1. Designing Pixel-Perfect Reports in Oracle Transactional Business Intelligence
  2. Create Pixel-Perfect Reports and Layouts
  3. Create RTF Templates Using the Template Builder for Word
  4. Access Data for Building Templates

Access Data for Building Templates

The data model defines the XML format that is merged with the RTF template. The Template Builder requires sample data to build the template. You must load sample data to use most of the template builder functionality.

If you are not connected to Publisher, then use the procedure in Load XML Data from a Local File. If you are connected, then use the procedure in Load Data from the Publisher Catalog.

Load XML Data from a Local File

One method of loading data to the Template Builder is to save a sample of the report data to a local directory.

If you do not have access to the report data model, but you can access the report, then you can alternatively save sample data from the report viewer.

To save data from the report viewer:

  1. In the Publisher catalog, navigate to the report.
  2. Click Open to run the report in the report viewer.
  3. Click the Actions icon, then click Export, then click Data. You are prompted to save the XML file.
  4. Save the file to a local directory.
  5. Use the Load Sample XML feature below to load the saved XML file to the Template Builder.

The Load Data group from the Publisher menu enables you to select and load the saved XML file to the Template Builder.

  • Sample XML - Enables you to load a sample XML file that contains all fields that you want to insert into the template as a data source. If you are not connected to the Publisher, then use this method to load the data.

  • XML Schema - Enables you to load an XML Schema file (.xsd) that contains the fields available in the report XML data. The XML schema has the advantage of being complete (a sample XML file might not contain all the fields from the data source). For the preview, the Template Builder can generate dummy sample data for an XML Schema. However, the preview works better if you also upload real sample data.

Load Data from the Publisher Catalog

You can connect directly to Publisher to load the Publisher report data to the Template Builder to use as sample data for designing layouts.

You can also download an existing template to modify it.

To connect to Publisher and load a data source:

  1. Log in to Publisher: From the Publisher menu, select Log On.
  2. After you area logged on, you can select Open. The Open Template dialog launches.
  3. Navigate to the folder that contains the report or data model for which you want to create a template.

    When you select a report, you can either select from the Layout Templates to open an existing template, select Open Report to load just the XML sample data to create a new layout, or double-click <New> to load the data to the Template Builder to build a new layout.

    When you select a data model, you are prompted to create a report in the catalog.