Configuring Layouts Using the List View
After creating or uploading the layouts for the report, you can configure settings for the layout from the List View.
The following figure shows the List View.
Applying a Style Template to the Layout
A style template contains style definitions that are applied to the paragraphs, headings, tables, and headers and footers of a report. A style template is optional and can only be applied to an RTF template file.
For more information on creating a style template, see Creating and Implementing Style Templates.
To apply a style template to this layout:
- Click Choose to browse for and select the style template.
- To apply the style template to an individual layout in the list, select theApply Style Template box for that layout in the list of properties.
About the Layouts Toolbar
The table explains the actions that you can do with the layout toolbar buttons.
The Layout toolbar buttons are described in the following table.
| Toolbar Button | Description |
|---|---|
|
Create |
Launches the add layout page to upload or create a new layout. |
|
Edit |
Launches the Layout Editor for the selected layout. This button is enabled for BI Publisher layouts (.xpt) only. |
|
Properties |
Launches the Properties page to enable the upload of localized templates and XLIFF files to associate with this layout. This button is enabled for RTF (.rtf) and BI Publisher layouts (.xpt) only. For more information on localizing templates, see Translation Support Overview and Concepts. |
|
Delete |
Deletes the selected layout. |
Configuring the Layout Settings Using the List View
Configure these layout settings using List View.
The settings are described in the following table:
| Setting | Description |
|---|---|
|
Name |
Place the cursor in the text box to enter a new name for the layout. |
|
Template File |
Displays the name of the file that was saved to the report definition. Click the template file name to download it. |
|
Type |
Displays the template file type. |
|
Output Formats |
Select the output types to be enabled for this layout. By default, all valid output types for a layout are enabled. The layout type determines the output types available. See Selecting Output Formats for the complete list. |
|
Default Format |
Select the default output format for this layout when viewed or scheduled. |
|
Default Layout |
Select the layout that this report uses by default when viewed online or scheduled. Only one box in this column can be checked. |
|
Apply Style Template |
Select this box to apply the style template to this layout. Note that a style template can only be applied to RTF template files. For more information, see Applying a Style Template to the Layout. |
|
Active |
By default a layout is active. Clear this box when you want to keep the layout as part of the report definition, but no longer make it available. When a layout is inactive it does not display in the report viewer or the scheduler. |
|
View Online |
By default, a layout is available for report consumers who open the report in the Report Viewer. If this layout is for scheduled reports only, clear this box. |
|
Locale |
Displays the locale selected when the layout was uploaded. This field is not updatable. |
Selecting Output Formats
BI Publisher supports a wide range of output formats.
Different layout types support different output types. The first table lists all possible output types. The second table lists valid output formats for each layout type.
| Output Format | Description |
|---|---|
|
Data (CSV) |
Enable this option to generate comma separated value output. |
|
Data (XML) |
Enable this option to generate XML output. |
|
Excel (mhtml) |
Enable this output type to view the report in Excel when report consumers have Microsoft Excel 2003. This option generates an MHTML format file that can be opened in Excel 2003 or later. This option supports embedded images, such as charts and logos; nested tables are not supported. |
|
Excel (html) |
Enable this output type only when report consumers are running the earlier versions of Microsoft Excel 2000 or 2002. This option generates HTML that can be opened in Excel. It does not support embedded images or nested tables. |
|
Excel (*.xlsx) |
Enable this option to generate the report in Excel.xlsx (Excel XML format). If your report consumers have Excel 2007 or later installed, this option provides the best preservation of layout and formatting. Note: For this output format BI Publisher does not apply any formatting for number and date. BI Publisher saves the formatting mask and the actual value (date or number) into the XLSX output file. The formatting is handled by Microsoft Excel. For example:
|
|
FO Formatted XML |
This option generates a XSL-FO (Extensible Stylesheet Language Formatting Objects) file. This output type is useful for debugging templates. |
|
HTML |
Enable HTML output for reports that require browser viewing. |
|
Interactive |
This output is only available for layouts designed using BI Publisher's Layout Editor. Interactive output enables pop-up chart value displays, scrollable and filterable tables, and other interactive features for a report. |
|
MHTML |
Enable Mime Hyper Text Markup Language to allow the report consumer to save a Web page and its resources as a single MHTML file (.mht), in which all images and linked files are saved as a single entity. A report consumer would use this option to send or save HTML output and retain the embedded images and stylesheet formatting. |
|
|
Portable Document Format is commonly required for reports that require printing or sharing. |
|
PDF/A |
Use for reports that require long-term preservation or archiving. PDF/A is a specialized subset of the PDF standard that prohibits elements that may interfere with the preservation of the file as a self-contained document. For more information see Generating PDF/A Output. |
|
PDF/X |
Use for reports that require formatting for prepress graphics exchange. PDF/X is a specialized subset of the PDF standard that streamlines documents for high-quality print production output and restricts content that does not serve the print production, such as signatures, comments, and embedded multimedia. For more information see Generating PDF/X output. |
|
PowerPoint (mhtml) |
Enable this output type to generate a PowerPoint file compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint 2003. Note that Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 does not support this output type. Choose PowerPoint (*.pptx) instead. |
|
PowerPoint (*.pptx) |
Enable this output type to generate a Microsoft PowerPoint file in Microsoft Office Open XML format. This output type is supported for versions of Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and later. |
|
RTF |
Rich Text Format. Enable this output for reports that must be opened for editing. |
|
Text |
This option generates text output for eText templates. Text output is available only for eText templates. |
|
Word |
Generates Microsoft Word .docx file. |
|
Zipped PDFs |
BI Publisher can generate a zip file containing the report PDF output and index files. This option is only available for layouts that have been designed to enable zipped PDF output. For information on designing a report to generate zipped PDF, see Generating Zipped PDF Output. |
Note:
Data (CSV) and Data (XML) output formats are available for all layout types. However, when you select either of these formats, no layout formatting is applied and only data is included in the output.| Layout Type | Valid Output Types |
|---|---|
|
BI Publisher template created using the layout editor (XPT) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), Excel (mhtml), Excel (html), FO Formatted XML, HTML, Interactive, MHTML, PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, PowerPoint (mhtml), PowerPoint (*.pptx), RTF, Word, Zipped PDFs |
|
RTF template (RTF) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), Excel (mhtml), Excel (html), Excel (*.xlsx), FO Formatted XML, HTML, MHTML, PDF, PDF/A, PDF/X, PowerPoint (mhtml), PowerPoint (*.pptx), RTF, Word, Zipped PDFs |
|
PDF template (PDF) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), PDF, Zipped PDFs |
|
Excel template (XLS) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), Excel (*.xls), Excel (html) |
|
Flash template (SWF) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), Flash, MHTML, PDF |
|
XSL Stylesheet (FO) (XSL) |
Same outputs as RTF template |
|
XSL Stylesheet (HTML XML/Text) (XSL) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), HTML, Text |
|
eText template (RTF) |
Data (CSV), Data (XML), Text |
|
Analyzer template (XPA) |
(Supported for backward compatibility only.) Analyzer templates can be uploaded from previous versions of BI Publisher. The Online Analyzer in current versions of BI Publisher exports the online analysis to layout editor templates (.xpt). |
Editing a Layout
Follow these steps to edit a BI Publisher layout and other template types.
-
Select the report from the list and click Edit.
-
Click the File name link to download the layout to a local computer for editing.