11 Defining Runtime Configurations

This topic describes processing properties for PDF document security, FO processing, font mapping, and specific properties for each output type.

Topics:

Setting Runtime Properties

The Runtime Configuration page enables you to set runtime properties at the server level.

These same properties can also be set at the report level, from the report editor's Properties dialog. If different values are set for a property at each level, then report level takes precedence.

PDF Output Properties

Generate the type of PDF files you want by setting available output properties.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Compress PDF output

Specify "true" or "false" to control compression of the output PDF file.

 true pdf-compression

Hide PDF viewer's menu bars

Specify "true" to hide the viewer application's menu bar when the document is active. The menu bar option is only effective when using the Export button, which displays the output in a standalone Acrobat Reader application outside of the browser.

 false pdf-hide-menubar

Hide PDF viewer's tool bars

Specify "true" to hide the viewer application's toolbar when the document is active.

 false pdf-hide-toolbar

Replace smart quotes

Specify "false" if you don't want curly quotes replaced with straight quotes in the PDF output.

 true pdf-replace-smartquotes

Disable opacity and gradient shading for DVT chart

Specify "true" if you don't want opacity and gradient shading for the PDF output. This reduces the size of the PostScript file.

 false pdf-dvt-no-opacity-no-gradient-shading

Enable PDF Security

Specify "true” if you want to encrypt the PDF output. You can then also specify the following properties:

  • Open document password

  • Modify permissions password

  • Encryption Level

 false pdf-security

Open document password

This password is required for opening the document. It enables users to open the document only. This property is enabled only when "Enable PDF Security" is set to "true". Note that Adobe's password restrictions apply. The password must contain only Latin-1 characters and must be no more than 32 bytes long.

 N/A pdf-open-password

Modify permissions password

This password enables users to override the security setting. This property is effective only when "Enable PDF Security" is set to "true". Note that Adobe's password restrictions apply. The password must contain only Latin-1 characters and must be no more than 32 bytes long.

If you set a password in the pdf-open-password property without setting a password in the pdf-permissions-password property, or if you set the same password in both the pdf-open-password and pdf-permissions-password properties, the user gets full access to the document and its features, and permission settings such as "Disable printing" are bypassed or ignored.

 N/A pdf-permissions-password

Encryption level

Specify the encryption level for the output PDF file. The possible values are:

  • 0: Low (40-bit RC4, Acrobat 3.0 or later)

  • 1: Medium (128-bit RC4, Acrobat 5.0 or later)

  • 2: High (128-bit AES, Acrobat 7.0 or later)

This property is effective only when "Enable PDF Security" is set to "true". When Encryption level is set to 0, you can also set the following properties:

  • Disable printing

  • Disable document modification

  • Disable context copying, extraction, and accessibility

  • Disable adding or changing comments and form fields

When Encryption level is set to 1 or higher, the following properties are available:

  • Enable text access for screen readers

  • Enable copying of text, images, and other content

  • Allowed change level

  • Allowed printing level

 2 - high pdf-encryption-level

Disable document modification

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 0. When set to "true", the PDF file cannot be edited.

 false pdf-no-changing-the-document

Disable printing

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 0. When set to "true", printing is disabled for the PDF file.

 false pdf-no-printing

Disable adding or changing comments and form fields

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 0. When set to "true", the ability to add or change comments and form fields is disabled.

 false pdf-no-accff

Disable context copying, extraction, and accessibility

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 0. When set to "true", the context copying, extraction, and accessibility features are disabled.

 false pdf-no-cceda

Enable text access for screen readers

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 1 or higher. When set to "true", text access for screen reader devices is enabled.

 true pdf-enable-accessibility

Enable copying of text, images, and other content

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 1 or higher. When set to "true", copying of text, images, and other content is enabled.

 false pdf-enable-copying

Allowed change level

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 1 or higher. Valid Values are:

  • 0: none

  • 1: Allows inserting, deleting, and rotating pages

  • 2: Allows filling in form fields and signing

  • 3: Allows commenting, filling in form fields, and signing

  • 4: Allows all changes except extracting pages

 0 pdf-changes-allowed

Allowed printing level

Permission available when "Encryption level" is set to 1 or higher. Valid values are:

  • 0: None

  • 1: Low resolution (150 dpi)

  • 2: High resolution

 0 pdf-printing-allowed

Use only one shared resources object for all pages

The default mode of Oracle BI Publisher creates one shared resources object for all pages in a PDF file. This mode has the advantage of creating an overall smaller file size. However, the disadvantages are the following:

  • Viewing may take longer for a large file with many SVG objects

  • If you choose to break up the file by using Adobe Acrobat to extract or delete portions, then the edited PDF files are larger because the single shared resource object (that contains all of the SVG objects for the entire file) is included with each extracted portion.

Setting this property to "false" creates a resource object for each page. The file size is larger, but the PDF viewing is faster and the PDF can be broken up into smaller files more easily.

 true pdf-use-one-resources

PDF Navigation Panel Initial View

Controls the navigation panel view presented when a user first opens a PDF report. The following options are supported:

  • Panels Collapsed - displays the PDF document with the navigation panel collapsed.

  • Bookmarks Open (default) - displays the bookmark links for easy navigation.

  • Pages Open - displays a clickable thumbnail view of each page of the PDF.

 Bookmarks Open pdf-pagemode

PDF Digital Signature Properties

There are specific properties that should only be set at the report level to enable digital signature for a report and to define the placement of the signature in the output PDF document.

Note that to implement digital signature for a report based on a PDF layout template or an RTF layout template, you must set the property Enable Digital Signature to "True" for the report.

You also must set the appropriate properties to place the digital signature in the desired location on your output report. Your choices for placement of the digital signature depend on the template type. The choices are as follows:

  • (PDF only) Place the digital signature in a specific field by setting the Existing signature field name property.

  • (RTF and PDF) Place the digital signature in a general location of the page (top left, top center, or top right) by setting the Signature field location property.

  • (RTF and PDF) Place the digital signature in a specific location designated by x and y coordinates by setting the Signature field x coordinate and Signature field y coordinate properties.

    If you choose this option, you can also set Signature field width and Signature field height to define the size of the field in your document.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Enable Digital Signature

Set this to "true" to enable digital signature for the report.

false

 signature-enable

Existing signature field name

This property applies to PDF layout templates only. If the report is based on a PDF template, then you can enter a field from the PDF template in which to place the digital signature.

 N/A signature-field-name

Signature field location

This property can apply to RTF or PDF layout templates. This property provides a list that contains the following values: Top Left, Top Center, Top Right. Choose one of these general locations and BI Publisher inserts the digital signature to the output document, sized and positioned appropriately. If you choose to set this property, do not enter X and Y coordinates or width and height properties.

 N/A signature-field-location

Signature field X coordinate

This property can apply to RTF or PDF layout templates. Using the left edge of the document as the zero point of the X axis, enter the position in points that you want the digital signature to be placed from the left. For example, if you want the digital signature to be placed horizontally in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 306.

 0 signature-field-pos-x

Signature field Y coordinate

This property can apply to RTF or PDF layout templates. Using the bottom edge of the document as the zero point of the Y axis, enter the position in points that you want the digital signature to be placed from the bottom. For example, if you want the digital signature to be placed vertically in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 396.

 0 signature-field-pos-y

Signature field width

Enter in points (72 points equal one inch) the desired width of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are also setting the Signature field x coordinate and Signature field Y coordinate properties..

 0 signature-field-width

Signature field height

Enter in points (72 points equal one inch) the desired height of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are also setting the Signature field x coordinate and Signature field Y coordinate properties.

 0 signature-field-height

PDF Accessibility Properties

Set the properties described in the table below to configure PDF accessibility.

Property Name Description Default

Make PDF output accessible

 Set to “true” to make the PDF outputs accessible. Accessible PDF output contains the document title and PDF tags. False

Use PDF/UA format for accessible PDF output

 Set to “true” to use the PDF/UA format for the accessible PDF outputs. False

PDF/A Output Properties

Set the properties described in the table below to configure PDF/A output.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

PDF/A version

Set the PDF/A version.

 PDF/A-1B pdfa-version

PDF/A ICC Profile Data

The name of the ICC profile data file, for example: CoatedFOGRA27.icc

The ICC (International Color Consortium) profile is a binary file describing the color characteristics of the environment where this PDF/A file is intended to be displayed.

The ICC profile that you select must have a major version below 4.

To use a specific profile data file other than the default settings in the JVM, obtain the file and place it under <bi publisher repository>/Admin/Configuration. When you set this property, you must also set a value for PDF/A ICC Profile Info (pdfa-icc-profile-info).

 Default profile data provided by JVM pdfa-icc-profile-data

PDF/A ICC Profile Info

ICC profile information (required when pdfa-icc-profile-data is specified)

 sRGB IEC61966-2.1 pdfa-icc-profile-info

PDF/A file identifier

One or more valid file identifiers set in the xmpMM:Identifier field of the metadata dictionary. To specify more than one identifier, separate values with a comma (,).

 Automatically generated file identifier pdfa-file-identifier

PDF/A document ID

Valid document ID. The value is set in the xmpMM:DocumentID field of the metadata dictionary.

 None pdfa-document-id

PDF/A version ID

Valid version ID. The value is set in the xmpMM:VersionID field of the metadata dictionary.

 None pdfa-version-id

PDF/A rendition class

Valid rendition class. The value is set in the xmpMM:RenditionClass field of the metadata dictionary.

 None pdfa-rendition-class

PDF/X Output Properties

Configure PDF/X output by setting the properties described below. The values that you set for these properties will depend on the printing device.

Note the following restrictions on other PDF properties:

  • pdf-version — Value above 1.4 is not allowed for PDF/X-1a output.

  • pdf-security — Must be set to False.

  • pdf-encryption-level — Must be set to 0.

  • pdf-font-embedding — Must be set to true.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

PDF/X ICC Profile Data

(Required) The name of the ICC profile data file, for example: CoatedFOGRA27.icc.

The ICC (International Color Consortium) profile is a binary file describing the color characteristics of the intended output device. For production environments, the color profile may be provided by your print vendor or by the printing company that prints the generated PDF/X file. The file must be placed under <bi publisher repository>/Admin/Configuration.

Profile data is also available from Adobe support or colormanagement.org.

 None pdfx-dest-output-profile-data

PDF/X output condition identifier

(Required) The name of one of the standard printing conditions registered with ICC (International Color Consortium). The value that you enter for this property is a valid "Reference name," for example: FOGRA43.

Choose the appropriate value for the intended printing environment. This name is often used to guide automatic processing of the file by the consumer of the PDF/X document, or to inform the default settings in interactive applications.

 None pdfx-output-condition-identifier

PDF/X output condition

A string describing the intended printing condition in a form that will be meaningful to a human operator at the site receiving the exchanged file. The value is set in OutputCondition field of OutputIntents dictionary.

 None pdfx-output-condition

PDF/X registry name

A registry name. Set this property when the pdfx-output-condition-identifier is set to a characterization name that is registered in a registry other than the ICC registry.

 http://www.color.org pdfx-registry-name

PDF/X version

The PDF/X version set in GTS_PDFXVersion and GTS_PDFXConformance fields of Info dictionary. PDF/X-1a:2003 is the only value currently supported.

 PDF/X-1a:2003 pdfx-version

DOCX Output Properties

The table below describes the properties that control DOCX output files.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Enable change tracking

Set to "true" to enable change tracking in the output document.

 false docx-track-changes

Protect document for tracked changes

Set to "true" to protect the document for tracked changes.

 false docx-protect-document-for-tracked-changes

Default font

Use this property to define the font style and size in the output when no other font has been defined. This is particularly useful to control the sizing of empty table cells in generated reports. Enter the font name and size in the following format <FontName>:<size> for example: Arial:12. Note that the font you choose must be available to the processing engine at runtime. See Defining Font Mappings for information about installing fonts and the list of predefined fonts.

 Arial:12 docx-output-default-font

RTF Output Properties

Configure RTF output files by setting the properties described in the table below.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Enable change tracking

Set to "true" to enable change tracking in the output RTF document.

 false rtf-track-changes

Protect document for tracked changes

Set to "true" to protect the document for tracked changes.

 false rtf-protect-document-for-tracked-changes

Default font

Use this property to define the font style and size in RTF output when no other font has been defined. This is particularly useful to control the sizing of empty table cells in generated reports. Enter the font name and size in the following format <FontName>:<size> for example: Arial:12. Note that the font you choose must be available to the processing engine at runtime. See Defining Font Mappings for information about installing fonts and for the list of predefined fonts.

 Arial:12 rtf-output-default-font

Enable widow orphan

Set to "true" to ensure that the document includes no “hanging paragraphs”. Suppose the last para in a page contains an orphaned line and the remaining lines of the paragraph continue on the next page. With this setting enabled, the starting line of the paragraph moves to the next page to keep all the lines of the paragraph together for improved readability.

 false rtf-enable-widow-orphan

HTML Output Properties

The table below describes the properties that control HTML output files.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Show header

Set to "false" to suppress the template header in HTML output.

 true html-show-header

Show footer

Set to "false" to suppress the template footer in HTML output.

 true html-show-footer

Replace smart quotes

Set to "false" if you do not want curly quotes replaced with straight quotes in the HTML output.

 true html-replace-smartquotes

Character set

Specifies the output HTML character set.

 UTF-8 html-output-charset

Make HTML output accessible

Specify true if you want to make the HTML output accessible.

 false make-accessible

Use percentage width for table columns

Set this property to true to render table columns according to a percentage value of the total width of the table rather than as a value in points. This property is especially useful if the browser renders tables with extremely wide columns. Setting this property to true improves the readability of the tables.

 true html-output-width-in-percentage

View Paginated

When set to true, HTML output will render in the report viewer with pagination features. These features include:

  • Generated table of contents

  • Navigation links at the top and bottom of the page

  • Ability to skip to a specific page within the HTML document

  • Search for strings within the HTML document using the browser's search capability

  • Zoom in and out on the HTML document using the browser's zoom capability

Note that these features are supported for online viewing through the report viewer only.

 false  

FO Processing Properties

The table below describes the properties that control FO processing.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Use BI Publisher's XSLT processor

Controls the use of parser. If set to false, then XSLT is not parsed.

 true xslt-xdoparser

Enable scalable feature of XSLT processor

Controls the scalable feature of the XDO parser. The property "Use BI Publisher's XSLT processor" must be set to "true" for this property to be effective.

 false xslt-scalable

Enable XSLT runtime optimization

When set to "true", the overall performance of the FO processor is increased and the size of the temporary FO files generated in the temp directory is significantly decreased. Note that for small reports (for example 1-2 pages) the increase in performance is not as marked. To further enhance performance when you set this property to true, it is recommended that you set the Extract attribute sets property to "false". See RTF Template Properties.

 true xslt-runtime-optimization

Enable XPath Optimization

When set to "true", the XML data file is analyzed for element frequency. The information is then used to optimize XPath in XSL.

 false xslt-xpath-optimization

Pages cached during processing

This property is enabled only when you have specified a Temporary Directory (under General properties). During table of contents generation, the FO Processor caches the pages until the number of pages exceeds the value specified for this property. It then writes the pages to a file in the Temporary Directory.

 50 system-cache-page-size

Bidi language digit substitution type

Valid values are "None" and "National". When set to "None", Eastern European numbers are used. When set to "National", Hindi format (Arabic-Indic digits) is used. This setting is effective only when the locale is Arabic, otherwise it is ignored.

 National digit-substitution

Disable variable header support

If "true", prevents variable header support. Variable header support automatically extends the size of the header to accommodate the contents.

 false fo-prevent-variable-header

Add prefix to IDs when merging FO

 When merging multiple XSL-FO inputs, the FO Processor automatically adds random prefixes to resolve conflicting IDs. Setting this property to true disables this feature. false fo-merge-conflict-resolution

Enable multithreading

If you have a multiprocessor machine or a machine with a dual-core single processor, you may be able to achieve faster document generation by setting this option to True.

 false fo-multi-threads

Disable external references

A "true" setting (default) disallows the importing of secondary files such as subtemplates or other XML documents during XSL processing and XML parsing. This increases the security of the system. Set this to "false" if the report or template calls external files.

 true xdk-secure-io-mode

FO Parsing Buffer Size

Sets the size of the buffer for the FO Processor. When the buffer is full, the elements from the buffer are rendered in the report. Reports with large tables or pivot tables that require complex formatting and calculations may require a larger buffer to properly render those objects in the report. Increase the size of the buffer at the report level for these reports. Note that increasing this value affects the memory consumption of the system.

 1000000 fo-chunk-size

Enable XSLT runtime optimization for sub-template

Provides an option to perform XSL import in FOProcessor before passing only one XSL to XDK for further processing. This allows xslt-optimization to be applied to the entire main XSL template which already includes all its subtemplates.

The default is true. If you call the FOProcessor directly, the default is false.

 true xslt-do-import

Enable PPTX native chart support

This property applies to PowerPoint 2007 output. When set to true, charts in PowerPoint 2007 output are rendered as native PowerPoint (PPTX) charts. When set to false, the chart is rendered as an embedded PNG image.

 false pptx-native-chart

Report Timezone

Valid values: User or JVM.

When set to User, BI Publisher uses the User-level Report Time Zone setting for reports. The User Report Time Zone is set in the user's Account Settings.

When set to JVM, BI Publisher uses the server JVM timezone setting for all users' reports. All reports therefore display the same time regardless of individual user settings. This setting can be overridden at the report level.

 User fo-report-timezone

RTF Template Properties

Configure RTF templates by setting the properties described in the table below.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Extract attribute sets

The RTF processor automatically extracts attribute sets within the generated XSL-FO. The extracted sets are placed in an extra FO block, which can be referenced. This improves processing performance and reduces file size. Valid values are:

  • Enable - extract attribute sets for all templates and subtemplates

  • Auto - extract attribute sets for templates, but not subtemplates

  • Disable - do not extract attribute sets

 Auto rtf-extract-attribute-sets

Enable XPath rewriting

When converting an RTF template to XSL-FO, the RTF processor automatically rewrites the XML tag names to represent the full XPath notations. Set this property to "false" to disable this feature.

 true rtf-rewrite-path

Characters used for checkbox

The default PDF output font does not include a glyph to represent a checkbox. If the template contains a checkbox, use this property to define a Unicode font for the representation of checkboxes in the PDF output. You must define the Unicode font number for the "checked" state and the Unicode font number for the "unchecked" state using the following syntax: fontname;<unicode font number for true value's glyph >;<unicode font number for false value's glyph>

Example: Albany WT J;9746;9747/A Note that the font that you specify must be made available at runtime.

 Albany WT J;9746;9747/A rtf-checkbox-glyph

PDF Template Properties

Generate the types of PDF files you want by setting available PDF template properties.

Property Name Description Default Configuration Name

Remove PDF fields from output

Specify "true" to remove PDF fields from the output. When PDF fields are removed, data entered in the fields cannot be extracted.

 false remove-pdf-fields

Set all fields as read only in output

By default, all fields in the output PDF of a PDF template is read only. If you want to set all fields to be updatable, set this property to "false".

 true all-field-readonly

Maintain each field's read only setting

Set this property to "true" if you want to maintain the "Read Only" setting of each field as defined in the PDF template. This property overrides the settings of "Set all fields as read only in output."

 false all-fields-readonly-asis

Flash Template Properties

The table below describes the properties that control Flash templates.

Property Name Description Default Internal Name

Page width of wrapper document

Specify in points the width of the output PDF document. The default is 792, or 11 inches.

 792 flash-page-width

Page height of wrapper document

Specify in points the height of the output PDF document. The default is 612, or 8.5 inches.

 612 flash-page-height

Start x position of Flash area in PDF

Using the left edge of the document as the 0 axis point, specify in points the beginning horizontal position of the Flash object in the PDF document. The default is 18, or .25 inch.

 18 flash-startx

Start y position of Flash area in PDF

Using the upper left corner of the document as the 0 axis point, specify in points the beginning vertical position of the Flash object in the PDF document. The default is 18, or .25 inch.

 18 flash-starty

Width of Flash area

Enter in points the width of the area in the document for the Flash object to occupy. The default is the width of the SWF object.

 Same as flash width in points in swf flash-width

Height of Flash area

Enter in points the height of the area in the document for the Flash object to occupy. The default is the height of the SWF object.

 Same as flash height in points in swf flash-height

CSV Output Properties

The table below describes the properties that control comma-delimited value output.

Property Name Description Default

CSV delimiter

Specifies the character used to delimit the data in comma-separated value output. Other options are: Semicolon (;), Tab (\t) and Pipe (|).

 Comma (,)

Remove leading and trailing white space

Specify "True" to remove leading and trailing white space between data elements and the delimiter.

 false

Add UTF-8 BOM Signature

Specify "False" to remove the UTF-8 BOM signature from the output.

 true

Excel 2007 Output Properties

You can set specific properties to control Excel 2007 output.

Property Name Description Default

Show grid lines

Set to true to show the Excel table grid lines in the report output.

 false

Page break as a new sheet

When set to "True" a page break that is specified in the report template generates a new sheet in the Excel workbook.

 true

Minimum column width

When the column width is less than the specified minimum and it contains no data, the column is merged with the preceding column. The value must be set in points. The valid range for this property is 0.5 to 20 points.

 3 (in points, 0.04 inch)

Minimum row height

When the row height is less than the specified minimum and it contains no data, the row is removed. The value must be set in points. The valid range for this property is 0.001 to 5 points.

 1 (in points, 0.01 inch)

Keep values in same column

Set this property to True to minimize column merging. Column width is set based on column contents using the values supplied in the Table Auto Layout property. Output may not appear as neatly laid out as when using the original layout algorithm.

 False

Table Auto Layout

Specify a conversion ratio in points and a maximum length in points, for example 6.5,150. See example.

For this property to take effect, the property "Keep values in same column" must be set to True.

This property expands the table column width to fit the contents. The column width is expanded based on the character count and conversion ratio up to the maximum specification.

Example: Assume a report with two columns of Excel data -- Column 1 contains a text string that is 18 characters and Column 2 is 30 characters long. When the value of this property is set to 6.5,150, the following calculations are performed:

Column 1 is 18 characters:

Apply the calculation: 18 * 6.5pts = 117 pts

The column in the Excel output will be 117 pts wide.

Column 2 is 30 characters:

Apply the calculation: 30 * 6.5 pts = 195 pts

Because 195 pts is greater than the specified maximum of 150, Column 2 will be 150 pts wide in the Excel output.

 N/A

Maximum allowable nested table row count

Specify the maximum allowable row count for a nested table. Allowed values are 15000 to 999,999.

During report processing, nested inner table rows cannot be flushed to the XLSX writer, therefore they stay in-memory, increasing memory consumption. Set this limit to avoid out-of-memory exceptions. When this limit is reached for the size of the inner table, generation is terminated. The incomplete XLSX output file is returned.

 20,000

All Outputs Properties

The properties in the table below apply to all outputs.

Property Name Description Default

Hide version number in output

Some report output documents display Oracle BI Publisher in the document properties. For example, PDF documents identify Oracle BI Publisher as the PDF Producer in the properties for the document. If you do not want to include the version of BI Publisher that generated the document then set this property to true.

 false

Use 11.1.1.5 compatibility mode

Reserved. Do not update unless instructed by Oracle.

  

Memory Guard & Data Model Properties

Memory guard safeguards your system against memory failures caused by report requests that generate excessive data.

Memory guard and data model properties are described in Memory Guard Properties and Configuring Data Model Properties.

If you set a memory guard limit at the system level and you set a related property at the data model level, the memory guard setting at the system level overrides the setting at the data model level.

In Oracle Fusion Applications environments, the BI Publisher memory guard settings are preset based on your request and can't be changed. Consider these options to overcome limitations:

  • Schedule large reports instead of running reports on-demand (online).
  • Add one or more filters to generate the reports in two or more batches, if the reports are time-critical.

Key Features

The section gives you information on the key features of memory guard and data model properties.

The full set of properties is listed in Configuring Data Model Properties. The properties enable you to protect against out of memory errors and enhance data processing by setting controls such as:

  • Maximum data size for reports

  • Maximum data size for scheduled reports

  • Minimum free memory size

  • SQL pruning for unused data set columns

  • Time out for SQL queries and also for reporting

The following section highlights some of the properties and provides detail on how the system responds to the settings:

Restricting Maximum Data Sizes for Report Processing

By restricting the data size allowed for report processing you can prevent out of memory errors when a query returns more data than the system can handle.

Specify a Maximum Data Size Allowed for Online Processing

Property: Maximum report data size for online reports.

This property enables you to specify a maximum data size allowed for online report viewing. When you set a maximum data size, the following occurs when a user opens a report for online viewing:

  1. A user submits a report to view online in the browser.

  2. The data engine generates the data for the report.

  3. Before document generation, the size of the data (in bytes) is inspected.

  4. If the data generated is larger than the maximum setting, the report processing is ended. The user gets the following message:

    Report data size (NNNNN bytes) exceeds the maximum limit (314572800 bytes). Report stopped processing. Either re-run with parameters that reduce the data or schedule this report. Contact your Administrator if you have questions.

    The user can then either set parameters (if available for the report) to limit the data and resubmit online; or use the scheduler to submit the report.

The default value for this property is 300 MB.

Specify a Maximum Data Size Allowed for Offline (Scheduled Report) Processing

Property: Maximum report data size for offline (scheduled) reports.

This feature enables you to specify a maximum data size allowed for scheduled reports. When you set a maximum data size, the following occurs when a scheduled report job executes:

  1. The scheduler commences processing of a report job.

  2. The data engine generates the data for the report.

  3. If the data generated is larger than the maximum setting, the report processing is ended. The scheduled report job fails with the following status message:

    Report data size (NNNNN bytes) exceeds the maximum limit (524288000 bytes). Report stopped processing.

    The user can then set parameters (if available for the report) to limit the data.

The default value for this property is 500 MB.

Configuring Free Memory Threshold

This set of properties helps you to protect against out of memory conditions by establishing a minimum available free memory space.

This set of properties enables your system to automatically protect free memory availability and intelligently process reports with large data sets based on this availability.

Specify A Minimum Free Memory Threshold for Report Processing

Property: Free memory threshold

This setting enables you to specify a minimum value for free JVM space. This enables you to control whether to run a report based on two factors: current usage and the size of the report data. This feature requires the setting of several properties that work together. You specify the threshold JVM space, the report maximum report size that will be allowed when the JVM falls below the threshold, and the maximum wait time to pause the report to wait for more JVM free space to become available.

When you set these properties, the following occurs when a user opens a report for online viewing:

  1. A user submits a report to view online in the browser.

  2. The data engine generates the data for the report.

  3. JVM memory is inspected. If the available JVM memory is above the Free memory threshold property value, the report processes as usual and there is no system intervention.

    If the available JVM memory is below the threshold value, the size of the report data is inspected and compared to the property setting for Maximum report data size under the free memory threshold. If the report data is below this threshold, then the report continues processing.

    If the report data size exceeds the threshold, then the report is paused to wait for free memory to become available. The report will wait for the time specified in the property Maximum Wait Time for Free Memory to Come Back Above Threshold Value. If the free memory does not rise back above the minimum in the wait period specified, the report request is rejected.

The default value for this property is 500 MB.

Specify Maximum Report Data Size Under the Free Memory Threshold

Property: Maximum report data size under the free memory threshold

Default value: (value of Free Memory Threshold)/10

Maximum single report data size allowed when free JVM memory is under the specified threshold value set in Free memory threshold. For example (assuming the default setting), if the data generated for a single report exceeds one-tenth of the value set for Free memory threshold, then processing is terminated. Therefore if the Free memory threshold is set to 100 MB and a single report data extract exceeds 10 MB, then the report processing is terminated.

This property takes effect only when Free memory threshold is set to be a positive value.

Set Minimum Time Span Between Garbage Collection Runs

Minimum time span in seconds between any two subsequent garbage collection runs. Set this value to avoid overrunning JVM garbage collection. The server enforces the minimum of 120 seconds, which means the value will be reset to 120 seconds if it falls below the minimum.

The default is 300 seconds.

Set Maximum Wait Time for Free Memory to Come Back Above the Threshold

The maximum time in seconds that a run-report request will wait for free JVM memory to come back above the threshold value. This property value takes effect only when a positive value for Free memory threshold is specified.

If the free memory becomes available within the time specified, the request will proceed immediately to generate the document. If free memory is still below the threshold value after the time specified, the request is rejected. For online requests, the larger this property value, the longer the browser will wait for a request to run.

The default for this property is 30 seconds.

Setting Data Engine Properties

The data engine property settings provide additional points to protect your system against out of memory errors.

These include:

Set Maximum Data Size That Can Be Generated by the Data Engine

This property is used only when you generate XML data via data model editor. In a normal report generation scenario, since template is chosen always, memory guard side properties (maximum report data size for online/offline for each template type) take precedence over this property.

Setting maximum data size sets an absolute limit to the data that can be generated from the execution of a data model. This setting applies to both online report requests and to requests submitted through the scheduler. When the size of the file generated by the data engine exceeds the limit, the data engine terminates execution of the data model and throws the exception:

"oracle.xdo.dataengine.diagnostic.XMLSizeLimitException: XML Output (NNNNNNbytes) generated exceeds specified file size limit (NNNNNbytes)..!!!!!!!".

If the report request was submitted through the scheduler, the job will show as failed in the Report Job History page. The exception error noted above displays when you rest your cursor over the status. If the report request was submitted online, the user will get the error "Unable to retrieve the data XML."

Set Maximum Sample Data Size

A sample data set is required for all data models. The sample data is used during template design. Sample data can be generated by the data model editor or uploaded to the data model. Large sample data sets can impact the performance of the design tools.

Set this property to limit the size of the sample data file that can be uploaded to the data model.

Set Automatic Database Fetch Size

This setting calculates and sets database fetch size at run time depending on total number of data set columns and total number of query columns. Setting this property will override the server-level and data model-level database fetch size properties. When set, this property takes effect for all data models and can significantly slow processing time. This setting is recommended for implementations of BI Publisher that frequently process complex queries of hundreds of columns, such as Oracle Fusion Applications implementations. This setting is not recommended for most general implementations of BI Publisher.

What Are Memory Guard Features?

BI Publisher provides a set of features to protect against out-of-memory errors by blocking report requests that generate excessive amounts of data or consume excessive amount of memory.

These memory guard features consist of a set of properties. The properties enable you to configure conditions and processing points at which data size and free memory availability are inspected to determine whether the system continues to process a report request or terminates processing.

Configuring Memory Guard Properties

Set the data model properties in the Properties tab of the Administration > Runtime Configuration page.

Memory Guard Properties

Property description Default Value

Maximum report data size for online reports

300MB

Maximum report data size for offline (scheduled) reports

500MB

Free memory threshold

500MB

Maximum report data size under the free memory threshold

free_memory_threshold/10

Maximum wait time for free memory to come back for offline (scheduled) reports

30 (seconds)

Minimum time span between garbage collection runs

300 (seconds)

Maximum wait time for free memory to come back above the threshold value

30 (seconds)

Timeout for online report

600 (seconds)

Maximum rows for CSV output

1000000

Configuring a Maximum Threads Constraint to Avoid Out of Memory Errors

During the processing of large BI Publisher reports Oracle WebLogic Server can use multiple concurrent threads to generate the report.

If the threads are not constrained, out of memory errors can occur when Oracle WebLogic Server allots too many threads to report generation. To avoid this error, you can create a Work Manager to enforce the maximum number of threads that Oracle WebLogic Server can allot to BI Publisher report processing.

To configure a maximum threads constraint perform the following procedures:

  1. Creating the Maximum Threads Constraint in Oracle WebLogic Server

  2. Creating the Work Manager (XdoWorkManager)

  3. Redeploying the xmlpserver.ear File

    Note:

    This procedure describes redeploying the xmlpserver.ear file to activate the new Work Manager. Alternatively, you can perform one of the following instead of step 3:

    • Restart (stop & start) the bipublisher application

    • Restart the Oracle WebLogic Server instances (for example, bi_server1, bi_server2)

Once this initial setup procedure is completed, changing the value of the maximum threads count (for example from 10 to 20) takes effect immediately; no restart or redeployment operations are required.

Creating the Maximum Threads Constraint in Oracle WebLogic Server

You create the maximum threads constraint component in the Oracle WebLogic Console.

To create the maximum threads constraint component:
  1. Log in to Oracle WebLogic Console.
  2. In the Domain Structure pane, click Work Managers.
  3. In the Change Center pane, click Lock & Edit.
  4. In the Work Managers, Request Classes and Constraints table, click New.
  5. In the Create a New Work Manager Component dialog, select Maximum Threads Constraint and click Next.
  6. Under Maximum Threads Constraint Properties, enter the following property values:

    • Name — enter XdoMaxThreadsConstraint

    • Count — enter the maximum number of threads to allot for BI Publisher report generation, for example, 10


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    Click Next.

  7. Under Select deployment targets, select "bi_cluster" and then click Finish.

Creating the Work Manager (XdoWorkManager)

Now that you have created the Maximum Threads Constraint component and named it "XdoMaxThreadsConstraint"; next create the work manager and associate it to the XdoMaxThreadsConstraint component.

To create the work manager:

  1. While still on the Summary of Work Managers page, click New again.
  2. In the Create a New Work Manager Component dialog, select Work Manager and click Next
  3. Under Work Manager Properties enter the Name property as: XdoWorkManager.
  4. Under Select deployment targets, select "bi_cluster" and then click Finish.
  5. Back on the Summary of Work Managers page, click your newly created XdoWorkManager link.
  6. On the Settings for XdoWorkManager page, on the Configuration tab, specify the Maximum Threads Constraint as XdoMaxThreadsConstraint and click Save.

Redeploying the xmlpserver.ear File

You use the Upgrade Application Assistant to redeploy the xmlpserver.ear file.

To redeploy the xmlpserver.ear file:
  1. In the left pane of the Console, select Deployments.
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    A table in the right pane displays all deployed applications and modules.

  2. In the table, select the bipublisher application.
  3. Click Update.
  4. In the Upgrade Application Assistant, click Next.
  5. Click Finish.
  6. Click Activate Changes in the Change Center pane.

Configuring Data Model Properties

Set the data model properties in the Properties tab of the Administration > Runtime Configuration page.

Data Model Properties

Property Description

Maximum data size limit for data generation

Default value: 500MB

Maximum XML data size in that can be generated from the execution of a data model. This setting applies to both online report requests and to requests submitted through the scheduler. When the size of the file generated by the data engine exceeds the value set for this property, the data engine terminates execution of the data model and throws an exception.

Validation rule: [1-9][0-9]*[KB|MB|GB]?

Examples:

  • 123MB

  • 128974848

  • 2GB

  • 2147483648

To turn this property off, enter 0 or a negative number.

Maximum sample data size limit

Default value: 1MB

Maximum file size of a sample data file that can be uploaded to the data model editor.

Enable Data Model scalable mode

Default: True

Processing large data sets requires the use of large amounts of RAM. To prevent running out of memory, activate scalable mode for the data engine. In scalable mode, the data engine takes advantage of disk space when it processes the data.

You can also set this property for specific data models. The data model setting overrides the system setting here.

Enable Auto DB fetch size mode

Default value: True

When set to True, BI Publisher calculates and sets database fetch size at run time according to the total number of data set columns and total number of query columns.

This setting avoids out of memory conditions, but can significantly slow processing times.

When set to True, any other DB fetch size settings are ignored.

This setting is recommended for implementations of BI Publisher that frequently process complex queries of hundreds of columns, such as Oracle Fusion Applications implementations. This setting is not recommended for most general implementations of BI Publisher.

This property overrides the data model- level database fetch size properties.

When set, this property takes effect for all data models and can significantly slow processing time.

DB fetch size

Default value: 20 (rows)

The maximum database fetch size for a data model. This property value takes effect only when Enable Auto DB fetch size mode is set to False. When the fetch size is met, the rows are written to a temp file and another fetch is executed; this process is repeated until all the rows are returned to the temp file.

A smaller fetch size requires more round trips from BI Publisher to the database and can impact overall processing time; however, the smaller data chunks ensure against excessive memory usage.

This property can also be set at the data model level. The data model setting overrides the server property.

SQL Query Timeout

Default: 600 seconds

Timeout for SQL query-based data models. If the SQL query is still processing when the timeout value is met, the error "Failed to retrieve data xml." is returned.

This property can also be set at the data model level. The data model setting overrides the server property here.

Irrespective of the settings at the instance level or data model level, the maximum SQL query timeout is 10 minutes for all BI Publisher reports running online. This avoids stuck threads and server outages.

Enable Data Model diagnostic

Default value: False

If you set this property to true, BI Publisher writes the data set details, memory, and SQL execution time information to the log file. Oracle recommends setting this property to true only for debugging purposes. When set to true, processing time is increased.

Enable SQL Session Trace

Default value: False

If you set this property to true, for every SQL query that is executed, BI Publisher writes a SQL session trace log to the database. A database administrator can examine the log.

Oracle recommends that you turn this property on only in test and development environments.

To enable this property, the user that you define for the database connection must be granted the Alter Session privilege on the database (Syntax: GRANT ALTER SESSION TO <USER NAME>). See Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source.

Enable SQL Pruning

Default value: False

Applies to Oracle Database queries only that use Standard SQL. If your query returns many columns but only a subset are used by your report template, SQL pruning returns only those columns required by the template. Setting this property enhances processing time and reduces memory usage. Note that Enable SQL Pruning is also a data model-level property that can be turned on or off for particular data models to override this server-level setting.

SQL pruning is not applicable for PDF, Excel, and E-text template types.

Defining Font Mappings

Map base fonts in RTF or PDF templates to target fonts to be used in the published document.

You can specify font mapping at the site or report level. Font mapping is performed only for PDF output and PowerPoint output.

There are two types of font mappings:

  • RTF Templates — for mapping fonts from RTF templates and XSL-FO templates to PDF and PowerPoint output fonts

  • PDF Templates — for mapping fonts from PDF templates to different PDF output fonts.

Making Fonts Available for Publishing

A set of Type1 fonts and a set of TrueType fonts are available for publishing. You can select any of the fonts in these sets as a target font with no additional setup required.

The predefined fonts are located in <oracle_home>/oracle_common/internal/fonts. To map to another font, place the font in this directory to make it available for publishing at runtime. If the environment is clustered, then you must place the font on every server. See Predefined Fonts.

Setting Font Mapping at the Site Level or Report Level

A font mapping can be defined at the site level or the report level.

  • To set a mapping at the site level, select the Font Mappings link from the Administration page.

  • To set a mapping at the report level, view the Properties for the report, then select the Font Mappings tab. These settings apply to the selected report only.

The report-level settings take precedence over the site-level settings.

Creating a Font Mapping

From the Administration page, under Runtime Configuration, select Font Mappings.

To create a Font Mapping:

  1. Under RTF Templates or PDF Templates, select Add Font Mapping.

  2. Enter the following on the Add Font Mapping page:

    • Base Font — enter the font family to map to a new font. Example: Arial

    • Select the Style: Normal or Italic (Not applicable to PDF Template font mappings)

    • Select the Weight: Normal or Bold (Not applicable to PDF Template font mappings)

    • Select the Target Font Type: Type 1 or TrueType

    • Enter the Target Font

      If you selected TrueType, you can enter a specific numbered font in the collection. Enter the TrueType Collection (TTC) Number of the desired font.

      For a list of the predefined fonts see Predefined Fonts.

Predefined Fonts

The following Type1 fonts are built-in to Adobe Acrobat and by default the mappings for these fonts are available for publishing.

You can select any of these fonts as a target font with no additional setup required.

The Type1 fonts are listed in the table below.

Number Font Family Style Weight Font Name

1

serif

normal

normal

Time-Roman

1

serif

normal

bold

Times-Bold

1

serif

italic

normal

Times-Italic

1

serif

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

2

sans-serif

normal

normal

Helvetica

2

sans-serif

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

2

sans-serif

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

2

sans-serif

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

3

monospace

normal

normal

Courier

3

monospace

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

3

monospace

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

3

monospace

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

4

Courier

normal

normal

Courier

4

Courier

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

4

Courier

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

4

Courier

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

5

Helvetica

normal

normal

Helvetica

5

Helvetica

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

5

Helvetica

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

5

Helvetica

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

6

Times

normal

normal

Times

6

Times

normal

bold

Times-Bold

6

Times

italic

normal

Times-Italic

6

Times

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

7

Symbol

normal

normal

Symbol

8

ZapfDingbats

normal

normal

ZapfDingbats

The TrueType fonts are listed in the table below. All TrueType fonts are subset and embedded into PDF.

Number Font Family Name Style Weight Actual Font Actual Font Type

1

Albany WT

normal

normal

ALBANYWT.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only)

2

Albany WT J

normal

normal

ALBANWTJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor)

3

Albany WT K

normal

normal

ALBANWTK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor)

4

Albany WT SC

normal

normal

ALBANWTS.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor)

5

Albany WT TC

normal

normal

ALBANWTT.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor)

6

Andale Duospace WT

normal

normal

ADUO.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

6

Andale Duospace WT

bold

bold

ADUOB.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

normal

normal

ADUOJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

bold

bold

ADUOJB.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

normal

normal

ADUOK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

bold

bold

ADUOKB.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

normal

normal

ADUOSC.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

bold

bold

ADUOSCB.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

normal

normal

ADUOTC.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

bold

bold

ADUOTCB.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

Managing Custom Fonts

BI Publisher includes a standard set of fonts. Using manage custom fonts you can upload external fonts apart from the BI Publisher's inbuilt fonts.

To manage custom fonts
  1. Navigate to the Manage Custom Fonts section in Administration > Font Mappings page.
  2. Click Choose File and select the external font file.
    You have the option to either overwrite or delete the font files.
  3. To use the new font, define the font mapping for RTF or PDF template. See Defining Font Mappings.

Defining Currency Formats

Currency formats defined in the Administration Runtime Configuration page are applied at the system level. Currency formats can also be applied at the report level.

The report-level settings take precedence over the system-level settings here.

Understanding Currency Formats

The Currency Formats tab enables you to map a number format mask to a specific currency so that your reports can display multiple currencies with their own corresponding formatting. Currency formatting is only supported for RTF and XSL-FO templates.

To apply currency formats in the RTF template, use the format-currency function.

To add a currency format:

  1. Click the Add icon.
  2. Enter the ISO currency code, for example: USD, JPY, EUR, GBP, INR.
  3. Enter the format mask to apply for this currency.

    The Format Mask must be in the Oracle number format. The Oracle number format uses the components "9", "0", "D", and "G" to compose the format, for example: 9G999D00

    where

    9 represents a displayed number only if present in data

    G represents the group separator

    D represents the decimal separator

    0 represents an explicitly displayed number regardless of incoming data

The figure below shows sample currency formats.


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