1. User Guide and Online Help
  2. Start here
  3. Prerequisites and usage notes

Prerequisites and usage notes

The Oracle Empirica Signal application requires Google® Chrome, Microsoft® Edge, or Microsoft® Internet Explorer (IE), version 11.

Configure Google Chrome

Clear the cache in Chrome
  1. Open the Chrome browser.
  2. From the Customize and control Google Chrome menu (Customize and control Google Chrome menu) on the far right of the browser header, select More tools, then Clear browsing data.
  3. On the Basic tab, select Cached images and files, then click Clear data.
  4. To close the Chrome browser, click the Customize and control Google Chrome menu (Customize and control Google Chrome menu) and select Exit.
Allow pop-ups within Oracle Empirica Signal
  1. Open the Chrome browser.
  2. From the Chrome menu on the right of the browser header, select Settings.
  3. In the left pane, under Privacy and security, select the Site Settings link.
  4. Under Content, select the Pop-ups and redirects link.
  5. Select Add and enter the Oracle Empirica Signal URL.
  6. Select Add and enter [*.]oracle.com.

Note:

If Chrome blocks a pop-up window, it displays an icon to the right of the URL address area (Chrome pop-up blocker icon). If this happens, you can also allow pop-ups for Oracle Empirica Signal by:
  1. Clicking the icon (Chrome pop-up blocker icon).
  2. Selecting the radio button option to Always allow pop-ups and redirects from [your Oracle Empirica Signal site] and [*.]oracle.com.

Configure Microsoft Edge

Clear the cache in Edge
  1. Open the Edge browser.
  2. From the Settings and more menu (Edge Settings menu ) on the far right of the browser header, select Settings.
  3. From the left pane of the Settings tab, select Privacy, search, and services.
  4. From the Clear browsing data section, click Choose what to clear.
  5. Select Cached cached images and files, then click Clear Now.
  6. Close the Settings tab.
Turn off the pop-up blocker
  1. Open the Microsoft Edge browser.
  2. From the Settings and more menu (Edge Settings menu ) on the far right of the browser header, select Settings.
  3. In the left pane, select Cookies and site permissions.
  4. In the right pane, under All permissions, select Pop-ups and redirects.
  5. In the Allow section, select Add and enter the Oracle Empirica Signal URL, then click Add.
  6. Select Add and enter [*.]oracle.com, then click Add.
  7. Close the Settings tab.

Configure Internet Explorer

Clear the cache in Internet Explorer
  1. Open the Internet Explorer browser.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Internet options.
  3. On the General tab, in the Browsing history section, click Delete.
  4. On the Delete Browsing History dialog box, select the Temporary Internet files and website files checkbox.
  5. Click Delete.
  6. Click OK to close the Internet options dialog box.
Allow pop-up windows only for Oracle Empirica Signal
  1. Open the Internet Explorer browser.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Pop-up Blocker, and then select Pop-up Blocker Settings.
  3. Add the Oracle Empirica Signal URL and *.oracle.com to the list of allowed sites.
Alternatively, turn off the pop-up blocker for all pop-ups
  1. Open the Internet Explorer browser.
  2. From the Tools menu, select Pop-up Blocker, and then select Turn Off Pop-up Blocker to toggle it off.
Specify print background colors
  1. From the IE File menu, select Page Setup.
  2. Check the Print Background Colors and Images checkbox. This setting allows Oracle Empirica Signal to print the color key along with a graph and the shading for table column headers and grid lines.
Specify required Internet Explorer browser settings
  1. Click the IE gear icon (Gear icon):
  2. Turn off Compatibility View.
  3. Set the following Internet options:
    • Set the cache information to check every time you visit the web page. Under the General tab, under Browsing history, click Settings to open the Website Data Settings dialog box.
    • To avoid a warning message when using the Copy to Clipboard feature, add the Oracle Empirica Signal URL to the browser’s Trusted sites. Under the Security tab, select Trusted sites, click the Sites button, and add the Oracle Empirica Signal URL.
    • Enable Allow script-initiated windows without size or position constraints. Under the Security tab, select Trusted sites, select Custom level to open the Security Settings dialog box. The setting is in the Miscellaneous section.
    • To allow Oracle Empirica Signal to download data, make sure the Do not save encrypted pages to disk checkbox is unchecked. Under the Advanced tab, in the Security section. Due to a limitation in IE, when you download data you may not be able to use the Open button in the File Download dialog box. If you encounter problems opening a file, use the Save option and then open the saved file. Or, you can clear Internet Explorer's cache.

Settings that apply to all browsers

The browser's Back button

Because the appearance of many pages presented by the Oracle Empirica Signal application relies on choices made on previous pages, Oracle recommends that you do not use the browser's Back button. Choices made on other pages may not be captured appropriately. To make navigation between pages easier, while providing accurate information on each page, Back links appear on many application pages. It is preferable to use these Back links, and the left navigation pane, to navigate to another page.

Multiple sessions

Do not run more than one session of the application using multiple browser sessions or several tabs in the same browser.

Adobe ® Acrobat ® Reader

For certain features in Oracle Empirica Signal, you can download to a PDF (Portable Document Format) file. To do so, you must install Adobe Acrobat Reader on your computer. Adobe Acrobat Reader is freely distributed software for viewing and printing PDF files, and is available at www.adobe.com.

You also need Adobe Acrobat Reader to view any PDF files that may be provided as links in this help system.

A PDF file that you create for a topic might include links to open ZIP files that are attached to the topic. Security features in Adobe Acrobat Reader might prevent you from opening a ZIP file from within the PDF file. See the Adobe website for instructions on modifying this behavior.

If you are using Adobe Acrobat Reader 6.x, you might need to set link options correctly to view certain types of attachments from within a topic PDF file.

ZIP file utility
If you create ZIP archive files when downloading data, you must have a ZIP file compression and extraction utility, such as WinZip, installed on your computer. WinZip is available at www.winzip.com. You must also associate the file extension .zip with the ZIP file utility.
Microsoft Excel

If you plan to download data to Microsoft Excel®, make sure that Excel is installed on your computer.

SAS System Viewer

To view files that you create by downloading data to SAS Version 5 transport files (.xpt files), you need the SAS® System Viewer. The SAS® System Viewer is freely distributed software for viewing and printing .xpt files, and is available at www.sas.com.

Base SAS

To use files that you create by downloading data to SAS data step definition files (.sas files), you need Base SAS®. Base SAS® is a third-party application that you can purchase at www.sas.com.

Built-in reports

To run the built-in reports delivered with the Oracle Empirica Signal application, you must set up a data stub, as described in AERS(1q03: S) Configuration Installation Instructions (located in the Data_Stub folder on the installation CD).

Parent topic: Start here