initial set up for BI Publisher. |
Security |
Security is defined for creating and editing report definitions. |
Template Design |
Template Builder is an extension to Microsoft Word that simplifies the development of RTF templates. Template Builder can be downloaded from PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture page or Oracle Technical Network (OTN). |
BI Publisher Properties
There are two types of properties used in BI Publisher:
System Properties |
System level properties are set in the xdo.cfg file. System level properties include:
|
Non-system Properties |
Non-system or functional properties are set in PeopleSoft Pure Internet Architecture. |
Property Definition Levels
There are four levels where properties are defined, this table lists the levels:
Level |
Description |
Location |
System properties and fonts |
System properties and fonts. |
xdo.cfg file |
Global properties |
Global properties are shared by all reports and override the xdo engine default property values. |
Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Global Properties |
Report properties |
Properties are defined in the report definition and override global properties for a single report. |
Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Report Definition, Properties |
Runtime properties |
Override report properties. |
Runtime properties are set at runtime through ReportDefn.SetRuntimeProperties PeopleCode API. |
This section provides an overview of the xdo.cfg file and discusses how to:
Set system temp directory.
Set Application Server or Process Scheduler domain-specific xdo.cfg file.
Copy fonts.
BI Publisher system properties settings are defined in the xdo.cfg file. The default xdo.cfg file is located in the $PSHOME/appserver directory, which is shared by all application server and process scheduler domains by default.
Note. In PeopleTools 8.4x, the xdo.cfg file is used to define all types of properties (system and non-system). In PeopleTools 8.50 the file should be used for system properties and fonts only. The result is unpredictable if the same property is defined in xdo.cfg and other levels.
This is an example of the xdo.cfg file:
<config version="1.0.0" xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/"> <properties> <!-- System level properties --> <property name="xslt-xdoparser">true</property> <property name="xslt-scalable">true</property> <property name="system-cachepage-size">50</property> <property name="system-temp-dir"></property> </properties> <!--<fonts>--> <!--<font family="3 of 9 Barcode" style="normal" weight="normal">--> <!--<truetype path="C:\WINNT\Fonts\3of9.ttf" />--> <!--</font>--> <!--</fonts>--> </config>
See Oracle BI Publisher Core Components Guide, Setting Runtime Properties.
By default, the system-temp-dir property is not set. This property must be set to point to a temp folder on the server. Note that temporary files created in that directory could grow very large in size depending on the size of your reports, so you need to choose your system-temp-dir for optimum system performance.
You can also specify an application server or process scheduler domain-specific xdo.cfg file. To do this, you need to change the application server or process scheduler configuration file to update theJavaVM Options -Dxdo.ConfigFile setting. For example, to specify a separate xdo.cfg file for the application server domain P8488041, change the [PS_HOME]/appserv/P8488041/psappsrv.cfg file as indicated in the following code samples and put the new xdo.cfg into the [PS_HOME]/appserv/P8488041directory.
Original line in psappsrv.cfg:
JavaVM Options=-Xrs -Dxdo.ConfigFile=%PS_HOME%/appserv/xdo.cfg
New line in psappsrv.cfg:
JavaVM Options=-Xrs -Dxdo.ConfigFile==%PS_HOME%/appserv/P8488041/xdo.cfg
In the preceding code sample, P8488041 is the Application Server domain name.
If you change the content of xdo.cfg, you don't need to restart the application server or the process scheduler domain that uses it. It refreshes automatically the next time you run it. But if you change the application server or process scheduler configuration file, you need to restart the affected domain.
BI Core engine uses default fonts when the corresponding fonts are not available on the system for a particular report template. The engine looks for these fonts under PS_HOME\JRE\lib\fonts folder.
The default fonts are included in BI Publisher Desktop and need to be copied to the JRE directory. The fonts are located under the Desktop Publisher installation folder, the default is:
C:\Program Files\Oracle\BI Publisher\BI Publisher Desktop\Template Builder for⇒ Word\fonts
The following files need to be copied to the PS_HOME/JRE/LIB folder:
ALBANWTJ.ttf
ALBANWTK.ttf
ALBANWTS.ttf
ALBANWTT.ttf
ALBANYWT.ttf
This section discusses how to:
Set up report categories.
Define global properties.
Work with template design helpers.
Page Name |
Definition Name |
Navigation |
Usage |
Report Category |
PSXPSETUPRPTCAT |
Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Report Category |
Set up report categories. |
Global Properties |
PSXPGLBPROP |
Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Global Properties |
Define global properties. |
Design Helper |
PSXPSETUPDWNLD |
Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Design Helper |
Download plug-ins to facilitate offline template design. |
Access the Report Category page (Select Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Report Category.)
Report Category is a required attribute on all report definitions and Content Library sub-templates. By assigning a report category, you are actually applying row level security to the data on those components.
Report Category ID |
Enter a report category ID to define a grouping that enables users to control who can access and edit report definitions and Content Library sub-templates. |
Description |
(Optional) Enter descriptive text that provides more detail about the report category. |
Object Owner ID |
Indicate which product, feature, or application owns this report category. |
ID Type |
Select an ID type of either Role or User ID to grant authorization to. |
Security ID |
Select the authorized editor’s security ID based on the ID type. |
Description |
A read-only field that indicates the related display value for the security ID. |
Read Only |
(Optional) Select to indicate that the designated ID is only able to view the report definitions under this category and not update them. |
Note. The PeopleCode BI Publisher classes also respect report category settings and read-only access rights.
Access the Global Properties page (Select Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Global Properties.)
Property Group |
Select the property group. |
Property |
All properties available for the property group selected appear. |
Prompt |
Select the value for the property. |
Default |
Displays the default value for the property. |
Property Groups
The following property groups are available:
PDF Output
FO Processing
HTML Output
PDF Security
PDF Template
PeopleTools Settings
RTF Output
RTF Template
See Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher User's Guide, Setting Runtime Properties for details on the properties.
Note. The Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher User's Guide (XDOUserGuide.pdf) is downloaded with Template Builder for Word and available in the directory selected for download. For example, C:\Program Files\Oracle\BI Publisher\BI Publisher Desktop\Template Builder for Word\doc\XDOUserGuide.pdf.
PeopleTools Settings
The properties in PeopleTools Settings control report attributes that are specific to PeopleSoft implementation of BI Publisher.
psxp_pdf_optimized |
This property controls whether or not the core engine uses the "optimized" PDF Form Processing feature. This increases the efficiency and performance of PDF-template based reports, while disabling certain features. Valid values are:
|
psxp_debug |
This property controls whether or not to leave temporary files on the application server or the process scheduler server for debugging purpose. It is recommended to set this property at the report definition level to debug a specific report. Valid values are:
Note. If this property is set to true, remember to change it back to False when debugging is completed. |
psxp_usedefaultoutdestination |
This property is used to indicate that default processing directory is exposed to the OutDestination property even if this value has not been previously set. The default value of is False.
|
psxp_nocdatafields |
This property is used to indicate if character fields should not be wrapped in CDATA xml sections. By default, Query and Connected Query use CDATA xml sections for all character fields. Use the Text field to indicate any fields that should not be wrapped in CDATA. This is necessary for any rich text fields. |
Editing PDF Output
In previous releases the ability to edit PDF output was defined on the Report Definition Output page using the PDF report output may be edited check box. Starting with PeopleTools 8.50, the set properties pdf-no-changing-the-docment and pdf-security are set either on the Global Properties page for all reports or on the Report Properties page for a specific report.
To allow editing of PDF reports, the properties for the property group PDF Security should be set as follows:
Property |
Value |
pdf-security |
True |
pdf-encryption-level |
0 |
pdf-no-changing-the-docment |
False |
Note. It is recommended to set these properties at the report definition level.
Access the Design Helper page (Select Reporting Tools, BI Publisher, Setup, Design Helper.)
During template creation, a design helper facilitates the insertion of application data tag placeholders into your templates. A schema or sample data file is required for using a design helper. If you use a sample data file, you can preview your template offline during the design process.
Two template design helpers are available: one for designing RTF reports (MS Word Template Builder) and one for the PDF template that gets embedded as a JavaScript inside the PDF template itself when you upload the template to PeopleTools.
This page enables users to download a plug-in for Microsoft Word to facilitate offline RTF template design. Select the link to download the tool.
The file bip_desktop.zip is downloaded. Unzip the file, which will contain a folder BIP_DESKTOP. In this folder, select BIPublisherDesktop.exe.
Included in the BI Publisher desktop plug-in setup, multiple directories are created that contain documentation, samples, tutorial, and demos. The program is also added to the Start menu.
See Using PDF Templates.
BI Publisher menu access is permission-list driven and depends on permission list and role assignment. PeopleTools delivers permission-list security and roles for BI Publisher report developers and BI Publisher power users.
Permission list PTPT2600 is intended for report developers. Users assigned a role with this permission list have access to all BI Publisher components, including setup capability on the advanced feature Report Definition Bursting page.
Permission list PTPT2500 is intended for power users and provides access to Query data sources for ad hoc reporting through Query Report Viewer and Query Report Scheduler. This permission list also provides access to report definitions and to the Content Library, though access to the report definition bursting information is view-only.
Users assigned to other permission lists and roles, such as permission list PTPT1000, can have access only to the BI Publisher Report Repository.
This table illustrates delivered permission-list security for BI Publisher:
Component |
XMLP Report Developer (PTPT2600) |
XMLP Power User (PTPT2500) |
PeopleSoft User (PTPT1000) |
Report Category |
Yes |
No |
No |
Design Helper |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Global Properties |
Yes |
No |
No |
Data Source |
Yes |
No |
No |
Report Definition |
Yes |
Yes Note. Display-only access for bursting. Note. Report properties page is not available. |
No |
Content Library |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Template Translations |
Yes |
No |
No |
Query Report Viewer |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Query Report Scheduler |
Yes |
Yes |
No |
Report Repository |
Yes |
Yes |
Yes |