This topic describes viewing reports in BI Publisher, including interacting with report components, viewing alternative layouts and changing output options.
Topics:
All reports reside in the catalog. The Home page displays recently viewed reports and your favorite reports for quick access.
You can view a report in your web browser using the report viewer based on the report properties. Depending on the report properties and your user permissions, you can select and view different layouts, interact directly with displayed data, change the output type, or send the report to someone else.
The Catalog displays two main reports folders:
Shared Folders contains the reports and folders you have been granted access to based on your role.
My Folders contains the reports and folders you have created.
Use the illustrated Report Viewer to understand the different options that are available to you.
The following options are available in the report viewer. Not all options are available for all reports.
The image shows the report viewer options.
See the following topics for more details:
Reports that require parameter value input present the parameter selection prompts in the report viewer. The presentation of the prompts varies according to the report configuration. Parameters can be presented on the top of the report viewing area, to the left side of the report viewing area, as a pop-up dialog, or as prompts on the page before the report is displayed.
Use the parameter search option to search for a parameter value in a list.
Use the Flexfield Parameter dialog to enter values for the flexfield segments.
Flexfield parameter applies to Oracle E-Business Suite only. Flexfield parameters display the identifier.
The image shows the Flexfield Parameter Identifier in the Report Viewer.
When multiple layouts are available, they are displayed as separate tabs in the Report Viewer page. Different layouts can have different output types.
You can select an output option from the menu in the Report Viewer.
The View Report list contains the output types that are available for a report.
Output Types
Output Type | Description |
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Interactive | Enables pop-up chart value displays, navigable and filterable tables, and other interactive features for a report. This output is only available for layouts designed using BI Publisher's Layout Editor. |
HTML | Generates the report as an HTML (Hypertext Markup Language) file for browser viewing. |
Generates the report as a PDF (Portable Document Format) file and opens the report in Adobe Acrobat reader. This output type is optimized for printing. | |
RTF | Generates the report as a RTF (Rich Text Format) file . If you have a word processing application installed, such as Microsoft Word or OpenOffice.org, then you are prompted to open the application for viewing. |
Word | Generates the report as a Microsoft Word document in the .docx format. |
Excel (mhtml) | Generates an MHTML file that can be opened in Excel 2003 or later. Select this output type to view the report in Excel if you have Microsoft Excel 2003. This option supports embedded images, such as charts and logos. |
Excel (html) | Generates an HTML file that can be opened in Excel. Select this output type only if you are running the earlier versions of Microsoft Excel 2000 or 2002. This option does not support embedded images. |
Excel (*.xlsx) |
Generates the report as an Excel.xlsx (Excel XML format) file. If you have Excel 2007 or later installed, this option provides the best preservation of layout and formatting. Note: For output format Excel 2007, that uses the xlsx file extension, 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:
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PowerPoint (mhtml) | Generates a PowerPoint file compatible with Microsoft PowerPoint 2003. Microsoft PowerPoint 2010 does not support this output type. Choose PowerPoint (*.pptx) instead. |
PowerPoint (*.pptx) | Generates a PowerPoint file in Microsoft Office Open XML format. This output type supports Microsoft PowerPoint 2007 and later. |
MHTML | Generates a MHTML (Mime HyperText Markup Language) file. This option enables you 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. Use this option to send or save HTML output and retain the embedded images and stylesheet formatting. |
PDF/A | Generates a PDF file, which has an archiving standard to support reports that require long-term preservation. 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. |
PDF/X | Generates a PDF file, which supports pre-press 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. |
Zipped PDFs |
Generates a zip file containing the report PDF output and index files. This option is only available for reports that have been designed to enable zipped PDF output. For more information on designing a report to generate a zipped PDF, see Generating Zipped PDF Output in Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher. |
FO Formatted XML | Generates an XML file with the XSL-FO information. |
Data (XML) | Generates the XML data.
For Safari browser users, the Safari browser renders XML as text. To view the XML generated by the data engine as XML, right-click inside the frame displaying the data and then click View Frame Source. This is a display issue only. The data is saved properly if you choose to export the data. |
Data (CSV) | Generates the data in comma separated value format. The data must be in a simple <rowset>/<row> structure. |
Flash | Generates the output for templates designed using Adobe Flash. You must have the Adobe Flash Player Plug-in installed for your Web browser. |
Use the Actions menu to perform operations on a report.
The options available to you in the Actions menu depend on your user privileges and properties set for the report.
Action Menu Options
Menu Option | Description |
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Add to My Favorite |
Adds the report to your My Favorites list on your Home page. |
Edit Report |
Enables you to update the report definition. For example, you can add or create new layouts, update the report properties, or change the default parameter values. |
Edit Layout |
Enables you to update the layout you are viewing. When the layout was created using the BI Publisher Layout Editor, the Layout Editor launches in the browser. If the layout is based on another supported template type such as RTF, PDF, or Excel then you are prompted to save the template file. You can then open it in the appropriate application. |
Export |
Exports the report to the default application for the output type you select, for example, Adobe Acrobat for PDF output or Microsoft Excel for Excel output. |
Send |
Enables you to schedule the report for immediate delivery to an e-mail address, printer, or other destination. The Send action launches the Schedule Report Job page where you can select the output, destination, and notification options. You cannot send a report in Interactive mode. You must select a different output type such as PDF or HTML from the View Report list, and then click Send. |
Schedule |
Creates a job to run and distribute the report. See Navigating to the Schedule Report Job Page. |
Jobs |
Enables you to view and manage currently scheduled jobs for this report. See About the Manage Report Jobs Page. |
Job History |
Enables you to view completed and running report jobs. See Viewing Report Job History and Saved Output. |
Republish from History |
Enables you to select a previously scheduled, completed job and specific output for viewing in the report viewer. |
Share Report Link |
Enables you to generate a link that you can copy and reuse, based on the report that you are currently viewing. When you select an option, a dialog displays the URL to the report. You can control what the URL displays as follows:
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