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Oracle Discoverer TM Administration Edition Administration Guide Release 4.1 For Windows December 2000 Part No. A86730-01
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Page 1: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Oracle DiscovererTM Administration Edition

Administration Guide

Release 4.1 For Windows

December 2000

Part No. A86730-01

Page 2: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide Release 4.1 For Windows

Part No. A86730-01

Copyright © 2000, Oracle Corporation. All rights reserved.

The Programs (which include both the software and documentation) contain proprietary information of Oracle Corporation; they are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are also protected by copyright, patent, and other intellectual and industrial property laws. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of the Programs is prohibited.

The information contained in this document is subject to change without notice. If you find any problems in the documentation, please report them to us in writing. Oracle Corporation does not warrant that this document is error free. Except as may be expressly permitted in your license agreement for these Programs, no part of these Programs may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, for any purpose, without the express written permission of Oracle Corporation.

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Restricted Rights Notice Programs delivered subject to the DOD FAR Supplement are "commercial computer software" and use, duplication, and disclosure of the Programs, including documentation, shall be subject to the licensing restrictions set forth in the applicable Oracle license agreement. Otherwise, Programs delivered subject to the Federal Acquisition Regulations are "restricted computer software" and use, duplication, and disclosure of the Programs shall be subject to the restrictions in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software - Restricted Rights (June, 1987). Oracle Corporation, 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.

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Oracle and SQL*Plus are registered trademarks of Oracle Corporation, Redwood City, California. Oracle Discov-erer, Discoverer, Oracle Discoverer/2000, End User Layer, are trademarks of Oracle Corporation, Redwood City, California.

All other company or product names are used for identification purposes only and may be trademarks of their respec-tive owners.

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Contents

Send Us Your Comments ................................................................................................................. xix

Preface.......................................................................................................................................................... xxi

1 Discoverer Overview

1.1 New Discoverer Features ......................................................................................................... 1-11.2 Why do you need Discoverer? ................................................................................................. 1-21.2.1 Discoverer’s Components ................................................................................................. 1-21.2.2 Discoverer Plus ................................................................................................................. 1-51.2.3 Discoverer 4i Plus ............................................................................................................. 1-51.2.4 Discoverer 4i Viewer ........................................................................................................ 1-51.2.5 Administration Edition...................................................................................................... 1-51.2.6 End User Layer (EUL)...................................................................................................... 1-51.2.7 What is a Business Area?.................................................................................................. 1-61.2.7.1 Business Area Terminology....................................................................................... 1-71.3 Discoverer Features and Benefits............................................................................................. 1-81.4 Your Role as Discoverer Administrator................................................................................... 1-91.4.1 Before You Begin ........................................................................................................... 1-101.4.2 Next Steps ....................................................................................................................... 1-10

2 Setting Up the Database

2.1 Scheduled Workbooks.............................................................................................................. 2-12.1.1 Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed....................................................................... 2-12.1.2 Specifying Result Set Storage........................................................................................... 2-2

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2.1.2.1 Storing the Result Set in the User’s Schema.............................................................. 2-22.1.2.2 Storing the Result Set in the centralized Repository User’s Schema ........................ 2-32.1.3 Setting the Start Time for Workbook Processing.............................................................. 2-42.2 Summary Management............................................................................................................. 2-52.2.1 Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed ....................................................................... 2-52.2.2 Privileges........................................................................................................................... 2-62.2.3 Determining Tablespace Quotas ....................................................................................... 2-72.2.4 Checking Object/Schema Name........................................................................................ 2-82.2.5 Setting the Start Time for Summary Processing ............................................................... 2-82.2.5.1 Limiting the Number of Processing Requests that can Run Simultaneously ............ 2-82.3 Query Prediction....................................................................................................................... 2-92.3.1 Enabling Query Prediction ................................................................................................ 2-92.3.1.1 What to do if Certain Views (SYS.V$xxx) are not Available ................................... 2-92.3.1.2 To Check the timed_statistics Parameter ................................................................. 2-102.3.1.3 To Analyze Tables ................................................................................................... 2-102.3.1.4 To Check the optimizer_mode Parameter................................................................ 2-112.3.2 Reducing Long Query Prediction Times......................................................................... 2-12

3 Getting Started

3.1 Starting Discoverer Administration Edition............................................................................. 3-13.2 Connecting to the Database ...................................................................................................... 3-13.3 The Work Area ......................................................................................................................... 3-53.3.1 Context-sensitive Menus in the Work Area ...................................................................... 3-73.3.2 Pages of the Work Area Window...................................................................................... 3-83.3.2.1 Using the Data Page ................................................................................................... 3-83.3.2.2 Using the Hierarchies Page ...................................................................................... 3-123.3.2.3 Using the Item Classes Page .................................................................................... 3-143.3.2.4 Using the Summaries Page ...................................................................................... 3-183.4 Toolbar Icons.......................................................................................................................... 3-193.5 Using the Help Menu.............................................................................................................. 3-20

4 Tutorial

4.1 Lesson 1: Creating a private End User Layer........................................................................... 4-24.1.1 Create a private End User Layer ....................................................................................... 4-24.2 Lesson 2: Using the Load Wizard ............................................................................................ 4-7

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4.2.1 Identifying the Source Location for the Business Area .................................................... 4-74.2.2 Selecting the User IDs and Tables .................................................................................... 4-94.2.3 Selecting Tables and Views to Load into the Business Area.......................................... 4-104.2.4 Default Business Area Design ........................................................................................ 4-124.2.5 Naming the Business Area .............................................................................................. 4-144.3 Lesson 3: Getting to Know the Work Area............................................................................ 4-164.4 Lesson 4: Granting Access Privileges.................................................................................... 4-174.4.1 Granting Access Privileges to Users ............................................................................... 4-174.4.2 Granting Access to the Business Area ............................................................................ 4-234.5 Lesson 5: Modifying the Business Area and Folders............................................................. 4-254.5.1 Adding a Description to the Business Area .................................................................... 4-254.5.2 Renaming and Adding Descriptions to Folders .............................................................. 4-264.5.3 Renaming and Adding Descriptions for an Item in a Folder .......................................... 4-294.6 Lesson 6: Designing a Custom Folder ................................................................................... 4-314.6.1 Creating a Custom Folder - Defining the SQL ............................................................... 4-314.6.2 Editing The Custom Folder’s SQL ................................................................................. 4-344.7 Lesson 7: Creating Joins ........................................................................................................ 4-374.7.1 Creating Joins for Folders in the Business Area ............................................................. 4-374.8 Lesson 8: Customizing Items ................................................................................................. 4-414.8.1 Hiding Items in the Business Area.................................................................................. 4-414.8.2 Setting the Display Axis for Items and Display Sequence ............................................. 4-424.8.3 Creating Lists of Values.................................................................................................. 4-444.8.4 Creating an Alternative Sort ........................................................................................... 4-494.8.5 Creating a New Calculated Item ..................................................................................... 4-554.9 Lesson 9: Designing a Complex Folder ................................................................................. 4-604.9.1 Creating a Complex Folder ............................................................................................. 4-604.9.2 Creating a Condition ....................................................................................................... 4-634.10 Lesson 10: Working with Hierarchies ................................................................................... 4-664.10.1 Defining a Simple Item Hierarchy .................................................................................. 4-664.10.2 Defining a More Complex Item Hierarchy ..................................................................... 4-724.10.3 Creating a Date Hierarchy Template .............................................................................. 4-744.10.4 Modifying an Item’s Content Type................................................................................. 4-794.10.5 Defining Drill to Detail Data .......................................................................................... 4-824.11 Lesson 11: Creating Summaries to Optimize Performance ................................................... 4-854.11.1 Creating a Summary Folder ............................................................................................ 4-85

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4.11.2 Setting up Internal Summary Combinations ................................................................... 4-894.11.3 Setting up the refresh schedule and naming the Summary Folder.................................. 4-914.12 Conclusion.............................................................................................................................. 4-92

5 The End User Layer

5.1 What is an End User Layer?..................................................................................................... 5-15.2 Creating an End User Layer ..................................................................................................... 5-35.2.1 Required Privileges ........................................................................................................... 5-35.2.2 Creating an EUL for an Existing User .............................................................................. 5-45.2.3 Creating an EUL for a New User ...................................................................................... 5-65.3 Maintaining an End User Layer ............................................................................................... 5-85.4 Deleting an End User Layer ..................................................................................................... 5-85.5 Moving End User Layer Elements Between Databases ......................................................... 5-105.6 Installing the Tutorial Data..................................................................................................... 5-105.6.1 Required Privileges ......................................................................................................... 5-115.6.2 Installing the Tutorial Data ............................................................................................. 5-125.6.3 Installing the Tutorial Data in several EULs................................................................... 5-145.6.4 Reinstalling the Tutorial Data ......................................................................................... 5-145.7 Uninstalling the Tutorial Data ................................................................................................ 5-14

6 Folders

6.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 6-16.2 Folder Types............................................................................................................................. 6-26.2.1 Simple Folders................................................................................................................... 6-26.2.2 Complex Folders ............................................................................................................... 6-26.2.2.1 What is a Complex Folder?........................................................................................ 6-26.2.2.2 Dependencies and Inheritance ................................................................................... 6-26.2.2.3 Complex Folders vs. Database Views........................................................................ 6-36.2.3 Custom Folders ................................................................................................................. 6-36.3 Adding Simple Folders from the Database .............................................................................. 6-46.4 Creating Complex Folders........................................................................................................ 6-46.5 Creating Custom Folders.......................................................................................................... 6-66.6 Editing Folder Properties.......................................................................................................... 6-96.6.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Folder ........................................................................ 6-106.6.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Folders...................................................................... 6-10

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6.6.3 The Owner attribute ........................................................................................................ 6-116.6.3.1 Entering a value into the Owner field ...................................................................... 6-116.6.3.2 Leaving the Owner field blank ................................................................................ 6-126.7 Editing a Custom Folder’s SQL Statement ............................................................................ 6-136.8 Sharing Folders Across Business Areas................................................................................. 6-156.8.1 Assigning Multiple Folders to a Business Area.............................................................. 6-156.8.2 Assigning a Folder to Multiple Business Areas.............................................................. 6-166.9 Validating Folders .................................................................................................................. 6-176.10 Re-ordering Folders in the Business Area.............................................................................. 6-176.11 Deleting Folders ..................................................................................................................... 6-18

7 Business Areas

7.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 7-17.2 Building a New Business Area................................................................................................. 7-27.2.1 Preparing to Build a New Business Area.......................................................................... 7-27.2.2 Using the Load Wizard to Build a New Business Area .................................................... 7-37.2.2.1 What is the Load Wizard? ......................................................................................... 7-37.2.2.2 Starting the Load Wizard ........................................................................................... 7-37.2.2.3 Load Wizard: Step 1, Specifying the Metadata Source ............................................. 7-37.2.2.4 Load Wizard: Step 2 .................................................................................................. 7-57.2.2.5 Load Wizard: Step 3, Selecting Tables and Views.................................................. 7-107.2.2.6 Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes ............................................................ 7-117.2.2.7 Load Wizard: Step 5, Naming the Business Area ................................................... 7-137.3 Opening an Existing Business Area ....................................................................................... 7-147.3.1 Using the Load Wizard to Open an Existing Business Area .......................................... 7-147.3.2 Using the Open Business Area Dialog Box .................................................................... 7-157.4 Exporting a Business Area to a File ....................................................................................... 7-177.5 Importing EUL elements from a file ...................................................................................... 7-187.5.1 About Identifiers ............................................................................................................. 7-187.5.2 Supported File Formats ................................................................................................... 7-197.5.3 Using the Import Wizard to import elements.................................................................. 7-197.5.3.1 What is the Import Wizard?..................................................................................... 7-197.5.3.2 Starting the Import Wizard ...................................................................................... 7-197.5.3.3 Import Wizard: Step 1.............................................................................................. 7-207.5.3.4 Import Wizard: Step 2.............................................................................................. 7-20

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7.5.3.5 Import Wizard: Step 3.............................................................................................. 7-237.6 Copying Business Areas Between EULs ............................................................................... 7-247.7 Editing Business Area Properties ........................................................................................... 7-247.8 Deleting a Business Area........................................................................................................ 7-257.9 Synchronizing the Business Area with the Database ............................................................. 7-267.9.1 Refresh from Gateway .................................................................................................... 7-277.10 Data migration issues (Analytic Functions) ........................................................................... 7-28

8 Access Privileges and Security

8.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 8-18.2 Granting Access Permission for Business Areas...................................................................... 8-28.2.1 Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business Area........................................ 8-38.2.2 Specifying the Business Areas a User / Role can Access ................................................. 8-58.3 Granting Task Privileges .......................................................................................................... 8-68.3.1 Available Tasks ................................................................................................................. 8-78.3.1.1 Administration Edition Tasks .................................................................................... 8-78.3.1.2 Discoverer Plus Tasks ................................................................................................ 8-78.3.2 The Privileges dialog......................................................................................................... 8-78.3.3 Specifying the Tasks a User / Role can Perform............................................................... 8-88.3.4 Specifying the Users / Roles who can Perform a Specific Task ....................................... 8-98.4 Specifying Query Retrieval Limits......................................................................................... 8-118.5 Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits................................................................................ 8-13

9 Scheduled Workbooks

9.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. 9-19.2 What Happens When a Workbook is Scheduled?.................................................................... 9-29.3 Enabling Scheduled Workbooks for a User or Role ................................................................ 9-39.4 Viewing Information About a Scheduled Workbook............................................................... 9-49.5 Viewing an Error Message incurred by a Scheduled Workbook ............................................. 9-59.6 Editing a Scheduled Workbook................................................................................................ 9-59.7 Deleting a Scheduled Workbook’s Result Set from the Database ........................................... 9-69.8 Removing a Scheduled Workbook from the Process Queue.................................................... 9-6

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10 Items and Item Classes

10.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 10-110.1.1 Items................................................................................................................................ 10-110.1.2 Item Classes .................................................................................................................... 10-210.1.2.1 Lists of Values ......................................................................................................... 10-210.1.2.2 Alternative Sorts ...................................................................................................... 10-310.1.2.3 Drill to Detail ........................................................................................................... 10-410.2 Editing Item Properties........................................................................................................... 10-510.2.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Item ........................................................................... 10-510.2.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Items......................................................................... 10-610.3 Item Content Types ................................................................................................................ 10-710.4 Creating an Item Class ........................................................................................................... 10-810.4.1 Starting the Item Class Wizard ....................................................................................... 10-810.4.2 Choose the Item Class Attributes.................................................................................... 10-910.4.3 Select the Item that Generates the List of Values ........................................................... 10-910.4.4 Select the Item that Contains the Alternative Sort Sequence........................................ 10-1210.4.5 Select the Items that Use this Item Class ...................................................................... 10-1310.4.6 Specify the Name and Description for the Item Class .................................................. 10-1410.5 Editing an Item Class ........................................................................................................... 10-1510.6 Adding Items to an Item Class ............................................................................................. 10-1810.7 Viewing the Items that use an Item Class ............................................................................ 10-1910.8 Removing Items from an Item Class.................................................................................... 10-2010.9 Viewing a List of Values...................................................................................................... 10-2210.9.1 Viewing the List of Values for a Specific Item ............................................................ 10-2210.9.2 Viewing the List of Values for an Item Class ............................................................... 10-2210.10 Deleting Items & Item Classes............................................................................................. 10-23

11 Joins

11.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 11-111.2 Creating Joins ......................................................................................................................... 11-311.2.1 Using the New Join Dialog ............................................................................................. 11-611.2.2 Creating Multi-item Joins ............................................................................................... 11-711.3 Editing Join Properties ........................................................................................................... 11-911.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Join............................................................................ 11-911.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Joins ....................................................................... 11-10

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11.4 Editing Joins ......................................................................................................................... 11-1011.5 Deleting Joins ....................................................................................................................... 11-1111.6 Fan Traps .............................................................................................................................. 11-1211.6.1 Fan Traps inside Complex Folders................................................................................ 11-15

12 Calculations

12.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 12-112.1.1 What is a Calculated Item?.............................................................................................. 12-112.1.1.1 Derived Items........................................................................................................... 12-212.1.1.2 Aggregate Calculations ............................................................................................ 12-212.1.1.3 Restrictions on Aggregate Calculations ................................................................... 12-312.1.1.4 Aggregate Derived Items ......................................................................................... 12-312.1.2 Advantages of Calculations............................................................................................. 12-412.1.3 Calculations and Analytic Functions............................................................................... 12-512.1.4 More information ............................................................................................................ 12-512.2 Creating Calculations ............................................................................................................. 12-612.3 Editing Calculation Properties................................................................................................ 12-912.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Item ........................................................................... 12-912.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Items ....................................................................... 12-1012.4 Editing Calculations ............................................................................................................. 12-1012.5 Deleting Calculations ........................................................................................................... 12-1112.6 Registering Custom PL/SQL Functions ............................................................................... 12-1312.6.1 Registering Custom PL/SQL Manually ........................................................................ 12-1412.6.2 Registering PL/SQL Functions Automatically ............................................................. 12-15

13 Conditions

13.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 13-113.1.1 What is a Condition? ....................................................................................................... 13-113.1.2 Condition Types .............................................................................................................. 13-113.2 Creating Conditions................................................................................................................ 13-413.2.1 Single Item Conditions.................................................................................................... 13-613.2.2 Multiple Item Conditions ................................................................................................ 13-713.3 Editing Condition Properties .................................................................................................. 13-913.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Condition................................................................... 13-913.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Conditions .............................................................. 13-10

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13.4 Editing Conditions................................................................................................................ 13-1013.5 Deleting Conditions.............................................................................................................. 13-1113.6 Example Conditions ............................................................................................................. 13-1213.6.1 Sales in the Last Seven Days ........................................................................................ 13-1213.6.2 Shipments in Q3............................................................................................................ 13-1313.6.3 Outer Join with Conditions behavior ............................................................................ 13-13

14 Hierarchies

14.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 14-114.1.1 What is a Hierarchy?....................................................................................................... 14-114.1.2 Types of Hierarchy.......................................................................................................... 14-214.1.2.1 Item Hierarchies....................................................................................................... 14-214.1.2.2 Date Hierarchies ...................................................................................................... 14-314.1.3 Date Hierarchy Templates .............................................................................................. 14-414.2 Creating Hierarchies............................................................................................................... 14-414.2.1 Creating Item Hierarchies ............................................................................................... 14-414.2.2 Creating Date Hierarchies ............................................................................................... 14-714.2.3 Date Format and Date Format Masks ........................................................................... 14-1114.2.3.1 Date Format ........................................................................................................... 14-1114.2.3.2 Date Format Mask ................................................................................................. 14-1114.2.3.3 The EUL_DATE_TRUNC function ...................................................................... 14-1214.3 Editing Hierarchies............................................................................................................... 14-1214.4 Editing Date Hierarchy Templates ....................................................................................... 14-1314.5 Applying Date Hierarchy Templates to Date Items ............................................................. 14-1514.6 Setting the Default Date Hierarchy Template ...................................................................... 14-1614.7 Deleting Hierarchies............................................................................................................. 14-1614.8 Date Hierarchies and Performance....................................................................................... 14-17

15 Summaries

15.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 15-115.1.1 What is a summary? ........................................................................................................ 15-115.1.1.1 Summary tables or Materialized Views? ................................................................. 15-215.1.1.2 What is a Summary Folder?..................................................................................... 15-215.1.2 Summary Combinations.................................................................................................. 15-315.1.2.1 Summary Combinations .......................................................................................... 15-4

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15.1.3 Summary tables/Materialized Views (MVs)................................................................... 15-415.1.3.1 Discoverer summary tables versus server Materialized Views (8.1.6+).................. 15-415.1.3.2 Managed versus external summary tables/MVs ...................................................... 15-515.1.3.3 Registering external summaries against tables and views in Oracle 8.1.6+ ............ 15-715.1.3.4 Refreshing summary data......................................................................................... 15-715.1.4 Summary Redirection...................................................................................................... 15-715.1.4.1 Summary redirection or query rewrite in Discoverer Plus?..................................... 15-715.1.4.2 Overview.................................................................................................................. 15-815.1.4.3 Viewing Summary Redirection in Discoverer Plus ................................................. 15-915.1.5 An Example................................................................................................................... 15-1615.2 Good Summary Folder Design............................................................................................. 15-1715.2.1 Creating appropriate Summary Combinations .............................................................. 15-1715.2.2 Hints for setting up Summary Folders .......................................................................... 15-1815.2.3 Notes on when an expression will use a summary........................................................ 15-1915.3 How to create Summary Folders .......................................................................................... 15-1915.3.1 Prerequisites .................................................................................................................. 15-2015.3.2 Creating Summary Folders Based on Items in the EUL ............................................... 15-2015.3.3 Creating Summary Folders Based on Query Statistics ................................................. 15-2815.3.4 Creating Summary Folders Based on External summary tables ................................... 15-3615.4 Editing Summary Folder Properties ..................................................................................... 15-4315.4.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Summary Folder...................................................... 15-4415.4.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Summary Folders ................................................... 15-4515.5 Editing Summary Folders..................................................................................................... 15-4515.5.1 Editing a Summary Folder ............................................................................................ 15-4515.6 Refreshing Summary Folders ............................................................................................... 15-4815.6.1 What Happens When a Summary Folder is Refreshed? ............................................... 15-4815.6.1.1 Manually Refreshing a Summary Folder ............................................................... 15-4815.6.1.2 Refresh following Import/Export across pre-8.1.6 and 8.1.6+ database versions . 15-5015.7 Viewing the Status of Managed summary tables ................................................................. 15-5015.8 Deleting Summary Folders................................................................................................... 15-5115.9 Editing Database Storage Properties .................................................................................... 15-5215.9.0.3 Refresh Options (Oracle 8.1.6+ only) .................................................................... 15-55

16 Automated Summary Management

16.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................ 16-2

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16.1.1 What is Automated Summary Management? ................................................................. 16-216.1.2 How does ASM work?.................................................................................................... 16-216.1.3 When to use ASM or create summaries manually? ........................................................ 16-316.1.4 Running ASM ................................................................................................................. 16-316.1.4.1 How often do I need to run ASM?........................................................................... 16-316.1.4.2 How do I run ASM?................................................................................................. 16-316.1.4.3 Using the command line .......................................................................................... 16-316.1.4.4 Using a batch file and the scheduler ........................................................................ 16-416.1.4.5 Using the Summary Wizard..................................................................................... 16-416.1.5 Running ASM after Bulk Load....................................................................................... 16-416.1.6 The ASM Policy (User Defined Constraints and Options)............................................. 16-516.1.6.1 Overview.................................................................................................................. 16-516.1.6.2 Space options ........................................................................................................... 16-516.1.6.3 Advanced settings .................................................................................................... 16-616.1.6.4 Performance versus coverage .................................................................................. 16-716.2 Running ASM using the Summary Wizard............................................................................ 16-816.2.1 Prerequisites .................................................................................................................... 16-816.2.2 Launch the Summary Wizard - Step 1 ............................................................................ 16-916.2.3 Analyze folders - Step 2................................................................................................ 16-1016.2.3.1 When some folders cannot be analyzed................................................................. 16-1316.2.4 Allocate space for summaries - Step 3.......................................................................... 16-1516.2.5 Recommended summaries dialog ................................................................................. 16-1716.2.6 Change default settings dialog ...................................................................................... 16-1816.2.6.1 Analyze tab ............................................................................................................ 16-1816.2.6.2 Folders tab.............................................................................................................. 16-1916.2.6.3 Query User tab ....................................................................................................... 16-2016.2.6.4 Query Usage tab..................................................................................................... 16-2216.2.6.5 Deletion tab............................................................................................................ 16-2316.2.7 Refreshing ASM summaries ......................................................................................... 16-25

17 Using Discoverer with Oracle Applications

17.1 Supported Features................................................................................................................. 17-117.2 Prerequisites ........................................................................................................................... 17-217.2.1 Oracle Applications installed .......................................................................................... 17-217.2.2 Oracle Applications versions supported by Discoverer .................................................. 17-2

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17.2.3 For Oracle Applications users to launch Discoverer 4i Plus via a link on an Oracle Applications page. ........................................................................................................... 17-2

17.3 Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)...

.................................................................................................................................... 17-317.3.1 Entering Details into the fields GWYUID/Password and FNDNAM ....................... 17-417.4 Configuring the Connect dialog for Discoverer 4i Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer ............... 17-517.5 How to use Discoverer Administration Edition in Applications Mode ................................. 17-617.5.1 Enable Discoverer Applications Mode ........................................................................... 17-617.5.2 Enable Multiple Organizations Support in Discoverer ................................................... 17-617.5.3 Changes in Behavior ....................................................................................................... 17-617.5.3.1 Privileges and security ............................................................................................. 17-717.5.3.2 Managed Summaries................................................................................................ 17-717.5.3.3 Secure Views and Language Settings ...................................................................... 17-717.6 Create an Applications Mode EUL ........................................................................................ 17-817.7 Connect to an Applications Mode EUL ............................................................................... 17-1417.7.1 Connect as the EUL Owner to grant permissions and task privileges to other Oracle

Applications users ............................................................................................... 17-1417.7.1.1 Grant permissions to Oracle Applications users .................................................... 17-1417.7.2 Connect as an Applications user ................................................................................... 17-1417.7.2.1 Before you start ...................................................................................................... 17-1517.7.2.2 Connect .................................................................................................................. 17-1517.7.3 Oracle Applications Responsibilities ............................................................................ 17-1717.8 Granting Access Permission for Business Areas.................................................................. 17-1817.8.1 Specifying the Users/Responsibilities who can access a Business Area ...................... 17-1817.8.2 Specifying the Business Areas a User/Responsibility can Access................................ 17-2017.9 Granting Task Privileges ...................................................................................................... 17-2217.9.1 Specifying the Tasks a User/Responsibility can Perform ............................................. 17-2217.9.2 Specifying the Users / Responsibilities who can Perform a Specific Task................... 17-24

A Error Messages

A.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. A-1A.2 Discoverer Administration Edition Errors................................................................................ A-1

B The EUL Status Workbooks

B.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. B-1

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B.2 Installation................................................................................................................................ B-2B.2.1 Standard EUL Status workbooks install steps .................................................................. B-2B.2.1.1 Prerequisites............................................................................................................... B-2B.2.1.2 Install the workbooks................................................................................................. B-2B.2.1.3 Delete Business Area/remove PL/SQL files.............................................................. B-3B.2.2 Oracle Applications EUL Status workbooks install steps ................................................ B-3B.2.2.1 Prerequisites............................................................................................................... B-3B.2.2.2 Install the workbooks................................................................................................. B-3B.2.2.3 Enable workbooks to run in Discoverer Plus for Oracle Applications EUL ............. B-4B.2.3 Un-installing Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area ............................................................ B-5B.3 EUL Data Definition ................................................................................................................ B-6B.4 Query Statistics ........................................................................................................................ B-6B.5 Creating Your Own Workbooks .............................................................................................. B-7B.5.1 Grant SELECT on dba_jobs_running ............................................................................... B-7

C Query Prediction

C.1 What is Query Prediction? ....................................................................................................... C-1C.2 Enabling and Configuring Query Prediction............................................................................ C-1C.3 Improving the Accuracy of Query Prediction .......................................................................... C-1C.4 Running queries against Secure Views and making Query Prediction faster .......................... C-2C.5 Deleting Old Query Prediction Statistics ................................................................................. C-3

D Command-line Interface

D.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. D-1D.2 How to use the Discoverer Command Line Interface .............................................................. D-2D.3 Required Privileges .................................................................................................................. D-3D.4 Using Commands ..................................................................................................................... D-3D.5 Restrictions............................................................................................................................... D-4D.6 Command Syntax ..................................................................................................................... D-4D.7 Syntax Conventions.................................................................................................................. D-5D.8 Using Command Files.............................................................................................................. D-5D.9 Command Reference ................................................................................................................ D-7D.9.1 Quick Guide to commands................................................................................................ D-7D.9.2 How the Command Reference section is arranged ........................................................... D-8D.9.3 Displaying Command-line Help ....................................................................................... D-9

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D.9.4 Running Command Files................................................................................................ D-10D.9.5 Connecting to an EUL.................................................................................................... D-11D.9.6 Creating an Applications Mode EUL............................................................................. D-12D.9.7 Setting connection options for Oracle Applications users ............................................. D-13D.9.8 Change an existing standard database user to an Oracle Applications user................... D-14D.9.9 Connect as an Oracle Applications user......................................................................... D-15D.9.10 Creating an EUL............................................................................................................. D-16D.9.11 Bulk Loading Data into an EUL .................................................................................... D-17D.9.12 Deleting a Business Area ............................................................................................... D-19D.9.13 Deleting an EUL............................................................................................................. D-20D.9.14 Deleting an EUL element............................................................................................... D-21D.9.15 Running Automated Summary Management (ASM)..................................................... D-22D.9.16 Refreshing a Business Area............................................................................................ D-23D.9.17 Refreshing a Folder ........................................................................................................ D-24D.9.18 Refreshing a Summary ................................................................................................... D-25D.9.19 Import a Business Area .................................................................................................. D-26D.9.20 Importing EUL elements from an EEX File .................................................................. D-27D.9.21 Exporting EUL elements to an EEX File ....................................................................... D-28D.10 Command Modifier Reference .............................................................................................. D-30D.10.1 Introduction .................................................................................................................... D-30D.10.2 How the Command Modifier Reference section is arranged ......................................... D-30D.10.3 /aggregate ....................................................................................................................... D-30D.10.4 /all................................................................................................................................... D-30D.10.5 /apps_grant_details......................................................................................................... D-31D.10.6 /apps_responsibility........................................................................................................ D-31D.10.7 /apps_security_group ..................................................................................................... D-31D.10.8 /asm_space, /asm_tablespace ......................................................................................... D-31D.10.9 /audit_info ...................................................................................................................... D-32D.10.10 /ba_link........................................................................................................................... D-32D.10.11 /business_area................................................................................................................. D-32D.10.12 /capitalize ....................................................................................................................... D-32D.10.13 /condition........................................................................................................................ D-33D.10.14 /date_hierarchy ............................................................................................................... D-33D.10.15 /db_link........................................................................................................................... D-33D.10.16 /description ..................................................................................................................... D-33

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D.10.17 /eul................................................................................................................................... D-34D.10.18 /folder .............................................................................................................................. D-34D.10.19 /function .......................................................................................................................... D-34D.10.20 /hier_node........................................................................................................................ D-34D.10.21 /hierarchy ........................................................................................................................ D-34D.10.22 /identifier ......................................................................................................................... D-35D.10.23 /insert_blanks .................................................................................................................. D-35D.10.24 /item ................................................................................................................................ D-35D.10.25 /item_class....................................................................................................................... D-35D.10.26 /join ................................................................................................................................. D-35D.10.27 /keep_folder .................................................................................................................... D-36D.10.28 /keep_format_properties ................................................................................................. D-36D.10.29 /log .................................................................................................................................. D-36D.10.30 /log_only ......................................................................................................................... D-37D.10.31 /lov .................................................................................................................................. D-37D.10.32 /multi_commit ................................................................................................................. D-37D.10.33 /object.............................................................................................................................. D-37D.10.34 /overwrite ........................................................................................................................ D-38D.10.35 /parameter........................................................................................................................ D-38D.10.36 /password ........................................................................................................................ D-38D.10.37 /private ............................................................................................................................ D-38D.10.38 /refresh ............................................................................................................................ D-38D.10.39 /remove_prefix ................................................................................................................ D-39D.10.40 /rename............................................................................................................................ D-39D.10.41 /schema............................................................................................................................ D-39D.10.42 /show_progress................................................................................................................ D-39D.10.43 /source ............................................................................................................................. D-40D.10.44 /summary......................................................................................................................... D-40D.10.45 /user ................................................................................................................................. D-40D.10.46 /workbook ....................................................................................................................... D-41

E Registry Settings

E.1 Introduction .............................................................................................................................. E-1E.2 Registry Settings ...................................................................................................................... E-2

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F RDB Support

F.1 Software requirements.............................................................................................................. F-1F.2 Features not supported using RDB........................................................................................... F-2

Glossary

Index

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Send Us Your Comments

Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide, Release 4.1 For Windows.

Part No. A86730-01

Oracle Corporation welcomes your comments and suggestions on the quality and usefulness of this document. Your input is an important part of the information used for revision.

■ Did you find any errors?

■ Is the information clearly presented?

■ Do you need more information? If so, where?

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If you find any errors or have any other suggestions for improvement, please indicate the document title and part number, and the chapter, section, and page number (if available). You can send comments to us in the following ways:

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If you would like a reply, please give your name, address, telephone number, and (option-ally) electronic mail address.

If you have problems with the software, please contact your local Oracle Support Services.

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Preface

Welcome to Oracle Discoverer Release 4.1! This guide to the Discoverer Administration Edition explains how to set up and maintain an ad hoc query and analysis interface for busi-ness use. It also provides an overview and tutorial to help you get started.

To use Discoverer and this guide effectively, you should be familiar with an Oracle database and understand the concepts of databases as they relate to business data analysis.

Intended AudienceThis guide is intended for business system and database administrators responsible for Ora-cle databases that support all aspects of a business environment.

ConventionsDiscoverer refers to Oracle Discoverer 4.1.

EUL, the End User Layer, refers to the metadata interface between the database and Dis-cover.

Convention Meaning

. . .

Vertical ellipses in examples indicate omitted information not nec-essary for the example.

. . . Horizontal ellipses in statements or commands indicate omitted material not necessary for the statement or command.

boldface text Boldface type in text indicates a command name, menu name, file name, keyboard keys, or other choice or selection.

italic text Italic type indicates a term defined in the text, the glossary, or in both locations. It can also represent a variable, and be used to pro-vide emphasis.

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< > Angle brackets enclose user-supplied names.

[ ] Brackets enclose optional clauses from which you can choose one or none.

Menu name | Command Text in this format conveys a sequence of choices, i.e., choose the menu, then the command under that menu.

Courier text Text in this format indicates a command line to be typed.

Convention Meaning

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Discoverer Overview 1-1

Discoverer Overview

Discoverer aids business professionals to efficiently “discover” and analyze the exact data they need to make better business decisions. The Discoverer administrator defines the sub-sets of data that business professionals need to support their decision-making, and presents it to them in a logical and clearly understandable way.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 1.1 New Discoverer Features

■ 1.2 Why do you need Discoverer?

■ 1.3 Discoverer Features and Benefits

■ 1.4 Your Role as Discoverer Administrator

1.1 New Discoverer FeaturesDiscoverer Administration Edition Release 4.1 supports the following new features:

■ Automated Summary Management - improving query performance in Discoverer Plus is now easier with this new feature. See Chapter 16, “Automated Summary Manage-ment” for details.

■ Oracle Applications support - for users using Oracle Applications security. This enables you to connect to Oracle Applications EULs as well as standard Discoverer EULs. See Chapter 17, “Using Discoverer with Oracle Applications” for details.

■ Identifiers - all objects in a Business Area are now uniquely defined within each EUL by an Identifier. Import now uses Identifiers to match up identical EUL elements. For further details relating to Import see Chapter 7.5, “Importing EUL elements from a file”. See references to Identifiers in other sections of this guide regarding EUL or Busi-ness Area elements.

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1-2 Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide

■ Change schema owner - you can now manually edit the schema Owner attribute (for a Folder) or leave it blank. See Chapter 6.6.3, “The Owner attribute” for details.

■ Support for Oracle 8i Materialized Views.

■ Analytic Functions - perform complex mathematical analysis with this extended range of statistical functions. Refer to the Oracle Discoverer 4i Plus User’s Guide for details.

1.2 Why do you need Discoverer?Databases are designed by information systems professionals whose primary goal is often transaction efficiency, not ease of use by people who want to examine and analyze the data. For example, the database designer usually groups data elements into tables to optimize data capture, but rarely is that grouping the best for people who want to view and use the data. Often the names of the database tables and their columns are cryptic or confusing.

In fact, almost universally, the design of an efficient transaction database is in conflict with the information needs of the people responsible for making strategic and day-to-day deci-sions about topics such as product mix, profit margins, vendor selection, quality assurance, and work-force resources. Business analysts need a way to access a relatively small amount of data, and usually just a few specific records essential for their decision-making.

That’s where Discoverer comes in. Discoverer lets the business professional find the data he/she needs, analyze it easily, and get answers to support business decisions. Thus, Discoverer provides an efficient way to retrieve a few select records or small amount of specific data from the database.

1.2.1 Discoverer’s ComponentsDiscoverer operates in a client/server and web browser environment and has three main components:

Discoverer Plus, Discoverer 4i Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer The component for end users comprises the Discoverer Plus (Windows), the Discoverer 4i Plus and Discov-erer Viewer; these provide the interface that professionals in your company use on a day-to-day basis to access, view and analyze data. See Section 1.2.2, Section 1.2.3 and Section 1.2.4 for more information.

Administration Edition This component is for you, the Discoverer administrator; it is the tool you use to design and present the subsets of data—called business areas—that end users access from the Discoverer Plus. See Section 1.2.5 for more information.

End User Layer™ The metalayer that shields end users from the complexity of the data-base. Conceptually, the EUL resides between the database dictionary/table definitions and

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Discoverer Overview 1-3

Discoverer. Physically, it comprises a number of database tables and views. See Section 1.2.6 for more information.

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1-4 Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide

Figure 1–1 Discoverer Components

Relational

Databases are usually complex and not designed for the end user. To shield the user from this complexity, Discoverer supports online transac-tion processing (OLTP) and data warehouse/data mart schema designs.

The metalayer of tables and views that lies between the database and Discov-erer.

End User Layer

Users access the data.

Discoverer

Administrators build business areas that contain the specific data users need.

Database

Discoverer

Database

DiscovererAdministration

Editionfor

Discoverer for

WindowsDiscoverer

Users access data via web browser and Java Applet.

Users view data via web browser.

the Web

HTTP

IIOP

Discoverer Services

SQL*Net

SQL*Net

Servlet

IIOP

4i Plus 4i Viewer

HTTPServer

Server

ApplicationServer

Plus

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Discoverer Overview 1-5

1.2.2 Discoverer PlusDesigned for business professionals who do not have a computer programming or database background, Discoverer Plus is an easy-to-use read-only data access tool. It provides logical and intuitive access to information from your organization’s relational databases for ad hoc query, analysis, and reporting.

1.2.3 Discoverer 4i PlusDiscoverer 4i Plus is the internet version of the award-winning Windows product. The two versions are compatible; and you can share workbooks between them.

1.2.4 Discoverer 4i ViewerDiscoverer 4i Viewer is designed for viewing workbooks created by users of the Windows or Web releases of the Discoverer Plus. Using Oracle Discoverer’s easy to use interface via a web browser, you can view database data.

1.2.5 Administration EditionDiscoverer Administration Edition builds and maintains the End User Layer. Its design determines how users access and view data. This is where administrators define the busi-ness areas used by Discoverer Plus.

1.2.6 End User Layer (EUL)The End User Layer (EUL) insulates end users from database complexity and constant change. It provides an intuitive, business-focused view of the database that can be tailored to suit each user or user group. As such, the EUL lets end users focus on business issues instead, not data access issues.

From an operating standpoint, the EUL generates SQL statements on the client and commu-nicates with the database using SQL*Net (see Figure 1–1). When a user selects objects in the business area, the EUL generates the appropriate SQL statements that define the selec-tions from a table, view, or column. When a user executes a query, the EUL executes that SQL statement and sends it to the database, which in turn sends the results to the Discoverer Plus interface. Thus, the end user does not have to understand any SQL to access and retrieve data. It is all handled by the EUL.

NOTE: The metalayer structure of the End User Layer preserves the data-base’s data integrity. Nothing that you or the end user does with Discov-erer affects the database; the End User Layer only deals with the metadata in the metalayer.

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1-6 Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide

1.2.7 What is a Business Area?A business area is a set of folders containing related information with a common business purpose. For example, Figure 1–2 shows information about budget and revenue stored in a business area for the accounting department, while information about projects is stored in a business area for project leaders. Although some of the data that these professionals need may be the same, such as the budgets folder, the exact combination of tables and views for each department is usually unique.

Figure 1–2 Business Area Concepts

Using Discoverer Administration Edition, you can tailor the grouping of data to provide users with the proper access to the precise data they need for ad hoc query, decision support, and presentation of results.

Business Areas:

■ Meet the specific data needs of the users

■ Usually contain data from several different tables or views

■ Have tables or views and their associated columns mapped to “folders” and “items” respectively

■ Can contain many simple folders and complex folders

■ May contain folders from one or more physical databases

Account

Account

Account

Manager

Analyst 1

Analyst 2

BudgetsFolder

FinanceFolder

ProjectFolder

2000ProjectsFolder

Project Manager

Project Leader

Assistant ProjectLeader

Project AnalysisBusinessArea

Budgets & FinanceBusinessArea

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Discoverer Overview 1-7

■ Include conditions, joins, calculations, formatting, hierarchy structures, and other cus-tom features

■ May be accessible to one or many user IDs or roles; also, a user ID or role may be granted access to many business areas

■ Let users access data, without having to understand the database structure

1.2.7.1 Business Area TerminologyTo shield users from the complexity of a database, business areas use more familiar termi-nology as shown here.

Figure 1–3 Business Area Terminology

Thus, a Business Area is a cohesive set of Folders, Items, and other functions designed spe-cifically for professional business people so they can more effectively use the data in their company’s databases.

The time invested in creating a well-designed business area has a significant payback in reduced administration and maintenance. It can help you eliminate or greatly reduce the amount of time spent tailoring each user’s environment at the database level. For more infor-mation on this topic, read Chapter 7, “Business Areas”.

A table/view becomes a folder.

A column becomes an item.

DATABASE BUSINESS AREAVIEW OR TABLE

ROW COLUMN

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Discoverer Features and Benefits

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1.3 Discoverer Features and BenefitsDiscoverer Administration Edition lets you quickly and easily create an effective business area. It has these features and benefits:

Table 1–1 Administration Edition Features and Benefits

Feature Benefits

Load tables and views individually or use “bulk load” Reduces End User Layer setup time; increases design flexi-bility.

Load tables and views by user IDs or roles Reduces End User Layer setup time; increases design flexi-bility.

Online help Reduces the need to reference paper material. Context-sensi-tive help lets users find information more quickly.

“One-button” load and “wizard-style” interface Provides fast, easy mechanisms for defining and maintain-ing business areas that significantly reduces administration overhead. Wizards are resizable, making their information easy to read.

Grant privileges to user IDs and roles Reuses database security mechanisms, reducing the work-load involved in maintaining access control.

Specify default properties for items Reinforces corporate reporting standards from one central-ized repository.

Define formulas/conditions and the logical grouping of items within a business area

Improves ease-of-use for end users; provides for corporate reporting standards.

Automatically define join relationships based on primary/foreign keys or matching column names

Reuses information stored in the data dictionary; reduces administration overhead.

Automatically define date hierarchies for all date items Enables users traverse easily through date structures with-out requiring additional work by the database administrator.

Automatically define a list of values for items Enables users to easily create error-free inputs for condi-tions; reduces administration overhead.

Define alternative sorting Conventional sorting presents data in either ascending or descending order. Use alternative sorting to tailor how data is presented. For example, sort data by days of the week, or region, or season, or department.

Define hierarchies between items Lets users easily navigate through the data, to drill down for more detail, or drill up for more summary information.

Define hyperdrills Enables users to drill to information in terms of how it is related, rather than through levels in a hierarchy.

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Your Role as Discoverer Administrator

Discoverer Overview 1-9

1.4 Your Role as Discoverer AdministratorAs a Discoverer administrator, you need to understand how to design business areas that support your company’s decision-makers. On the database side, you need to know what data is in the database, where it’s located, how it’s stored, and how it relates to other data. On the business side, you need to know what data the decision-makers require, what kinds of analy-sis are necessary, and how the final results should be presented for easy comprehension.

This means interviewing end users to find out the types of analysis they need to do and the data they need to do it. Your job is to enable the users to fulfill as many of their require-ments as possible with Discoverer Plus connected to one or more business areas. For tips and suggestions on defining user requirements, see the next section, “Before You Begin.”

In addition, you may be responsible for database security. You can use Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition to control user access to business areas. The business area forms a secondary security layer. All primary access to database objects (for example, tables and views) is con-trolled by the database administrator.

As the Discoverer administrator, you should:

■ Identify user requirements

■ Choose the database tables that best meet the requirement

■ Build useful and robust business areas

■ Create meaningful names for business areas, folders, and items

■ Control user access to business areas

■ Create a usable relational structure in the EUL with joins and complex folders

Automatically create and maintain summary tables or use an external summary table

Enables users to quickly access data; reduces administration overhead for maintaining summary tables

Use Discoverer with non-Oracle databases Provides users with the advantages of Discoverer’s business analysis tools with any database.

Schedule workbooks for processing Enables you to monitor the status of workbooks scheduled to run automatically. Enables users to run workbooks in batch.

Advanced features Custom folders that support advanced SQL syntax; com-mand-line shortcuts; and use of PL/SQL functions defined to meet the requirements of your users.

Table 1–1 Administration Edition Features and Benefits

Feature Benefits

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■ Create calculations, conditions and drills that support end-user analysis

■ Create summary tables to improve performance

1.4.1 Before You BeginImplementing Discoverer is like implementing any other IT project—you need to start with some idea of what the user requirements are. Hold interviews with key users to establish the kinds of queries they want to perform. Be prepared to do some relational design to work out the result sets needed. Requests from users do not have to be precise or even very detailed, but answers to these questions will give some direction when developing the End User Layer:

■ What information do they use now?

■ What’s wrong and right with that information?

■ What information would they like to see?

■ What format would they like?

■ Where can this information be found or derived from?

■ What folders, items, and joins would be useful for representing and accessing the infor-mation?

■ What are their performance requirements?

This does not mean that user requirements have to be static—they will certainly change over time, and you can modify the EUL over time to support new requirements, but it is impor-tant to have a good idea of current business requirements on which to base future changes.

Using Discoverer Plus yourself will help you help users meet as many of their own require-ments as possible. There may still be some standard reports that you need to create on their behalf. You can provide these in the form of public queries.

Often the biggest changes are requested by users once a system goes “live.” When users see what Discoverer can do for them, they soon have suggestions for other areas where it could be useful!

Above all, most successful systems start off by delivering a simple subset of requirements first, and then extending it over time, once users see what can be achieved.

1.4.2 Next Steps■ Read Chapter 3, “Getting Started” to introduce yourself to the Discoverer Administra-

tion Edition user interface.

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Discoverer Overview 1-11

■ Take the tutorial in Chapter 4 to become familiar with Discoverer Administration Edi-tion features.

■ Take the Discoverer Plus tutorial to learn about Discoverer from the user’s point of view.

As you work with Discoverer, use the online help for quick answers, or return to this guide for detailed information.

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Setting Up the Database 2-1

Setting Up the Database

This chapter describes how to configure the database to enable and disable various Discov-erer features.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 2.1 Scheduled Workbooks

■ 2.2 Summary Management

■ 2.3 Query Prediction

2.1 Scheduled WorkbooksThe workbook scheduling feature in Discoverer uses native features in the Oracle DBMS, and is therefore only available when running against an Oracle database. This feature uses the same highly scalable and reliable processing procedures within the kernel as the Sum-mary Management feature and the setup for both features is similar. These procedures use standard packages in the DBMS called DBMS_JOB.

To enable the processing procedures for Workbook Scheduling in Discoverer:

■ Confirm that DBMS_JOBS has been installed.

■ Specify result set storage.

■ Set the time period at which the process kicks in.

These procedures are described in the following sections.

For more information about Scheduled Workbooks, see Chapter 9, “Scheduled Workbooks”.

2.1.1 Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed1. Log onto SQL*Plus as the Administrator and execute the following SQL statement:

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2-2 Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Administration Guide

SQL> select * from all_objects where object_name=’DBMS_JOB’ and object_type = ’PACKAGE’;

If the statement returns no rows, use your DBA SQLDBA (Oracle 7.2) or SVRMGRL (Oracle 7.3 or later) to create the necessary packages.

2. From Windows 95 or NT choose Start | Run.

3. Type in one of the following”

■ SQLDBA (for Oracle7.2)

■ SVRMGRL (for Oracle 7.3 or later)

■ SVRMGR (for Oracle8i Personal Edition)

4. When in the DBA facility, type CONNECT INTERNAL

5. Execute the following SQL statement:

SQL> start <ORACLE_HOME>/rdbms/admin/dbmsjob.sql;

SQL> start <ORACLE_HOME>/rdbms/admin/prvtjob.plb;

2.1.2 Specifying Result Set StorageWhen a Scheduled Workbook is run, the results are stored in database tables within the data-base. Result set data created as part of the workbook scheduling process may be stored in one of two areas:

■ Storing the Result Set in the User’s Schema

■ Storing the Result Set in the centralized Repository User’s Schema

2.1.2.1 Storing the Result Set in the User’s SchemaAdvantages: A database limit can be specified on the maximum amount of data a user can store in the database. If the result set is stored under the user’s schema, then you keep con-trol over the maximum amount of space one individual user can fill with result sets. If the user creates a scheduled workbook that fills that space, it affects only his/her own scheduled workbook.

Privileges required: The user must have the following privileges in the database:

NOTE: In some ports, the RDBMS directory is called RDBMS72 or RDBMS73.

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Setting Up the Database 2-3

■ Create Procedure

■ Create Table

■ Create View

To grant these privileges, do the following:

1. Log onto SQL*Plus or SQLDBA as the Database Administrator.

2. Type the following:

SQL> Grant CREATE PROCEDURE to <USER>;

SQL> Grant CREATE TABLE to <USER>;

SQL> Grant CREATE VIEW to <USER>;

where <USER> is the userid of the user who is to be allowed to schedule workbooks.

These privileges must be granted directly to the user and not to a database role.

2.1.2.2 Storing the Result Set in the centralized Repository User’s SchemaIn order to enable Workbook Scheduling using a centralized repository user’s schema, the SQL script batchusr.sql located in [ORACLE_HOME]\discvr4\sql must be run in SQL*Plus or SQLDBA as a database administrator (e.g., SYSTEM).

An EUL must exist to run this script against (see Chapter 5.2, “Creating an End User Layer”).

This script creates a new user which is granted the following privileges:

■ Create Procedure

■ Create Table

■ Create View

In addition, the administrator of the End User Layer must change the user so that their Repository User property is pointing to this repository user’s schema just created. This is done via the Tools | Privileges | Scheduled Workbooks tab; you select the user schema just created from the drop-down list in the field named Select the user to own the result tables created in the database and click OK or Apply.

The centralized repository user’s schema may be customized by the database administrator for space management purposes and underlying data access.

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The repository user created will not be able to directly schedule a workbook through Discov-erer Plus.

Advantages: Each user does not need DML procedures to run scheduled workbooks.

N.B. One user can potentially run a scheduled workbook that fills the available result set space, preventing other scheduled workbooks from running until it is cleared.

2.1.3 Setting the Start Time for Workbook ProcessingThe Workbook processes run within the database on the server, and are controlled by param-eters in the initialization file of the Oracle DBMS—the INIT<SID>.ORA file.

To limit the number of processing requests that can run simultaneously:

The parameter job_queue_processes specifies the number of concurrent processes to use to process DBMS_JOB. It controls the number of processing requests that can be han-dled simultaneously. The default value is zero, which means processing requests will not be created. You should set it to a minimum of 2 or more if you have any other applications that use DBMS_JOB.

You need more than one job queue process, because if one job fails for any reason, it may keep getting re-submitted and thus prevent everything else in the queue from being com-pleted. If you want to have 10 simultaneous processing requests handled then you will need to set this to 10.

The INIT<SID>.ORA parameter job_queue_interval is the time in seconds which controls how often the job processes wake up to process pending jobs. The default is 60, which is quite frequent. What you set this to depends on how frequently you want the process to wake up and serve the requests that have been made. Oracle recommends that you update the 60 second default to at least 10 minutes (a value of 600). Note that this parameter also affects summary management.

To enable these parameters:

1. Locate the INIT<SID>.ORA file.

NOTE: SELECT ANY TABLE access is given by the script batchusr.sql, but this may be limited provided the repository user’s schema is granted access to the underlying data which will be accessed for workbook sched-uling.

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For example, on Oracle8i Personal Edition the INIT<SID>.ORA file is held in <ORACLE_HOME>\database. Its default name is INITORCL.ORA where ORCL is the <SID> name.

2. Enter 2 lines into the file. For example:

job_queue_processes = 2

job_queue_interval = 600 (Note: this is equivalent to 10 minutes)

2.2 Summary ManagementThe Summary Management feature in Discoverer uses native features in the Oracle DBMS, and is therefore only available when running against the Oracle database. This feature uses the same highly scalable and reliable processing procedures within the kernel as the work-book scheduling capability and the setup for both features is similar. These procedures use standard packages in the DBMS called “DBMS_JOB”.

For more information about Summary Management, see Chapter 15.1, “Introduction” or Chapter 16.1, “Introduction” for details about how Discoverer can manage your summaries for you.

To enable the processing procedures for Summary Management in Discoverer you can check the following:

■ Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed

■ Privileges

■ Determining Tablespace Quotas

■ Checking Object/Schema Name

■ Setting the Start Time for Summary Processing

2.2.1 Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed1. Log onto SQL*Plus as the Administrator and execute the following SQL statement:

NOTE:The Summary Management and Workbook Scheduling features both use this scheduling capability within the Oracle DBMS. The interval you specify and the number of concurrent requests affect both features.

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SQL> select * from all_objects where object_name=’DBMS_JOB’ and object_type = ’PACKAGE’;

If the statement returns no rows, use your DBA SQLDBA (Oracle 7.2) or SVRMGRL (Oracle 7.3 or later) to create the necessary packages.

2. From Windows 95 or NT choose Start | Run.

3. Type in one of the following:

■ SQLDBA (for Oracle7.2)

■ SVRMGRL (for Oracle 7.3 or later)

■ SVRMGR (for Oracle8i Personal Edition)

4. When in the DBA facility, type CONNECT INTERNAL

5. Execute the following SQL statement:

SQL> start <ORACLE_HOME>/rdbms/admin/dbmsjob.sql;

SQL> start <ORACLE_HOME>/rdbms/admin/prvtjob.plb;

2.2.2 PrivilegesThe user ID that you intend to use to create the Summary Folders must have the following database privileges:

■ CREATE TABLE

■ CREATE VIEW

■ CREATE PROCEDURE

■ SELECT ON V_$PARAMETER

■ ANALYZE ANY (ASM)

■ CREATE/DROP/ALTER ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW (8.1.6+)

■ GLOBAL QUERY REWRITE (8.1.6+)

NOTE: In some ports, the RDBMS directory is called RDBMS72 or RDBMS73.

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Use SQL*DBA (Oracle 7.2) or SVRMGRL (Oracle 7.3 or later) ’CONNECT INTERNAL’ and execute the following SQL statements: (Note: SVRMGR on Oracle8i Personal Edition, SVRMGR23 or SVRMGR30 on WindowsNT Server.)

SQL> Grant CREATE TABLE to <USER>; SQL> Grant CREATE VIEW to <USER>; SQL> Grant CREATE PROCEDURE to <USER>; SQL> Grant SELECT ON V_$PARAMETER to <USER>; SQL> Grant CREATE ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW to <USER>; SQL> Grant DROP ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW to <USER>; SQL> Grant ALTER ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW to <USER>; SQL> Grant GLOBAL QUERY REWRITE to <USER> WITH ADMIN OPTION; SQL> Grant ANALYZE ANY to <USER>;

where <USER> is the userid of the person using the Administration Edition.

Script to enable user to create summaries against an 8.1.6+ databaseA script granting privileges required to create summaries against an 8.1.6+ database can be found in [ORACLE_HOME]\DISCVR4\SQL\eulasm.sql.

2.2.3 Determining Tablespace QuotasA user must have enough quota in their default tablespace to create summary tables.

Use SQL*DBA (Oracle 7.2) or SVRMGRL (Oracle 7.3 or later) connect internal and execute the following SQL statement: (Note: SVRMGR on Oracle8i Personal Edition, SVRMGR23 or SVRMGR30 on WindowsNT Server.).

SQL> select * from dba_ts_quotas where username = <user>;

where <user> is the userid of the person using the Administration Edition.

Reset the Tablespace Quotas by issuing the following SQL statement:

SQL> alter user <user> quota <n> on <tablespace>;

where <user> is the userid of the person using the Administration Edition

where <n> is the quota in K(ilobytes) or M(egabytes) or Unlimited

where <tablespace> is the default tablespace name e.g. USERS

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2.2.4 Checking Object/Schema NameA user should not have an object in their schema with the same name as their username. To check that this is not the case, login to SQL*Plus as the user and issue the following com-mand:

SQL> select object_name from user_objects where object_name = <user>;

where <user> is the same as the login used for SQL*Plus.

2.2.5 Setting the Start Time for Summary ProcessingThe Summary Management processes run within the database on the server, and are con-trolled by parameters in the initialization file of the Oracle DBMS—the INIT<SID>.ORA file.

2.2.5.1 Limiting the Number of Processing Requests that can Run SimultaneouslyThe parameter 'job_queue_processes' specifies the number of concurrent processes to use to process DBMS_JOB. I.E It controls the number of processing requests that can be handled simultaneously. The default value is zero which means processing requests will NOT be cre-ated. You should set it to a minimum of 2, or more if you have any other applications that use DBMS_JOB.

You need more than one job queue process, because if one job fails for any reason, it may keep getting re-submitted and thus prevent everything else in the queue from being com-pleted. If you wish to have 10 simultaneous processing requests handled then you will need to set this to 10.

The INIT<SID>.ORA parameter 'job_queue_interval' is the time in seconds which controls how often the job processes wake up to process pending jobs. The default is 60, which is quite frequent. What you set this to depends on how frequently you want the process to wake up and serve the requests that have been made. We recommend that you update the 60 second default to at least 10 minutes (a value of 600). Note that this parameter also affects summary management.

To enable these parameters:

1. Locate the INIT<SID>.ORA file.

For example, on Personal Oracle7 the INIT<SID>.ORA file is held in <ORACLE_HOME>\database. Its default name is INITORCL.ORA where ORCL is the <SID> name.

2. Enter 2 lines into the file. For example:

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job_queue_processes = 2

job_queue_interval = 600 (Note: this is equivalent to 10 minutes)

2.3 Query Prediction

2.3.1 Enabling Query PredictionIf Query Prediction is not available, a prompt displays during each query execution in Dis-coverer Plus advising that the “query estimate is not available.” In addition, the message Query performance prediction not available because <reason> displays. You can find details about the reason in the Database Information dialog, by choosing Help | Database Information.

Query Prediction may be unavailable due to any of the following:

■ Connection to a database that does not support query prediction,e.g. Oracle 7.1.x

■ Certain views (noted in the 'Database Information' Dialog) are not accessible:

■ Sys.v$session not accessible

■ Sys.v$sesstat not accessible

■ Sys.v$parameter not accessible

■ The timed_statistics parameter is set to FALSE in the INIT<SID>.ORA database param-eter file. FALSE is the default value of this parameter.

■ Data tables have not been analyzed.

■ The init.ora parameter OPTIMIZER MODE is set to RULE, instead of CHOOSE.

To enable Query Prediction, perform the following steps based on the information displayed in the Database Information dialog.

2.3.1.1 What to do if Certain Views (SYS.V$xxx) are not Available1. From Windows 95 or NT choose Start | Run.

2. Type in one of the following:

NOTE: The Summary Management and Workbook Scheduling features both use this scheduling capability within the Oracle DBMS. The interval you specify and the number of concurrent requests affect both features.

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■ SQLDBA (for Oracle7.2)

■ SVRMGRL (for Oracle 7.3 or later)

■ SVRMGR (for Oracle8i Personal Edition)

3. When in the DBA facility, type CONNECT INTERNAL

4. Grant select access on these objects and issue the following:

SQLDBA> grant select on v_$session to public;

SQLDBA> grant select on v_$sesstat to public;

SQLDBA> grant select on v_$parameter to public;

2.3.1.2 To Check the timed_statistics ParameterTo verify whether the Server has timed_statistics already defined:

1. Run SQL*Plus.

2. Login as SYSTEM/<password>

where <password> is your system specific password.

3. Execute the following query:

SQL> select value

from v$parameter

where name = ’timed_statistics’;

This should return the value TRUE. If it returns the value FALSE you need to manually edit the INIT<SID>.ORA file.

4. Locate INIT<SID>.ORA.

For example, on Oracle8i Personal Edition the file INITORCL.ORA is located in <ORACLE_HOME>\database. The <SID> in this case is ORCL.

5. Edit the file to include the following line:

timed_statistics = TRUE

6. Shut down and restart the server to effect this change.

2.3.1.3 To Analyze Tables1. Run SQL*Plus.

2. Login as the data table owner.

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3. Execute the following query:

■ For Oracle 7.2 databases:

SQL> analyze table <username.tablename> compute statis-tics;

■ For Oracle 7.3 (and later) databases:

SQL> analyze table <username.tablename> compute statis-tics for all columns;

2.3.1.4 To Check the optimizer_mode ParameterTo verify whether the Server has ‘optimizer_mode’ already defined:

1. Run SQL*Plus.

2. Login as SYSTEM/<password>

where <password> is your system specific password.

3. Execute the following query:

SQL> select value

from v$parameter

where name = ’optimizer_mode’;

This should return the value CHOOSE. This means that the system will use the Cost opti-mizer if the tables are analyzed, and the Rule optimizer if they are not. Optimizer_mode may also have the value FIRSTROWS or ALLROWS, both of which force the use of Cost opti-mizer, even if the tables are not analyzed.

If this query returns the value RULE you need to manually edit the INIT<SID>.ORA file. To do this:

1. Locate INIT<SID>.ORA.

For example, on Oracle8i Personal Edition the file INITORCL.ORA is located in <ORACLE_HOME>\database. The <SID> in this case is ORCL.

2. Edit the file to include the following line:

optimizer_mode = CHOOSE

NOTE: If you expect the table contents to change significantly over time, reapply your analysis at regular intervals.

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3. Shut down and restart the server to effect this change.

2.3.2 Reducing Long Query Prediction TimesDiscoverer uses a Cost-Based Optimizer within its query prediction process (it only parses the statements - the execution of queries is usually governed by the server’s default opti-mizer mode). Unfortunately, the CBO can be inefficient on very large schema’s, such as Ora-cle Applications.

When query prediction is used in a large schema environment, such as Oracle Applications, the database server can take a long time to parse a statement using the cost-based optimizer. This can mean that Query Prediction can take several minutes. There are three ways around this problem:

■ Turn off Query Prediction.

This can be done by specifying the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 4\Data-base\QPPEnable

It should be set to a DWORD value of 0 (zero). To re-enable query prediction at some later point in time, either remove the registry key or set it to 1.

■ Stop Query Prediction forcing the use of the Cost-Based Optimizer.

This can be done by specifying the following registry key:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 4\Database\QPPCBOEnforced

It should be set to a DWORD value of 0 (zero) which means use of the Cost-based Opti-mizer (CBO) is not enforced. The CBO will follow the normal rules of the database server.

■ Tune the way the cost-based optimizer uses indexes, for example by adjusting database parameters such as:

■ optimizer_index_cost_adj

■ optimizer_index_caching

For further information refer to Oracle 8i Designing and Tuning for Performance Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76992-01.

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Getting Started

This chapter introduces you to Discoverer Administration Edition: how to start it, how to navigate around the work area, and the tool bar shortcuts to many features.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 3.1 Starting Discoverer Administration Edition

■ 3.2 Connecting to the Database

■ 3.3 The Work Area

■ 3.4 Toolbar Icons

■ 3.5 Using the Help Menu

3.1 Starting Discoverer Administration Edition

Windows 95 & Windows NT 4.0■ Choose Programs | Oracle Discoverer 4| Administration Edition from the Start

menu.

3.2 Connecting to the DatabaseWhen you start Discoverer Administration Edition (see Section 3.1, “Starting Discoverer Administration Edition” for more information), the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Admin-istration Edition dialog box is displayed (see Figure 3–1). You can also open this dialog box by choosing File | Connect… when Discoverer Administration Edition is already run-ning.

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Figure 3–1 The Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Dialog Box

The Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition dialog box enables you to con-nect to your database (via an EUL). You need to specify the following information

UsernameSpecify the user ID for the person that you want to log in as.

You can also connect using an Oracle Applications User name. For further information about connecting as an Oracle Applications user see Chapter 17, “Using Discoverer with Oracle Applications”.

PasswordSpecify the password for the user ID specified in the Username field.

ConnectSpecify your database, using the following guidelines:

■ If you are logging onto the Oracle database running on the same machine as Discoverer Administration Edition, leave this field blank.

■ If you are logging onto an Oracle database on another computer, specify the appropri-ate SQL*Net connect string. See your database administrator if you do not know the connect string.

■ If you are logging onto a non-Oracle database, specify the following:

ODBC:<data source name>

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Oracle Applications UserIf you are connecting using an Oracle Applications User name see Chapter 17, “Using Dis-coverer with Oracle Applications” for further details.

Connecting to an EULWhen you click Connect, Discoverer Administration Edition connects to the database and displays the first screen of the Load Wizard (see Figure 3–2).

Discoverer Administration Edition is now running and connected to your database, the next step is to either open a business area or create a new one.

TIP for ODBC: If you omit your user ID or password, the Driver Connect dialog box appears for the data source you specified. If you want to alter or set any driver-specific values, such as languages, simply omit the user ID/password information and type in the relevant data source.

Note: The Oracle Applications User Connect dialog may or may not dis-play the Oracle Applications user check box. For further details see Chapter 17.3, “Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)”.

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Figure 3–2 Using Load Wizard to Open a Business Area

See Chapter 7, “Business Areas” for a complete description of creating a business area. After you create or open a new business area, the Discoverer Administration Edition main window and tasklist appear (as shown in Figure 3–3).

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3.3 The Work AreaThe work area is your view into the End User Layer (EUL) which is a collection of tables providing a metalayer for your organization’s database, controlled by the Oracle database management system (DBMS). For example, you can create new business areas and folders, move items from one folder to another, and create and edit items as needed. This is where you create and manage business areas. Essentially, everything you do that affects the EUL is done in the work area.

The work area is organized hierarchically by business areas, which contain folders. Each folder can contain a variety of objects, including items, joins, and filters. Business areas, folders, and all of the items in the folders are represented by icons. The tool bar icons under-neath the menus give you quick access to all features.

The work area is the primary view for creating and viewing a business area. The work area window is always displayed in the main window, and you can open more than one work area window at a time.

This section consists of the following topics:

■ 3.3.1 Context-sensitive Menus in the Work Area

■ 3.3.2 Pages of the Work Area Window

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Figure 3–3 The Administration Edition Work Area and Tasklist

The Administration TasklistThe Administration Tasklist serves as a reminder of the tasks that you need to accomplish to build a complete business area, and the order in which you would normally perform them. You can close and reopen the Administration Tasklist dialog box by choosing View | Tasklist. You can also choose to display the tasklist automatically when you start Discov-erer Administration Edition by clicking the check box at the lower left corner of the Admin-istration Tasklist dialog box.

Clicking an icon on the tasklist invokes the appropriate wizard or dialog for accomplishing the task. Discoverer does not recognize when the task is completed, but after each wizard has been visited a checkmark appears next to the icon. To learn how to create or edit any ele-ment on this list, read the relevant chapter in this book.

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3.3.1 Context-sensitive Menus in the Work AreaRight-clicking on any item in the work area displays a menu that pertains to that item. The commands displayed on the menus are the commands most frequently used for that type of item.

Figure 3–4 An Example of a Right Mouse Button Menu

If you right-click on the background of the work area with no items selected, the context-sensitive menu displays commands for working with a business area in general, or to the appropriate tab currently displayed.

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3.3.2 Pages of the Work Area WindowThe work area window is divided into four pages. Each page displays a different types of EUL items. These pages are:

■ Data

■ Hierarchy

■ Item Class

■ Summary

Clicking one of the tabs near the top of a work area window, displays the relevant page.

3.3.2.1 Using the Data Page

OverviewClicking the Data tab displays the structure and contents of each business area. All of the folders and their contents appear in much the same way as a user will see them in the busi-ness area.

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Figure 3–5 The Data Page

Amongst other things, the Data page enables you to:

■ create calculated items,

■ create Complex Folders,

■ create Joins,

■ create Conditions,

■ create new Business Areas, Folders & Items and

■ modify object properties.

Objects on the Data Page

Business AreaThe business area icon (a filing cabinet) represents the logical grouping of related objects within the database that users need to issue queries (for example, accounts payable, regional sales performance, or parts inventory within your organization).

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To expand a business area and see the folders and items that it contains, click the plus sym-bol to the left of the icon. To collapse a business area, click the minus symbol to the left of the icon.

Simple FolderA simple folder icon corresponds to a table or view in the database. A one-to-one relation-ship exists between the tables represented in a business area and the simple folders that the end user sees. These folders are created when you use the Load Wizard to create a business area. A folder is designed to “hold” or organize items. Each item in a folder must have a unique name.

Items in a simple folder are displayed in the order they were loaded from the database. You can change this order using drag and drop or by entering a new position number in the Sequence field on the item’s Properties dialog box.

A business area must be built from items in simple folders, and one simple folder must exist for each table that the end user can view or use in Discoverer Plus. A simple folder cannot contain items from more than one table unless it maps to a database view. Folders can be hidden from the end user, but a folder must still be included in the business area if any of its data is used to derive things such as calculations or conditions. You can copy or move items from a simple folder into a complex folder, but the item must start in a simple folder first.

To add simple folders to a business area, choose Insert | Folder, then choose From Data-base or New.

Complex FolderA complex folder icon represents a collection of items copied from the available simple folders in the EUL. For items to be included in a complex folder, the simple folders contain-ing those items must be joined. As long as the simple folders are in the EUL, the items they contain can be copied into complex folders in any business area.

You add items from a simple folder to a complex folder by copying and pasting them, or by dragging them. When you add an item to a complex folder, you are making a copy of the item. If you add an item with the same name, Discoverer Administration Edition adds a numeric suffix to the name of the new item. Items in a complex folder must have unique names.

Items are initially ordered by the order of placement in the folder. You can control the dis-play sequence by entering a new position number in the Sequence field of the item’s Proper-ties window.

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Custom FolderA custom folder is created with an SQL statement using the Discoverer interface. The SQL statement can refer to objects in the database. Joins can be set between the items in the cus-tom folder and existing items in other folders in the business area.

Axis ItemAn axis item icon represents an item in a folder. The item may be real, derived, or calcu-lated. The three axis options are top, side, and page. These options refer to the position of the item when the report is displayed. To set the axis position, use the Default Position field on the Item Properties dialog box. By default, all text, date and integer items are initially assigned to be axis items.

Data Point ItemA data point item icon represents an item that is used in Discoverer Plus as a numeric value. By default, all numeric items that are not integers are initially set as data point items. To make an item a data point, select Data Point in the Default Position field of the Item Proper-ties window.

Master to Detail JoinA master-to-detail join icon represents a one-to-many relationship between two items in dif-ferent folders. The primary key is on left (Master), the foreign key is on right (Detail).

Create joins while using the Load Wizard to create a business area or by choosing Insert|Join.

Detail to Master JoinA detail-to-master join icon represents a many-to-one relationship between two items in dif-ferent folders. The foreign key is on left (Detail), the primary key is on right (Master).

ConditionA condition icon represents a condition created for use in Discoverer Plus (for example, sal-ary > 2,000).

AggregateAn aggregate icon represents arithmetic operations such as sum, count, min, average, and so forth. An item listed in bold represents the default item, which is applied when a data point is chosen.

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ValueA value is one of a list of values attributed to an item class. See 3.3.2.3 Using the Item Classes Page.

3.3.2.2 Using the Hierarchies Page

OverviewA Hierachy defines a drill path enabling a user to drill directly from one related Item to another.

The Hierarchies page displays all of the hierarchies grouped by business area. Use this view of the hierarchies to see the definition of each hierarchy.

Although you can create a hierarchy at any time without navigating to the Hierarchies page, creating a hierarchy while all hierarchies are visible helps you manage them more effec-tively. Also, you can review the contents and organization of each hierarchy, and view the hierarchy templates provided by Discoverer Administration Edition.

Figure 3–6 The Hierarchies Page

To drill down into the hierarchy, click the plus symbol to reveal the hierarchy nodes. Each node shows the next level of detail. Continue clicking the plus symbol to display succeeding nodes until you reach the end of the hierarchical relationship. To quickly close the entire hierarchy, click the top level.

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Clicking the Show button displays a drop-down menu that shows hierarchy display options as shown in Figure 3–7.

Figure 3–7 The Show Menu for Hierarchies

The show menu contains the following options:

■ User DefinedThis option displays hierarchies that you have explicitly created as system administra-tor.

■ System GeneratedThis option displays hierarchies that are automatically generated by the system when the business area is created by the Load Wizard.

■ User and SystemThis option displays both user-defined and system-generated hierarchies.

■ Item Hierarchies

■ Date Hierarchies

■ All Hierarchies

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Objects on the Hierarchies Page

HierarchyA hierarchy icon represents a relationship between items so users can drill up and down through data to see different levels of aggregate information. The sequential nature of a hier-archy is clearly visible in the work area window.

Date Hierarchy Template FolderA date hierarchy template icon represents a folder that contains all the date hierarchy tem-plates created in the business area.

Date TemplateA date template icon represents a date hierarchy you have created.

3.3.2.3 Using the Item Classes Page

OverviewThe Item Classes page displays all of the item classes grouped by business area. Use this view to identify the item class components.

Although you can create an item class at any time, creating an item class while they are all visible helps you manage them more effectively.

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Figure 3–8 The Item Classes Page

In each item class folder, you can see a list of values (if there is one) assigned to the item class. Opening a list of values folder displays each unique occurrence of data values as a set.

The work area also shows which items currently use the item class, as opposed to the Data tab work area where there is no way to determine which item is using a particular item class without viewing each item property individually. This view of the work area clearly shows which items use a particular item class.

You can also identify item classes that have hyperdrill and alternative sort attributes, and whether those options are active.

The Show button displays a menu of display options for item classes (see Figure 3–9).

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Figure 3–9 The Show Menu for Item Classes

The show menu contains the following options:

■ User DefinedThis option displays item classes that you have explicitly created as system administra-tor.

■ System GeneratedThis option displays item classes that are automatically generated by the system when the business area is created by the Load Wizard. The Load Wizard automatically cre-ates a list of values for all columns if you select Automatically Generate List of Val-ues for Items in the Load Wizard.

■ User and SystemThis option displays both user-defined and system-generated item classes.

■ List of Values

■ Alternative Sort

■ Drill to Detail

■ All Item Classes

This helps you to determine the exact characteristics of each item class.

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The options on the Show menu are most useful when you have a large number of item classes as being able to display subsets of item classes makes management and review eas-ier.

For more information, see Chapter 10, “Items and Item Classes”

Objects on the Item Classes Page

Item ClassAn item class icon represents a grouping of items that share similar values. Attributes are a list of values, alternate sort, and hyperdrill. Item classes are used when you create a condi-tion in Discoverer Administration Edition or when the user creates a condition in Discov-erer Plus. Expanding an item class shows the list of values and the items using the item class.

You can create item classes automatically when you use the Load Wizard to create a busi-ness area. You can also create items classes are also created by choosing Item Class from the Insert menu.

List of ValuesA list of values icon represents the unique values that exist in the item class. When the folder is opened, Discoverer Administration Edition retrieves the unique values that currently exist in the database column associated with the item class.

Each unique value is displayed with this bullet symbol.

To create a list of values choose Insert | Item Class or create it automatically using the Load Wizard.

Item GroupAn item group icon represents all objects that use an item class. To view the items, click the (+) symbol to the left of the icon.

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3.3.2.4 Using the Summaries Page

OverviewThe Summaries page displays all of the summary refresh sets and associated summaries in the business area. You can use the Summaries page to review the organization and defini-tions of the summaries.

Figure 3–10 The Summaries Page

Objects on the Summaries Page

Summary FolderA summary folder icon represents a folder that contains items used to optimize query perfor-mance.

Create a summary item by choosing Insert | Summary.

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Toolbar Icons

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3.4 Toolbar IconsThe icons on the tool bar act as shortcuts for the most commonly used menu commands. This section shows these icons and the menu options they represent.

Cut Properties

Copy New Join

Paste New Hierarchy

New Business Area New Item Class

New Folder New Summary

New Item Security

New Condition Privileges

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3.5 Using the Help MenuThe Help menu contains the following commands:

Help TopicsContents of the Administrator Edition on-line help.

Using HelpOnline instructions for using the Help system.

ManualsLaunches the Oracle Information Navigator to display manuals in HTML format.

Database InformationDisplays a dialog which tells you which database you are connected to. The dialog also lists the functionality that is not available to your users for this database and the reason why the functionality is not available.

Figure 3–11 Database Information Dialog

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Tutorial 4-1

Tutorial

This tutorial uses a hypothetical chain of video rental stores as a business example, to show how to develop a business area using sales and inventory data. Your Discoverer software includes the video store demonstration database (VIDEO4) that this tutorial uses. Please ensure this has been created by your administrator before starting the tutorial. For details of how the administrator can install the tutorial data see Chapter 5.6, “Installing the Tutorial Data”.

This tutorial consists of a set of lessons that show you how to use the main features of Dis-coverer Administration Edition. Each lesson begins with an introduction and a list of exer-cises. Before you start each lesson, you may want to survey the list of exercises to get a sense of how much time you need to schedule for completing the lesson.

This tutorial consists of the following lessons:

■ Lesson 1: Creating a private End User Layer

■ Lesson 2: Using the Load Wizard

■ Lesson 3: Getting to Know the Work Area

■ Lesson 4: Granting Access Privileges

■ Lesson 5: Modifying the Business Area and Folders

■ Lesson 6: Designing a Custom Folder

■ Lesson 7: Creating Joins

■ Lesson 8: Customizing Items

■ Lesson 9: Designing a Complex Folder

■ Lesson 10: Working with Hierarchies

■ Lesson 11: Creating Summaries to Optimize Performance

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To follow this tutorial you must be able to connect to Discoverer initially as a user with a DBA role (see your database administrator for details). The reason for doing this is because the tutorial involves creating a new database user to run the tutorial. Normal use of Discov-erer Administration Edition does not require DBA privileges.

Remember that the video store sample database is designed so that you already have read access to the tutorial tables. When you create your own business areas, you will need SELECT access to the database tables you need to access. You will also need to know the user IDs who own the data tables.

Remember that this tutorial is your introduction to Discoverer Administration Edition’s basic features and procedures. When you are working with Discoverer Administration Edi-tion outside the tutorial, you may find that you need more detailed explanations. You should find the online Help system and the rest of this book to be reliable, useful sources of infor-mation.

4.1 Lesson 1: Creating a private End User LayerLesson 1 shows you how to create a private End User Layer. Creating a private End User Layer for every person taking the tutorial enables each user to have a separate version.

The VIDEO4 user, tables and tutorial data need to have been installed by your administrator before users can complete the tutorial (see Chapter 5.6, “Installing the Tutorial Data” for details).

Lesson 1 shows you how to:

■ Create a private End User Layer

4.1.1 Create a private End User Layer1. Start the Administration Edition.

■ If you are using Windows 95 or Windows NT, choose Oracle Discoverer 4 | Administration Edition from the Start menu.

This displays the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition dialog box.

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Figure 4–1 The Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition Dialog Box

2. Specify a Username with DBA privileges.

3. Specify the appropriate password.

4. In the Connect field:

■ If you are logging into your default database, leave this field blank.With 8.1+ databases an entry is required in your tnsnames.ora file for this to work (see your Discoverer Administrator for details).

■ If you are logging into an Oracle database that is not your default database, specify the appropriate SQL*Net connect string. See your database administrator if you do not know the connect string.

■ If you are logging into a non-Oracle database, type ODBC:<data source name>.

5. Open the EUL Manager dialog:Discoverer Administration Edition behaves differently depending on whether an End User Layer has already been created.

■ If there are no existing End User Layers, Discoverer Administration Edition dis-plays a message asking if you want to create an EUL now. Click Yes to open the EUL Manager dialog box.

■ If one or more End User Layers already exist, Discoverer Administration Edition starts the Load Wizard. Click Cancel on the Load Wizard and choose Tools | EUL Manager to open the EUL Manager dialog box.

Figure 4–2 shows the EUL Manager dialog box.

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Figure 4–2 Creating the EUL

6. Click Create an EUL.The Create EUL Wizard opens. Use this wizard to create your user ID for this tutorial.

7. Make the following selections and text entries:

■ Select Create a new user.

■ Clear Grant access to PUBLIC.

■ Clear New EUL is for use by Oracle Applications users ONLY

■ In the User field, specify admintutor[your first and last initials].This will be your user ID for the tutorial.

■ In the Password and Confirm Password fields, repeat your user ID.

The Create EUL Wizard should look similar to Figure 4–3.

NOTE: Because other users might take this tutorial as “admintutor,” we recommend that you uniquely identify your tutorial work by adding your first and last initials to the admintutor user ID.

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Figure 4–3 Creating the New User ID

8. Click Next.This displays Create EUL Wizard: Step 2.

9. Select the default and temporary tablespaces.For example, select USER_DATA as your default tablespace and TEMP as your tem-porary tablespace.

Figure 4–4 Selecting Tablespaces for the EUL

10. Click Finish.

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11. When Discoverer Administration Edition builds the EUL, a message displays telling you that the EUL has been created successfully. Click OK.

12. Click NO to the message Do you want to install the tutorial data into your EUL? This does not need to be done as the tutorial data should already have been installed by your administrator. See Chapter 5.6, “Installing the Tutorial Data”.

13. Click YES to connect as the owner of the EUL you have just created.

You have successfully created an EUL. You will now create a business area. This is described in Section 4.2.

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4.2 Lesson 2: Using the Load WizardIn this lesson you will learn how to create a business area. The Load Wizard guides you through each step of the process.

Lesson 2 consists of the following exercises:

■ 4.2.1 Identifying the Source Location for the Business Area

■ 4.2.2 Selecting the User IDs and Tables

■ 4.2.3 Selecting Tables and Views to Load into the Business Area

■ 4.2.4 Default Business Area Design

■ 4.2.5 Naming the Business Area

4.2.1 Identifying the Source Location for the Business AreaThe Load Wizard provides options for opening an existing business area or creating a new business area (see Figure 4–5). You will create a new business area, using tables created expressly for this learning experience.

Figure 4–5 Creating a New Business Area

1. Select Create a New Business Area.

With this selection, the Load Wizard asks Where do you want to load the metadata from? Your answer to this question tells the Load Wizard where to find the database objects that you want to load into the business area.

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Figure 4–6 Selecting the Source of the Metadata

2. Specify where you want to load the metadata from:

■ If you are using an Oracle or ODBC database and want to load metadata from the catalog, select On-line Dictionary.The on-line dictionary is the standard dictionary for all Oracle databases.

■ If you want to load metadata from an external repository or a specialized metadata store such as Oracle Designer, select Gateway and choose a metadata source from the drop-down list.

3. Click Next. Do not click Finish.

This opens Load Wizard: Step 2.

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4.2.2 Selecting the User IDs and TablesLoad Wizard: Step 2 specifies the database link and identifies the user IDs that own the tables that you want to use in the business area.

Figure 4–7 Selecting the User IDs and Tables

1. Ensure that the database link is set to Default Database.

2. Tick VIDEO4 only.

The tables and views that will be loaded into the business area are objects owned by the user IDs you select.

3. Ensure that the Load the objects that match field contains %.

% is a wildcard. This will load all tables and views belonging to the selected user IDs.

4. Click Next.

This opens Load Wizard: Step 3.

For more information about Load Wizard: Step 2, see Section 7.2.2.4, “Load Wizard: Step 2.”

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4.2.3 Selecting Tables and Views to Load into the Business AreaLoad Wizard: Step 3 is where you select the specific tables or views that you want to load into the Business Area. The left hand side (marked Available) lists all of the objects in tables and views that are owned by the VIDEO4 user ID.

Figure 4–8 Selecting Objects

To include a table or view in your Business Area, you need to move it to the right hand side (marked Selected).

1. Expand the VIDEO4 user ID (click the plus (+) symbol next to VIDEO4).This reveals the tables owned by VIDEO4.

2. Move the following tables from the Available list to the Selected list.Ensure that these are selected in the following order:

■ PRODUCT

■ STORE

■ TIMES

■ SALES_FACT

There are three ways of moving tables from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more tables from one list to the other.

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■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more tables in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click a table to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one table at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the tables.

Figure 4–8 shows how the wizard should look when you’re finished.

3. Click Next.

This opens Load Wizard: Step 4.

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4.2.4 Default Business Area DesignLoad Wizard: Step 4 offers the opportunity to automatically generate hierarchies, lists of values, and joins and include them in the business area. You will be able to modify those attributes to suit your users’ needs later.

For detailed descriptions of the components in this dialog, refer to Section 7.2.2.6, “Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes”.

Make the following choices for your business area:

1. Under Automatically, select the following check boxes:

■ Capitalize names

■ Replace all underscores with spaces

■ Remove all column prefixes

2. Under Automatically, clear the Create joins from check box.Joins will not be automatically created here. You will create joins manually later in the tutorial (see Section 4.7.1, “Creating Joins for Folders in the Business Area”)

3. Clear the Summaries based on folders that are created check box.

4. Under Automatically generate, tick the following check boxes:

■ Date hierarchies using

■ Default aggregate on datapoints

In both cases you can accept the default values in the drop-down lists.

NOTE: If the Create joins from check box had been selected (Discoverer would automatically create the joins for you) you would then need to click the following check boxes as follows:

■ For an Oracle database, you would select Primary/foreign key con-straints.

■ For a non-Oracle database, you would select Matching columns.When joins are created automatically using matching columns, the tables chosen first are the master items.

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5. Select the List of values for items of type: check box.This enables the five check boxes in that section.

6. Under List of values for items of type:Select the following check boxes:

■ Character

■ Date

This requests a list of values to be automatically created against all character and date columns.

7. Under List of values for items of type:Clear the following check boxes:

■ Decimal

■ All keys

■ Integer

Figure 4–9 shows how the wizard should look when you’re finished.

TIP: Avoid creating lists of values (LOVs) on columns that will contain many distinct values (E.g. Decimals).

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Figure 4–9 Bulk-loading the Business Area

8. Click Next.

This opens Load Wizard: Step 5.

4.2.5 Naming the Business AreaUse Load Wizard: Step 5 to name the business area.

1. Enter the business area name New Video Stores in the text box.

2. Enter a simple description.

The wizard should look similar to Figure 4–10.

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Figure 4–10 Naming the Business Area

3. Click Finish.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays a progress bar while the Load Wizard creates the business area. Based on information you have supplied in the previous windows, Discov-erer Administration Edition creates table folders, and lists of values, and organizes the infor-mation in terms of the date hierarchies and data point aggregates that you specified.

Congratulations! You’ve completed the first part of the tutorial, you’ve used the Load Wiz-ard to create a business area.

The next major step is making the data in the business area available in Discoverer Plus by granting access privileges, which you will do in Lesson 4. But before you take any further steps, it’s a good idea to learn your way around the work area. This is described in Section 4.3.

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4.3 Lesson 3: Getting to Know the Work AreaWhen the Load Wizard finishes creating the business area, a work area window opens.This is your primary view of the business area, where you modify folders and items to create the business view of data for the end-user. You can have more than one work area open at a time.

Figure 4–11 The Administration Edition Main Window and Tasklist

Key to Figure 4–11:

a. The four tabs for working with different elements of business area design

b. The work area

c. The tasklist

Notice the Administration Tasklist superimposed on the work area window. It acts in two ways, firstly as a reminder of the basic steps involved in preparing a business area and sec-

a

b

c

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ondly as an interactive method of launching the listed tasks.You do not need the Adminis-tration Tasklist for this tutorial, however, leaving it displayed may help you track your progress.

The four tabs at the top of the work area enable you to access the four pages of the work area. Each page lets you work with a different element of the business area design. The remainder of this tutorial shows you how to use the features of each of the pages in the work area.

4.4 Lesson 4: Granting Access PrivilegesAccess privileges determine who can see and use the data in the business area. The Privi-leges and Security dialog boxes are your means for setting those rights and privileges for the appropriate users. Data access rights to the application database tables are controlled by the database administrator, and are not affected by Discoverer. Users need SELECT access to the application database tables in order to use Discoverer.

Because you logged on as user ID Admintutor[your initials], Admintutor[your initials] is the creator and owner of the business area in this tutorial; therefore it is the only user ID with the authority to grant other users access privileges to the new business area. The own-ing user ID can also grant administration rights to other users.

Lesson 4 consists of the following exercises:

4.4.1 Granting Access Privileges to Users

4.4.2 Granting Access to the Business Area

4.4.1 Granting Access Privileges to Users The Privileges dialog box enables you to grant access privileges to users.

1. Choose Tools | Privileges or click the Privileges icon ( ) on the toolbar.

This opens the Privileges dialog box.

The Privileges dialog box has four pages:

■ PrivilegesThis page presents a check box list of privileges available in Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition and Discoverer Plus. This list enables you to grant and revoke privi-leges to the specified user or role.

■ Users/RolesThis page displays a check box list of all user IDs and roles. This list enables you to grant and revoke the specified privilege to users or roles.

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■ Query GovernorThis page presents a check box list of limits for running queries. This list enables you to set limits for running queries for the specified user or role.

■ Scheduled WorkbooksThis page displays limits for running scheduled workbooks. It enables you to set different parameters for scheduling workbooks for each user ID or role that has that privilege.

You will find more detailed information about working with all four pages of the Privi-leges dialog box in Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security”.

Using the Privileges Page1. Click the Privileges tab.

This page is for granting access privileges to users or roles.

■ A user is represented by a user ID.

■ A role is defined in the Oracle database; it is a means of grouping users for secu-rity purposes.

The database administrator can assign users to a role, and then modify the role to affect its set of users immediately. As Discoverer administrator, this can save you from recre-ating the same set of privileges over and over. For example, one role might be “Store Managers” which you can use to assign the same privileges to any manager in the video store chain.

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Figure 4–12 The Privileges Dialog Box with the Privileges Page Selected

2. Under Show privileges for:

■ Select User.

■ Clear Role.

■ Select VIDEO4 from the drop-down list.

3. In the Privileges list, select the User Edition check box.This activates the set of privileges under the User Edition heading.

4. Select all the privileges subordinate to User Edition .

5. Do not click OK yet.

NOTE: Roles and System Profiles are features of the Oracle database. If you are using a non-Oracle database, these features are unavailable. In addition, the following privileges are not enabled: Set Privilege, Manage Scheduled Workbooks and Schedule Workbooks.

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Using the User/Role Page

1. Click the User/Role tab.

This page lists the users and roles that have access to a specific privilege, or set of privi-leges. You can use this tab to grant or revoke access privileges to a specific user or role.

Figure 4–13 Privileges Dialog Box with the User/Role Page Selected

2. Under Show users/roles with privilege, select User Edition from the drop-down list.

3. Ensure that VIDEO4 is selected in the user/role list.

If you wanted to revoke User Edition privileges to the VIDEO4 user, you would clear VIDEO4.

4. Click Apply. Do not click OK yet.

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Using the Query Governor Page

1. Click the Query Governor tab.

This page lets you set the query retrieval limits for the specified user or role. In this exercise you will set query limits for the user, VIDEO4.

Figure 4–14 Privileges Dialog Box with the Query Governor Page Selected

2. Under Show query limits for:

■ Tick User.

■ Clear Role

■ Select VIDEO4 from the drop-down list.

3. Under Query Governer, set the query retrieval limits as follows:

■ Tick Warn if predicted time exceeds and set to 2:00 minutes.This option is not available if you are using a non-Oracle database.

■ Tick Prevent queries longer than and set to 15:00 minutes.

■ Clear Limit retrieved data to, so that no limit is set.

4. Click Apply. Do not click OK yet.

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Using the Scheduled Workbooks Page

1. Click the Scheduled Workbooks tab.

This page enables you to set limits in Discoverer Plus for scheduling workbooks.

2. Under Show scheduling limits for user, select VIDEO4 from the drop-down list.

3. Under Require users to schedule workbooks, select Never.

4. Tick Maximum number of scheduled workbooks and set to 5 workbooks.

5. Tick Expire results after and set to 3 days.

6. Clear the following check boxes:

■ Commit size

■ Limit scheduling between

The Privileges dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–15.

Figure 4–15 Privileges Dialog Box with the Scheduled Workbooks Page Selected

7. Click OK.

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4.4.2 Granting Access to the Business AreaThe Security dialog box provides a further level of security by enabling you to specify which users can see and use specific business areas.

To grant users access privilege to the New Video Stores business area,

1. Open the Security dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Security toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Security.

2. Click the Business Area->User tab.

This page is for granting access privileges to users for specific business areas. The other page is for providing a specific user with access to various business areas.

3. In the Available users/roles list on the left, select the VIDEO4 user and move it to the Selected users/roles list on the right.

There are three ways of moving a user or role from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more user/role from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more user/role in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click a user/role to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one user/role at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the users/roles.

NOTE: Discoverer Administration Edition automatically authorizes the EUL owner to access the New Video Stores business area, because that user is the creator and owner of the business area. Also that user is the only one permitted to make these security changes and to grant adminis-tration privileges to other users.

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The Security dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–16.

Figure 4–16 The Security Dialog Box

4. Click OK.This saves your changes and closes the dialog box.

Now that you have created the New Video Stores business area and granted access to it, users can access the business area to perform basic reporting. In other words, all you need to do for basic use is to create a business area and grant access to it.

In the next lesson, you will enhance the business area by providing a useful, expanded busi-ness view of the data to the end-user. This is described in Section 4.5.

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4.5 Lesson 5: Modifying the Business Area and FoldersThis lesson shows how to let users access their information easily. Explanations include how to rename folders, and how to add specific descriptions for each table that clearly identify its contents.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

4.5.1 Adding a Description to the Business Area

4.5.2 Renaming and Adding Descriptions to Folders

4.5.1 Adding a Description to the Business AreaA descriptive phrase about the business area can help remind users of the business area’s purpose.

This exercise shows you how to add a description to the business area.

1. Click the Data tab on the work area window.

2. Open the Business Area Properties dialog box.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the New Video Stores business area icon on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area icon on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area icon on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

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Figure 4–17 Business Area Properties Dialog Box

3. Change the description to Stores Information for 1998, 1999 and 2000.

4. Click OK.

4.5.2 Renaming and Adding Descriptions to FoldersFolders are the basic elements that the end user sees when working with the business area. For that reason, folders should have meaningful names as well as descriptions that explain the folder’s primary use.

1. Click the plus (+) symbol to the left of the New Video Stores business area icon on the Data page. This displays a list of folders contained in the business area.

TIP: Many dialog boxes have an OK button and an Apply button. Clicking Apply puts the changes into effect, but does not close the dialog box. You can then con-tinue making changes to other items using the same dialog box. Clicking OK applies the changes and closes the dialog box. If you tick Automatically save changes after each edit, you don’t have to click the Apply button as changes are saved as you make them.

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Figure 4–18 Viewing the Business Area Folders

2. Open the Folder Properties dialog box for the Store folder.

There are four ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Store folder on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Store folder on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Store folder on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

■ Click iconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( ) on the Toolbar Menu

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Figure 4–19 The Folder Properties Sheet

3. Click the Name field and enter the new name Store Information.

4. Click the Description field and specify an appropriate description for the Store Infor-mation folder. For example, Store Details including values such as name, floor plan type, and location.

Both the folder name and description will be visible in Discoverer Plus.

5. Click Apply and repeat the steps for each folder listed in Table 4–1.

6. Click OK when you’re finished renaming the folders.

Table 4–1 Renaming Folders

Original Folder Name New Folder Name

Product Product Information

Sales Fact Sales Details

Times Time Information

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Now that you have given the folders more meaningful names and provided a description of the contents of each folder, users can see the new names and descriptions when deciding which folders to use in a report.

4.5.3 Renaming and Adding Descriptions for an Item in a FolderDatabase columns often have cryptic names that don’t have much meaning for the end user. When columns are loaded into a business area, the items that represent them are given the same names, depending on the options you choose. Just as you can change folder names and add descriptions to them, you can change item names and add descriptions to them too.

These next few steps show how to rename items in the Time Information folder.

1. Click the plus (+) symbol next to the Time Information folder.

This shows a list of all items in the folder, similar to that shown in Figure 4–20.

Figure 4–20 Displaying a Folder’s Items

TIP: While the properties dialog box is open, you can click another object in the work area to switch your view to that object’s properties.

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2. Open the Item Properties dialog box for the Transaction Date Year item.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Transaction Date Year item on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Transaction Date Year item on the Data page and choose Proper-ties on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Transaction Date Year item on the Data page and choose Edit | Proper-ties.

3. Click the Name field and rename Transaction Date Year to Year.

The Item Properties dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–21.

Figure 4–21 The Item Properties Dialog

4. Click Apply.

5. Rename three more items as follows:

■ Transaction Date Quarter to Quarter

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■ Transaction Date Month to Month

■ Transaction Date Day to Day

The change you make in the Name field automatically registers in the Heading field (you may need to use the scroll bar to display the Heading field).

You can also change the description. However, in the case of date or time-related items, the default description should serve the purpose.

6. Click OK when you’re finished renaming the items.

4.6 Lesson 6: Designing a Custom FolderFolders represent a result set of data, much like a database view. In essence, a folder is a SQL statement that returns a result set. The simple folders you’ve worked with thus far, refer to SQL statements that are stored in the End User Layer.

Using Discoverer Administration Edition’s custom folder feature, you can construct folders based on arbitrary SQL statements that you specify. Using set operators, such as UNION, CONNECT BY, MINUS, INTERSECT, and synonyms, you can quickly set up a folder rep-resenting a complex result set.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

■ 4.6.1 Creating a Custom Folder - Defining the SQL

■ 4.6.2 Editing The Custom Folder’s SQL

4.6.1 Creating a Custom Folder - Defining the SQLThis lesson proposes a situation where the end user needs a local list of values within the EUL for an item that has a small number of possible values. The list of values to be created (Days of the Week) has a numeric sequence that will be used later in the tutorial (see Section 4.8.4, “Creating an Alternative Sort”).

In the following example, we will use a SQL statement to create a custom folder with two Items, one that represents the days of the week (DAY_OF_WEEK) and another Item an alternative sort sequence (ALTERNATE_SORT).

1. Right-click the New Video Stores business area on the Data page

2. Choose New Custom Folder… from the popup menu.

3. Type the following SQL statement into the Custom Folder dialog.

select ’Monday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 1 ALTERNATE_SORT

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from dualunionselect ’Tuesday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 2 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dualunionselect ’Wednesday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 3 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dualunionselect ’Thursday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 4 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dualunionselect ’Friday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 5 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dualunionselect ’Saturday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 6 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dualunionselect ’Sunday’ DAY_OF_WEEK, 7 ALTERNATE_SORTfrom dual

4. Enter the new custom folder name ‘Alternate Sort Days’ into the Name field.

The Custom Folder dialog should look similar to Figure 4–22.

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Figure 4–22 The Custom Folder Dialog

5. Click Validate SQL.

A prompt displays advising whether the SQL string is valid.

■ If it is not valid, click OK to close the prompt. Then correct the string and click Validate SQL again.

■ If it is valid, click OK to close the prompt.

■ Click OK again to close the Edit Custom Folder dialog and create your custom folder.

The custom folder is now listed in the business area. Note the SQL label on the folder icon. This identifies the custom folder as distinct from simple or complex folders.

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Figure 4–23 Business Area with Custom Folder

4.6.2 Editing The Custom Folder’s SQL1. Right-click the Alternate Sort Days custom folder on the Data page to open the Cus-

tom Folder Properties dialog.

2. Choose Properties on the popup menu.

The Custom SQL field contains the SQL statement that defines the folder. You can resize the Custom Folder Properties dialog to view the entire statement.

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Figure 4–24 Custom Folder Properties Dialog

3. Click in the Custom SQL field.

This opens the Edit Custom Folder dialog which contains the SQL statement (see Figure 4–25).

Do not edit the statement; the purpose of this step is to show how to access the Edit Custom Folder dialog box.

Figure 4–25 Edit Custom Folder Dialog

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4. Click Cancel to close the Edit Custom Folder dialog.

5. Click Cancel to close the Custom Folder Properties dialog.

The next lesson shows you how to create joins between folders, this is described in Section 4.8.

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4.7 Lesson 7: Creating JoinsData analysis often requires information that resides in more than one folder. In order for the analysis to occur, the folders must be linked by a join. Joins are part of both the database and the business area design. As the Discoverer administrator you have the option to create joins that provide the information that the end user needs for business analysis.

In this lesson you will learn how to create the joins that are required in the business area.

This lesson consists of the following exercise:

■ 4.7.1 Creating Joins for Folders in the Business Area

4.7.1 Creating Joins for Folders in the Business AreaTo achieve this you will establish joins to relate the data between the folders that you loaded in Lesson 2 Section 4.2.3, “Selecting Tables and Views to Load into the Business Area”.

Now you will create joins for each folder, using a Key from the Master table and joining to the corresponding Key of the Detail table.

1. Click the (+) symbol next to the Product Information folder on the Data page

2. Open the New Join dialog.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Product Information.Product Key item on the Data page and choose New Join… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Product Information.Product Key item on the Data page and click the New Join toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the Product Information.Product Key item on the Data page and choose Insert | Join.

NOTE: The Discoverer Plus user cannot create joins. If you want Discov-erer Plus users to create reports that combine information from multiple folders you need to make sure the folders are joined.

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This opens the New Join dialog box with Product Information.Product Key as the master item.

Figure 4–26 Creating a Join Between Two Folders

3. Click the Detail Folder drop-down list.

This opens the second New Join dialog box which lists the folders in the New Video Stores business area.

4. Select Sales Details.Product Key.

The New Join dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–27.

Figure 4–27 Selecting the Detail Item

5. Click OK.

The New Join dialog (Figure 4–26, “Creating a Join Between Two Folders”) should now show Sales Details.Product Key in the Detail Item field.

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Figure 4–28 Join is now ready to create

6. Select the equal sign from the Operator drop-down list.

This list shows the types of joins that you can create. The equal sign represents an equi-join, which combines rows that have equivalent values for the specified items.

7. Enter a name for this join.If you don’t enter a name Discoverer Administration Edition will automatically create a default name for the join when you click OK.

8. Enter a description.

9. Click OK.The join appears as an item in the Product Information folder. Note the direction of the icon next to it, indicating that the Product Information.Product Key is the master item and the Sales Details.Product Key is the detail item. In this one-to-many relation-ship, for each product record there are many sales details records.

10. Now repeat ALL the steps of this exercise to create joins for the following Folders:- Store Information- Time Information

NOTE: When creating joins for each of the Folders above, you need to use the appro-priate Master and Detail Folder/Key values as shown in Table 4–2 below (refer also to Figure 4–28 for field names):

Table 4–2 Master/Detail relationship for the Joins to be created in tutorial

Folder Name Master Folder/Key required Detail Folder/Key required

Store Information: Store Information.Store Key Sales Details.Store Key

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Now that you have created joins between the Product Information, Store Information, Time Information and the Sales Details folders, they can be used for analysis in Discov-erer Plus.

For more information about creating and editing joins, read Chapter 11, “Joins”

The next lesson describes how you can customize items in a business area, described in Section 4.8.

Time Information: Time Information.Time Key Sales Details.Time Key

NOTE: Creating joins in Discoverer Administration Edition is essential for identifying the folders available to the user in Discoverer Plus. When the user selects an item or folder to create a worksheet, only those folders hav-ing joins with the selected folder are available. Thus, if you did not create a join between two folders, neither the unselected folder nor its items are available for the worksheet.

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4.8 Lesson 8: Customizing ItemsThe Discoverer Administrator’s concern is not only what the user views in Discoverer Plus, but that data is presented in a way that makes the information more readable and, therefore, easier to analyze. In this lesson you will learn how to make certain elements invisible, design the axis structure, define lists of values and alternative sorts for them, and how to cre-ate derived items and aggregated calculations that are useful for queries and reports.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

■ 4.8.1 Hiding Items in the Business Area

■ 4.8.2 Setting the Display Axis for Items and Display Sequence

■ 4.8.3 Creating Lists of Values

■ 4.8.4 Creating an Alternative Sort

■ 4.8.5 Creating a New Calculated Item

4.8.1 Hiding Items in the Business AreaEnd users may not need to see all the items in a business area. For example, primary and for-eign keys, sensitive information such as pay scale and time in service, and some items used in calculations might be inappropriate. The items listed in Table 4–3 are essential to the busi-ness area as they are used in join conditions, but they are of no interest to the business user.

Hiding items does not delete them. Deleted items are removed from the business area, whereas hidden items remain in the business area, but are not visible to the end user.

In general it is a good idea to hide all items that users do not need to query. This makes the list of items presented to the user shorter, making it easier to find what they are looking for.

In the New Video Stores business area, typical items that would be hidden are shown in Table 4–3:

Table 4–3 Hidden Items

Folder Item

Product Information Product Key

Time Information Time Key

Store Information Store Key

Sales Details Time Key

Product Key

Store Key

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To hide the key items from the end users:

1. Select the following items:

■ Product Information.Product Key

■ Time Information.Time Key

■ Store Information.Store Key

■ Sales Details.Time Key

■ Sales Details.Product Key

■ Sales Details.Store Key

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

2. Right-click one of the selected items and choose Properties from the popup menu.

This opens the Item Properties dialog box showing the properties that each of the selected items have in common.

3. Set Visible to user to No.

4. Click OK.

Note that the items that are hidden from the user are now shown in grayed text.

4.8.2 Setting the Display Axis for Items and Display SequenceA crosstab worksheet in Discoverer Plus can display data along three axes named top, side, and page (see Figure 4–29, “Rearranging the Display Axes in Discoverer Plus”). In Discov-erer Administration Edition, you can specify the default axis for each item. Specifying a default axis does not prevent the user from switching an item from one axis to another dur-ing data analysis.

Set the default position of Store Information.Region to the side axis:

1. Open the Item Properties dialog box for the Store Information.Region item.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Store Information.Region item on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Store Information.Region item on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

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■ MenuClick the Store Information.Region item on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Set Default position to Side.

3. Click OK.

In Discoverer Plus, the user can rearrange the axes to override the settings you create in Dis-coverer Administration Edition. Figure 4–29 shows the Workbook Wizard, Step 3 (in Dis-coverer Plus), where the user can rearrange the axes.

Figure 4–29 Rearranging the Display Axes in Discoverer Plus

a

b

c

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Figure 4–30 A Sample Workbook showing the Axes in Discoverer Plus

Key to Figure 4–30 showing how the axes look in the Discoverer Plus worksheet:

a. Page axis

b. Top axis

c. Side axis

4.8.3 Creating Lists of ValuesLists of values are created using an ‘Item Class’. Most of the item classes for this tutorial were generated automatically when you loaded the EUL in “Lesson 2: Using the Load Wiz-ard”. However, you can create new item classes that contain lists of the unique data values in an item.

In your New Video Stores business area, it would be useful to create a list of values to show each department name, for example.

1. Click the Item Classes tab in the work area.

2. Open the Item Class Wizard.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Item Classes page) and choose New Item Class… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Item Classes page) and click the New Item Class toolbar icon ( ).

a

b

c

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■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Item Classes page) and choose Insert | Item Class….

3. Under Select item class attributes:

■ Tick List of values.

■ Clear Alternative sort.

■ Clear Drill to detail.

The Item Class Wizard should look similar to Figure 4–31.

Figure 4–31 Item Class Wizard

4. Click Next.

This opens Item Class Wizard: Step 2.

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Figure 4–32 Selecting the Item that Generates the List of Values

5. Select the Product Information.Department item.This will be the source used to create a list of values for the new item class

6. Click Next.

This opens Item Class Wizard: Step 3, as shown in Figure 4–33.

Figure 4–33 Selecting the Items that Use the Item Class

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7. Click Next.

This opens Item Class Wizard: Step 4.

8. Specify the Item class name as Departments.

9. Specify the Item class description as Video Store Sales and Rentals.

The Item Class Wizard: Step 4 should look similar to Figure 4–34.

Figure 4–34 Naming and Describing the New Item Class

10. Click Finish.

This creates a new item class named Departments.

The Item classes page of the work area enables you to view the following information about each of the item classes:

■ A list of values that form the item class

■ A list of items that use the item class

To view this information for the Departments item class:

1. Expand the New Video Stores business area on the Item classes page of the work area (click the plus (+) sign).

2. Expand the new Departments item class.

3. Expand List of Values.

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To build a list of values, Discoverer Administration Edition needs to read every row of the relevant table from the database. If the table has a large number of rows, it can take a long time to build the list of values. Discoverer Administration Edition warns you of this and asks you if you want to continue.

Click Yes.

4. Expand Items using this Item class.

The Item Classes page should look similar to Figure 4–35.

Figure 4–35 Item Classes Tab with New Item Class and List of Values

4

What the User Sees—Selecting from a List of Values in Discoverer PlusIn Discoverer Plus, the user sees the list of values created in Discoverer Administration Edi-tion, and can use this list of values to apply a condition.

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Figure 4–36 Selecting Item Values from a List of Values in Discoverer Plus

When creating a worksheet, a user creates a condition by selecting the specific item values from the list of values in the ‘Selected’ column above.

4.8.4 Creating an Alternative SortAn alternative sort enables users to sort values in a non-standard fashion. For example, stan-dard sorts include alphabetical, numerical, or chronological sorts, whereas a non-standard sort might be by region, such as North=1, South=2, East=3, and West=4 or the days of the week. An alternative sort sorts an item by using a sequence provided by another item (does not apply to ODBC databases).

In this exercise we will create an Alternative Sort for the Days of the Week item in the Time Information folder. To do this we will create a new Item Class that defines an alternative sort and apply it to the Days of the Week item. The alternative sort that we will use is Alternate Sort Days, a custom folder we created previously (see Section 4.6, “Lesson 6: Designing a Custom Folder”).

NOTE: When creating or editing or an item class for an alternative sort order, a one-to-one relationship must exist between the column (Item) used for the list of values and the column (Item) used for the sort order. The two Items must be in the same folder for the alternative sort order to work.

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1. From the menu select Insert | Item ClassThis displays the item class wizard:

Figure 4–37 Item Class Wizard - Select Alternative Sort

2. Select the Alternative Sort check box

3. Click NextThis displays Step 2 of the item class wizard:

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Figure 4–38 Item Class Wizard - Select Item for List of Values

4. Select Day of the Week from the Alternate Sort Days Custom Folder This is the item that will generate the list of values.

5. Click NextThis displays Step 3 of the item class wizard:

Figure 4–39 Item Class Wizard - Select Item containing Alternative Sort sequence

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6. Select the Alternate Sort ItemThis item is the one that contains the alternative sort sequence.

7. Click NextThis displays Step 4 of the item class wizard:

Figure 4–40 Item Class Wizard - Select the Items that use this Item Class

In the Item Class Wizard Step 4 you select the item(s) that will use the alternative sort sequence. In this lesson you will choose an item from the Time Information folder.

8. Open the Time Information folder from the New Video Stores business area.

9. Select the Day of the Week item from the Available Items list.

10. Click the right arrow to move the Day of the Week item into the Selected Items list

11. Click NextThis displays Step 5 of the item class wizard:

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Figure 4–41 Item Class Wizard - Name the Item Class

12. Enter Days of the Week - Alternative Sort

13. Click FinishThis creates a new Item Class called Days of the Week - Alternative Sort used by the Days of the Week Item in the Time Information folder

To see the new alternative sort in the Days of the Week item carry out the following steps:

1. Return to the Data tab and click on the Time Information folder

2. Expand the Day of the Week item to retrieve the valuesThe list of values using the new Alternative Sort is displayed.

NOTE: Creating a local list of values in the EUL (see Section 4.6.1, “Cre-ating a Custom Folder - Defining the SQL”) improves performance in Dis-coverer Plus as Discoverer can retrieve the values from the EUL and does not need to read every row of the relevant table from the database.

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Figure 4–42 Alternative Sort - View result in Day of Week folder

The days of the week can now be seen displayed in the sequence defined in the complex folder Alternate Sort Days.

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4.8.5 Creating a New Calculated ItemCalculated items can be a critical part of a report. Typical business calculations include val-ues such as:

■ profit margins,

■ average revenues per month,

■ expected sales

■ percent of profit by product type.

You can improve the usability of the business area, by defining the calculations that an end user is likely to need. Discoverer Administration Edition stores these calculations in the EUL for use in Discoverer Plus.

For further information on calculations see Chapter 12.1.1, “What is a Calculated Item?”.

Building a CalculationThis exercise shows you how to produce a calculation of profit as a percentage of sales.

1. Create a new item in the Sales Details folder.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Sales Details folder (on the Data page) and choose New Item… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Sales Details folder (on the Data page) and click the New Item toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the Sales Details folder (on the Data page) and choose Insert | Item….

This opens the New Item dialog box. The left-hand side lists the Sales Details folder and the items it contains.

2. Specify Percent Profit as the Name.

3. Specify SUM(Sales Details.Profit)/SUM(Sales Details.Sales) in as the Calculation.

You can type the calculation directly or you can use some of these ways to minimize the amount of typing you need to do:

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■ To add items, select the items from the list on the left and click the Paste >> button to paste them directly into the calculation.

■ To add an operator, click the operator buttons below the Calculation area.

■ To display a list of database functions, click the Functions button.

The New Item dialog should look similar to Figure 4–43.

Figure 4–43 New Item Dialog

Key to Figure 4–43:

a. Calculation Panel

b. Operator buttons

4. Click OK.This saves the new calculation in the business area.

Examples of Other Calculations

1. To derive an address record.

NOTE: Calculations follow the Oracle calculation standard syntax. For a full description of the Oracle calculation syntax, see the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual.

a

b

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For example: Sidney Sloan, 21 Great Jones Street Apt. 2B, New York City, New York 10012

■ Name: Address

■ Calculation: Name || "," || Street Line 1 || Street Line 2 || "," || City || "," || State || Zip Code

2. To derive a personnel record.

For example: Business Analyst in Accounting Department, $50,000

■ Name: Function

■ Calculation: Job Title || "in" || Department || "," || Salary

3. To derive annual compensation based on monthly salary and commission. (NVL per-mits a zero value.)

■ Name: Compensation

■ Calculation: Salary*12+NVL(Commission, 0)

Examples of Aggregated Items

1. Name: Total Compensation

Calculation: SUM(Salary + NVL(Commission, 0))

2. Name: % Commission

Calculation: SUM(Commission)/SUM(Salary)

3. Name: Avg. Units per Customer

Calculation: SUM(unit_sales)/SUM(customer_count)

For more detailed information about creating calculations, see Chapter 12, “Calculations”.

TIP: NVL is a database function that can replace NULL with an alterna-tive value, such as 0.

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What the User Sees—Calculations in Discoverer PlusFigures 4–44 and 4–45 are samples of Discoverer Plus windows showing how the end user will see and use the calculated items you create in Discoverer Administration Edition.

Figure 4–44 Discoverer Plus Sample: Percent Profit Item in the Worksheet Wizard

Percent Profit, a calculated item created in Administration Edition, is shown in Figure 4–44 with all of the other items in the Sales Details folder.

The user could create a worksheet in Discoverer Plus using the Workbook Wizard. A Table style report could be chosen using the New Video Stores Business Area. The user could select items such as Profit SUM, Sales SUM, Percent Profit from the Sales Details folder and City from the Store Information folder. The Percent Profit item (a calculated item, not an actual column) is displayed with all the other items in the Sales Details folder.

When the user runs the query, Percent Profit is displayed in the report.

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Figure 4–45 The Percent Profit Report with Percent Profit Calculated

Including the Percent Profit calculated item in the report above causes Discoverer Plus to perform the calculation on each row and display the results in a column.

To control the display format of numbers for the Percent Profit item the number format was set to the first option of the ‘Percent’ category list in Discoverer Plus through the menu option Sheet | Format | Format Data | Number.

The next lesson takes you through creating a complex folder that is made up of items from other folders in a business area; this is described in Section 4.9.

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4.9 Lesson 9: Designing a Complex FolderA complex folder is a special type of folder which contains items from other folders. When you place an item from a simple folder into a complex folder, you are really making a refer-ence to the original item.

You can simplify the end user’s data analysis tasks by gathering items from separate folders into one complex folder. This avoids the need for a user to select items from multiple fold-ers and completely hides joins from users.

Discoverer Administration Edition will not allow you to add an item to a complex folder if the item does not have a join associating it with the other items in the complex folder.

For more information on this topic, see Chapter 11, “Joins”

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

■ 4.9.1 Creating a Complex Folder

■ 4.9.2 Creating a Condition

4.9.1 Creating a Complex FolderThe following exercise shows you how to create a complex folder that the end user can use to analyze profit, product type, product category, and other pertinent information associated with our hypothetical video stores.

1. Create a new folder in the New Video Stores business area.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page) and choose New Folder on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page) and click the New Folder toolbar icon ( ).

NOTE: If you drop an item into a complex folder with the same name as another item, Administration Edition adds a numeric suffix to the dupli-cate item. You cannot have two items with the same name in a folder.

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■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page) and choose Insert | Folder | New.

This creates a new folder titled NewFolder in the New Video Store business area. Note the difference between the icons representing this complex folder and the simple fold-ers.

2. Rename NewFolder1 as Store and Sales Details.

3. In the same way, create another new folder and name it Video Analysis.

To make it easier to copy items from one folder to another, you can open another work area window. This provides you with another view on the same work area. The next few steps show you how to do this.

4. Choose Window | New Window.A new work area window opens, providing you with a second view of the same work area (see Figure 4–46).

Figure 4–46 Using Two Work Area Windows

Now you’re ready to add some items to your complex folders.

1. In the left work area window, expand the Store Information folder and select the fol-lowing items:

■ Store Name

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■ City

■ Region

■ Floor Plan Type

■ Store Size

■ Reports

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

2. Drag the selected items to the work area window on the right and drop them into the Store and Sales Details complex folder.

This copies the selected items into the complex folder.

As the next few steps illustrate, you repeat the process of copying items from other fold-ers to populate the complex folder with all the items your user needs.

3. In the same way, copy the Sales Details.Profit item to the Store and Sales Details complex folder.

4. Copy the following items from the Product Information folder into the Store and Sales Details folder:

■ Description

■ Full Description

■ Product Category

■ Department

5. Copy the following items from the Time Information folder into the Store and Sales Details folder.

■ Transaction Date

■ Year

You are now ready to populate the Video Analysis folder.

1. Copy the following items from the Sales Details folder into the Video Analysis folder.

■ Sales

■ Unit Sales

■ Cost

■ Profit

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2. Copy the following items from the Store Information folder into the Video Analysis folder.

■ Store Name

■ City

■ Region

■ Reports

3. Copy the following items from the Product Information folder into the Video Analy-sis folder.

■ Description

■ Full Description

■ Product Category

■ Department

4. Copy the following items from the Time Information folder into the Video Analysis folder.

■ Transaction Date

■ Year

■ Month

5. Close the second work area window and maximize the first window.

The item classes providing lists of values are now shared between the two complex folders. The items you have copied into the complex folders inherit the properties of the original items. If you delete one of the original items from a folder all references to that item are also deleted.

4.9.2 Creating a ConditionA condition filters retrieved information. For example, you can create a condition for ana-lyzing the chain of video stores that selects only the Video Sale or Video Rentals depart-ments. The user can use this condition in Discoverer Plus to review recent sales activity for each video store in those two departments to determine which stores are most profitable.

This exercise shows you how to create a condition.

1. Create a new condition for the Video Analysis.Department item.

There are three ways of doing this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click the Video Analysis.Department item (on the Data page) and choose New Condition on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Video Analysis.Department item (on the Data page) and click the New Condition toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the Video Analysis.Department item (on the Data page) and choose Insert | Condition.

This displays the New Condition dialog box. Note that Item is set to Video Analy-sis.Department.

2. Set Condition to the IN operator because you want to filter the data to only find video sales and rentals.

3. Select Video Rental from the Values drop-down list.

4. Select Video Sale from the Values drop-down list.

5. Clear Generate a name automatically.This enables you to specify your own name for the condition.

6. Change the name of the condition to Department is Video Rental or Video Sale.

The New Condition dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–47.

Figure 4–47 The New Condition Dialog

7. Click OK.

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What the Discoverer Plus user sees

In Discoverer Plus the user sees the condition represented by a filter icon. Figure 4–48 shows how the condition appears in Discoverer Plus.

Figure 4–48 Viewing the Condition in Discoverer Plus

The next lesson takes you through creating hierarchies that help Discoverer Plus users navi-gate through data; this is described in Section 4.10.

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4.10 Lesson 10: Working with Hierarchies This lesson shows you how to set up items in a hierarchy so that the user can navigate up and down a hierarchy path to view related information.

Drilling through a hierarchy involves displaying a lesser or greater detail of aggregated information. For example, drilling through sales figures from the entire company to region to district and finally to an individual video store. Each level of the hierarchy reveals greater detail of aggregated information. Users can perform drill-downs in a filtered or unfiltered fashion. For example, users can select a specific data value in an axis item (for example, the year 2000), or they can select all data values for the axis item (for example, all years) and drill down.

You can provide Discoverer Plus users with several methods of drilling into related informa-tion. In this section, you’ll enable the drill up/down capability.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

■ 4.10.1 Defining a Simple Item Hierarchy

■ 4.10.2 Defining a More Complex Item Hierarchy

■ 4.10.3 Creating a Date Hierarchy Template

■ 4.10.4 Modifying an Item’s Content Type

■ 4.10.5 Defining Drill to Detail Data

4.10.1 Defining a Simple Item HierarchySome of the data in a business organization is hierarchical in nature. Store totals naturally fold into district sales, district sales fold into regional sales, and so on until the top of the hierarchy is reached.

Defining hierarchies provides users with a very easy way of drilling into summary informa-tion without having to know exactly what items make up the hierarchy.

This exercise shows you how to create a simple item hierarchy.

1. Click the Hierarchies tab in the work area.This enables you to work with the hierarchies in the New Video Stores business area.

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Figure 4–49 The Work Area Window for Hierarchies

2. Create a new hierarchy in the New Video Stores business area.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose New Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and click the New Hierarchy toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose Insert | Hierarchy….

This opens the Hierarchy Wizard (see Figure 4–50).

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Figure 4–50 The Hierarchy Wizard

3. Select Item Hierarchy

Item hierarchies are for drilling up and down through character items and numeric items. Date hierarchies are for drilling up and down through date items (Year, Quarter, Month, Week, Day, etc.).

4. Click Next.

The next steps show you how to choose the items that you want end users to see in their drill hierarchies. The position of each item dictates how the drill is displayed in Discoverer Plus.

1. Move the Video Analysis.Region item to the list on the right.

There are three ways of moving items from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

2. Move the Video Analysis.City item to the list on the right.

3. Move the Video Analysis.Store Name item to the list on the right.

The Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2 should look similar to Figure 4–51.

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Figure 4–51 Selecting Items for the Hierarchy

4. Click Next.

5. Enter the name Regional Hierarchy.

6. Enter Region-City-Store as the description.

The Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3 should look similar to Figure 4–52.

Figure 4–52 Naming and Describing the Hierarchy

7. Click Finish.

The Hierarchies page of the work area lists the Regional Hierarchy in the New Video Stores business area. You can expand Regional Hierarchy to view the hierarchy (see

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Figure 4–53). Users can now navigate through all the levels of the hierarchy, skipping levels if necessary.

Figure 4–53 Regional Hierarchy

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What the Discoverer Plus user sees - Navigating the HierarchyFigure 4–54 shows the three levels of the hierarchy (Region, City, and Store Name) in a Dis-coverer Plus worksheet. The Discoverer Plus user does not have to explicitly set up a hierar-chy. When an item is selected for a report that is part of a hierarchy, the user can navigate to any other element in the hierarchy via a pop-up menu.

Figure 4–54 Navigating Through Items in a Hierarchy

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4.10.2 Defining a More Complex Item HierarchyThis section shows how to create another, more complex item hierarchy. This example drills into the product details.

1. Create a new hierarchy in the New Video Stores business area.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose New Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and click the New Hierachy toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose Insert | Hierarchy….

This opens the Hierarchy Wizard.

2. Select Item Hierarchy

3. Click Next.

4. Move the following items (in the order they are listed) to the list on the right:

■ Product Information.Product Type

■ Product Information.Department

■ Product Information.Product Category

■ Product Information.Description

■ Product Information.Full Description

5. Select the following two items from the hierarchy on the right.Do this by selecting the first item, then hold down the Ctrl key and highlight the sec-ond item. Both of the following items should now be highlighted:

■ Product Information.Description

■ Product Information.Full Description

6. Click Group

This groups the selected items so that they appear at the same level in the hierarchy. Grouping items in this manner causes them to be pulled into a user query (from Discov-

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erer Plus) simultaneously. Drilling down from Product Category will display Descrip-tion and Full Description level at the same time.

The Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2 should look similar to Figure 4–55.

Figure 4–55 Grouping Items in a Complex Hierarchy.

7. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3.

8. Name the hierarchy Product Hierarchy.

9. Enter a description.

10. Click Finish.

The Hierarchies page lists the Product Hierarchy in the New Video Stores business area. If you expand Product Hierarchy, it should look similar to Figure 4–56.

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Figure 4–56 Product Hierarchy

4.10.3 Creating a Date Hierarchy TemplateDate hierarchy templates enable automatic date hierarchies to be created. For example, a template can be created that enables drilling down from year to month to week to day. Asso-ciating a date hierarchy template with a date item automatically creates new items for each date (e.g., year, month, week, day) and defines drill relationships between them.

Discoverer Administration Edition already includes a standard date template which includes the hierarchy of year to quarter to month to day. If that template does not meet the user requirements, you can create a new date hierarchy. For example you might want to drill from year to week rather than month, or even drill to hours minutes and seconds for time based data.

This exercise shows you how to create an alternative date hierarchy template.

1. Create a new hierarchy in the New Video Stores business area.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose New Hierachy… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and click the New Hierachy toolbar icon ( ).

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■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Hierarchies page) and choose Insert | Hierarchy….

This opens the Hierarchy Wizard.

2. Select Date Hierarchy

3. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2.

Figure 4–57 Selecting Date Items

4. Move the following date formats (in the order they are listed) to the list on the right:

■ YYYY (in the Year folder).

■ "Q"Q-YYYY’ (in the Quarter folder).

■ Mon-YYYY (in the Month folder).

■ “W”W Mon-YYYY (in the Week folder).

■ Dy “W”W Mon-YYYY (in the Day folder).

■ HH24 Dy “W”W Mon YYYY (in the Hour folder).

5. Click Next.

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This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3. This is where you assign the date hierarchy you’ve just created to items in the business area.

Figure 4–58 Selecting Items for Date Hierarchies

6. Move Time Information.Transaction Date to the list on the right.

7. Click Next.

8. Enter the name Y-Q-M-W-H Hierarchy and add a description (see Figure 4–59).

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Figure 4–59 Naming and Describing the Date Hierarchy

9. Click Finish.

Earlier, in Section 4.9, we copied Transaction Date and Year to the Store and Sales Details complex folder. We also copied Transaction Date, Year and Month to the Video Analysis complex folder.

The Year and Month items were generated automatically from the Transaction Date item by the Load Wizard using the default date hierarchy template.

However, when you apply a new date hierarchy to a date item, the existing date hierarchy is removed. All the Year and Month items (including those copied to the complex folders) were therefore deleted when you applied your new date hierarchy to the Transaction Date item.

The next steps recopy the year and month data into the complex folders:

1. Select the following item on the Data page of the work area:

■ Time Information.Transaction Date YYYY

2. Choose Edit | Copy.

3. Select the Stores and Sales Details complex folder.

4. Choose Edit | Paste.

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5. Copy and Paste the following items into the Video Analysis complex folder in the same way:

■ Time Information.Transaction Date YYYY

■ Time Information.Transaction Date Mon YYYY

What the User SeesIn Discoverer Plus, the user can navigate through all levels of the hierarchy, skipping levels if necessary. Figure 4–60 is a Discoverer Plus worksheet that shows the three levels of the date hierarchy: Year, Quarter, and Month. The user does not have to explicitly set up a date hierarchy. When a date is selected for a report that is part of a hierarchy, the user can navi-gate to any other element in the date hierarchy via a pop-up menu.

For more information, read Chapter 14, “Hierarchies”.

Figure 4–60 Navigating Through Items in a Date Hierarchy

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4.10.4 Modifying an Item’s Content TypeDatabase columns usually contain content which is actual data. This data is displayed in Dis-coverer Plus as a result of a SQL query. However, you can also put information in a column which is either metadata (data about data) or a reference to data that needs to be run in another application to be displayed correctly. For example, if a file in the local or network file system is a video (.avi) file, a video application has to run to play the file.

Where an item contains a reference to a file that requires another application to run, Discov-erer finds and loads the application enabling the user to view the data. The item’s content type needs to be changed so Discoverer can recognize that an external application needs to be launched according to the file’s extension. A typical file path is C:\ORANT\DISCVR4\DEMO\MEMO.DOC.

You specify that an item contains a file name (rather than just text) with the Content Type property. The Content Type item property has two values: FILE or NONE. If FILE is selected, Discoverer launches an application according to the file extension and information defined on the users computer. If NONE is selected the file name will be displayed as text.

Table 4–4 shows some example applications that are typically launched according to their file extensions.

In the New Video Stores business area, the Store Information.Reports item actually refers to a MSWord document, and the information in the database column is the directory path and filename. The Product Information.Full Description item is a Web page containing HTML code, and the information in the column is also the directory path and filename. The Reports document should be opened by a word processor, and the Full Description docu-ment should be opened by a Web browser.

Here’s how to modify the content type so that Discoverer Plus will pass the contents of the items (the directory path and file name) to the operating system, which will launch the appropriate application to view the document:

1. Select the following items on the Data page of the work area:

Table 4–4 File Content Type Examples

Application File name extension

MS Word .doc

Media Player .avi

MS Excel .xls

Lotus Screencam .scm

Web Browser .html

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■ Store Information.Reports

■ Video Analysis.Reports

2. Open the Item Properties dialog box for the selected items.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected items and choose Properties… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties….

3. Set Content type to FILE.

4. Click Apply. Do not click OK.

5. Select the Product Information.Full Description item on the Data page of the work area.

6. Return to the Item Properties dialog box.

7. Set Content type to FILE.

8. Click OK.

What the User Sees—External Application Icons in the WorksheetWhen you open these items in Discoverer Plus, the information is displayed in the appropri-ate word processor and Web browser.

The user can tell which items need external applications to run based on the icon displayed in the worksheet. Figure 4–61 shows an example of a worksheet that can invoke Microsoft Word and an HTML page.

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Figure 4–61 Discoverer Plus Sample with External Application Icons

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4.10.5 Defining Drill to Detail DataIn Discoverer Plus, users use the hierarchies you create to drill up or down to view different levels of summarized data. There are occasions when the user needs to drill to detail; that is, jump to related information details in the summarized data. For example, your user may be reviewing daily sales results from a number of video stores. He or she may want to see the detail transaction records that comprise the daily total.

To enable the user to drill to the detail data, you need to create a drill-to-detail item class. A drill-to-detail item class lets users select an aggregated detail item in a report and drill directly to the source data that was accumulated to produce the result.

You can drill to any item that is an item class that contains items from other folders.

The two conditions cited above mean that a link exists between the items, and the user can automatically drill to detail to any folder which has an item in the same item class.

The following steps show how the Item Class Wizard makes it easy to edit an item class for drilling into related detail information from summary information, and for viewing a list of unique values from the Region column. (The item class was created by the Load Wiz-ard at the start of this chapter.)

1. Click the Item classes tab.

2. Expand the New Video Stores business area to display all item classes.

3. Right-click Region and choose Edit Item Class… from the popup menu.

4. Click the List of Values tab.

5. Ensure that the Region item class in the Store Information folder is selected (see Figure 4–62).

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Figure 4–62 Edit Item Class to Create Complex Folder for Drill-to-Detail

The next steps create a list of unique values in the Region database column.

6. Click the Select Items tab.

7. Ensure that the Selected items list on the right lists the following:

■ Store and Sales Details.Region

■ Video Analysis.Region

■ Store Information.Region

8. Tick Use these items to drill to detail.

The Edit Item Class dialog box should look similar to Figure 4–63.

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Figure 4–63 Selecting Items with the Item Class Wizard

9. Click OK to record the changes and close the Edit Item Class dialog box.

Now that you have associated a list of values with the Region item, a plus (+) symbol appears next to it on the Data page. Now the user can view the list of unique values in the column.

For more information, read Chapter 10, “Items and Item Classes”.

The next lesson takes you through creating summaries. Summaries help reduce the time taken to retrieve data for Discoverer Plus users; this is described in Section 4.11.

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4.11 Lesson 11: Creating Summaries to Optimize Performance

The New Video Stores business area is now ready for end users. However, allowing users to analyze data from folders and columns associated directly with the detail tables in the pro-duction database may be inefficient, and can sometimes take a long time to return results if the tables contain very large numbers of rows.

To improve query efficiency, Discoverer Administration Edition enables you to create sum-mary folders. A summary folder contains pre-aggregated data that you know the end user will want to analyze and display in a final report. Discoverer can redirect queries to the pre-aggregated table, avoiding aggregating large volumes of detail data on the fly, and therefore optimizing query efficiency.

In this lesson, you will create the new summary table and a schedule for updating it.

This lesson consists of the following exercises:

4.11.1 Creating a Summary Folder

4.11.2 Setting up Internal Summary Combinations

4.11.3 Setting up the refresh schedule and naming the Summary Folder

4.11.1 Creating a Summary FolderThere are two ways to create Summary folders in Discoverer:

1. You can create Summary folders manually.

2. You can use Discoverer’s Automated Summary Management (ASM) facility to create Summary folders for you. For details about ASM see Section 16.2, “Running ASM using the Summary Wizard”.

In order to learn more about how Discoverer creates Summary folders, in this lesson we will create Summary folders manually by specifying Items that exist in the End User Layer.

1. Start the Summary Wizard.

There are three ways of doing this:

NOTE: As a Discoverer Administrator, you are advised to use Discov-erer’s ASM facility to create Summary folders.

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■ Toolbar IconClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page) and click the New Summary toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page) and choose Insert | Summary….

■ Popup MenuRight-click an existing Summary folder on the Summaries page and choose New Summary… on the popup menu.

Figure 4–64 Summary Wizard - Specify summaries yourself

2. Click I want to specify the summaries myself

3. Click Next

4. Select From items in the End User Layer.

The Summary Wizard should look similar to Figure 4–65.

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Figure 4–65 Create a new Summary Folder with the Summary Wizard

5. Click Next.

6. Under Available Items, choose New Video Stores from the drop-down list.

7. Move the following items from the Available items list to the Selected Items list:

■ Video Analysis.Region

■ Video Analysis.Department

■ Video Analysis.Transaction Date YYYY

■ Video Analysis.Transaction Date Mon YYYY

8. Move the SUM and COUNT functions, for each of the following data point (numeric) items, from the Available items list to the Selected items list:

■ Sales

■ Cost

■ Profit

The Summary Wizard: Step 3 should look similar to Figure 4–66.

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Figure 4–66 Choose the Axis and Summary Table Items

9. Click Next.

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4.11.2 Setting up Internal Summary CombinationsA combination is a single set of axis and measure items in a summary table. If a user runs a query with the same items as those specified in a combination, the query runs against the summary table instead of the detail data in the database. Consequently, the query process speeds up because it uses the pre-summarized results instead of running calculations on all detail rows.

Your next procedure is to choose the summary combinations that you want to be pre-built and managed by Discoverer.

In Summary Wizard: Step 4, each numbered column represents combinations in a table.

10. Click Add Combination.

This creates a new combination column.

11. Tick the following items in the new column (marked 1):

■ Region

■ Department

■ Transaction Date YYYY

12. Clear the Transaction Date Mon YYYY item in the new column.

The Summary Wizard: Step 4 should look similar to Figure 4–67.

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Figure 4–67 Choosing Internal Summary Combinations

13. Click Next.

This opens Summary Wizard: Step 5.

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4.11.3 Setting up the refresh schedule and naming the Summary FolderYour next exercise is to schedule the initial summary refresh and periodic refresh intervals then name the Summary folder and schedule its build. The refresh schedule establishes the timeframe in which Discoverer automatically updates the data in the Summary folder. It is important for you, as the Administrator, to set up a periodic refresh that ensures that the summary tables will have current, relevant data at the periods required by users.

Figure 4–68 Refresh a summary folder

1. Clear the Automatically refresh this Summary Folder, starting on: check box

2. Click Next.

This displays last page of the wizard, Summary Wizard: Step 6 (see Figure 4–69).

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Figure 4–69 Name, describe and build the summary folder

3. Specify a descriptive name such as Video Analysis by Region and Department

4. Specify a description for the Summary folder.

5. Specify when you want to build this Summary folder.

■ Click the Build immediately radio button

6. Click Finish. A progress bar is displayed while the summary is being created.

7. Your new summary is now listed on the Summaries page of the work area.

8. Right-click on the summary you’ve just created (from the list on the Summaries page) and choose Properties from the popup menu.

9. Ensure Available for queries is set to Yes.

4.12 ConclusionCongratulations! You have just completed the Discoverer Administration Edition tutorial. By now, you should have a solid understanding of the major features of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition and how it affects every aspect of the user’s view of database information via business areas in Discoverer Plus.

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You’ve just seen that you can use Discoverer Administration Edition to make your end users’ use of database information much more effective by creating business areas that reflect their view of data, and simplify their tasks by creating all of the conditions and joins they will need to use in reports.

If others in your organization plan to use this tutorial, you may want to delete the New Video Stores business area. To do this follow these steps:

1. Click the Summaries tabIf you have completed Lesson 11 you will have created summaries. These must be deleted before you can delete the New Video Stores business area.

2. Delete summaries.

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the summaries (on the Summaries page of the work area) and choose Delete from the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the summaries (on the Summaries page of the work area) and choose Edit | Delete.

3. Click Yes in the Confirm Delete dialogThis deletes any summaries created as part of this tutorial.

4. You can now delete the New Video Stores business area.

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page of the work area) and choose Delete Business Area from the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the New Video Stores business area (on the Data page of the work area) and choose and choose Edit | Delete.

Discoverer Administration Edition asks you to confirm this action.

5. Select Delete this business area and its folders.

6. Click OK.

This removes all of the work you have done as part of this tutorial from the EUL.

For more information regarding any feature, use online help or refer to the Table of Con-tents in this book to find the appropriate chapter.

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The End User Layer 5-1

The End User Layer

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 5.1 What is an End User Layer?

■ 5.2 Creating an End User Layer

■ 5.3 Maintaining an End User Layer

■ 5.4 Deleting an End User Layer

■ 5.5 Moving End User Layer Elements Between Databases

■ 5.6 Installing the Tutorial Data

■ 5.7 Uninstalling the Tutorial Data

5.1 What is an End User Layer?The End User Layer (EUL) is the meta data (i.e. data about the actual data in a database) that is simple and easy for users to understand. You use Discoverer Administration Edition to create, customize, and maintain this view for your users so they can easily access data in Discoverer Plus. You must have access to at least one EUL in order to use Discoverer Administration Edition or Discoverer Plus. Access is granted using the Privileges dialog box, described in Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security”.

The EUL insulates end users from the complexity and constant change usually associated with databases. It provides an intuitive, business-focused view of the database using terms that a user (or group of users) are familiar with and easily understand. This lets end users focus on business issues instead of data access issues.

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The EUL is a repository that contains one or more Business Areas (depending on the needs of the user or group of users accessing the EUL). A Business Area is a conceptual grouping of tables and/or views that apply to user’s specific data requirements. For example, an accounting department may have an accounting Business Area that represents data about budgets and finance, while project leaders in an engineering department would have a busi-ness area specifically for projects requiring budget information. Although some of the items may be the same, the exact combination of tables and views for each department may be dif-ferent.

You create and manage the set of database tables that contain the EUL using the EUL Man-ager dialog box.

The EUL generates SQL statements on the client and communicates with the database using SQL*Net or a non-Oracle database network. When a user defines Folders and Items, the EUL generates the appropriate SQL statements that define the selections from a table, view, or column. When a user executes a query (in Discoverer Plus), the EUL generates the corre-sponding SQL statement and sends it to the database, which in turn sends the results to the End User interface. Thus, the end user does not have to understand any SQL to access, ana-lyze, and retrieve data. It is all handled in the End User Layer.

An EUL is owned by a individual user (assigned an ID) in the database. The owner main-tains and modifies his or her EUL. However, the owner can grant access to other users so that they can either use or make changes to that EUL.

You can choose who has access to an EUL when you create it: every user in the database (PUBLIC) or just the EUL owner. You change access to an existing EUL in the Privileges dialog box. To do this, you must be logged in as the owner of the EUL or as a user who has “Administrator” and “Set Privileges” privileges. For more information, see Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security”.

NOTE: The EUL preserves the database’s data integrity. Nothing that you or the end user does with Discoverer affects the application data in the database; the EUL only affects the metadata.

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5.2 Creating an End User LayerWhile the steps in this section tell you how to create the actual EUL tables for a specific user, this is only the beginning. Once you have created the EUL, you design Business Areas containing Folders that refer to information in the EUL. You then customize the Business Area to provide maximum ease-of-use for your users. Other chapters in this guide describe how to customize the Business Area to suit your users’ needs.

Section 4.1, “Lesson 1: Creating a private End User Layer.” of the Tutorial provides an example of creating an EUL.

This section consists of the following topics:

■ 5.2.1 Required Privileges

■ 5.2.2 Creating an EUL for an Existing User

■ 5.2.3 Creating an EUL for a New User

5.2.1 Required Privileges

Oracle DatabasesYou can create an EUL for any user ID in the database you are connected to, provided that the user who will own the EUL has the following database privileges:

■ Create Session

■ Create Table

■ Create View

■ Create Sequence

■ Create Procedure

The user also needs to have a default tablespace (do not use a temporary tablespace) and quota set.

If you are creating a new user through the Tools | EUL Manager menu option, Discoverer grants the necessary privileges and sets the default tablespace and quota for you.

Using the EUL Manager dialog box, you can create a new user, password, and EUL, pro-vided that you have the following database privileges:

■ Create User

■ Grant Any Privilege

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Non-Oracle DatabasesTo create an EUL for a user ID in a non-Oracle database, the user must have the following database privileges:

■ Create Session (use your database’s equivalent for this Oracle term)

■ Create Table

■ Create View

Discoverer Administration Edition does not enable you to create new users for non-Oracle databases. Before you can install the tutorial, the tutorial user ID VIDEO4 must exist on the database and it must have the same privileges listed above.

Privileges required to create summariesThe privileges required to create summaries and Materialized Views (8.1.6+ databases) are detailed in Chapter 2.2, “Summary Management”.

5.2.2 Creating an EUL for an Existing UserA user can only own one EUL. If you are connected to your own EUL and you attempt to create a new one, Discoverer Administration Edition tells you that you must delete your existing EUL. If you are creating an EUL for another user who already owns another EUL, Discoverer Administration Edition asks if you want to delete their existing EUL. If you click Yes, Discoverer Administration Edition deletes their existing EUL before building the new one.

1. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.This opens the EUL Manager dialog box (see Figure 5–1).

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Figure 5–1 EUL Manager

2. Click Create an EUL.This starts the Create EUL Wizard with Select an existing user already selected (see Figure 5–2).

Figure 5–2 The Create EUL Wizard

3. Select or clear Grant access to PUBLIC to suit your needs:

■ Select this check box to allow all users in the current database access to this EUL.

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■ Clear this check box so only the EUL owner can view data through this EUL.

4. Select or clear New EUL is for use by Oracle Applications users ONLY to suit your needs:

■ Select this check box to restrict the EUL to Oracle Applications users only.See Chapter 17.6, “Create an Applications Mode EUL” for further details.

■ Clear this check box if you want to create a standard EUL.

5. Select the user who you want to own the new EUL from the User drop-down list.

6. Specify the new EUL owner’s password.(This is not necessary if the new EUL is to be owned by the current user.)

7. Click Finish.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays the Commit Status progress bar and tells you that it is creating a new EUL for the EUL owner’s user ID.

Discoverer Administration Edition asks you if you want to install the tutorial data in the EUL. See Section 5.6, “Installing the Tutorial Data” for more information.

5.2.3 Creating an EUL for a New User

1. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.This opens the EUL Manager dialog box.

2. Click Create an EUL (Figure 5–1).

This starts the Create EUL Wizard.

3. Select Create a new user.If this option is unavailable, see your database administrator.

4. Select or clear Grant access to PUBLIC to suit your needs:

■ Select this option to allow all users in the current database access to this EUL.

■ Clear this option so that initially, only the EUL owner can view data through this EUL.

NOTE: This feature is not available with non-Oracle databases. If you are using a non-Oracle database, ask your database administrator to create the necessary user IDs on the database.

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5. Select or clear New EUL is for use by Oracle Applications users ONLY to suit your needs:

■ Select this check box to restrict the EUL to Oracle Applications users only.See Chapter 17.6, “Create an Applications Mode EUL” for further details.

■ Clear this check box to create a standard EUL.

6. Specify the new user’s user ID in the User field.The Create EUL Wizard should look similar to Figure 5–3.

Figure 5–3 Creating a New User in the EUL Wizard

7. Specify the new user’s password in the Password field.

8. Specify the new user’s password again in the Confirm Password field.

9. Click Next.This opens the Create EUL Wizard: Step 2 (see Figure 5–4).

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Figure 5–4 Selecting the Default and Temporary Tablespaces

10. Set the default and temporary tablespaces for the new user.

11. Click Finish.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays the Commit Status progress bar and tells you that it is creating a new EUL for the EUL owner’s user ID.

Discoverer Administration Edition asks you if you want to install the tutorial data in the EUL. See Section 5.6, “Installing the Tutorial Data” for more information.

5.3 Maintaining an End User LayerAs Discoverer administrator, you maintain an EUL using Discoverer Administration Edi-tion. This involves creating business areas, giving meaningful names to objects, choosing items to see or hide from users, creating calculations and summaries, and all of the other things you do to make it easy for your users to view and analyze their data. This chapter spe-cifically describes how to manage access to the different EULs you have in your database.

5.4 Deleting an End User LayerOnly the owner of an EUL has the privilege to delete it. To delete an EUL:

1. Choose File | Connect….This opens the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition dialog box.

2. Log on as the owner of the EUL that you want to delete.

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This starts the Load Wizard.

3. Click Cancel.

4. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.

5. Click Delete an EUL.

This opens the Delete EUL dialog box which asks you to verify that you want to delete the current EUL.

6. Check that the EUL specified in the EUL field is the one you want to delete.

■ If the correct EUL name is displayed, click OK.

■ If the EUL name displayed is incorrect, click Cancel and then start at Step 1 with the correct user ID.

When you click OK, Discoverer Administration Edition warns you that this action will delete all EUL tables, all EUL information and workbooks in the database, and all sum-mary data and information.

7. Decide whether you want to continue. Either:

■ Click Yes to continue or

■ Click No to return to the Delete EUL dialog box without deleting the current EUL or

■ Click Cancel to return to the EUL Manager dialog box without deleting the cur-rent EUL.

If you click Yes, Discoverer Administration Edition warns you that this action will close all work areas and disconnect you from the database.

8. Decide whether you want to continue. Either:

■ Click Yes to continue or

■ Click No to return to the Delete EUL dialog box without deleting the current EUL or

■ Click Cancel to return to the EUL Manager dialog box without deleting the cur-rent EUL.

If you click Yes, the current EUL is deleted. Discoverer Administration Edition dis-plays a progress bar. At the end of the deletion, Discoverer Administration Edition con-firms that the EUL has been deleted.

9. Click OK.

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5.5 Moving End User Layer Elements Between DatabasesThis section describes how you can use the command line interface to export EUL elements (Business Areas, Workbooks, Folders, items etc.) from one database and import them into another. For example when moving from development to production.

To copy EUL elements from one database to another:

1. Use the Command Line interface to Export EUL elements, (E.g. BAs, Workbooks etc.) to Discoverer export files (.EEX) . The following example illustrates how the command line syntax could export a busi-ness area and specified workbooks to an .EEX file.

D:\orant\Discvr4\Disadm.exe /connect eulowner/[email protected] /export “D:\Vidstr.eex” “Video Store Tutorial” /workbook “Vistr4 - Video Tutorial Workbook” /workbook “Vidaf4 - Analytic Function Examples”

See Appendix D.9.21, “Exporting EUL elements to an EEX File” for further details.

2. Import the EUL elements into the new EUL owner on the new database.See Section 7.4, “Exporting a Business Area to a File,” and Section 7.5, “Importing EUL elements from a file.”

5.6 Installing the Tutorial DataIf you are new to Discoverer Administration Edition, we recommend that you work through Chapter 4, “Tutorial”.

Before a user can complete the tutorial the user ID VIDEO4 must already exist on the data-base. This can be achieved by installing the tutorial which creates the user ID VIDEO4 and places the tutorial tables with relevant video data in VIDEO4’s tablespace in the database. All subsequent users will then be able to complete the tutorial.

When you log in to Discoverer Administration Edition for the very first time, you are asked if you want to create an EUL (see Section 5.2.2, “Creating an EUL for an Existing User” or

NOTE: If you are using a non-Oracle database, you or your database administrator must create VIDEO4 in your database before installing the tutorial.

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Section 5.2.3, “Creating an EUL for a New User”). When this EUL has been successfully created, Discoverer Administration Edition asks if you want to install the tutorial. If you decide not to install the tutorial at that time, you can install it later.

Installing the tutorial in the EUL makes it available to all users who have access privileges to that EUL.

This section consists of the following topics:

■ 5.6.1 Required Privileges

■ 5.6.2 Installing the Tutorial Data

■ 5.6.3 Installing the Tutorial Data in several EULs

■ 5.6.4 Reinstalling the Tutorial Data

5.6.1 Required PrivilegesTo install the tutorial data in the current EUL, you must have the following database privi-leges (if the Video4 user has not already been created):

■ Create User

■ Grant Any Privilege

■ Alter User

If you are running against an Oracle 8.1.6+ database you need the following privileges (granted in the script [ORACLE_HOME]\discvr4\sql\eulasm.sql). The script eulasm.sql sets up the privileges required for summary management and ASM in Discoverer 4.1:

■ Analyze any (ASM)

■ Create any materialized view

■ Drop any materialized view

■ Alter any materialized view

■ Global query rewrite

Other privileges required (also granted in eulasm.sql):

■ Create table

■ Create view

■ Create procedure

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5.6.2 Installing the Tutorial DataIf you are installing the tutorial immediately after creating the EUL, start at step 2 of the fol-lowing procedure. If you are installing the tutorial some time after creating the EUL, ensure that you are logged in as the owner of the EUL that you want to load the tutorial data into and start at step 1.

1. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.This displays the EUL Manager dialog box.

2. Click Install the Tutorial.This opens the Install Tutorial Wizard: Step 1 (see Figure 5–5).

Figure 5–5 Install the Tutorial Wizard: Step 1

3. Ensure that the named EUL is where you want to install the tutorial data.

■ If it is, click Next.

■ If it isn’t, click Cancel and log in as the owner of the EUL where you want to install the tutorial data.

Clicking Next opens the Install Tutorial Wizard: Step 2.

NOTE: If any warnings or errors occur during the tutorial installation, Dis-coverer Administration Edition tells you the name of the log file gener-ated by the error. Read that file for more information.

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Figure 5–6 Install Tutorial Wizard: Step 2

4. If the Confirm Password field is unavailable, this means the VIDEO4 user already exists in the database and you are going to create the user.

■ Specify the VIDEO4 user’s password in the Password field and proceed to step 5.

If the Confirm Password field is available, this means the VIDEO4 user does not exist in the database.

If you are using an Oracle database:

■ Specify a password in the Password field.

■ Repeat the password in the Confirm Password field.

If you are not using an Oracle database:

■ Create the VIDEO4 user in the database.

■ Restart the Install Tutorial Wizard.

5. Click Next.

This displays the Install Tutorial Wizard: Step 3. If you are not creating the new user VIDEO4, Discoverer Administration Edition skips this wizard.

TIP: If you are creating the new user, VIDEO4, make a note of the pass-word; you will need it if you uninstall or reinstall this tutorial.

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6. Select the default and temporary tablespaces for the VIDEO4 user. For example, USER DATA as the default tablespace and TEMPORARY DATA as the temporary tablespace.

7. Click Finish.

If you installed the tutorial data as part of creating an EUL, you can now connect to that EUL. If you choose not to connect to that EUL, Discoverer Administration Edition returns you to the EUL Manager.

5.6.3 Installing the Tutorial Data in several EULs You can install the tutorial in more than one EUL. You may want to do this if some of your users don’t have access to the EUL containing your original tutorial installation.

Each time you install a copy of the tutorial in a different EUL, a copy of the tutorial busi-ness area is created in that EUL. However, all copies of the tutorial business area access data in the same set of tables in the database. Only one copy of each table is created in the data-base (in the VIDEO4 user’s tablespace).

To install the tutorial in a different EUL:

1. Connect to the EUL in which you want to install the tutorial.

2. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.

3. Click Install the Tutorial.

4. Enter the password you created for the VIDEO4 user.

5. Click Finish.

5.6.4 Reinstalling the Tutorial DataIf you have previously uninstalled the tutorial, you can reinstall it by following the steps in Section 5.6.3, “Installing the Tutorial Data in several EULs.”

5.7 Uninstalling the Tutorial DataUninstalling the tutorial removes the business area from an EUL and the tables from the database. The user ID (VIDEO4) is not removed from the database.

If you have installed the tutorial in more than one EUL in this database, the business areas stored in the other EULs remain. However, the tables those business areas point to are gone.

NOTE: Removing copies of the tutorial from multiple EULs can only be done one at a time.

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To uninstall the tutorial data:

1. Connect to the EUL in which you installed the tutorial (choose File | Connect).

2. Choose Tools | EUL Manager.This opens the EUL Manager (Figure 5–1).

3. Click Uninstall the Tutorial.This opens the Uninstall Tutorial Wizard: Step 1 (see Figure 5–7).

Figure 5–7 The Uninstall Tutorial Wizard: Step 1

4. Ensure that the EUL containing the tutorial installation you want to remove is dis-played in the EUL field.

5. Click Next.This opens the Uninstall Tutorial Wizard: Step 2 (see Figure 5–8).

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Figure 5–8 The Uninstall Tutorial Wizard: Step 2

6. Specify the password for the VIDEO4 user you created when you installed the tutorial.

7. Click Finish.

Discoverer Administration Edition warns you that uninstalling the tutorial removes the tutorial data and tables from the database, and the tutorial business area from your EUL.

8. Decide whether you want to continue. Either:

■ Click Yes to continue Or

■ Click No to return to the Uninstall Tutorial Wizard: Step 2 without uninstalling the tutorial data or

■ Click Cancel to return to the EUL Manager dialog box without uninstalling the tutorial data.

You can reinstall the tutorial at any time, using the steps in Section 5.6.3, “Installing the Tutorial Data in several EULs.”

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Folders

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 6.1 Introduction

■ 6.2 Folder Types

■ 6.3 Adding Simple Folders from the Database

■ 6.4 Creating Complex Folders

■ 6.5 Creating Custom Folders

■ 6.6 Editing Folder Properties

■ 6.7 Editing a Custom Folder’s SQL Statement

■ 6.8 Sharing Folders Across Business Areas

■ 6.9 Validating Folders

■ 6.10 Re-ordering Folders in the Business Area

■ 6.11 Deleting Folders

6.1 IntroductionFolders represent a result set of data, much like a database view. It is useful to think of fold-ers as a SQL statement that returns the result set. In fact the SQL is actually stored in the End User Layer, and is used in SQL generation. When designing folders, think what you want the result set to be.

The assignment of a folder to a business area should be considered temporary and change-able. A folder can be used in multiple business areas. In these cases, the folder’s definition is still unique: it is simply assigned to multiple business areas. Folders can be removed from all business areas, but sustained in the EUL. Such folders are known as orphan folders.

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6.2 Folder TypesThere are three types of folder:

■ Simple Folders

■ Complex Folders

■ Custom Folders

Whether a folder is simple, custom, or complex is only important to the administrator. There is no difference to the end user. Even in Discoverer Administration Edition, there is very lit-tle difference in the behaviors of these different types of folders. All folders can include cal-culations, joins, conditions, summaries, item classes, and hierarchies.

6.2.1 Simple FoldersSimple folders are created by loading a folder from the database or Oracle Designer. They map directly onto a single table or view. Items in simple folders represent columns or calcu-lations on other items in the folder.

6.2.2 Complex Folders

6.2.2.1 What is a Complex Folder?Complex folders consist of items from one or more other folders. Complex folders enable you to create a combined view of data from multiple folders.

This can simplify the business area without creating a new database view. For example, you can create a Complex folder called Dept-Emp which has columns from both the DEPT and EMP tables. The user then only has to select from one folder, not two. All concepts of rela-tional joins are hidden to the user.

For two Items from different Folders to belong to the same Complex Folder, a Join condi-tion must exist between the two Folders. For more information about Joins, see Chapter 11, “Joins”.

6.2.2.2 Dependencies and InheritanceThe formula for an Item dragged into Complex Folder references the original Item (in the Simple Folder). The new Item in the Complex Folder is not the same Item as the original—it can have a different name, it is in a different Folder, and it is treated in all respects as a com-pletely separate Item.

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This is different from a copy of an Item, where the copied item is completely separate from the source item. For a referenced item, any change in the formula of the source item is reflected in the referenced item, for a copied item, the change is not reflected.

You can view a list of the dependencies for an item on the Dependencies page of the Item’s Properties dialog box.

Always remember that Folders represent result sets. If a mandatory Condition has been applied to a Folder, then its row set has been changed. Any Complex Folder built using this Folder will work from the restricted row set of the source Folder. If you later remove the Condition, the change will be reflected in the Complex Folder.

Do not create a Complex Folder if what you want is a copy. Use Edit|Copy instead. Think about whether you want the dependency and inheritance.

6.2.2.3 Complex Folders vs. Database ViewsIt’s true that any complex folder’s result set could also be produced by a database view. However, there are many advantages to using Complex folders, the main one being that you can create them, without the database privileges required to create a database view. Security is handled through the Folder’s Business Area. As creating Complex Folders has no effect on the physical schema, they are very safe to use. Views can be complicated to maintain, whereas Complex Folders are managed entirely within Discoverer Administration Edition.

6.2.3 Custom FoldersCustom folders enable you to create Folders based on SQL statements (such as UNION, CONNECT BY, MINUS, INTERSECT) and synonyms. With this feature, you can type the SQL statement that defines the Custom Folder directly into a dialog box.

You can quickly set up a folder representing a complex result set. Discoverer Administra-tion Edition then creates items for each of the selected list items.

In Discoverer Plus, a Custom folder appears like any Simple folder and the end user can use it to build queries in exactly the same way as for other folders.

For more information, see Section 6.5, “Creating Custom Folders.”

Note: Discoverer’s Custom Folder feature supports non-Oracle databases in most database functions. The exceptions include set operators, aggre-gates, and the DISTINCT keyword.

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How Custom Folders BehaveCustom Folders behave very much like Simple Folders, with the following exceptions:

■ RefreshCustom Folders are refreshed by editing and validating the existing SQL.Simple folders are refreshed when the Business Area is refreshed (see Section 7.9, “Synchronizing the Business Area with the Database”).

■ ItemsItems generated in a Custom folder do not have an Item Formula property where you can change the SQL expression for the item. Therefore, you cannot edit the formula of an item in a Custom folder, except by editing the SQL for the whole folder.

■ PropertiesProperties for Custom folders do not include database, owner, and table name, nor do they have component source folders. The Properties dialog box for a Custom folder, dis-plays a field named Custom SQL, which contains the custom SQL statement used to generate the custom folder.

6.3 Adding Simple Folders from the DatabaseThis section describes how to add Simple folders from the database to an existing business area. For more information about Simple folders, see Section 6.2.1, “Simple Folders.”

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the business area to which, you want to add one or more folders.

2. Choose Insert | Folder | from Database.This opens Load Wizard: Step 1.

3. Follow the same process you use when creating a new business area.starting at Section 7.2.2.3, “Load Wizard: Step 1, Specifying the Metadata Source.”

6.4 Creating Complex FoldersThis section describes how to create a new Complex folder.

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the business area to which, you want to add a Complex folder.

2. Choose Insert | Folder | New.This creates a new complex folder.

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3. Open the new folder’s Properties dialog box.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the folder’s icon on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the folder’s icon on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the folder’s icon on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

4. (Optional) Give the new folder a more descriptive name (using the Name field).

5. (Optional) Give the new folder a description (using the Description field).

6. Drag items from any folder (in any open business area) to your new folder.

Each item that you add to a Complex folder must belong to a table, that is joined to the table of at least one other item in the Complex folder. If this is not the case, Discoverer Administration Edition will display an error dialog box.

You may find it easier to drag items between folders if you have two work areas open. To do this, choose Window | New Window.

Remember that an Item dragged and dropped into the Complex Folder references the origi-nal, source Item. Therefore any changes you make to the formula of the Item outside of the Complex Folder, is reflected on the Item inside the Complex Folder.

Changes that you might make to the item inside the Complex Folder do not affect the source item, as inheritance works from the source item upwards and not the other way around. In addition, any changes you make, such as editing the item name in the Complex Folder, will not corrupt the item’s ability to reference its source. Discoverer uses system identifiers for objects so changing an item name in a Complex Folder does not affect the Item’s formula.

NOTE: If you create a Complex Folder from Items in a Folder that con-tains a mandatory Condition, the results in the Complex Folder are restricted by the mandatory Condition on the original Folder. You can see any mandatory Conditions that impact a Complex Folder using the Com-ponents page of the Complex Folder’s properties dialog box.

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6.5 Creating Custom FoldersThis section describes how to create a custom folder:

1. On the Data page of the work area, select a business area (or any object within a busi-ness area).

2. Choose Insert | Folder | Custom.This opens the Custom Folder dialog box (see Figure 6–1).

Figure 6–1 Custom Folder Dialog

3. Specify the SQL statement.See “Custom Folder Examples” below for more information.

4. Specify the name of the folder in the Name field.

5. Click Validate SQL to ensure you have entered valid SQL.

6. Click OK. This validates the SQL statement and saves the custom folder. Note that Discoverer Administration Edition allows you to save the custom folder even if the SQL is invalid. This enables you to insert the SQL before the actual database objects are created or

TIP: You can add comments to your SQL statements by beginning the comment line with --.

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made available. However, end users will not be able to query the object until the SQL is valid.

Custom Folder ExamplesThis section consists of the following examples:

■ Example 1: Synonyms

■ Example 2: Set Operator in a Folder Definition

■ Example 3: ODBC-specific SQL Syntax

■ Example 4: Subquery in a Folder Definition

■ Example 5: Optimizer Hint

■ Example 6: CONNECT BY Clauses

■ Example 7: Column Expressions

■ Example 8: Speeding Up Lists of Values

Example 1: SynonymsSELECT ENAME, JOB, SAL FROM EMP@ORCLwhere EMP is a synonym that points to the EMP table on another database.

Example 2: Set Operator in a Folder DefinitionSELECT "COMPANY1" COMPANY, ENAME, SAL FROM EMP@HQUNIONSELECT "COMPANY2", ENAME, SAL FROM EMP@REGIONAwhere HQ and REGIONA are database links for remote databases. The result set is the union of all employees with a column named COMPANY1 to show which company they are from.

Example 3: ODBC-specific SQL SyntaxSELECT ENAME, DNAME FROM {EMP LEFT OUTER JOIN DEPT ON EMP.DEPTNO=DEPT.DEPTNO}This example uses the ODBC outer join syntax.

Custom Folders and Joins: Like other folders, custom folders require joins in order for its data to relate to other data in the business area. See Chapter 11, “Joins” for more information.

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Example 4: Subquery in a Folder DefinitionSELECT ENAME, SAL FROM EMPWHERE SAL > (SELECT AVG (SAL) FROM EMP)

Example 5: Optimizer HintSELECT /*+ FULL(scott_emp) PARALLEL (scott_emp, 5) */enameFROM scott.emp scott_emp;In this example, the PARALLEL hint overrides the degree of parallelism specified in the emp definition.

Example 6: CONNECT BY ClausesSELECT EMPNO, ENAME, JOB FROM EMPCONNECT BY PRIOR EMPNO=MGRSTART WITH KING

Example 7: Column ExpressionsAlthough a custom folder can contain any valid SQL statement, any column expressions must be aliased in the same way that an SQL view definition would be aliased. For example:

SELECT ENAME, SAL*12+NVL(COMM,0) ANNUAL_SALARYFROM EMPThe alias ANNUAL_SALARY is required on the SAL*12+NVL(COMM,0) expression. No alias is required on simple column expressions like ENAME. In these cases, the alias will be used as the item name.

Example 8: Speeding Up Lists of ValuesA user might run a query using a list of values that is defined against an item in a folder with a larger number of rows than the number of distinct values. Such a query would be ineffi-cient.

If you have a small number of values you can use a custom folder to create a local list of val-ues within the End User Layer. For example, if you want a list of values for North, South, East and West, create a custom folder called Region_lov and type in the following SQL:

SELECT "NORTH" REGION FROM sys.dualUNION

NOTE: The user can perform subqueries using the Create Subquery option in Discoverer Plus’s Conditions dialog.

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SELECT "SOUTH" REGION FROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT "EAST" REGION FROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT "WEST" REGION FROM sys.dualThis creates one item called Region, that can now be used as a list of values and gives rapid performance.

For more information about lists of values, see Chapter 10, “Items and Item Classes”.

6.6 Editing Folder PropertiesFolder properties are accessible through Folder Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to enhance the user’s view of the data by editing folder properties. Figure 6–2 shows an example of the Folder Properties dialog box.

Figure 6–2 Folder Properties Sheet with General Page Selected

Notes■ Folders can be assigned to and removed from any business area, and can be included in

multiple business areas. However, for each folder, there is only one definition, shared across all the business areas that include it. If you modify the folder definition, it changes in all business areas and in the EUL. For more information about sharing fold-ers, see Section 6.8, “Sharing Folders Across Business Areas.”

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■ When using the Folder Properties dialog box, you can have your changes saved as soon as you enter them by ticking Automatically save changes after each edit. With this option ticked, you don’t have to click OK or Apply after each edit.

■ You can change folder names at any time without affecting its logical structure, because Discoverer uses an internal way of identifying folders which does not depend on the folder name. Names only affect the appearance of the information in the business area. However, Folder names must be unique within the EUL and Item names must be unique within a particular Folder.

6.6.1 Editing the Properties of a Single FolderThis section describes how to edit a folder’s properties.

1. Open the folder’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the folder on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the folder on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the folder on the Data page and click the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the folder on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Make your changes as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

6.6.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple FoldersThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one folder at a time:

1. Select all of the folders whose properties you want to edit.(Ctrl-clicking enables you to select more than one folder.)

2. Display the Folder Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected folders on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected folders are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected folders, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected folders.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

6.6.3 The Owner attributeThe Owner attribute (see Figure 6–2) displays the user(schema) that owns the currently dis-played object (table) for this Folder. A different value can be entered into the Owner field if a different schema is required or the field can be left blank (see Section 6.6.3.2, “Leaving the Owner field blank” for further details).

6.6.3.1 Entering a value into the Owner field1. Open the Folder Properties dialog box.

See Section 6.6.1, “Editing the Properties of a Single Folder” for details

2. Either: Type a value directly into the field (or leave blank, see Section 6.6.3.2)OrClick the button in the Owner field to display the Choose user dialog where you can select a user (and database, if required) for the Owner field.

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Figure 6–3 Choose user dialog

3. Highlight the user you want to own the currently displayed table for this Folder.

4. Click OK to select the user

6.6.3.2 Leaving the Owner field blankThe Owner field can be left blank in the Discoverer Administration Edition so that multiple users in Discoverer Plus can access a commonly named set of tables that exist in their own user (schema).

When the Owner field is left blank, SQL generated from a query made in Discoverer Plus (for the same EUL) will not include the owner in front of the table name and so will be able to access the same named tables in whatever the current user (schema) is.

For example a SQL select statement may now read as follows:

select <column> from <table>

rather than

select <column> from <owner>.<table>

Leaving the Owner field blank enables multiple users (such as Oracle Applications users) each with their own schema in the same EUL, to access their own schema tables when mak-ing queries in Discoverer Plus.

Another benefit is that you can create/maintain an EUL for which the tables or table owners are not yet available, or to which the EUL administrator does not have access.

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1. Open the folder’s Properties dialog box.See Section 6.6.1, “Editing the Properties of a Single Folder” for details

2. Highlight the user schema displayed in the Owner field

3. Delete the user text displayed:The following warning may then be displayed:

Figure 6–4 Folder now inaccessible warning

This warning is displayed when the current folder contains an object (table) not in your user (schema) and so workbooks using it will be invalid. This will also apply to any other users using this EUL if they do not have this object (table) in their user (schema).

4. Click OK

For more information about all the fields in the Properties dialog, click Help.

6.7 Editing a Custom Folder’s SQL StatementThis section describes how to edit a a Custom Folder’s SQL statement. The SQL statement must be correct for the folder to be functional in Discoverer Plus.

1. Open the Custom Folder Properties dialog box for the Complex Folder whose SQL statement you want to edit. (See Section 6.6, “Editing Folder Properties” for more infor-mation.)

Note that the Custom SQL field contains the SQL statement that defined the folder (see Figure 6–5). You can resize the Custom Folder Properties dialog box to view the entire statement.

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Figure 6–5 Custom Folder Properties

2. Click the Custom SQL field.This opens the Edit Custom Folder dialog box opens, containing the SQL statement.

Figure 6–6 Edit Custom Folder Dialog

3. Edit the SQL statement as required.

See Custom Folder Examples above for more information.

4. Click Validate SQL to ensure you have entered valid SQL.

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5. Click OK. This validates the SQL statement and saves the custom folder. Note that Discoverer Administration Edition allows you to save the custom folder even if the SQL is invalid. This enables you to insert the SQL before the actual database objects are created or made available. However, end users will not be able to query the object until the SQL is valid.

If the changes to the SQL statement have an impact on existing items or creates new items, Discoverer Administration Edition displays an Impact dialog box showing each item that is impacted and the type of impact. Use the Impact dialog box to decide whether to click Yes to continue with the edit, or No or Cancel to abandon it.

6.8 Sharing Folders Across Business AreasFolders that are created in one business area can be shared with other business areas. Data that is important to one department is often useful to another. For example, a Sales Facts folder that includes columns for Income and Costs, could be included in both the marketing and accounting departments’ business areas.

If you make changes to a folder in one business area, those changes are affected such that folder across all the business areas that use it.

You can also assign Orphan Folders to a business area.

You use the Manage Folders dialog box to share folders between business areas and to con-trol orphan folders. The Manage Folders dialog box has two pages:

■ Business Area -> Folder pageSee Section 6.8.1, “Assigning Multiple Folders to a Business Area.”

■ Folder -> Business Area pageSee Section 6.8.2, “Assigning a Folder to Multiple Business Areas.”

6.8.1 Assigning Multiple Folders to a Business AreaThis section describes how to assign multiple folders to a specific business area.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Folders.This opens the Manage Folders dialog box.

2. Click the Business Area -> Folder tab.Use this page to assign any number of folders (including orphan folders) to a specific business area.

3. Select the business area, to which, you want to assign one or more folders, from the Business area drop-down list.

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By default, the Business area drop-down list shows the business area currently selected in the work area.

4. Move the required folders from the Available folders list to the Current folders list.

There are three ways of moving folders from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more folders from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more folders in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click a folder to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one folder at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the folders.

5. Click OK.This modifies the selected business area so that it contains the folders in the Current folders list.

6.8.2 Assigning a Folder to Multiple Business AreasThis section describes how to assign a specific folder to multiple business areas.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Folders.This opens the Manage Folders dialog box.

2. Click the Folder -> Business Area tab.Use this page to assign a specific folder (even an orphan folder) to a multiple business areas.

3. Select the folder that you want to assign to one or more business areas, from the Folder drop-down list.

4. Move the required business areas from the Available business areas list to the Cur-rent business areas list.

There are three ways of moving business areas from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more business areas from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more business areas in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

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■ Double-clickDouble-click a business area to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one business area at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the business areas.

5. Click OK.This modifies the business areas in the Current business areas list so that they contain the folder selected in the Folders drop-down list. Business areas not in the Current business areas list will now not contain the selected folder.

6.9 Validating FoldersThe Validate Folders facility is useful for diagnosing problems with your Discoverer fold-ers. For example, you may see folders in the Administration Edition that your Discoverer Plus users cannot access. The Validate Folders option will show error messages that will help you diagnose the problem.

This section describes how to validate the link between the Folders in a Business Area and the database objects they refer to.

1. Choose View | Validate Folders.

This uses the database parser to check that the relevant tables exist in the database and the user has SELECT access to them.

If you wish to validate the Folders in your Business Area again then you should select the menu option each time this is required.

6.10 Re-ordering Folders in the Business AreaThis section describes how to rearrange the order of folders in a business area. Folders are displayed by default in alphabetical order.

You may want to do this in order to:

■ logically group folders next to each other,

■ move the most commonly used folders to the top of the list.

The order in which folders are ordered in Discoverer Administration Edition is reflected in Discoverer Plus.

To change the order of folders in a business area:

1. On the Data page of the work area, drag and drop the folder to the position in the hier-achy you desire.

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6.11 Deleting FoldersThis section describes how to delete folders.

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the folder(s) you want to delete.

To select more than one folder at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the folders.

2. Delete the folder(s):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected folders and choose Delete Folder on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

This opens the Confirm Folder Delete dialog box (see Figure 6–7).

Figure 6–7 Confirm Folder Delete

3. Select how you want to delete the folder:

■ Delete from this Business AreaThis option removes the selected folder from the current business area, but does not delete the folder from the EUL. If the folder is not shared by any other business area, it becomes an orphan folder.

Note: To delete an orphan folder from the EUL, you must assign it to a business area and then delete it. For more information about assigning folders to a business area, see Section 6.8, “Sharing Folders Across Busi-ness Areas.”

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■ Delete from the End User LayerThis option removes the selected folder from all business areas that contain that folder and, in addition, removes its entire definition from the EUL. To determine which business areas a folder may belong to, select the folder and choose Tools | Manage Folders. The Manage Folders dialog box contains a drop-down list of other business areas that hold the selected folder.

4. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 6–8). Deleting a folder deletes all its dependent objects (for example joins, conditions, and calculations). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

Figure 6–8 The Impact Dialog Box

5. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

6. If you still want to delete the selected folder(s), click Yes.This deletes the selected folder(s) based on the choices you have made.

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Business Areas

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 7.1 Introduction

■ 7.2 Building a New Business Area

■ 7.3 Opening an Existing Business Area

■ 7.4 Exporting a Business Area to a File

■ 7.5 Importing EUL elements from a file

■ 7.6 Copying Business Areas Between EULs

■ 7.7 Editing Business Area Properties

■ 7.8 Deleting a Business Area

■ 7.9 Synchronizing the Business Area with the Database

■ 7.10 Data migration issues (Analytic Functions)

7.1 IntroductionA Business Area is a conceptual grouping of tables and/or views that apply to user’s specific data requirements. For example, an accounting department may have an accounting Busi-ness Area that represents data about budgets and finance, while project leaders in an engi-neering department would have a business area specifically for projects requiring budget information.

A Business Area is represented as a file cabinet on the Data page of the workarea. This can be opened to display Folders, and all the Items in those Folders.

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If you’ve taken the tutorial in Chapter 4, you are already familiar with Business Area proce-dures, including Calculations, Joins, Conditions, and Summary Folders. These tasks help in the design of an efficient, useful instrument for business analysis in Discoverer Plus.

The tasks that comprise fully managing the Business Area are covered in detail in other chapters in this book. Some of the most important aspects of business area management are its security and the access privileges granted to users. For information about this important feature, read Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security”

This chapter covers many aspects of building a new Business Area and some of the features for managing it.

7.2 Building a New Business Area

7.2.1 Preparing to Build a New Business AreaBefore you start the Load Wizard, prepare by sketching out the business area design. Keep in mind what will be useful to the users whose purposes the business area will serve. Use the following guidelines:

■ Interview your users for a clear understanding of their requirements. Use the list of questions in Section 1.4.1, “Before You Begin,” as a guideline for your user interviews.

■ Identify the data source and have a clear understanding of its design.

■ Identify which tables, views, and columns are required. Identify those that are likely to be included in multiple business areas. For example, the Employee folder might need to be in both the Sales and Human Resources business areas.

■ Map out the necessary joins and determine whether they exist in the database or will have to be created by you using Discoverer Administration Edition. Joins might be pre-defined in the database with primary/foreign key constraints, or column names in differ-ent tables may match in ways that trigger sensible join conditions. For more information, see Chapter 11, “Joins”

■ Identify security issues and access privileges. Include the user names the business area is to serve.

Keep in mind that your sketch is likely to change as you add the objects that will make the business area a useful, efficient analysis tool. The sketch provides a framework for you to modify and build upon.

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7.2.2 Using the Load Wizard to Build a New Business Area

7.2.2.1 What is the Load Wizard?The Load Wizard provides a user-friendly interface that enables you to quickly:

■ Name and describe the business area

■ Load metadata into the business area

■ Automatically create joins from existing relationships between tables

■ Automatically create lists of values for items

7.2.2.2 Starting the Load WizardThe Load Wizard starts automatically after you click Connect on the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition dialog box (see Section 3.2, “Connecting to the Data-base”).

You can also start the Load Wizard when you are already connected to Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There are three ways of doing this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Business Area tool bar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Insert | Business Area | From Database….

■ Popup MenuWith nothing selected, right-click the background on the Data page and choose New Business Area… on the popup menu.

7.2.2.3 Load Wizard: Step 1, Specifying the Metadata SourceThe first page of the Load Wizard enables you to specify the source of the metadata that you want to populate the business area with.

Load Wizard: Step 1 gives you the following choice:

■ Create a new business areaThis option enables you to start the process for creating a new business area from scratch.

■ Open an existing business areaThis option enables you to open an existing business area. For more information about this option, see Section 7.3.1, “Using the Load Wizard to Open an Existing Business Area”.

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1. Click Create a new business area.

Load Wizard: Step 1 adds the question, “Where do you want to load the metadata from?” (see Figure 7–1).

Figure 7–1 Choosing the Metadata Source

2. Specify the location of the metadata:

■ On-line dictionaryThis option enables you to load tables and views from the standard Oracle dictio-nary.

■ GatewayThis option enables you to choose the metadata source from the registered gate-ways. When you select a gateway from the drop-down list, its description is dis-played in the lower panel.

This option is only available when you are using Oracle Designer or have a regis-tered EUL Gateway and all its tables are visible. If you are using Oracle Designer, the dropdown list displays the Oracle Designer workareas to which you have access (if you are using a version of Oracle Designer prior to Oracle Designer 6i, the drop-down list simply displays ‘Oracle Designer Repository’).

To set up an EUL Gateway see the document eulgatw.doc located in the [ORACLE_HOME]\discvr4\kits directory

3. To proceed to the next page of the Load Wizard, click Next.

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The next page of the Load Wizard looks different depending on the source of the meta-data:

■ If you chose On-line dictionary, see Section 7.2.2.4.1, “Load Wizard: Step 2 (for On-line Dictionary)”

■ If you chose Gateway, see Section 7.2.2.4.2, “Load Wizard: Step 2 for Gateway”

7.2.2.4 Load Wizard: Step 2Load Wizard: Step 2 will appear differently depending on whether you selected On-line Dictionary or Gateway on Load Wizard: Step 1.

7.2.2.4.1 Load Wizard: Step 2 (for On-line Dictionary) If you chose On-line Dic-tionary on Load Wizard: Step 1, Load Wizard: Step 2 should look similar to Figure 7–2. Use this page of the wizard to define the user objects to load into your new business area.

About the Gateway: The EUL Gateway provides a way for Discoverer to popu-late the business area with metadata from another source, such as Oracle Designer. The Gateway allows metadata defined in another tool or application to be loaded directly into the EUL.

If you are loading data from Oracle Designer 6i (where versioning is switched on) create a workarea containing the set of object versions you want to load. We rec-ommend that the workarea rules are based on a configuration which defines a coherent release set of objects. It is important to make sure that no foreign key definitions within the workarea reference tables/views outside the workarea. To validate the workarea is complete, use the Oracle Designer 'List External Refer-ence' utility.

If versioning (Oracle Designer 6i) is not switched on then there will only be one default workarea 'Global Shared Workarea' containing all the objects, and this must be used.

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Figure 7–2 Select the Database Link and User IDs

1. Choose the database link from the Select a Database Link drop-down list.

By default, the database link is set to <Default Database>. This is the default database for the current user ID. The drop-down list only shows the databases that current user ID can connect to.

2. Select the users, whose objects you want to be loaded into the business area, from the Select the users you want to load list.

The users that appear in this list are those that have access to the database selected above.

3. Specify the pattern that user objects must match in order to be loaded in to the business area (in the Load user objects that match field).

By default the % symbol is specified. The % symbol is a wildcard that matches any character or string of characters. If you want to reduce the number of objects that can be loaded from the database, use the wildcard in combination with other characters as fol-lows:

Note: A database link sets a connection from one database to another. Multiple links can be set. As these links are created in the database, see your database administrator for more information.

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■ To load all objects, enter %.

■ To find all objects beginning with D, enter D%.

■ To find all objects ending with AND, enter %AND.

■ To find objects beginning with A and having a four letter name,enter A_ _ _.

4. If you want to specify the type of tables to be loaded (for example, whether public or private, or whether owned by or accessible to the users you select) click Options and go to Section , “Online Dictionary Options”

By default, the Load Wizard will load only:

■ Tables owned by the users specified

■ Private tables

5. Click Next and go to Section 7.2.2.5, “Load Wizard: Step 3, Selecting Tables and Views”

Online Dictionary Options

Figure 7–3 Choosing Tables by Owner and Access

This dialog box enables you to specify the type of tables and views (from the user ID’s data-base) that you want to load.

TIP: Discoverer provides a way to use synonyms to describe a folder. See Section 13.1, “Custom Folders” in Chapter 13, “Advanced Options.”

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1. Under which tables (and views) do you want to see?, specify which tables are to be loaded into the EUL and made available in the business area.

■ Tables owned by user

This option imports all database objects, or a subset of these objects, that belong to the user IDs you specify in Load Wizard: Step 2. Select this option when you have a schema, and you want to load tables or objects based on the schema permissions.

■ Tables accessible by user

This option imports all database objects, or a subset of these objects, to which the user IDs have been granted SELECT access in the database.

2. Under What types of tables (and views) do you want to see?, specify which types of tables you want to be loaded into the business area:

■ Public Tables

This option imports tables and views in the selected user IDs’ schema that have been granted public access. Use this option in conjunction with the radio buttons at the top of this dialog box.

■ Partially restricted tables

This option imports the tables and views in the selected user IDs’ schema that have also been granted some access to another user ID. For example, user ID Bob could grant SELECT privileges on Table D in the database to user ID Betty. Table D would be des-ignated as a partial access object. Use this option to display a list of partial access objects that are either owned by a user ID or objects to which the user ID has been given explicit SELECT access.

■ Private tables

This option imports the tables and views in the selected user IDs’ schema that are not accessible by any other user ID.

3. Click OK.This returns you to Load Wizard: Step 2 (Figure 7–2).

NOTE: A user ID can “own” tables and also grant access to other user IDs. For example, an application owner, such as FINAPPS, owns all of the data tables used by the Financial Applications system and has granted access rights to other users to view those tables.

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4. Click Next and go to Section 7.2.2.5, “Load Wizard: Step 3, Selecting Tables and Views”

7.2.2.4.2 Load Wizard: Step 2 for Gateway If you chose Gateway on Load Wiz-ard: Step 1, Load Wizard: Step 2 should look similar to Figure 7–4. Use this page of the wizard to select the schema objects to load into the new business area.

1. Verify or change the Database link

The database named in the text box is the default database for the current user ID. You can change the database link by selecting another one from the drop-down list, which lists the databases that apply to the current connection.

2. Select one or more schemas (users) from the list:

This list box displays the list of schemas (users) whose tables and views can be loaded from the database link named in the text box. Click the appropriate check boxes.

Figure 7–4 Selecting the Schemas to be Loaded

3. The Load schema objects that match text box at the bottom provides a filter. The % symbol is a wildcard. If you want to call up a specific segment of the database, use the wildcard in combination with other characters as follows:

■ To load all schema objects, enter %.

■ To find all schema objects beginning with D, enter D%.

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■ To find all schema objects beginning with AND, enter AND%.

■ To find schema objects beginning with A and having a four letter name, enter A_ _ _.

4. Click Next and continue to the next section.

7.2.2.5 Load Wizard: Step 3, Selecting Tables and ViewsLoad Wizard: Step 3 enables you to select the specific tables and views (schema objects) that you want to load into the business area. The selections you made in Load Wizard: Step 2 determine the tables and views that are available for selection in the Load Wizard: Step 3. If you need to change the selections you made in Load Wizard: Step 2, click Back.

Figure 7–5 Selecting Schema Objects

The left side of the wizard displays a hierarchical list of users (via the on-line dictionary) or schemas (via gateway) and the tables and views that are available to load into the business area. You can expand and collapse levels of the hierachy using the plus (+) and minus (-) signs in the usual way.

The icons in the hierarchical list identify their type. See Chapter 3, “Getting Started” for a detailed explanation of the icons.

1. Move the tables or views, that you want to load into the business area, from the Avail-able list to the Selected list.

To select more than one table or view at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the tables.

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2. Click Next.This displays Load Wizard: Step 4.

7.2.2.6 Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic AttributesThis step is common for both loading from the on-line dictionary and loading from a gate-way. This is your opportunity to designate how the objects you have selected are to be loaded into the EUL. Load Wizard: Step 4 (see Figure 7–6) enables you to:

■ control how the database column names are mapped to Discoverer item names

■ specify how joins are created between items

■ specify that Automated Summary Management (ASM) will recommend and create sum-maries after the load process, based on the folders that are created.If you select this option Bulk Load may take longer to complete, but users should bene-fit from improved query performance.Do not select this option if you are going to run ASM later, or if you have limited free space available in your database.See Chapter 16, “Automated Summary Management” for further details.

■ specify how date hierarchies are generated

■ specify the default aggregate on data points

■ specify which types of items you want Discoverer Administration Edition to generate lists of values for.

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Figure 7–6 Formatting the Business Area

How Items are loaded (Axis Items or Data Point Items)Items are loaded as data points if they are DECIMALS (that is, a NUMBER data type) and have a non-zero precision. Integer numbers, all keys, and all other data types are loaded as axis items, with a default position of “Top.”

For further information see the section “Objects on the Data Page” in Chapter 3.3.2.1, “Using the Data Page”.

In Discoverer Plus, whether an item is an axis item or datapoint affects the items’ default placement on cross tab worksheets, as follows:

■ Data points are shown with easy to pick aggregate functions and appear by default in the center of cross tabular reports, because they are usually numbers that users want to analyze. Another term for data points is measures.

■ Axis items can have visible lists of values; data points do not have visible lists of val-ues. Axis items appear on the page, top, or side of cross tab reports by default. Another term for axis items is dimensions.

NOTE: Whether an item is designated as an axis item or a data point ONLY affects its default position on a new sheet in Discoverer Plus. The position can always be changed by a user and the default position can always be changed by an administrator.

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7.2.2.7 Load Wizard: Step 5, Naming the Business AreaLoad Wizard: Step 5 enables you to name and describe the business area (see Figure 7–7).

Figure 7–7 Naming the Business Area

1. Specify a name for the Business Area in the Name field.

2. Specify a description for the Business Area in the Description field.This step is optional.

3. If you want to review or change the settings you have specified on previous pages of the wizard, use the Back button.

4. If you are happy with the settings you have specified, click Finish.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays a progress indicator while it is generating your new Business Area (and summaries, if appropriate). When it is finished, the progress indicator disappears and the new Business Area is displayed on the Data page of the work area.

NOTE: If you chose the Summaries based on folders that are created option in Step 4 of the Load Wizard Discoverer will display the Recom-mended Summaries dialog where you can select one or more summaries you want ASM to create for you (see Chapter 16.2.5, “Recommended summaries dialog” for details). Click Create to confirm your choice.

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Important Note: User AccessTo start with, a new business area (and the data it contains), can only be accessed by the user ID that was used to create it. See Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security” for more information about how to grant access privileges to other user IDs.

7.3 Opening an Existing Business AreaThere are two ways you can open an existing business area:

■ Using the Load Wizard.

■ Using Open Business Area dialog box

These methods are described below.

7.3.1 Using the Load Wizard to Open an Existing Business Area■ In Load Wizard: Step 1, click Open an Existing Business Area.

This opens Load Wizard: Step 2, which lists all the business areas that exist in the EUL of the database to which you are connected (Figure 7–8).

NOTE: If you loaded your metadata from Oracle Designer, you must refresh the business area before it can be used. See Section 7.9.1, “Refresh from Gateway” for more information.

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Figure 7–8 Open an Existing Business Area

1. Select a business area or click Select All to select all the business areas.

2. Click Finish.

The work area window opens with the Data tab selected, listing the business areas you selected.

7.3.2 Using the Open Business Area Dialog Box■ Choose File | Open.

This opens the Open Business Area dialog box (see Figure 7–9).

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Figure 7–9 Open an Existing Business Area

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7.4 Exporting a Business Area to a FileDiscoverer Administration Edition enables you to export a business area to a file. This can be useful when copying business areas between EULs or when archiving data. For more information about moving copying business areas between EULs, see Section 7.6, “Copy-ing Business Areas Between EULs”.

The following steps show you how to export a business area to a file:

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the business area that you want to export.

2. Choose File | Export or click the right button of your mouse and select Export from the Pop-up menuThis opens the Save As dialog box as shown in Figure 7–10.

NOTE: Discoverer Administration Edition also has a granular export fea-ture that enables you to export EUL elements (such as Folders, Items, Functions etc.) via the command line to a Discoverer export file (EEX file). See Appendix D.9.21, “Exporting EUL elements to an EEX File” for details.

IMPORTANT: The Export option exports the definitions for the business area, and any work books specified on the command line. It does not export the database, EUL tables or database objects referenced by the business area definitions.

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Figure 7–10 Exporting the Business Area

The Save as type displays the file format the Business Area is saved in, which is Dis-coverer EUL(TM) Export File (*.eex)

3. Specify the location, filename and file format for the exported Business Area. If you choose the Discoverer EUL(TM) Export File format, give the file an EEX extension. For example, Export_file.eex.

4. Click Save.

7.5 Importing EUL elements from a fileDiscoverer Administration Edition enables you to import EUL elements (E.g. Business Areas, Folders, Functions etc.) from other EULs. To guide you through the process, Discov-erer uses the Import Wizard.

See also Section 7.10, “Data migration issues (Analytic Functions)” for information about importing EUL elements that include Analytic Functions.

7.5.1 About IdentifiersWhen you are importing elements from another EUL, Discoverer needs to know when an element from another EUL refers to the same business object (known as a Conceptually Identical Object). To do this Discoverer compares either the element Display Name (for example ‘Sales’) or the Identifier.

■ Identifiers are unique names used by Discoverer to identify unique EUL elements (and Workbook elements in Discoverer Plus).

■ When you import EUL elements, Discoverer uses Identifiers to locate elements refer-ring to the same business objects. This enables customized (or patched) elements to be preserved. For example, a folder named 'Sales' in EUL ‘A’ may refer to the same folder

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named 'Sales Figures' in EUL ‘B’. Both folders have the same Identifier and can there-fore be recognized as referring to the same element.

■ Identifiers are visible in the Discoverer Administration Edition but are hidden from Dis-coverer Plus users.

7.5.2 Supported File FormatsDiscoverer 4.1 supports the following import EUL formats:

■ Discoverer Export Files (*.EEX) exported using Discoverer 3.1 and earlier.

■ Discoverer Export Files created using Discoverer release 4.1 and later, in XML format, (which also have an *.EEX file extension).

7.5.3 Using the Import Wizard to import elements

7.5.3.1 What is the Import Wizard?The Import Wizard provides a user-friendly interface that enables you to quickly:

■ Select which files you would like to import.

■ Decide how you would like to process elements described as Conceptually Identical Objects (see definition in Section 7.5.1, “About Identifiers”).

7.5.3.2 Starting the Import WizardYou can start the Import Wizard at any time during a Discoverer Administration Edition session.

1. Choose File | Import.This opens the Import Wizard: Step 1, as shown in Figure 7.5.3.3.

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Figure 7–11 Choosing which files to import

7.5.3.3 Import Wizard: Step 1Import Wizard: Step 1 enables you to choose which EUL files to import.

1. Click Add to display the file locate dialog.

Locate and select one or more import files - selected files appear in the list.

2. To proceed to the next page of the Import Wizard, click Next.

7.5.3.4 Import Wizard: Step 2Import Wizard: Step 2 enables you to choose how to process Conceptually Identical Objects from another EUL.

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Figure 7–12 Choosing match options

1. Specify what action should occur when objects match:The term ‘object’ also applies to ‘element’ (E.g. Folders, Items, Functions etc.)

■ Rename the imported objectRenames imported elements to differentiate them from your existing elements. For example, if you are importing a matching Folder named ‘Sales’, selecting this option would rename the imported Folder to ‘Sales1’ leaving you with two Fold-ers, your existing one named ‘Sales’ plus the imported Folder named ‘Sales1’.

■ Rename the existing objectRenames your existing elements to differentiate them from imported elements. For example, if you are importing a matching Folder named ‘Sales’, selecting this option would rename your existing Folder to ‘Sales1’ leaving you with two Fold-ers, your existing one renamed ‘Sales1’ plus the imported Folder unchanged as ‘Sales’.

■ Do not import the matching objectWill not import elements that match your existing elements.For example, if you are importing a matching Folder named ‘Sales’, selecting this option would not import the matching Folder ‘Sales’ leaving you with your exist-ing Folder unchanged as ‘Sales’

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■ Refresh the objectRefreshes any matching elements.For example, if you are importing a matching Folder named ‘Sales’, selecting this option would update your existing Folder ‘Sales’ leaving you with one Folder named ‘Sales’.

2. Specify whether to preserve display related properties (only available if the Refresh the object radio button is selected)

■ Preserve display related propertiesThe following item properties will not be refreshed if you select this check box:- Default position- Heading- Format mask- Alignment- Word wrap- Display Case- Replace NULL with- Default Position

3. Specify how you would like objects to be matched:

■ By IdentifierMatch objects using element Identifiers. To ensure that Conceptually Identical Objects are matched correctly, use this option instead of the Display Name option.

■ By Display NameMatch objects using the element Display Name.This option is included here for backwards compatibility - We recommend match-ing By Identifier.

4. Specify whether the current user should take ownership of the imported workbooks

■ Always take ownership of imported workbooksIf this radio button is set then any imported workbooks will become owned by the current user.

■ Only take ownership if original owner cannot be foundIf this radio button is set then any imported workbooks will have their owner changed to the current user only if the original owner cannot be found in the cur-rent database.

5. To proceed to the next page of the Load Wizard, click Next.

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7.5.3.5 Import Wizard: Step 3Import Wizard: Step 3 enables you to start the import and monitor its status as each EUL element is processed.

1. Choose Start to start the import.

The status bar at the top of the wizard shows the percentage of the import that has com-pleted. The Log window displays status messages about the import process.

■ These messages provide information about imported elements.

■ These messages are warnings about potential problems - use the Cancel option to abort the import if required.

Figure 7–13 Monitoring the import process

■ Save log...After a completed import, this option enables you to save the status information to a text file. Click ‘Save log... and choose a file name and location.

■ CancelThis option aborts the Import - you may want to use this option if there are warn-ing messages in the Log window.

2. Choose Finish.

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If you perform a complete Import, your Discoverer Data window is updated to reflect the elements imported, according to the matching options that you have chosen

7.6 Copying Business Areas Between EULsYou may need to copy a business area from one EUL to another, for example, from a test system to a production system. The following steps show you how to do this:

1. Open the business area(s) you want to move.

2. On the Data page of the work area, select the business area(s) you want to move.

3. Choose File | Export.See Section 7.4, “Exporting a Business Area to a File” for more information.

4. Choose File | Connect.

5. Connect to the EUL that you want to move the business area into.

6. Choose File | Import.See Section 7.5, “Importing EUL elements from a file” for more information.

7.7 Editing Business Area PropertiesThe following steps show you how to edit a business area’s properties:

1. Open the Business Area Properties dialog box (see Figure 7–14).

There are four ways of doing this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the relevant business area icon on the Data page.

NOTE: During the import of an EEX file where Discoverer cannot find joined folders a warning message is displayed in the Import Log window (see Appendix D.9.21, “Exporting EUL elements to an EEX File” for information on exporting EULs)

IMPORTANT: The Export option only exports the definitions for the busi-ness area. It does not export the database, EUL tables, workbooks, or data-base objects referenced by the business area definitions.

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■ Popup MenuRight-click the relevant business area icon on the Data page and choose Proper-ties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the relevant business area on the Data page and click the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the relevant business area icon on the Data page and choose Edit | Proper-ties.

Figure 7–14 Business Area Properties with General Tab Selected

2. Set the business area properties as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

7.8 Deleting a Business AreaThis section shows you how to delete a business area:

1. Open the Confirm Business Area Delete dialog box (see Figure 7–15).There are two ways of doing this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click the relevant business area icon on the Data page and choose Delete Business Area on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the relevant business area icon on the Data page and choose Edit | Delete.

Figure 7–15 Confirm Business Area Delete Prompt

2. Specify the scope of deletion that you require:

■ Delete this Business AreaThis option removes the Business Area itself, but does not delete the contents of the Business Area. The folders that are in the Business Area remain in the EUL.

Folders that exist in the EUL but do not belong to a Business Area are known as Orphan Folders.

■ Delete this Business Area and its FoldersThis option removes the business area and all of the folders contained in that busi-ness area. It does not remove folders that are part of any other business area. This is the default option and is usually recommended.

3. Click Impact (optional).This displays the Impact dialog box which shows the other objects that may be effected by deleting this business area.

4. Click Yes or No.

■ Click Yes to delete the selected business area based on the choices you have made.

■ Click No to close the Confirm Business Area Delete dialog box without deleting the business area.

7.9 Synchronizing the Business Area with the DatabaseWhenever the database schema is changed you need to use the refresh command (File | Refresh menu option) to synchronize the business area with the source dictionary.

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Typical database modifications might include:

■ Adding tables

■ Adding Columns

■ Adding Joins

■ Changing a table’s ownership

Follow these steps to synchronize the business area with the database:

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the Business Area that you want to refresh.

2. Choose File | Refresh.This opens the Refresh Wizard.

3. Select the source to refresh the Business Area from:

The Refresh Wizard offers the same two choices as the initial Load Wizard.

■ On-line dictionary

■ Gateway

4. If you are refreshing from an On-line Dictionary, click Finish.

5. If you are refreshing from an EUL Gateway, click Next and see Section 7.9.1, “Refresh from Gateway”.

Discoverer Administration Edition automatically refreshes the business area. The refresh process identifies the objects that have changed and how they have changed since the last refresh. A dialog box opens citing the differences and what would be the effect of refreshing each object. You can use this dialog to selectively refresh individual objects, as necessary.

7.9.1 Refresh from GatewayIf you choose a gateway in Refresh Wizard: Step 1, a version of Refresh Wizard: Step 2 opens. Use this page of the wizard enables you to define the objects that will be refreshed.

1. Verify the Database link.

2. Select the schemas you want to refresh from:

This list box displays the list of schemas whose objects can be refreshed from the data-base link named in the text box. Tick the appropriate check boxes.

3. Click Finish.

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7.10 Data migration issues (Analytic Functions)When you migrate EUL data using Discoverer’s import and export facilities, you need to be aware of the following restrictions that relate to Analytic Functions (see Oracle Discoverer 4i Plus User’s Guide for details about Analytic Functions):

■ If a custom folder containing an Analytic Function is imported into a pre-Oracle 8.1.6 database EUL, the Custom Folder SQL is imported and stored in the EUL, but the items are not created.

■ Items or filters containing Analytic Functions will not be imported into a pre-Oracle 8.1.6 database. These exceptions are reported in the Import Log. Where complex fold-ers contain unsupported Analytic Functions, the SQL is re-generated without the Ana-lytic Functions.

■ If a database is downgraded from an Oracle 8.1.6 database to a pre-Oracle 8.1.6 data-base, you will be able to see Analytic Functions greyed out, but not edit them, (except to delete them).

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Access Privileges and Security

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 8.1 Introduction

■ 8.2 Granting Access Permission for Business Areas

■ 8.3 Granting Task Privileges

■ 8.4 Specifying Query Retrieval Limits

■ 8.5 Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits

8.1 IntroductionOne of your most important tasks, as a Discoverer Administrator, is defining the access per-missions and task privileges allowed for each user or role.

■ Access permissions determine who can see and use the data in business areas.

■ Task privileges determine the tasks each user or role is allowed to perform.

When you grant access permissions or task privileges to a role, rather than to an individual user, you automatically give the same permission to all users who are associated with that role.

The access permissions and task privileges that you grant in Discoverer Administration Edi-tion apply only to business areas. Data access rights to the application database tables are controlled by the database administrator.

Regardless of the access permissions and task privileges that you set in Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition, users can still only see folders in Discoverer Plus if they have:

■ ORACLE SELECT access to all the underlying tables used in the folder

■ EXECUTE access to any PL/SQL functions used in the folder.

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You can give a user Administration privileges on one or more business areas. This allows him or her to use Discoverer Administration Edition to edit information in the business area (create folders, calculations, conditions, hierarchies, and summaries etc.). Users with the Administration privilege can also grant that privilege on their business areas to other users, so that administration can be devolved as required. A business area can be administered by multiple users, although control is easier to maintain with just one administrator for each business area.

If you have followed Chapter 4, “Tutorial”, you are already familiar with the procedures for granting access permissions.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 8.2 Granting Access Permission for Business Areas

■ 8.3 Granting Task Privileges

■ 8.4 Specifying Query Retrieval Limits

■ 8.5 Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits

8.2 Granting Access Permission for Business AreasIf you are running Discoverer Administration Edition as an Oracle Applications user see Section 17.8, “Granting Access Permission for Business Areas” for details.

This section describes how to grant (or deny) access permission for business areas to spe-cific users or roles.

The Security dialog box enables you to set access permission for business areas. To open the Security dialog box, choose Tools | Security (or click the Security icon on the toolbar).

The Security dialog box has two pages:

■ The Business Area -> User page shows which users have access to a specific business area.

■ The User -> Business Area page shows which business areas a specific user can access.

The two pages provide two ways of looking at the same information. The page you choose depends on the specific task you want to perform.

Before Discoverer Plus displays folders in a business area, Discoverer checks if the user has database access to the tables referenced in the folders. If the user does not have the neces-sary permissions, Discoverer does not display the folders. You can override this check by changing a registry setting. For more information, see ObjectsAlwaysAccessible in Chapter E.2, “Registry Settings”.

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8.2.1 Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business AreaThis section describes how to specify which users or roles can access a specific business area.

1. Open the Security dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Security toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Security.

2. Click the Business Area->User tab (see Figure 8–1).

Figure 8–1 Business Area->User Tab

3. Select the business area, to which, you want to grant (or deny) access permission for, from the Business area drop-down list.

4. If you want the lists to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

5. If you want the lists to include roles, tick Roles (otherwise, clear it).

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6. To grant a user or role access to this business area, move it to the Selected users/roles list.

There are three ways of moving a user or role from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more user/role from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more user/role in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click a user/role to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one user/role at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the users/roles.

The Available User/Role list includes a role called Public. Select this role to view or edit the privileges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or roles whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

7. For each new user or role added to the Selected users/roles list, specify whether they have Administration access to the business area. To do this:

a. Click on the user or role in the Selected users/roles list.

b. Tick or clear Allow Administration as required.

The actual administration tasks a user can perform also depends on their Administra-tion privileges. See Section 8.3, “Granting Task Privileges,” for more information.

8. To deny a user or role access to this Business Area, move it to the Available users/roles list.

9. When you have finished, click Apply or OK.

NOTE: If you are running Discoverer Administration Edition in Applica-tions Mode, this dialog box will show Applications Responsibilities instead of Roles. For more information about running Discoverer in Appli-cations Mode, see Chapter 17, “Using Discoverer with Oracle Applica-tions”.

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8.2.2 Specifying the Business Areas a User / Role can AccessThis section describes how to specify which business areas a specific user or role can access.

1. Open the Security dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Security toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Security.

2. Click the User->Business Area tab (see Figure 8–2).

Figure 8–2 Users-> Business Area

3. If you want the drop-down list to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the drop-down list to include roles, tick Roles (otherwise, clear it).

5. Select the user or role whose access permissions you want to change.

The drop-down list for user/role includes a role called Public. Select this role to view or edit the privileges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or roles whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

6. To allow the selected user or role to access a business area, move it to the Selected business areas list.

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There are three ways of moving a user or role from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more business area from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more business area in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click a business area to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one business area at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the users/roles.

7. For each new business area added to the Selected business areas list, specify whether the selected user or role has Administration access. To do this:

1. Click on the business area in the Selected business area list.

2. Tick or clear Allow Administration as required.

The actual administration tasks a user can perform also depends on their Administra-tion privileges. See Section 8.3, “Granting Task Privileges,” for more information.

8. To deny the selected user or role access to a Business Area, move it to the Available users/roles list.

9. When you have finished, click Apply or OK.

8.3 Granting Task PrivilegesThis section describes how to grant (or deny) the privilege to perform certain tasks in Dis-coverer Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus.

If you are running Discoverer Administration Edition as an Oracle Applications user see Section 17.9, “Granting Task Privileges” for details.

NOTE: You may also want to ensure the user PUBLIC does not have access to this Business Area.

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8.3.1 Available Tasks The following tasks (granted or denied to Users or Roles via the Privileges dialog) will take effect on re-connection to the Administration Edition or Discoverer Plus. More detailed descriptions are displayed for each task in the Privileges dialog.

8.3.1.1 Administration Edition Tasks■ Format Business Area

■ Create/Edit Business Area

■ Create Summaries

■ Set Privilege

■ Manage Scheduled Workbooks

8.3.1.2 Discoverer Plus Tasks■ Create/Edit Query

■ Collect Query Statistics

■ Item Drill

■ Drill Out

■ Grant Workbook

■ Schedule Workbooks

■ Save Workbooks to database

8.3.2 The Privileges dialogThe Privileges dialog enables you to set the task privileges. To open the Privileges dialog box, choose Tools | Privileges (or click the Privileges icon on the toolbar).

The Privileges dialog box has four pages, the first two help you specify task privileges:

■ The Privileges page enables you to specify the tasks a specific user is allowed to per-form.

■ The User/Role page enables you to specify the users that can perform a specific task.

These two pages provide two ways of looking at the same information. The page you choose depends on the specific task you want to perform.

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8.3.3 Specifying the Tasks a User / Role can PerformThis section describes how to specify the tasks a specific user or role can perform.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

2. Click the Privileges tab (see Figure 8–3).

Figure 8–3 Granting Privileges

3. If you want the drop-down list to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the drop-down list to include roles, tick Roles (otherwise, clear it).

5. Select the user or role whose task privileges you want to change (from the drop-down list).

6. Grant or deny specific task privileges as required. These privileges only apply to the selected user or role.

■ To grant a specific privilege, tick the relevant check box in the Privilege list.

■ To deny a specific privilege, clear the relevant check box in the Privilege list.

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To grant a minor privilege (shown indented in the list) you must first grant the corre-sponding major privilege (the first, non-indented privilege above the minor privilege). Revoking a major privilege automatically revokes all the subordinate, minor privileges (the minor privilege check boxes may remain checked).

As you move the mouse over a privilege in the Privilege list, a brief description of the privilege appears on the right-hand side of the dialog box.

The drop-down list for user/role includes a role called Public. Select this role to view or edit the privileges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or roles whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

7. Choose a system profile to apply to the user or role (from the Select a system profile drop-down list.

8. Click Apply or OK.

For further information on this topic Click Help

8.3.4 Specifying the Users / Roles who can Perform a Specific TaskThis section describes how to specify the users or roles that can perform a specific task.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

NOTE: If you wish to grant Administration privileges to a user or role, you must also grant that user Administration access to the business area. For more information, see Section 8.2.1, “Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business Area.”

NOTE: System profiles are created by the database administrator to con-trol access to database resources. This field is only available if you are using an Oracle database. To assign profiles within Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition you need access to the following database system views:

■ DBA_PROFILES

■ DBA_USERS

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■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

2. Click the User/Role tab (see Figure 8–4).

Figure 8–4 Maintaining Assigned Privileges

3. If you want the list to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the list to include roles, tick Roles (otherwise, clear it).

The list is sorted alphabetically, with users at the top and roles next.

5. Select the task privilege that you want to grant (or deny) to a set of users or roles (from the drop-down list).

When you select a privilege from the drop-down list, a brief description of the privilege appears on the right-hand side of the dialog box.

6. Grant or deny the task privilege as required.

■ To grant a user or role the task privilege, tick the relevant check box in the list.

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■ To deny a user or role the task privilege, clear the relevant check box in the list.

7. Click Apply or OK.

For further information on this topic Click Help

8.4 Specifying Query Retrieval LimitsThis section describes how to specify query retrieval limits for a user or role.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

2. Click the Query Governor tab (see Figure 8–5).

NOTE: If you wish to grant (or deny) Administration privileges to a user or role, you must also grant (or deny) that user Administration access to the business area. For more information, see Section 8.2.1, “Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business Area.”

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Figure 8–5 Setting Retrieval Limits

3. If you want the drop-down list to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the drop-down list to include roles, tick Roles (otherwise, clear it).

The Roles check box is only available if you are using an Oracle database.

5. If you want the user or role to be warned if the estimated time to perform their is greater than a certain limit, tick Warn if predicted time exceeds (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the time limit on the right.

This feature is unavailable when using ODBC.

6. If you want to prevent the user or role from running queries for longer than a certain limit, tick Prevent queries longer than (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the time limit on the right. Any queries performed by this user or role that exceed the time limit will by automatically cancelled.

7. If you want to limit the number of rows a query, performed by this user, can retrieve, tick Limit retrieved data to (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the row limit on the right.

For detailed information about query prediction, see Appendix C, “Query Prediction”.

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8.5 Specifying Scheduled Workbook LimitsThis section describes how to specify scheduled workbook limits for a user or role. For more information about scheduled workbooks, see Chapter 9, “Scheduled Workbooks”.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

2. Click the Scheduled Workbooks tab (see Figure 8–6).

Figure 8–6 Scheduled Workbooks Page

3. Select the user who you want to specify scheduling limits for (from the drop-down list).

4. Select the user who you want to own the tables created to contain this user’s scheduled workbook results.

You may decide to have a single repository user for all users’ scheduled workbook results, or different ones for different users. The advantage of having a single repository is that individual users do not need additional privileges to run scheduled workbooks. The disadvantage is that space quota is shared and so could be exhausted by a single

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user. Having multiple repository users provides a greater degree of control. For more information, see Section 2.1.2, “Specifying Result Set Storage.”

5. Decide under what circumstances you want to users to schedule workbooks.

Under Require users to schedule workbooks, select:

■ Always to only allow the user to run queries using scheduled workbooks.

■ Never to allow the user to run queries using scheduled workbooks. The user is still allowed to run queries using unscheduled workbooks.

■ If predicted time exceeds to require the user to run their query using a scheduled workbook if the predicted query retrieval time exceeds a certain limit. If you choose this option, specify the time limit on the right.

6. If you want to limit the number of scheduled workbooks the user can maintain at one time, tick Maximum number of scheduled workbooks (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the limit on the right.

This option enables you to control the use of the DBMS_JOB queue and can pre-vent users from submitting so many scheduled workbooks that no other jobs gets run.

7. If you want to limit the lifetime of results from this users scheduled workbooks, tick Expire results after (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the time limit on the right.

Workbooks due for deletion in this way, are deleted at the end of the Discoverer Plus session.

8. If you want to specify the number of rows committed to the result table when the sched-uled workbook is run, tick Commit size (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the number of rows on the right.

On large result sets, some server performance gain can be achieved by setting Commit size higher than the default. Little gain will be achieved by setting Commit size higher than 1000.

9. If you want to specify the times, between which, this user may schedule workbooks, tick Limit scheduling between (otherwise, clear it).

If you tick this check box, you can then specify the time limits (in military time) on the right.

10. Click Apply or OK.

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Scheduled Workbooks

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 9.1 Introduction

■ 9.2 What Happens When a Workbook is Scheduled?

■ 9.3 Enabling Scheduled Workbooks for a User or Role

■ 9.4 Viewing Information About a Scheduled Workbook

■ 9.5 Viewing an Error Message incurred by a Scheduled Workbook

■ 9.6 Editing a Scheduled Workbook

■ 9.7 Deleting a Scheduled Workbook’s Result Set from the Database

■ 9.8 Removing a Scheduled Workbook from the Process Queue

9.1 IntroductionWorkbook scheduling is useful in the following situations:

■ The user has created a report that could take a long time to run - they can submit the report to run overnight and view the result in the morning.

■ The user wants to create a report that needs to be updated at regular intervals.

To schedule a workbook, there are several prerequisites that must be met. For more informa-tion, see Section 9.3, “Enabling Scheduled Workbooks for a User or Role.”

When a Workbook is scheduled, the user selects a particular workbook, sheet, or set of sheets submitted as a report, and requests that the report be processed at a particular date, time, and frequency. The output (or result set) is stored in the database until such time as the user requires it (or until it expires). The user can then load it into the workbook associated with the processing.

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Discoverer supports workbook processing from both the client and server sides.

■ Server-side workbook processing enables the user to schedule a workbook, which is then sent to the server and processed there. This enables the user to switch off the client machine and view the results of the scheduled workbook request at any time.

■ Client-side workbook processing enables the user to run a workbook or sheet in the background and print or export results directly. To perform client-side workbook pro-cessing, you use the command line interface.

9.2 What Happens When a Workbook is Scheduled?When a scheduled workbook is requested, the following actions occur:

1. Discoverer Plus ensures that scheduling the workbook would not result in the user exceeding their limit on the number of scheduled workbooks.

This limit is set by the Discoverer Administrator and restricts the number of scheduled workbooks that can be maintained at any one time. For more information, see Section 8.5, “Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits.”

This limit is separate from the job_queue_processes value in the Oracle initialization file, which controls the maximum number of jobs that can be run at any one time on the server.

If the user exceeds their limit Discoverer Plus displays a message and the workbook is not scheduled.

2. The scheduled workbook request is stored in the DBMS_JOBS table within the Oracle kernel.

3. The Job Queue process wakes up and submits the next job in the queue.

The length of time that the Job Queue process sleeps for is specified using the job_queue_interval value in the Oracle initialization file. For more information, see Sec-tion 2.1.3, “Setting the Start Time for Workbook Processing.”

The scheduled workbook is processed entirely on the server.

4. A result set table is created in the database and the table is populated with the result set of the scheduled workbook.

NOTE: Scheduled workbooks are not exported when you export a busi-ness area.

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The result set is stored under the schema specified by the Discoverer Administrator. For more information, see Section 8.5, “Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits.”

5. When the process is complete, the user views the result set.

6. The user can then delete the result set (if it is no longer required) at which point the table is dropped.

The Discoverer Administrator can also specify how long the results of a user’s sched-uled workbook are allowed to exist in the database before they are automatically deleted. For more information, see Section 8.5, “Specifying Scheduled Workbook Lim-its.”

9.3 Enabling Scheduled Workbooks for a User or RoleThis section describes how to enable a user to schedule workbooks.

In order for a user to be able to schedule a workbook, the following prerequisites must be met:

1. Ensure that the Scheduled Workbooks feature is enabled.

For more information, see Section 2.1, “Scheduled Workbooks.”

2. Grant the Schedule Workbooks privilege to the user.

For more information, see Section 8.5, “Specifying Scheduled Workbook Limits.”

3. The schema, that is to own the scheduled workbook’s result set, must be granted the fol-lowing database privileges:

■ Create Procedure

■ Create Table

■ Create View

For more information, see Section 2.1.2, “Specifying Result Set Storage.”

NOTE: If the elements of the EUL, used by a scheduled workbook, are changed between the time when the workbook is scheduled and the time when the display of the result set, the scheduled workbook’s status is set to “EUL has changed”.

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9.4 Viewing Information About a Scheduled WorkbookThis section describes how to view information about a scheduled workbook. Such informa-tion includes:

■ The user ID of the person who scheduled the workbook.

■ The scheduled workbook’s status.

■ The date and time of when the workbook was last run.

■ The date and time of when the workbook is next due to run.

■ The length of time the workbook took to run.

■ A description of the workbook.

To view this information:

1. Choose Tools | Manage Scheduled Workbooks.

This opens the Manage Scheduled Workbooks dialog box (see Figure 9–1).

Figure 9–1 Manage Scheduled Workbooks

2. Select the user or role, whose scheduled workbooks you want to display in the list (using the Show workbooks for drop-down list).

If you want to show all scheduled workbooks, select All Users from the drop-down list.

3. To re-sort the list, click the relevant column heading.

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4. If you want to view the description for a specific scheduled workbook, select the rele-vant scheduled workbook in the list.

If the scheduled workbook has a description, it will appear in the Description field.

5. To refresh the information on this dialog box, click Refresh.

6. When you have finished, click Close.

For more information about this dialog box (including the meanings of each run status) click Help.

9.5 Viewing an Error Message incurred by a Scheduled Workbook

This section describes how to view the error message that describes why a scheduled work-book failed to run.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Scheduled Workbooks.

This opens the Manage Scheduled Workbooks dialog box (see Figure 9–1).

2. Select the user or role, whose scheduled workbooks you want to display in the list (using the Show workbooks for drop-down list).

If you want to show all scheduled workbooks, select All Users from the drop-down list.

3. (Optional) Click the Status column heading.

This re-sorts the list by status, which makes it easier to find all the scheduled work-books that have their status set to Error while running query.

4. Select the scheduled workbook whose error message you want to view.

5. Click View Error….

This button is only available for scheduled workbooks with their status set to Error while running query.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays the error message that describes why the sched-uled workbook failed to run.

9.6 Editing a Scheduled WorkbookThis section describes how to edit a scheduled workbook.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Scheduled Workbooks.

This opens the Manage Scheduled Workbooks dialog box (see Figure 9–1).

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2. Select the user or role, who owns the scheduled workbook you want to edit (using the Show workbooks for drop-down list).

If you want to show all scheduled workbooks, select All Users from the drop-down list.

3. Select the scheduled workbook that you want to edit.

4. Click Edit….

This opens the Schedule Workbook wizard. This wizard works in exactly the same way as the Discoverer Plus wizard of the same name. For more information, see your User’s Guide.

9.7 Deleting a Scheduled Workbook’s Result Set from the Database

This section describes how to delete a scheduled workbook’s result set from the database.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Scheduled Workbooks.

This opens the Manage Scheduled Workbooks dialog box (see Figure 9–1).

2. Select the user or role, who owns the scheduled workbook you want to delete (using the Show workbooks for drop-down list).

If you want to show all scheduled workbooks, select All Users from the drop-down list.

3. Select the scheduled workbook that you want to delete.

4. Click Delete

This marks the selected workbook’s result set for deletion. The workbook’s status is changed to Report deleted by administrator. The report is actually deleted when the workbook’s owner next exits Discoverer Plus.

9.8 Removing a Scheduled Workbook from the Process Queue

This section describes how to prevent a scheduled workbook from running by removing it from the process queue.

1. Choose Tools | Manage Scheduled Workbooks.

This opens the Manage Scheduled Workbooks dialog box (see Figure 9–1).

2. Select the user or role, who owns the scheduled workbook you want to remove (using the Show workbooks for drop-down list).

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If you want to show all scheduled workbooks, select All Users from the drop-down list.

3. Select the scheduled workbook that you want to remove.

4. Click Unschedule….

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Items and Item Classes

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 10.1 Introduction

■ 10.2 Editing Item Properties

■ 10.4 Creating an Item Class

■ 10.5 Editing an Item Class

■ 10.6 Adding Items to an Item Class

■ 10.7 Viewing the Items that use an Item Class

■ 10.8 Removing Items from an Item Class

■ 10.9 Viewing a List of Values

■ 10.10 Deleting Items & Item Classes

10.1 IntroductionThis section describes the concepts of Items and Item Classes.

10.1.1 ItemsAn Item, is a representation of a database table’s column, in the EUL. By presenting col-umns as Items, Discoverer enables the administrator to make formatting changes, name changes and other similar changes enabling the user to clearly read the data. Items are stored in folders and can be created, deleted, and moved among different folders.

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10.1.2 Item ClassesAn item class is a group of items that share similar attributes. For example, an item called Product may contain a description of products and be part of the Product folder. A similar item, Product, may also be required in the Sales Revenue folder. For both items to share common attributes, such as a list of values, you create one item class which defines the val-ues, and apply it to both items. Thus, you only have to define the attributes once. Without the item class, it would be necessary to define the attributes individually for each folder.

The administrator creates an item class to enable the following features:

■ lists of values

■ alternative sorts

■ drill-to-detail links (hyperdrills)

These features help users build queries more quickly and easily. An item class lets the administrator define properties for the same item once, and then assign the item class to other items that share similar properties.

There is no specific link between the three features listed above, but they are all imple-mented using the item class mechanism. The item class can be created to support these fea-tures individually, or in combination. The only exception is that an alternative sort must relate to a list of values.

10.1.2.1 Lists of ValuesA list of values is the item’s set of unique values. The values the item class references corre-spond to those found in a database column. If the database contained the following items and values:

Table 10–1 Database Items and Values

Item Value

Widgets 4

Bolts 28

Fan Belts 34

Gaskets 90

Brackets 90

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The item class would produce a list of five distinct values: widgets, bolts, fan belts, gaskets, brackets.

Lists of values are used by end users to refer to values in the database and to apply condi-tions and parameter values.

Lists of values are often generated automatically when the business area is first created (in Load Wizard: Step 4). The Item Class Wizard provides a way to extend a list of values to other items. For information on creating a list of values, see Section 10.4, “Creating an Item Class.”

10.1.2.2 Alternative SortsItems are normally sorted in ascending or descending order, according to ASCII sort values. However, end-users may require some data elements to be sorted in an alternative order. For example, a series of sales regions would be sorted alphabetically by default, such as East, North, South, and West. But the end user may need them sorted in this order: North, South, East, and West.

To create an alternative sort order, you must link together two items. One item defines the sort order and the other defines the list of values to be sorted. Figure 10–2 shows an alterna-tive sort order: North=1, South=2, East=3 and West=4.

10.1.2.2.1 Alternative methods

An alternative method is to use SQL to create a new table that has two columns defined - the item name and the sort value. You would then need to populate the columns with values. Table 10–2 shows an example.

You can also use SQL*Plus to create a new table defining the alternative sort order. Then, using the Administration Edition, associate a list of values with the alternative sort column from either the alternative sort table or the existing database table—depending on the

Table 10–2 Alternate Sort Table

Region Sort Value

North 1

South 2

East 3

West 4

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method you use to create the alternative sort order. The values (Region in Figure 10–2) are then sorted according to the alternative sort column - (Sort Value).

Before creating the alternative sort, keep these rules in mind.

■ The item to be assigned the alternative sort order must be contained within the same folder as the item providing the list of values for the item class.

■ An item class containing an alternate sort sequence must also contain a list of values.

For information about creating an Alternative Sort Item Class, see Section 10.4, “Creating an Item Class.”

10.1.2.3 Drill to DetailDrill to detail, or hyperdrills, enable users to drill to detail information using the relation-ships between data, rather than through hierarchical levels. A related item might be an item that was selected from the current source folder but is not currently in the query and not part of an existing item or date hierarchy structure. A drill-to-detail link allows the user to jump directly to related items, without having to drill through hierarchical levels. Although related items can be grouped in a hierarchy, if the Items are in different Folders, there must be Joins between them for the group to be valid.

There may be existing Joins between Folders in a drill-to-detail item class, but those Joins are not necessary for the hyperdrill to work. What is necessary is that the items are the same data type. For information about creating a hyperdrill, see Section 10.4, “Creating an Item Class.”

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10.2 Editing Item PropertiesItem properties are accessible through Item Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to enhance the user’s view of the data by editing item properties. Figure 10–1 shows an example Item Properties dialog box.

Figure 10–1 Item Properties Dialog Box with the General Tab Selected

10.2.1 Editing the Properties of a Single ItemThis section describes how to edit an item’s properties.

1. Open the item’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the item on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the item on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the item on the Data page and click the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the item on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

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2. Make your changes as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

10.2.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple ItemsThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one item at a time:

1. Select all of the items whose properties you want to edit.(Ctrl-clicking enables you to select more than one Item.)

2. Display the Item Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Items on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected Items are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected Items, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected Items.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

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10.3 Item Content TypesIn the Item Properties dialog, the Content Type setting defines the Item’s data type. The Content Type field has two possible settings, (see also Chapter 4.10.4, “Modifying an Item’s Content Type”):

■ None - the Item’s data is stored in the EUL database, and is displayed by Discoverer.

■ <File format> - the Item’s data is not stored in the EUL database, but in an external location or format. For example, HTML, text, Microsoft Excel spreadsheet, CLOB, NCLOB, and BFILE format. The data is not displayed directly by Discoverer, but by an external application. For example, the Content Type DOC is displayed by Microsoft Word; the Content Type HTML is displayed by your current browser, (see Table 10–3 below).

NOTE: For more information about Oracle Content Types, refer to the section Datatypes in the Oracle 8i SQL Reference, Release 2 (8.1.6), Part Number A76989-01.

Table 10–3 Common Discoverer Content Types

Content Type Setting Description

.AVI Display this Item in a Media Player

DOC Display this Item in MS Word

HTML Display this Item in a Web Browser

SCM Display this Item in Lotus Screencam

XLS Display this Item in a MS Excel

BFILE Contains a locator to a large binary file stored outside the database. Enables byte stream I/O access to external LOBs residing on the data-base server. Maximum size is 4 gigabytes.

BLOB A binary large object. Maximum size is 4 gigabytes.

CLOB A character large object containing single-byte characters. Both fixed-width and variable-width character sets are supported, both using the CHAR database character set. Maximum size is 4 gigabytes.

NCLOB A character large object containing multibyte characters. Both fixed-width and variable-width character sets are supported, both using the NCHAR database character set. Maximum size is 4 gigabytes. Stores national character set data.

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10.4 Creating an Item ClassAn item class can define alternative sorts, provide hyperdrills, and / or reference a list of val-ues in the database.

This section describes how to create an Item Class using the Item Class Wizard. It consists of the following topics:

■ 10.4.1 Starting the Item Class Wizard

■ 10.4.2 Choose the Item Class Attributes

■ 10.4.3 Select the Item that Generates the List of Values

■ 10.4.4 Select the Item that Contains the Alternative Sort Sequence

■ 10.4.5 Select the Items that Use this Item Class

You may not need to follow every step. The choices you make in the wizard determine the exact path you need to take.

10.4.1 Starting the Item Class Wizard1. Click the Item Classes tab in the work area.

2. Open the Item Class Wizard (see Figure 10–2).

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click anywhere on the Item Classes page and choose New Item Class… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Item Class tool bar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Insert | Item Class….

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Figure 10–2 The Item Class Wizard

10.4.2 Choose the Item Class AttributesThis page of the wizard enables you to specify the attributes for your new Item Class.

For more information about these attributes, see Section 10.1.2, “Item Classes.”.

1. Decide which attributes are needed by your new Item Class.

Note, selecting Alternative sort automatically selects List of values.

2. Click Next.

This opens the next page of the Item Class Wizard.

3. The next step depends on your selections on the first page of the wizard:

■ If you ticked either List of values or Alternative sort, go to Section 10.4.3, “Select the Item that Generates the List of Values.”

■ If you didn’t tick either of these check boxes, go to Section 10.4.5, “Select the Items that Use this Item Class.”

10.4.3 Select the Item that Generates the List of ValuesThis page of the wizard (see Figure 10–3) enables you to select the item that contains the list of values you want for your new Item Class.

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Figure 10–3 Selecting the Item that Generates the List of Values

1. Select the Business Area, that contains the item that you want to use to generate the list of values.

2. Select the item that you want to use to generate the list of values.

Discoverer uses a SELECT DISTINCT query to retrieve a List of Values. If you select an item in a folder with a large number of rows compared to the number of distinct val-ues, then the query can be inefficient. It is much better to select an item from a small “dimension” table attached to the FACT table rather than using the FACT table itself. If such a table does not exist, it might be worth creating the table to speed up the List of Values process.

Create Custom Folder for list for valuesAlternatively if you have a small number of values, use a custom folder to create a local List of Values within the End User Layer. For example, if you want a list of values for North, South, East, and West, create a custom folder called Region_lov and type in the following SQL statements:

SELECT ‘NORTH’ REGION FROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT ‘SOUTH’ REGION FROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT ‘EAST’ REGION FROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT ‘WEST’ REGION FROM sys.dual

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This query creates one item called Region, that can now be used as a List of Values to optimize performance.

For more information about custom folders, see Section 6.5, “Creating Custom Fold-ers.”

3. Click Next.

This opens the next page of the Item Class Wizard.

4. The next step depends on your selections on the first page of the wizard:

■ If you ticked Alternative sort, go to Section 10.4.4, “Select the Item that Contains the Alternative Sort Sequence.”

■ Otherwise go to Section 10.4.5, “Select the Items that Use this Item Class.”

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10.4.4 Select the Item that Contains the Alternative Sort SequenceThis page of the wizard (see Figure 10–4), enables you to select the item that contains the alternative sort sequence for your new Item Class.

Modify Custom Folder to add an Alternative SortAn alternative method of creating an alternative sort for a list of values (if you have a small number of values to sort) is to use a custom folder.

You can modify the Region_lov custom folder (described in previous section) to include an Alternative Sort sequence.

For example, if you want the list of values sorted in the following order: West, North, South, East you need to edit the SQL in the Region_lov custom folder so that it appears as follows:

SELECT ‘NORTH’ REGION,4 ALTERNATIVE_SORTFROM sys.dual,UNIONSELECT ‘SOUTH’ REGION,2 ALTERNATIVE_SORTFROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT ‘EAST’ REGION,3 ALTERNATIVE_SORTFROM sys.dualUNIONSELECT ‘WEST’ REGION,1 ALTERNATIVE_SORTFROM sys.dual

This query creates a single item called Region that can be used as a List of Values and an alternative sort sequence.

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Figure 10–4 Selecting the Alternative Sort Sequence

1. Select the item that contains the alternative sort sequence.

This item must:

■ already exist in the database and

■ be in the same folder as the item that generates the list of values.

When you select an item, the item’s description is displayed at the bottom of the wizard.

2. Click Next.

This opens the next page of the Item Class Wizard.

3. Go to Section 10.4.5, “Select the Items that Use this Item Class.”.

10.4.5 Select the Items that Use this Item ClassThis page of the wizard (see Figure 10–5) enables you to select the items that use your new item class.

If you selected Drill to detail on the first page of the Item Class wizard, end users will be able to “Drill to detail” between any of the items that you select on this page.

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Figure 10–5 Selecting the Items that Use this Item Class

1. Move the items that use this item class, from the Available items list to the Selected items list.

2. Click Next.

This opens the next page of the Item Class Wizard.

3. Go to Section 10.4.6, “Specify the Name and Description for the Item Class.”

10.4.6 Specify the Name and Description for the Item ClassThis page of the wizard (see Figure 10–6) enables you to specify a name and description for your new Item Class.

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Figure 10–6 Naming and Describing the Item Class

1. Specify a name for your new Item Class.

2. (Optional) Specify a description for your new Item Class.

3. Click Finish.

10.5 Editing an Item ClassThis section describes how to edit an existing Item Class.

1. Open the Edit Item Class dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit Item Class… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit | Edit….

The Edit Item Class dialog box consists of four pages. These pages resemble the pages in the Item Class Wizard and enable you to edit the settings you specified when you created the Item Class.

2. Click the List of Values tab to change the List of Values used in the selected Item Class (Figure 10–7).

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Figure 10–7 Edit List of Values Tab

■ Click the Alternative Sort tab to change the alternative sort sequence assigned to the List of Values for the selected Item Class (Figure 10–8).

Figure 10–8 Edit Alternative Sort

■ Click the Select Items tab to add or remove the items that use the selected Item Class (Figure 10–9).

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Figure 10–9 Edit Items that Use the Item Class

3. If you want to enable “Drill to detail” between the Items that belong to this Item Class, tick Use these items in drill to detail (otherwise, clear it).

■ Click the General tab to change the name and description of the selected Item Class (Figure 10–10).

Figure 10–10 Edit Item Class Name/Description

4. Click OK.

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10.6 Adding Items to an Item ClassThis section describes how to add an Item to an Item Class.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Drag & Drop

■ Edit Item Class dialog box

■ Item Properties dialog box

Using Drag & Drop1. Display a second work area (choose Window | New Window).

2. Select the Data page in one work area.

3. Select the Item classes page in the other work area.

4. Select the Item(s) that you want to add to an Item Class (on the Data page of the work area).

5. Drag the Items from the Data page to the Item Class (on the Item classes page of the work area).

6. Close one of the work area windows.

Using the Edit Item Class Dialog Box1. Display the Edit Item Class dialog box for the Item Class that you want to add items

to.

There are two ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit Item Class… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit | Edit….

2. Click the Select Items tab.

3. Move the items, that you want to add to this item class, from the Available items list to the Selected items list.

There are three ways of moving items from one list to the other:

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■ Drag & DropDrag one or more items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

The Available items drop-down list enables you to select items from any open business area.

4. Click OK.

For more information, see Section 10.5, “Editing an Item Class.”

Using the Item Properties Dialog Box1. Select the Item(s) that you want to add to an Item Class (on the Data page of the work

area).

2. Display the Item Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected folders on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

3. Specify the Item Class that you want the Item(s) to belong to using the Item class field.

4. Click OK.

For more information, see Section 10.2, “Editing Item Properties.”

10.7 Viewing the Items that use an Item ClassThis section describes how to view the Items that belong to a specific Item Class.

1. On the Item classes page, expand the Item Class that you are interested in.

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This reveals two objects under the Item Class.

■ List of values

■ Items using this item class (with drill to detail)

2. Expand the Items using this item class (with drill to detail) object.

This displays the a list of Items that belong to this Item Class.

10.8 Removing Items from an Item ClassThis section describes how to remove items from an Item Class.

There are two ways to do this:

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup Menu

■ Edit Item Class dialog box

■ Item Properties dialog box

Using a Popup Menu1. Click the Item class tab on the work area.

2. Expand the Item Class that you want to remove Items from.

3. Expand the Items using this item class (with drill to detail) object.

4. Select the Items that you want to remove from the Item Class.

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

5. Right-click one of the selected Items and choose Delete Item from Item Class on the popup menu.

Discoverer Administration Edition displays the Confirm Delete dialog box. This works in the same way as described in Section 10.10, “Deleting Items & Item Classes.”

Using the Edit Item Class Dialog Box1. Display the Edit Item Class dialog box for the Item Class that you want to remove

items from.

There are two ways of doing this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit Item Class… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick on the Item Class that you want to edit (on the Item Classes page) and choose Edit | Edit….

2. Click the Select Items tab.

3. Move the items, that you want to add to this item class, from the Selected items list to the Available items list.

There are three ways of moving items from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the items.

4. Click OK.

For more information, see Section 10.5, “Editing an Item Class.”

Using the Item Properties dialog box1. Select the Item(s) that you want to remove from an Item Class (on the Data page of the

work area).

2. Display the Item Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected folders on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties tool bar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

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3. Specify the None in the Item class field.

4. Click OK.

For more information, see Section 10.2, “Editing Item Properties.”

10.9 Viewing a List of ValuesThis section describes how to view the List of Values associated with an Item.

There are two places where you can view a List of Values:

■ Data page (shows a List of Values for specific items).

■ Item classes page (shows a List of Values for specific Item Classes)

10.9.1 Viewing the List of Values for a Specific Item1. Expand the Item whose List of Values you want to view.

You may be warned that retrieving the List of Values may take a long time. When you retrieve a List of Values, Discoverer submits a SELECT DISTINCT query to the database (which selects the distinct set of values for the item). If there is a large number of values in the database, retrieving the list can take some time. The End User Layer has a record of the length of time it takes to retrieve the values. If this length of time is greater than 15 seconds, Discoverer will display a warning. This limit can be changed in Discoverer Plus under Tools | Options | Query Governor.

10.9.2 Viewing the List of Values for an Item ClassTo view the List of Values associated with an Item Class:

1. On the Item classes page, expand the Item Class that you want to display a List of Val-ues for.

This reveals two objects under the Item Class.

■ List of values

■ Items using this item class (with drill to detail)

TIP: If the Item you want to display a List of Values for exists in more than one Folder, choose the Item in the Folder that has the least number of rows. This will return the List of Values in the shortest amount of time.

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2. Expand the List of values object.

You may be warned that retrieving the List of Values may take a long time.

This displays the List of Values for the Item Class (see Figure 10–11).

Figure 10–11 Item Classes Tab with List of Values

When you retrieve a List of Values, Discoverer submits a SELECT DISTINCT query to the database (which selects the distinct set of values for the item). If there is a large number of values in the database, retrieving the list can take some time. The End User Layer has a record of the length of time it takes to retrieve the values. If this length of time is greater than 15 seconds, Discoverer will display a warning.

10.10 Deleting Items & Item ClassesThis section describes how to delete Items and Item Classes.

1. Select the Item(s) or Item Class(es) that you want to delete.

■ Items are listed on the Data page of the work area.

■ Item Classes are listed on the Item classes page of the work area.

To select more than one item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Items or Item Classes.

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2. Delete the Item(s) or Item Class(es):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Item(s) or Item Class(es) and choose Delete Item or Delete Item Class on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 10–12). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

Figure 10–12 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Item(s) or Item Class(es), click Yes.

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Joins

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 11.1 Introduction

■ 11.2 Creating Joins

■ 11.3 Editing Join Properties

■ 11.4 Editing Joins

■ 11.5 Deleting Joins

■ 11.6 Fan Traps

11.1 IntroductionIn Discoverer, a Join relates two folders using one or more common items. This is similar to a Join in the database which relates two tables using common columns.

The Joins you create in Discoverer Administration Edition affect the combinations of items that can be selected during the following operations:

■ Creating a worksheet in Discoverer Plus.

■ Creating a Complex Folder in Discoverer Administration Edition.

If you select an Item, during either of these operations, you can then only select Items from Folders joined to the Folder containing the selected Item. If one or more Items from these Folders are selected then further joined Folders become available.

Joins are defined with a master and detail end. The master end is the folder that has one row, for which there are several detail rows. For example, the relationship of a master row in the Department folder to the many detail rows in the Employee folder.

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It is important to make sure you define the Join with the correct folders at the master and detail ends. If you set up this relationship incorrectly, it adversely affects what combinations of folders a user can combine in a single query, which in cases of queries with three or more folders can, in some circumstances, lead to misleading or incorrect results. It can also affect whether summary tables can be used to speed up queries.

Usually joins are one-to-many, where one row in the master folder is joined to multiple rows in the detail folder.

Occasionally there are one-to-one and many-to-many joins. Many-to-many joins are not sup-ported directly in Discoverer, or in any relational system, although they can always be worked to be transformed to multiple many-to-one joins.

Users of Discoverer Plus cannot set up their own join conditions. However, they can decide which join path to use if more than one join exists.

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11.2 Creating JoinsThis section describes how to create Joins. If you have already created a Join in the tutorial, you are familiar with the Join dialog boxes and have seen how they create Complex Folders from which an end user can access useful combinations of data.

Creating a Join starts with either selecting the Item that will be the Master Item, or the Folder it belongs to. If you choose Insert | Join before selecting an Item or Folder, a selec-tion dialog box opens for selecting the Item that will be the Master Item.

1. On the Data page of the work area, select the Item that you want to be the Master Item.

2. Choose Insert | Join.

If you did not select the Master Item in step 1, the first New Join dialog box opens (see Figure 11–1). Select the Folder that contains the Item that you want to be the Master Item and click OK.

Figure 11–1 Selecting the Item for the Join

This opens the main New Join dialog box (see Figure 11–2). The Master Item is dis-played in the Master Folder column.

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Figure 11–2 New Join Dialog

3. Specify the Join type using the Operator field.

Operator— use the drop-down list to select an operator for the type of join you want to create. Section 11.1, “Introduction.” describes the different types of Joins. Operators include:

Detail Items—select the folder that contains the detail item from the drop-down list. The detail item can be in a folder in either the same business area as the master item, or in a folder in a different business area. The syntax for the value in Detail Items is folder name.item name.

Name—name the join you are creating.

Description—text field for describing the join you are creating.

Multi-item—replaces the New Join dialog with a New Multi-item Join dialog with room for multiple rows of join criteria, which can be added and deleted using the Add and Delete buttons (Figure 11–4).

Options—displays a dialog box for defining outer join conditions (Figure 11–3).

= equijoin, combining rows that have equivalent values for speci-fied items

< > not equal

< less than

<= less than or equal

>= greater than or equal

> greater than

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Figure 11–3 Join Options Dialog

This dialog presents the following options:

Outer join on detail—creates an outer join. Returns all master rows that have no corre-sponding detail items, plus all matching master and detail rows.

Outer join on master—creates an outer join. Returns all detail rows that have no corre-sponding master, plus all matching detail and master rows.

Detail foreign key can have null values—this setting should only be used on rare occasions, and only affects a particular aspect of when summary tables are used to sat-isfy a query. Foreign keys usually have values and, in most cases, they are mandatory columns in the database. Such joins are sometimes described as lossless joins.

This setting is required if you are setting detail rows that have no master, because it implies that the foreign key column will contain some null values. On its own, it has no effect on SQL generation, but is required to determine when Discoverer can use sum-mary tables in some special circumstances. For example,

■ If you have created a summary folder that contains items from both a Master and a Detail folder,

■ and the folders are joined with this option enabled

■ and a user issues a query which uses items only from the detail folder,

■ then the summary table will not be used to satisfy the query, because Discoverer cannot guarantee that the row set is the same in both cases.

NOTE: This construct is fairly rare in real schemas. It requires the Detail foreign key can have null values option, described next.

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If Detail foreign key can have null values is not set, this query uses the summary table. This is this setting’s only effect.

One to one join relationship between master and detail—creates a one-to-one rela-tionship instead of a one-to-many relationship between the master and detail tables. There is no real master and detail in this case, because there is only one row in each. These joins are unusual, but do occur in schemas occasionally.

This setting has no effect on the SQL that Discoverer generates, because SQL does not know about the cardinality of joins. It only affects the fan trap detection described in Section 11.6, “Fan Traps.”

Because true one-to-one joins do not result in Cartesian products, it is possible to query a master with multiple detail folders, provided that all but one of the detail folders are joined with one-to-one joins. If these were all one-to-many joins, making it possible for a row in one detail table to join to many rows in another detail table, and vice versa, the result is a Cartesian product. Cartesian products are explicitly disallowed in Discoverer, because they are almost never the desired or expected result.

11.2.1 Using the New Join DialogThe New Join dialog opens when you do one of the following:

■ Select a folder or item and either click the join toolbar icon, or choose Insert | Join.

■ Click its toolbar icon or choose Insert | Join and then select an folder from the Join dialog box.

Use the New Join dialog as follows:

1. The Master Item field displays the folder or folder and item you have selected as the master item. The folder name displays with a period followed by the item name.

Use the pull-down list if you want to specify a different item in the same folder.

Click the item to be used as the master item.

2. Use the Operator drop-down list to define equi- or non-equi-joins.

NOTE: If you want to change the folder in the Master Item or Detail Item fields, click more items in the drop-down list. This reopens the Select Item dialog, which you can use to select a different folder and item.

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3. If the Detail Item field contains no value, or if you want to change the value, click the pull-down arrow. A new dialog opens for selecting the item.

In this new dialog, select the folder and the detail item for the join. You can choose a detail item from another open business area.

4. Click OK. The item dialog closes and you return to the New Join dialog. The folder, followed by a period, and the detail item display in the Detail Item box.

If you want to create multi-item joins, click the Multi-item button and go to Section 11.2.2, “Creating Multi-item Joins.”

5. Click OK.

The New Join dialog closes and the join is added to the folder, with an icon next to it indi-cating the join relationship.

■ Master to Detail This icon represents the one-to-many relationship between the two items in different folders in the master to detail join relationship. The master item is on left and the detail item is on the right.

■ Detail to Master This icon represents the many-to-one relationship between the two items in different folders in the detail to master join relationship. The detail item is on the left and the master item is on the right.

For information about editing joins, read Section 11.4, “Editing Joins.”

Hints and Tips1. You can only join between items, you can’t directly include functions or literals, such as

text strings, numbers or dates. The way to do this is to create calculated items that have the functions or literals you want to use, and then specify these in the join.

2. Items in joins can be hidden later, insulating users from the structural details, but allow-ing them the use of joined folders.

11.2.2 Creating Multi-item JoinsThe join feature includes the option of adding multi-item joins. Click the Multi-item button to open the New Multi-Item Join dialog. Use this dialog to add items to the join between folders.

In a multi-item join, all master items must belong to one folder and all detail items must belong to one folder. If you add a master or detail item from a different folder, all items from the previous folder will be deleted from the join.

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Figure 11–4 Multi-Item Join Dialog

1. Click Add. A new row appears. Notice that the folders named in this row are the same folders as in the previous row. The Add button is dimmed.

2. Use the drop-down lists for Master Items and Detail Items to select a new pair of items. Keep in mind that a single master item can join to many detail item values.

When you have completed selecting items in this row, the Add button reactivates, ready to add another row.

3. Continue to use the Add and Delete buttons to add items to the join, tailoring it to the users’ requirements. When you are satisfied with the multi-item join, click OK.

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11.3 Editing Join PropertiesJoin properties are accessible through Join Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to edit Join properties. Figure 11–5 shows an example Join Properties dialog box.

Figure 11–5 Join Properties Dialog Box with the General Tab Selected

11.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single JoinThis section describes how to edit a Join’s properties.

1. Open the Join’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Join on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Join on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Join on the Data page and click the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the Join on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Make your changes as required.

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For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

11.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple JoinsThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one Join at a time:

1. Select all of the Joins whose properties you want to edit.(Ctrl-clicking enables you to select more than one Join.)

2. Display the Join Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Joins on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected Joins are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected Joins, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected Joins.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

11.4 Editing JoinsThis section describes how to edit an existing Join.

1. Display the Edit Join dialog box (see Figure 11–6).

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Join on the Data page and choose Edit Join… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Join on the Data page and choose Edit | Edit…

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■ Join Properties Dialog BoxClick in the Formula field on the Join Properties dialog box.

Figure 11–6 Editing an Existing Join

The Edit Join dialog box works in the same way as the New Join dialog box (see Section 11.2.1, “Using the New Join Dialog” for more information).

2. Edit the Join as required.

3. Click OK.

11.5 Deleting JoinsThis section describes how to delete Joins.

1. Select the Join(s) that you want to delete.

To select more than one Join at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Joins.

2. Delete the Join(s):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Join(s) and choose Delete Join on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

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This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 11–7). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

Figure 11–7 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Join(s), click Yes.

11.6 Fan TrapsOccasionally you set up joins that include a master with two separately joined detail folders, such as pictured in Figure 11–8. This situation is referred to as a fan trap.

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Figure 11–8 An Example of a Fan Trap Schema

As an example, the fan trap schema in Figure 11–8 includes a master folder (ACCOUNT) and two detail folders (SALES and BUDGET). An account can have several sales and sev-eral budget figures for each period. In most cases Discoverer can resolve queries involving fan trap schemas to give the correct results. For example, consider the following rows:

ACCOUNT

ID Name

1 Account 1

2 Account 2

3 Account 3

4 Account 4

BUDGET

Accid Budget Period

1 200 1

1 200 2

2 100 3

3 150 2

3 250 3

3 350 4

4 100 1

4 100 2

Account

Sales Budget

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If the user selects ACCOUNT name, sum of SALES and sum of BUDGET in a query they will see the following results:

However there are situations where Discoverer prevents queries involving fan trap schemas from returning the expected results. In these cases, Discoverer disallows the query and dis-plays an error message. Such situations arise in any of the following circumstances:

■ The detail folders are joined to the master folder using different keys from the master for the join.

■ There is a direct join relationship between any of the detail folders (thereby creating an ambiguous circular relationship).

■ Non-aggregated values are chosen from more than one of the detail folders.

■ More than one detail folder has a separate join relationship to a different master folder.

SALES

Accid Sales Period

1 100 1

1 100 2

1 200 3

2 50 1

2 80 2

3 200 3

4 150 2

4 50 3

4 100 4

Account Sales Budget

Account 1 400 400

Account 2 130 100

Account 3 200 750

Account 4 300 200

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11.6.1 Fan Traps inside Complex FoldersIf you are setting up a fan trap join configuration inside a Complex Folder, to guarantee that correct results are returned, be sure to specify the aggregates to use for the details by editing the Item properties and setting the formula (for example SUM(Sales Fact.Sales)).

Figure 11–9 An example of an aggregate formula specified for an item in a complex folder

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Calculations

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 12.1 Introduction

■ 12.2 Creating Calculations

■ 12.3 Editing Calculation Properties

■ 12.4 Editing Calculations

■ 12.5 Deleting Calculations

■ 12.6 Registering Custom PL/SQL Functions

12.1 Introduction

12.1.1 What is a Calculated Item?Typical business calculations include values such as profit margins, average revenues per month, expected sales, and percent of profit by product type. You can represent these busi-ness calculations in Discoverer by creating Calculation Items. Once created, Calculation Items behave much like any other Item in a Folder and can be used in Conditions, Summa-ries, Lists of Values, Joins, and other Calculation Items.

You create Calculation Items using expressions that can contain:

■ Existing Items

■ Operators

■ Literals

■ Functions

There are three types of calculations:

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■ Derived Items

■ Aggregate Calculations

■ Aggregate Derived Items

Derived items and aggregate calculations appear with different symbols to differentiate them. Aggregate derived items appear with the same symbol as derived items. For more information about the Icons that appear in the work area, see Section 3.3, “The Work Area.”

12.1.1.1 Derived ItemsA derived item is a non-aggregate expression that appears and acts exactly like any other item in the folder. Derived items can be axis items or data points and can be used anywhere one would use an ordinary item. They are static, in that their value depends only on the value of the other items in the same row, and when computed will be the same regardless of what other items are selected in the user’s query.

Examples of Derived Items:

Sal*12+NVL(Comm,0)

Initcap(Ename)

1

Sysdate-7

12.1.1.2 Aggregate CalculationsIf the formula of a new item contains an aggregate or group function such as SUM, AVG, MAX, MIN, or COUNT, and the items it aggregates are in the current folder, the item is cre-ated as an aggregate calculation.

Examples of Aggregate Calculations:

SUM(Sal)*12

SUM(Comm)/SUM(Sal)

AVG(Monthly Sales)

Aggregate calculations are dynamic, in that their value depends on the other items selected in the Discoverer Plus worksheet in which they are used, because this affects the axis items that are grouped together and hence the number of rows that are aggregated. This is particu-larly important in the case of calculations that are ratios of two aggregates.

For example to calculate Margin, one would use the calculation SUM(Profit)/SUM(Sales) rather than Profit/Sales. Used in a query, the latter would result in SUM(Profit/Sales), which

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produces a different result from SUM(Profit)/SUM(Sales). Data points should always be summed before a ratio is computed.

12.1.1.3 Restrictions on Aggregate CalculationsAggregate Calculations:

■ must be data points

■ must have Default Aggregation set to Detail.

■ must reference items in the current folder.(Aggregates of items in source folders, in the case of a complex folder, will be created as aggregate derived items.)

■ cannot be used in a join.

■ cannot be used in a mandatory condition.

■ cannot be used in a hierarchy.

■ cannot have an item class.

■ cannot be dragged into a complex folder.

■ cannot have further aggregation functions applied to them in Discoverer Plus.

Aggregate calculations do not affect the row set of the folder. Their dynamic nature means that they only affect generated SQL when selected in Discoverer Plus.

12.1.1.4 Aggregate Derived ItemsAn aggregate derived item is a calculation created in a complex folder that aggregates items in one or more of the source folders. Aggregate derived items behave in all respects like ordinary derived items, and are used where there is a requirement to nest aggregate func-tions.

Aggregate derived items always affect the row set of the folder, because they cause the whole folder to be aggregated by all the other axis items in the folder, even if the axis items are not used in a sheet.

Example of an Aggregate Derived Item:

1. A Complex Folder named Monthly Sales Analysis is built by dragging the following items from the Video Analysis folder:

■ Department

■ Region

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■ City

■ Store Name

■ Year

■ Quarter

■ Month

The complex folder Monthly Sales Analysis contains a row for every store, for every month.

2. An aggregate calculation item Monthly Sales Per Store is created with the formula:

SUM(Video Analysis.Sales)

This item shows the total sales for a given store in a given month.

3. An aggregate calculation is defined as:

Average Monthly Sales per Store = AVG(Monthly Sales Per Store)

This item shows the average monthly sales and can be analyzed over region, quarter, year, etc., to compare trends. This sort of nested aggregate is only possible by creating the aggregate item in a new folder, because this folder now represents monthly sales, not the individual sales that were in the original complex folder.

Aggregate derived items cause the folder SQL to contain a GROUP BY and all end-user queries to return one row for each combination of all the other non-aggregated items, regardless of whether the calculation is used in the query. This reduces the number of rows returned by the folder, because they are aggregated at the level of the other items.

12.1.2 Advantages of CalculationsCalculation Items can be a critical part of an end user’s report. As Discoverer Administra-tor, you should set up commonly used calculations as predefined Items in a Folder. This makes them available for inclusion in Discoverer Plus worksheets.

Creating Calculation Items provides the following benefits:

■ Users do not need to create the calculation themselves, they can simply select the item.

■ New items can be added to a folder that do not exist as columns in the underlying data-base tables.

■ Complicated formulae can be set up to compute results without the user having to understand the details of the computation involved.

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12.1.3 Calculations and Analytic FunctionsAnalytic Functions behave like Aggregate Calculations except for the following:

■ Analytic Functions do not require aggregation. All other restrictions that apply to Aggregate Functions apply to Analytic Functions, (see “Restrictions on Aggregate Cal-culations”).

■ Analytic Function aggregation must be derived from the database server, not the mem-ory cache - this has implications on performance.

■ Analytic Functions are only available in Oracle 8.1.6 or later.

■ Analytic functions are not part of Object SQL.

For further information about Analytic Functions refer to the Discoverer 4i Plus User’s Guide.

12.1.4 More informationYou can obtain more information about Calculations in Oracle Discoverer from the follow-ing sources:

■ For worked examples of Calculations, refer to the Oracle Discoverer Plus User Guide.

■ For information on general Function syntax, refer to your Oracle 8i SQL Reference doc-umentation.

■ For information on Analytic Function syntax, refer to “Oracle 8i SQL Reference Release 2 (8.1.6)” - Part Number A76989-01.

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12.2 Creating CalculationsThis section describes how to create a new Calculation.

1. Select the Folder that you want to contain your new Calculation (on the Data page of the work area).

2. Open the New Item dialog box.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the folder on the Data page and choose New Item… on the popup menu.

■ Tabular IconClick the New Item tabular icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Item….

The New Item dialog box (see Figure 12–2) enables you to create a new Calculation Item and add it to the selected Folder.

NOTE: If you didn’t select a Folder in step 1, Discoverer Administration Edition displays the New Item dialog box (see Figure 12–1). Select the Folder that you want to contain your new Calculation using this dialog box (you can select any Folder from within any open Business Area).

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Figure 12–1 Selecting a Folder to Contain your new Calculation

Figure 12–2 New Item Dialog

3. Specify the Name for your new Calculation.

4. If you already know the calculation syntax, you can type your calculation directly into the Calculation area.

NOTE: Calculations follow the Oracle calculation standard syntax. For a full description of this syntax, see the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

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However, the New Item dialog box has the following features to help you construct the Calculation without needing prior knowledge of the syntax:

■ Show Items

If you select Items, the Show area displays a list of the Items in the selected Folder (if the selected Folder is a Complex Folder, the source Folders and their Items are also displayed here).

You can insert an Item in the list into your Calculation by double-clicking on it (you can also select the Item and click Paste).

■ Show Functions

If you select Functions, the Show area displays a list of the Functions (grouped by type) available for use in your Calculation.

If you have registered a custom PL/SQL function, it will appear in the Database group. For more information, see Section 12.6, “Registering Custom PL/SQL Func-tions.”

You can insert a Function in the list into your Calculation by double-clicking on it (you can also select the Function and click Paste).

■ Operators

You can insert any of the operators (listed along the bottom of the Calculation area) into your Calculation by clicking on them.

■ Window Size

You can resize the New Item dialog box to give you more room to type your Calcu-lation.

For more information see the Oracle Discoverer Plus User Guide.

5. When you have finished specifying the Calculation formula, click OK.

■ If there are no errors in the formula, the new Item is created.

■ If there are errors in the formula, Discoverer Administration Edition displays the first error and returns you to the New Item dialog box so that you can correct it.

You can now use this new Item to create joins, conditions, and even new calculations.

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12.3 Editing Calculation PropertiesItem properties are accessible through Item Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to enhance the user’s view of the data by editing item properties. Figure 12–3 shows an example Item Properties dialog box.

Figure 12–3 Item Properties Dialog Box with the General Tab Selected

12.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single ItemThis section describes how to edit an item’s properties.

1. Open the item’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the item on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the item on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the item on the Data page and click the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the item on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

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2. Make your changes as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

12.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple ItemsThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one item at a time:

1. Select all of the items whose properties you want to edit.(Ctrl-clicking enables you to select more than one folder.)

2. Display the Item Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected folders on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected folders are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected folders, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected folders.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

12.4 Editing CalculationsThis section describes how to edit an existing Calculation.

1. Display the Edit Calculation dialog box (see Figure 12–2).

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Calculation Item on the Data page and choose Edit Item… on the popup menu.

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■ MenuClick the Calculation Item on the Data page and choose Edit | Edit…

■ Item Properties Dialog BoxClick in the Formula field on the Item Properties dialog box.

The Edit Calculation dialog box works in the same way as the New Item dialog box (see Section 12.2, “Creating Calculations” for more information).

2. Edit the Calculation as required.

3. Click OK.

12.5 Deleting CalculationsThis section describes how to delete Calculation Items.

1. Select the Calculation Item(s) that you want to delete.

To select more than one Item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Items.

2. Delete the Item(s):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Item(s) and choose Delete Item… on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 12–4). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

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Figure 12–4 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Items(s), click Yes.

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12.6 Registering Custom PL/SQL FunctionsIn addition to the PL/SQL functions provided by Oracle, you can create custom PL/SQL functions to meet your users’ requirements. These can be used to provide predefined func-tions for complicated calculations. User-defined PL/SQL functions become part of the total set of PL/SQL functions available to all database processes.

To be able to access custom PL/SQL functions using Discoverer, you must have first regis-tered them in the EUL. Once registered, user-defined PL/SQL functions appear in the list of database functions in the Edit Calculation dialog box and can be used in the same way as the Oracle-supplied functions.

In Discoverer Plus, folders that contain derived items using PL/SQL functions will not be visible to users who do not have EXECUTE privileges on those functions. To make those functions accessible, ensure that the user has the associated EXECUTE privilege in the data-base.

There are two methods for registering functions:

■ Manual RegistrationManual registration requires that you register each function individually by supplying all of the pertinent information about the function.

■ ImportRegistering PL/SQL functions by importing is preferable, especially if many functions need to be registered. Importing functions imports all of the relevant information about each function, including name, database link, return type, and the list of arguments. Importing ensures correct information about the function, because the information does not have to be manually entered on a function-by-function basis.

Which you choose depends on the version of the Oracle database you’re using:

■ Oracle Release 7.3 or laterAutomatic import is available, but you can also register manually.

■ Oracle Release 7.2 or earlierManual registration is required.

NOTE: You do not create user-defined PL/SQL functions directly in Dis-coverer Administration Edition. To create PL/SQL functions, use SQL*Plus, or a procedural editor. Refer to the Oracle SQL Language Ref-erence Manual.

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12.6.1 Registering Custom PL/SQL ManuallyThis section describes how to manually register a PL/SQL function for use in Discoverer.

1. Choose Tools | Register PL/SQL Functions.

This opens the PL/SQL Functions dialog box on the Functions page (see Figure 12–5).

Figure 12–5 Functions Tab in the PL/SQL Functions Dialog Box

2. Click New.

3. Specify the function attributes.

4. Click Validate.

This checks the validity and accuracy of the information you have entered.

5. If the function is invalid, correct the attributes and click Validate again.

6. Does this function accept arguments?

■ YesContinue to step 7.

■ NoClick OK. The custom PL/SQL function is now registered for use in Discoverer.

7. Click the Arguments tab (see Figure 12–6).

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Figure 12–6 Arguments Tab in the PL/SQL Functions Dialog Box

8. Click New.

9. Specify the argument attributes.

10. When you have finished defining the arguments, click OK.

The custom PL/SQL function is now registered for use in Discoverer.

12.6.2 Registering PL/SQL Functions AutomaticallyThis section describes how to register PL/SQL functions automatically:

1. Choose Tools | Register PL/SQL Functions.

This opens the PL/SQL Functions dialog box on the Functions page (Figure 12–5).

2. Click Import.

This opens the Import PL/SQL Functions dialog box (see Figure 12–7), which enables you to select the PL/SQL functions that you want to register.

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Figure 12–7 Import PL/SQL Functions Dialog Box

3. Select the functions that you want to import

4. Click OK.

All of the pertinent information about the selected functions is imported, and you do not have to manually enter information or validate it.

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Conditions 13-1

Conditions

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 13.1 Introduction

■ 13.2 Creating Conditions

■ 13.3 Editing Condition Properties

■ 13.4 Editing Conditions

■ 13.5 Deleting Conditions

13.1 Introduction

13.1.1 What is a Condition?A condition can be used to selectively filter out data. If you took the tutorial in Chapter 4, you will have created a condition that analyzed the chain of video stores and selected only those departments equal to Video Sales or Video Rentals.

End users can use Conditions to restrict the results of their query to the areas they are inter-ested in. This can result in faster queries.

13.1.2 Condition TypesThere are two types of Condition:

■ MandatoryA mandatory Condition is always applied to a query that contains one or more items from the folder that contains the Condition. Users of Discoverer Plus are not notified of mandatory Conditions and are unable to turn them off.

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For example, you may want to assign a mandatory Condition to sales data for regional sales managers, limiting their view of sales to the region for which each manager is responsible.

■ OptionalAn optional Condition can be applied (or not), as required, to their worksheets by users of Discoverer Plus. They can also view the Condition’s formula, but they cannot edit it.

For example, a Vice President responsible for all sales regions should be able to see all of the sales data, and also be able to apply Conditions to see sales data pertaining to spe-cific sales regions.

You create mandatory and optional conditions in the same way, and although Discoverer Administration Edition enables you to change a condition from optional to mandatory and vice versa, there are some subtle differences between the two types of condition. These dif-ferences are shown in Table 13–1.

NOTE: If you create a complex folder from Items in a Folder that contains a mandatory Condition, the results in the complex Folder are restricted by the mandatory Condition on the original Folder. You can see any manda-tory Conditions that impact a Complex Folder using the Components page of the Complex Folder’s properties dialog box.

Table 13–1 Difference Between Mandatory and Optional Conditions

Mandatory Conditions Optional Conditions

Are always applied to the results of a folder. Are only applied to the results of a folder if selected in Discoverer Plus.

Are used by an administrator to permanently restrict the rows returned by a folder.

Are provided by an administrator as a shortcut to help users build conditions more easily.

Are invisible in Discoverer Plus. Are visible (but not editable) in Discoverer Plus.

When created in a complex folder, can refer-ence items in the source folders.

When created in a complex folder, can only ref-erence items in the complex folder.

Affect the result set of the folder definition in the EUL.

Do not affect the result set of the folder defini-tion in the EUL (because they are only applied when used in Discoverer Plus).

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When added, changed, or deleted, cause any summaries based on the folder to become invalid, because their result set no longer matches that of the folder.

These summaries are set to “Refresh required” and must be refreshed to be made available again.

When added, changed, or deleted have no affect on summaries based on the folder.

Table 13–1 Difference Between Mandatory and Optional Conditions

Mandatory Conditions Optional Conditions

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13.2 Creating ConditionsThis section describes how to create a new Condition.

1. On the Data page of the work area, either

■ select the Folder that you want to contain your new Condition, or

■ select the Item that you want to form part of your Condition.

2. Open the New Condition dialog box.

There are three ways of doing this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Folder or Item on the Data page and choose New Condition… on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the New condition toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Condition….

The New Condition dialog box (see Figure 13–2) enables you to create a new Condi-tion and add it to the selected Folder.

NOTE: If you didn’t select a Folder or Item in step 1, Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition displays the New Condition dialog box (see Figure 13–1). Select the Folder or Item for your new Condition using this dialog box (you can select any Folder or Item from within any open Business Area).

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Figure 13–1 Selecting a Folder or Item for your new Condition

Figure 13–2 New Condition Dialog Box

NOTE: By default, Discoverer Administration Edition chooses a name for your new Condition based on the Condition itself. If you want to specify a name other than the default, clear Generate name automatically and enter the Name.

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3. Specify the Description for your new Condition.

4. Set Type to either Required or Optional.

See Section 13.1.2, “Condition Types” for more information.

5. If you want to create a Condition based on:

■ a single Item, proceed to Section 13.2.1, “Single Item Conditions”

■ multiple Items, proceed to Section 13.2.2, “Multiple Item Conditions”

13.2.1 Single Item ConditionsThis section describes how to finish creating a Condition based on a single Item. For exam-ple, “Region = East”.

1. Select the Item that you want to base your Condition on (using the Item drop-down list).

The Item drop-down list also enables you to create a Condition based on:

■ a Calculation (choose Create Calculation…), or

■ an existing Condition (choose Select Condition…).

For more information on creating Calculations, see Chapter 12.2, “Creating Calcula-tions”.

2. Select the type of comparison (using the Condition drop-down list).

3. Select the value(s) that are to be compared with the Item (using the Value(s) drop-down list).

You can also type the values directly into the field:

■ Surround values consisting of alphabetical characters with single quotes (‘entry’)

■ Do not surround numeric values with quotes.

NOTE: When you create a Condition based on an Analytic Function, you must designate the Condition as ‘optional’. If you choose ‘mandatory, a message is displayed informing you that Analytic Functions are not allowed in mandatory conditions.

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■ Separate multiple values with commas.

The Value(s) drop-down list also enables you to create a calculated value to use with this condition (choose Create Calculation…).

4. If you want the Condition to be case sensitive, tick Match Case, otherwise, clear it.

5. Click OK.

For more information about the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

13.2.2 Multiple Item ConditionsThis section describes how to finish creating a Condition based on multiple Items. For example, “(Department IN 'Video Sale' or 'Video Rental') AND (Region = Central)”.

1. Click Advanced >>.

This displays the advanced version of the Edit Condition dialog box (see Figure 13–3).

Figure 13–3 New Condition Dialog Box with Advanced Selected

Note that the SQL code for the formula is displayed at the bottom of the dialog box.

2. Click Add.

This adds a new row to the Condition.

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3. Select the Item that you want to base your Condition on (using the Item drop-down list).

The Item drop-down list also enables you to create a Condition based on:

■ a Calculation (choose Create Calculation…), or

■ an existing Condition (choose Select Condition…)

■ the formula of an existing Condition (choose Copy Condition…).

For more information on creating Calculations, see Chapter 12.2, “Creating Calcula-tions”.Select the type of comparison (using the Condition drop-down list).

4. Select the value(s) that are to be compared with the Item (using the Value(s) drop-down list).

You can also type the values directly into the field:

■ Surround values consisting of alphabetical characters with single quotes (‘entry’)

■ Do not surround numeric values with quotes.

■ Separate multiple values with commas.

The Value(s) drop-down list also enables you to create a calculated value to use with this condition (choose Create Calculation…).

5. Repeat steps 2 to 5 to add more rows to your Condition formula.

6. Click in the Group column and choose how the rows in the Condition formula relate to each other:

■ If all of the rows must be true to display the data, click And.

■ If only one of the rows has to be true to display the data, click Or.

■ If all of the rows must be false to display the data, click Not.

7. If you want the Condition to be case sensitive, tick Match Case, otherwise, clear it.

8. Click OK.

NOTE: You can delete a row from the Condition formula by selecting it and clicking Delete.

sta

tus

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For more information about the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

13.3 Editing Condition PropertiesCondition properties are accessible through Condition Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to enhance the user’s view of the data by editing Condition properties. Figure 13–4 shows an example Condition Properties dialog box.

Figure 13–4 Condition Properties Dialog Box with the General Tab Selected

13.3.1 Editing the Properties of a Single ConditionThis section describes how to edit a Condition’s properties.

1. Open the Condition’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Condition on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Condition on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Condition on the Data page and click the Properties toolbar icon ( )

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■ MenuClick the Condition on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Make your changes as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

13.3.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple ConditionsThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one Condition at a time:

1. Select all of the Conditions whose properties you want to edit.(Ctrl-clicking enables you to select more than one Condition.)

2. Display the Condition Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Conditions on the Data page and choose Proper-ties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected Conditions are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected Conditions, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected Conditions.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

13.4 Editing ConditionsThis section describes how to edit an existing Condition.

1. Display the Edit Condition dialog box (see Figure 13–2).

There are three ways to do this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click the Condition on the Data page and choose Edit Condition… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Condition on the Data page and choose Edit | Edit…

■ Condition Properties Dialog BoxClick in the Formula field on the Condition Properties dialog box.

The Edit Condition dialog box works in the same way as the New Condition dialog box (see Section 13.2, “Creating Conditions” for more information).

2. Edit the Condition as required.

3. Click OK.

13.5 Deleting ConditionsThis section describes how to delete Conditions.

1. Select the Condition(s) that you want to delete.

To select more than one Condition at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Con-ditions.

2. Delete the Condition(s):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Condition(s) and choose Delete Condition… on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 13–5). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

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Figure 13–5 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Condition(s), click Yes.

13.6 Example Conditions

13.6.1 Sales in the Last Seven DaysThis example describes how to create a Condition that only returns the Sales in the Last Seven Days. It uses the Calculation Item, “Transaction Age (in Days)”.

1. Create a new Condition:

■ Name: Sales in the Last Seven Days

■ Item: Transaction Age (in Days)

■ Condition: <

■ Additional calculations required: Transaction Age = FLOOR (SYSDATE - Transaction Date)

■ Value(s): 7

This is sometimes described as a “rolling window” Condition because the “window” of rows it returns changes from day to day.

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13.6.2 Shipments in Q3This example describes how to create a Condition that only returns Shipments made in Q3 (regardless of year). It uses the Calculation Item, “Ship Quarter”.

1. Create a new Condition:

■ Name: Shipments in Q3

■ Item: Ship Quarter

■ Condition: =

■ Additional calculations required: Ship Quarter = EUL_DATE_TRUNC(Ship Date, “Q”)

■ Value: Q3

This Condition will now only return Shipments that were made in Q3 (regardless of year).

13.6.3 Outer Join with Conditions behaviorThis example shows how the registry setting DisableAutoOuterJoinsOnFilters can affect the result set when a condition (filter) is applied in Discoverer (see Chapter E.2, “Registry Settings”). The effect that this registry setting has is best understood by using an example.

The table below summarizes the conditions used in the examples that follow:

Example 1 - Shows the rows fetched from a query where an outer join exists between the dept and emp tables (no condition applied):select dname, ename, job from dept, emp where dept.deptno = emp.deptno (+);

Registry Value Condition Applied?

1 or 0 No (See example 1)

1 Yes (See example 2)

0 Yes (See example 3)

DNAME ENAME JOB

SALES GRIMES DIRECTOR

SALES PETERS MANAGER

SALES SCOTT CLERK

SUPPORT MAJOR MANAGER

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Example 2 - User adds a condition to the query in Example 1 and the registry setting is set to 0 (default behavior):select dname, ename, job from dept, emp where dept.depno = emp.deptno (+) and job (+) = ’CLERK’;.

Note: Outer joins will not be placed on ’IN’, ’IS NULL’ or ’IS NOT NULL’ clauses as this is not a supported operation by the database.

Example 3 - User adds a condition to the query in Example 1 and the registry setting set to 1:select dname, ename, job from dept, emp where dept.deptno = emp.deptno(+) and job = ’CLERK’;

SUPPORT SCOTT CLERK

ADMIN

MARKETING

DISTRIBUTION

DNAME ENAME JOB

SALES SCOTT CLERK

SUPPORT SCOTT CLERK

ADMIN

MARKETING

DISTRIBUTION

DNAME ENAME JOB

SALES SCOTT CLERK

SUPPORT SCOTT CLERK

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Hierarchies

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 14.1 Introduction

■ 14.2 Creating Hierarchies

■ 14.3 Editing Hierarchies

■ 14.4 Editing Date Hierarchy Templates

■ 14.5 Applying Date Hierarchy Templates to Date Items

■ 14.6 Setting the Default Date Hierarchy Template

■ 14.7 Deleting Hierarchies

■ 14.8 Date Hierarchies and Performance

14.1 Introduction

14.1.1 What is a Hierarchy?A Hierarchy is a logical linking that you define between Items that enables Discoverer Plus users to:

■ drill up (to a greater level of aggregation) and

■ drill down (to a greater level of detail).

Hierarchical relationships are not defined in the database; you create them in the Business Area. Discoverer Hierarchies mimic data relationships from the end user’s perspective instead of from the database perspective.

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14.1.2 Types of HierarchyThere are two types of Hierarchy in Discoverer Administration Edition:

■ Item Hierarchies

■ Date Hierarchies

14.1.2.1 Item HierarchiesAn example Item Hierarchy is:

Country > Region > District > Retail Store

If you implement this Item Hierarchy in a Business Area, and an end user has a report that looks at sales from a country perspective, they can drill down (using the Item Hierarchy) to get regional details, and so on right down to the retail store level.

Figure 14–1 shows this Item Hierarchy from the end user’s perspective.

Figure 14–1 Sample Item Hierarchy—End User’s Perspective

Figure 14–2 shows the same Hierarchy from the database perspective.

Country

Region

City

Store Name

USA

Central EastWest

DallasLos Angeles San Francisco New York Boston

Store 1 Store 2 Store 3 Store 4 Store 5 Store 6 Store 7

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Figure 14–2 Sample Item Hierarchy—Database Perspective

When an Item Hierarchy is included in a query expressed in units such as Dollar Sales, the units are appropriately aggregated to reflect the value for that level of Hierarchy.

14.1.2.2 Date HierarchiesAn example Date Hierarchy is:

Year > Quarter > Month > Week > Day

If you implement this Date Hierarchy in a Business Area, and an end user has a report that looks at total sales for each year in their records, they can drill down (using the Date Hierar-chy) to get sales per quarter, and so on right down to the sales per day level.

You can use Discoverer Administration Edition’s existing Date Hierarchy templates to define many common Date Hierarchies, or you can create your own customized Date Hierar-chies.

Figure 14–3 shows a Date Hierarchy from the end user’s perspective and how the data could be viewed based on the Sales_Date.

Store

STORE_ID

COUNTRY

REGION

STORE_NAME

ADDRESS 1

ADDRESS 2

FLOOR_TYPE

CITY

The database table The item hierarchy

Store.Country

Store.Region

Store.City

Store.store_Name

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Figure 14–3 Sample Date Hierarchy—Database Perspective

The date column in this sample is Sales_Date.

14.1.3 Date Hierarchy TemplatesA Date Hierarchy Template enables you to define a Date Hierarchy which you can apply to Date Items as required. It is much faster to apply a Date Hierarchy Template to Date Items than to redefine the same Date Hierarchy for each Date Item.

Discoverer Administration Edition includes a default Date Hierarchy Template for drilling from year to quarter to month to day: YYYY > “Q”Q > MON > DD.

14.2 Creating HierarchiesThis section consists of the following topics:

■ 14.2.1 Creating Item Hierarchies

■ 14.2.2 Creating Date Hierarchies

14.2.1 Creating Item HierarchiesThis section describes how to create an Item Hierarchy.

Sales—Orders

ORDER_ID

PRODUCT_ID

STORE_ID

NET_PRICE

LIST_PRICE

COST

SALES_DATE

The database table The date hierarchy

Sales_Orders.Sales_Date YYYY

Sales_Orders.Sales_Date QQ

Sales_Orders.Sales_Date MON

Sales_Orders.Sales_Date DD

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1. Start the Hierarchy Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Hierarchy toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Hierarchy.

■ Popup MenuRight-click anywhere on the Hierarchies page of the work area and choose New Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

2. Select Item Hierarchy.

3. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2 (see Figure 14–4).

Figure 14–4 Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2

4. Move the Items that you want to include in this Item Hierarchy from the list on the left to the list on the right.

There are three ways of moving Items from one list to the other:

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■ Drag & DropDrag one or more Items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more Items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an Item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one Item at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Items.

You can select Items from within multiple Folders. However, the Folders must be joined. If the Folders are joined with more than one Join, the Choose Join dialog box opens. Use this dialog box to select the correct Join for the Item Hierarchy.

The order of items in the hierarchy list determines the drilldown sequence that the end user will use to analyze the data. By default, the Item Hierarchy is arranged in the order that you include the Items.

5. If you need to move an Item in the Hierarchy to a different position, select the Item in the right-hand list and:

■ Click Promote to move the Item higher up in the Hierarchy.

■ Click Demote to move the Item lower down in the Hierarchy.

If you want to group two or more Items so that they appear on the same level of the Hierarchy, select the Items (To select more than one Item at once, hold down Ctrl when you click on the Items) and click Group.

6. If you want to rename the Item as it appears in the Item Hierarchy, click on the Item in the right-hand list and specify the new name in the Name field.

The name specified here is the label the user sees in Discoverer Plus. By default, each level of the Item Hierarchy uses the Item name.

7. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3 (see Figure 14–5).

Note: To ungroup a group of Items in the Hierarchy, select the group and click Ungroup.

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Figure 14–5 Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3

8. Specify a name for the new Item Hierarchy.

9. Specify a description for the new Item Hierarchy.

10. Click Finish.

This creates the Item Hierarchy and lists it on the Hierarchies page.

14.2.2 Creating Date HierarchiesThis section describes how to create a Date Hierarchy. You can only create Date Hierarchies if you are using an Oracle database.

1. Start the Hierarchy Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Hierarchy toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Hierarchy.

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■ Popup MenuRight-click anywhere on the Hierarchies page of the work area and choose New Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

2. Select Date Hierarchy.

3. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2 (see Figure 14–4).

Figure 14–6 Hierarchy Wizard: Step 2

4. Move the Date Formats that you want to include in this Date Hierarchy from the list on the left to the list on the right.

There are three ways of moving Date Formats from one list to the other:

■ Drag & DropDrag one or more Date Format from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more Date Format in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an Date Format to move it from one list to the other.

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To select more than one Date Format at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Date Formats.

5. If you need to move a Date Format in the Hierarchy to a different position, select the Date Format in the right-hand list and:

■ Click Promote to move the Date Format higher up in the Hierarchy.

■ Click Demote to move the Date Format lower down in the Hierarchy.

6. If you want to rename the Date Format as it appears in the Date Hierarchy, click on the Date Format in the right-hand list and specify the new name in the Name field.

The name specified here is the label the user sees in Discoverer Plus.

7. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3 (see Figure 14–7).

Figure 14–7 Hierarchy Wizard: Step 3

8. Move the Date Items that you want this Date Hierarchy applied to, from the Available Items list to the Selected Items list.

There are three ways of moving Items from one list to the other:

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■ Drag & DropDrag one or more Items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more Items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an Item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one Date Format at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Date Formats.

If you only want to create a Date Hierarchy Template (without applying it to a Date Item), don’t select any Date Items on this page.

9. Click Next.

This opens Hierarchy Wizard: Step 4 (see Figure 14–8).

Figure 14–8 Hierarchy Wizard: Step 4

10. Specify a name for the new Date Hierarchy.

11. Specify a description for the new Date Hierarchy.

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12. If you want this Date Hierarchy Template to be the default, tick Set as default date hierarchy, otherwise clear it.

The default Date Hierarchy Template, appears as the default selection in the Date hier-archies, using: drop-down list under Automatically generate: on Load Wizard: Step 4. For more information, see Section 7.2.2.6, “Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes.”

13. Click Finish.

This creates the Date Hierarchy Template and applies it to the Date Items that you selected on Hierarchy Wizard: Step 4. These Date Hierarchies and the Date Hierarchy Template itself are listed on the Hierarchies page.

14.2.3 Date Format and Date Format Masks

14.2.3.1 Date FormatA Date Format differs from a Date Format Mask in that a Date Format truncates a date into a standard format (whereas a Date Format mask only affects the display characteristics of a date). A truncated date is one that represents a period (E.g. the whole period of the year 2000 will be represented in Discoverer as the date 01-JAN-00).

A user can then apply a condition to the truncated date to return all the records within a period. For example, truncating a date item as eul_date_trunc(shipdate, "YY") = 01-JAN-00 will return only the records for the year 2000.

14.2.3.2 Date Format MaskA date format mask (displayed in the item properties sheet) influences the way that a date is displayed to the user - it has no effect on the way the date is stored. Therefore, if you have a format mask defined as "Q", you will be able to display the quarter, but to apply a condition you would need to also apply a corresponding date format to return the results you expect, for example eul_date_trunc(shipdate, "Q").

A more subtle aspect of this is that the standard Oracle date format includes time (DD-MON-YY:HH24:MI:SS). When Discoverer loads dates in, it gives them a date Format MASK of DD-MON-YY (i.e. without the time). If a user then applies a condition on dates

Note: A warning is displayed whenever you attempt to change a Date For-mat Mask (in the Item Properties dialog) of a date item that has an edit-able formula. This is to reduce the risk of a Date Format Mask being out of synch with its Date Format.

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where time is actually stored in the database then the time component will be included in the condition, even though the Format MASK says it is not. If this is the case, the solution is to change the item definition and truncate the date item itself to just DD-MON-YY.

14.2.3.3 The EUL_DATE_TRUNC functionThe function EUL_DATE_TRUNC (used by the Date Format) enables you to truncate a date value to the format specified in the format mask, and keep it as a DATE data type. This has several advantages:

■ It enables you to have formats such as YYYY-QU.

■ It ensures that when you specify a quarter format the item knows which Year the quar-ter is in.For Example:If you apply Eul_date_trunc(Date,’YYYY’) to the dates 25-Aug-1934, 11-nov-1934 & 03-feb-1933 we would produce 01-jan-1934,01-jan-1934 & 01-jan-1933 respectively. Hence we have produced the same value for the 1st 2 dates because they were the same in the elements of the date asked for in the format mask.

14.3 Editing HierarchiesThis section describes how to edit an existing Hierarchy.

1. Display the Edit Hierarchy dialog box (see Figure 14–9).

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Hierarchy on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Hierarchy on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit | Edit…

Note: If you want to change the Date Formats that are included in a Date Hierarchy, edit the corresponding Date Hierarchy Template not the Date Hierarchy itself. For more information, see Section 14.4, “Editing Date Hierarchy Templates.”

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Figure 14–9 The Edit Hierarchy Dialog Box with the Name Page Selected

2. Edit the Hierarchy as required.

The Edit Hierarchy dialog box is divided in to two pages.

■ ItemsUse this tab to add or remove the Items that use this Hierarchy.

■ NameUse this page to edit the Hierarchy’s name and description.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

14.4 Editing Date Hierarchy TemplatesThis section describes how to edit an existing Date Hierarchy Template. When you edit an existing Date Hierarchy Template, all Date Hierarchies that use the Date Hierarchy Tem-plate are modified to reflect the changes.

1. Display the Edit Hierarchy dialog box (see Figure 14–9).

There are two ways to do this:

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■ Popup MenuRight-click the Date Hierarchy Template on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Date Hierarchy Template on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit | Edit…

Figure 14–10 The Edit Hierarchy Dialog Box with the Name Page Selected

2. Edit the Hierarchy as required.

The Edit Hierarchy dialog box is divided in to two pages.

■ Date formatsUse this tab to change the Date Formats and their position in this Date Hierarchy Template.

■ NameUse this page to edit the Date Hierarchy Template’s name and description.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

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14.5 Applying Date Hierarchy Templates to Date ItemsThis section describes how to apply a Date Hierarchy Template to an existing Date Item.

When you apply a Date Hierarchy Template to an existing Date Item, Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition automatically creates all the Date Items that are required to complete the Date Hierarchy. These new Date Items appear in the same Folder as the original Date Item (and are prefixed with the name of the original Date Item). If you change the Date Hierarchy Template that is applied to a Date Item, all the Date Items that had been created by Discov-erer Administration Edition to complete the Date Hierarchy are removed and new ones are created to reflect the new Date Hierarchy Template.

To apply a Date Hierarchy Template to a Date Item:

1. Open the Date Item’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Date Item on the Data page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Date Item on the Data page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Date Item on the Data page and click the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the Date Item on the Data page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Select the Date Hierarchy Template (from the Date hierarchy drop-down list) that you want this Date Item to use.

If you want the Date Item to use the default Date Hierarchy Template, select None.

3. Click OK.

Tip: You can apply a single Date Hierarchy Template to more than one Date Item at a time by selecting all the Date Items before opening the Properties dialog box. For more information, see Section 10.2.2, “Editing the Properties of Multiple Items.”

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14.6 Setting the Default Date Hierarchy TemplateThis section describes how to set the Default Date Hierarchy Template.

The default Date Hierarchy Template, appears as the default selection in the Date hierar-chies, using: drop-down list under Automatically generate: on Load Wizard: Step 4. For more information, see Section 7.2.2.6, “Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes.” This is the only effect of setting

To set the Default Date Hierarchy Template:

1. Display the Edit Hierarchy dialog box (see Figure 14–9).

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Date Hierarchy Template on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Date Hierarchy Template on the Hierarchies page and choose Edit | Edit…

2. Tick Set as default date hierarchy on the Name page.

3. Click OK.

14.7 Deleting HierarchiesThis section describes how to delete Hierarchies or Date Hierarchy Templates.

1. On the Hierarchies page, select the Hierarchy (or Hierarchies) that you want to delete.

To select more than one Hierarchy at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Hier-archies.

2. Delete the Hierarchy (or Hierarchies):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Hierarchies and choose Delete Hierarchy… on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

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This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 14–11). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

Figure 14–11 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Hierarchies, click Yes.

14.8 Date Hierarchies and PerformanceDefault date hierarchies can be automatically applied to all date columns when selected in the Load Wizard during bulk load (see Chapter 7.2.2.6, “Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes”).

How date hierarchies are applied to date items can affect subsequent performance in Discov-erer Plus. For example if you are importing a large fact table (i.e. one containing many rows) that also has a date column in it (e.g. transaction_date), the default date hierarchy can then be applied to the date item during bulk load.

If you have applied a date hierarchy to a fact table containing a date, bulk load creates a folder containing date items using the EUL_DATE_TRUNC function (such as ‘Year’, Quar-

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ter’ and ‘Month’). If these items are subsequently selected in a query using Discoverer Plus, any indexes applied to the fact table that improve performance will not be used.

It is therefore recommended that you do not apply date hierarchies to date items in folders based on fact tables as fact tables are likely to have indexes. To overcome this problem apply date hierarchies to a separate dimension table. For example, a transaction_date item in a fact table might join to another dimension table (e.g. ‘Time Period’) specifying time peri-ods. Apply date hierarchies to this dimension table on bulk load. You are then able to create a complex folder containing items from both the dimension and fact tables, using the items created by the date hierarchy such as ‘Year’. When a Discoverer Plus user queries items using the EUL_DATE_FUNCTION they will not restrict the use of indexes on the fact table. This can considerably improve performance.

The general rule is do not apply default date hierarchies to date items on tables that rely on indexes for performance because the indexes will not be used.

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Summaries

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 15.1 Introduction

■ 15.2 Good Summary Folder Design

■ 15.3 How to create Summary Folders

■ 15.4 Editing Summary Folder Properties

■ 15.5 Editing Summary Folders

■ 15.6 Refreshing Summary Folders

■ 15.7 Viewing the Status of Managed summary tables

■ 15.8 Deleting Summary Folders

■ 15.9 Editing Database Storage Properties

15.1 IntroductionThis chapter explains summaries and how you specify and maintain them yourself. For details about how Discoverer recommends and creates the best summaries for you, see Chapter 16, “Automated Summary Management”.

15.1.1 What is a summary?A summary improves query performance in Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer by using pre-aggregated data created through Discoverer Administration Edition.

The term summary used throughout this guide refers either to summary tables (with pre-8.1.6 databases) or Materialized Views (MVs) ( 8.1.6+ databases). For further details about summary tables and MVs see Section 15.1.1.1, “Summary tables or Materialized Views?”.

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A query run in Discoverer Plus can be redirected/rewritten to use an appropriate summary rather than having to query the detail tables. A summary is used only when it satisfies the conditions of the query.

Discoverer Plus uses summaries to reduce the time taken to return query results and pro-vides a significant improvement in performance.

15.1.1.1 Summary tables or Materialized Views?Discoverer uses either summary tables or Materialized Views (MVs) depending on which of the following scenarios is true:

■ Discoverer is running against a pre-Oracle 8.1.6 databaseSummary tables are created by Discoverer Administration Edition in the database and subsequent queries made in Discoverer Plus are redirected (by Discoverer Plus) to an appropriate summary table.

■ Discoverer is running against an Oracle 8.1.6+ database.Materialized Views (MVs) are created by the Oracle 8.1.6+ database and subsequent queries made in Discoverer Plus are redirected (by the Oracle 8.1.6+ database) to an appropriate MV. For further information on Materialized Views refer to Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) (Part Number A76994-01)

15.1.1.2 What is a Summary Folder?A Summary Folder is how Discoverer represents the underlying structure of a summary table or MV. Each Summary Folder has one or more Items (i.e.columns from a summary table or MV).

You can view Summary Folders from the Summaries tab in Discoverer Administration Edi-tion (see Figure 15–1, “A Summary Folder as displayed in Discoverer”).

NOTE:.The SQL generated and the summary table or MV used for a par-ticular query can be viewed through the SQL Inspector/Explain Plan in Discoverer Plus (see Section 15.1.4.3, “Viewing Summary Redirection in Discoverer Plus”)

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Figure 15–1 A Summary Folder as displayed in Discoverer

15.1.1.2.1 What makes up a Summary Folder?

The following elements define a Summary Folder:

■ The Items that are summarized.

■ How the summarized Items are joined.

■ How summarized Items are grouped into Combinations.

■ The physical location of summary tables or MVs.

■ How often summary tables or MVs are refreshed.

■ The Refresh Type (Full or Incremental (MVs only)).

■ Whether refresh is ‘On Demand’ or ‘On Commit’ (MVs only)

■ Whether a Summary Folder (representing an underlying summary table/MV) can be used.

■ The time and date when the Summary Folder was last refreshed.

■ The tablespace in which the summary data is placed.

You set up Summary Folders using the Summary Wizard. To understand how the process works, read the following pages before you launch the Summary Wizard.

The rest of this section describes these concepts in more detail.

15.1.2 Summary CombinationsA Summary Combination is a single set of axis and measure items in a summary table or MV. Each Combination is a different way of combining two or more of the Items in the Summary Folder. It is very much like a query, in that it defines a specific row and column set.

If a user executes a query with the same Items as those specified in a Combination, the query is run against either a summary table or MV instead of the detail data.

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You can define as many Combinations as you require for each Summary Folder.

It is also faster to refresh Summary Folders with multiple Combinations, because the higher level summaries are built from the lower level ones, which is considerably faster than build-ing separate Summary Folders all from the detail data.

For information on how to choose the most appropriate Summary Combinations, see Sec-tion 15.2, “Good Summary Folder Design.”

15.1.2.1 Summary CombinationsYou can combine items in a summary folder into Summary Combinations. From a Sum-mary Combination, Discoverer creates one of the following depending on the version of the database:

■ Summary table (if using a pre-8.1.6 database)

■ Materialized View (MV) if using an 8.1.6+ database

15.1.3 Summary tables/Materialized Views (MVs)This section contains the following information about summary tables/Materialized Views:

■ Discoverer summary tables versus server Materialized Views (8.1.6+)

■ Managed versus external summary tables/MVs

■ Registering external summaries against tables and views in Oracle 8.1.6+

■ Refreshing summary data

15.1.3.1 Discoverer summary tables versus server Materialized Views (8.1.6+)The following table compares Discoverer summary tables and server MVs.

Table 15–1 Comparison between Discoverer summary tables and server Materialized Views

Discoverer summary tables Server Materialized Views

RDBMS version 7.3 - 8.1.5 RDBMS version 8.1.6+ only

Stored as tables Stored as Materialized View

Full refresh only Full or Incremental refresh

Refresh On Demand only Refresh On Demand/Commit

Refresh only by Discoverer Refresh outside Discoverer

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RDBMS version 8.1.6+ only - When Discoverer Administration Edition is operating against Oracle 8.1.6 (and summaries are needed) it will automatically create server MVs. It will no longer generate and maintain Discoverer summary tables.

Stored as Materialized View - The precomputed summary results are stored as a MV. Addi-tional functionality of the MV can be utilized.

Full or Incremental Refresh:Full - Refreshes by completely recalculating the result set. Incremental - Refreshes by incrementally adding the new data that has been inserted into the tables.

Refresh On Demand/Commit:On Commit - Refresh occurs automatically on the next transaction commit performed against the detail table. On Demand - Refresh occurs when a user manually executes a refresh.

Refresh Outside Discoverer - Since MVs are stored in the server, those MVs generated within Discoverer are available for refresh by other client applications. For example, a MV created within Discoverer can be refreshed through SQL*Plus using the supplied DBMS_MVIEW package.

Rewrite by Server - The server recognizes when an existing MV can be used to satisfy a given query request and will then transparently rewrite the request to use the MV instead of the detail data.

Defined in terms of Tables and Columns - The Materialized View query is defined in terms of database columns and tables. Whereas, Discoverer Summaries are created from EUL elements - items and folders.

15.1.3.2 Managed versus external summary tables/MVsFrom a Discoverer Administration Edition viewpoint, there are two types of summary folder:

■ Managed

■ External

Rewrite only by Discoverer Rewrite by server

Defined in terms of Items and Folders Defined in terms of tables and columns

Table 15–1 Comparison between Discoverer summary tables and server Materialized Views

Discoverer summary tables Server Materialized Views

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The main differences between these types of summary table are described in Table 15–2.

In both cases, Discoverer knows where summary tables are located and the Items repre-sented in them and so it can use summary redirection to reduce the time taken to perform a query. With Oracle 8.1.6+ the server carries out a summary rewrite to an appropriate MV.

External summary tables are useful:

■ for working with existing warehouse applications that have already generated the sum-mary tables using some other method or

■ when you are using a non-Oracle database.

Table 15–2 Differences Between Managed summary tables/MVs and External sum-mary tables

Managed summary tables or MVs External summary tables

Are populated and maintained automatically by Discoverer or Oracle 8.1.6+ server respectively.

Are populated and maintained by another appli-cation (for example SQL*Plus).

Are created either through Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition or an external application.

Are created by an external application.

Can be automatically refreshed at regular inter-vals (defined in Discoverer Administration Edi-tion)

Must be refreshed using another application.

NOTE to users of non-Oracle databases: If you are using a non-Oracle database, Discoverer supports external Summary Folders only.

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15.1.3.3 Registering external summaries against tables and views in Oracle 8.1.6+External summaries can be registered against tables and views (not the detail tables) but in Oracle 8.1.6+ MVs cannot be created against a view, instead summary redirection is used (see Table 15–3).

15.1.3.4 Refreshing summary dataThe data in summary tables and MVs must be maintained to keep all of the summary tables and MVs consistent. If the database changes often, summary tables and MVs need to be refreshed accordingly to keep their data current with the underlying database. With a prop-erly maintained set of summary tables or MVs, query results are accurate, regardless of the table or MV being used.

15.1.4 Summary Redirection

15.1.4.1 Summary redirection or query rewrite in Discoverer Plus?When you run a query in Discoverer Plus the results will be returned either from the detail tables or from a summary table/MV.

The following conditions regarding database versions also apply:

■ Summary redirection With pre-Oracle 8.1.6 databases Discoverer Plus redirects the query to a suitable sum-mary table.

■ Query rewriteWith Oracle 8.1.6+ databases Discoverer Plus sends the query to the database and the database decides whether a suitable MV exists for the query. If one does exist, the data-base rewrites the query to use the MV.

Both summary redirection and query rewrite are transparent to the user. Both provide exactly the same results as queries that run against the detail tables but return the results in far less

Table 15–3 Registering External Summaries Against A Table Or View in Oracle 8.1.6+

Registering against a table Registering against a view

Where an external summary is registered against a table, a MV definition is created. The MV definition is used for the server’s SQL rewrite.

Where an external summary is registered against a view a MV is not created. Summaries behave in the same manner as pre-8.1.6 Discov-erer summary management, that is Discoverer redirection is used (see Section 15.1.4, “Sum-mary Redirection”).

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time. This depends on whether or not you have set the option of whether to use summaries or not in Discoverer Plus or Discoverer 4i Viewer (this setting can be defined in Discoverer Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer).

15.1.4.2 OverviewSummary Redirection describes the process of redirecting a query to use a summary table or MV rather than the detail data. Discoverer Plus performs this process automatically against pre-8.1.6 databases. The server performs this process against 8.1.6+ databases (by rewriting the query to a MV).

A query redirected to a summary table or MV can return results in a few seconds. The same query directed against the detail data tables may require a three-or four-table join and an aggregation over thousands or millions of rows, and thus would take considerably longer. Both queries, however, would produce the same results.

The net result is accurate results and quick response times.

For further information about the rules regarding 8.1.6 MV server rewrite scenarios refer to the Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76994-01.

Discoverer Plus can only use Summary Redirection if all of the following prerequisites are met.

The following prerequisites apply to pre-8.1.6 databases only unless otherwise specified:

1. All the Items specified in a query must either:

■ exist in a single Summary Combination, or

■ be able to be joined to a summary table via foreign keys that exist in a Summary Combination.

In the case of Derived Items (see Chapter 12.1.1.1, “Derived Items” for information about Derived Items), it is not sufficient to include the elements used to create the Derived Items in a Summary Combination; you must include the Derived Items them-selves.

In the case of Items in Complex Folders (see Chapter 6.2.2.1, “What is a Complex Folder?” for information about Complex Folder), it is not sufficient to include the Items from the source Folders in a Summary Combination; you must include the Items from the Complex Folders themselves.

2. All the Join paths specified in the query (see Chapter 11, “Joins” for further details) must match those specified in the same Summary Combination that satisfies the previ-ous prerequisite.

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This ensures that the result set of data in the summary is the same as that in the detail. The exception in this case is that queries can be defined that use fewer Joins than those specified when the summary table was created, provided that you clear Detail foreign keys can have NULL values on the Join Options dialog box (displayed by clicking Options… on the New Join or Edit Join dialog boxes).

3. The Summary Folder has the Available for Queries property set to Yes (applies to pre-8.1.6 and 8.1.6+ databases).

See Section 15.4, “Editing Summary Folder Properties” for more information.

4. The conditions specified on the Query Governor page of the Options dialog box in Discoverer Plus (Tools | Options) are met.

5. The user running the query has database SELECT access to the summary table.

To determine how your database system can benefit from Summary Redirection, use the Summary Wizard (specifying the summaries yourself) to recommend summaries based on previous queries. For a more detailed look at the query statistics option, see the business area named Query Statistics that you received with Discoverer. It includes a workbook for ana-lyzing query usage, the Items most frequently used in queries, the Folders containing the Items, and query execution times (applies to pre-8.1.6 and 8.1.6+ databases).

15.1.4.3 Viewing Summary Redirection in Discoverer PlusTo view the effect of summary redirection, use the SQL Inspector dialog (choose View | SQL Inspector) in Discoverer Plus.

The SQL Inspector dialog has two tabs, the SQL tab and the Execution Plan tab.

15.1.4.3.1 SQL tab

The SQL tab displays the SQL that Discoverer sends to the server.

15.1.4.3.2 Execution Plan tab

The Execution Plan tab displays the execution plan chosen by the server for the query request. The execution plan defines the sequence of operations the server performs to exe-cute the statement.

15.1.4.3.3 Viewing the SQL and Execution Plan with an 8.1.6+ database

When running Discoverer against an 8.1.6+ database the server controls redirection by rewriting the SQL to use a MV. If a server rewrite occurs, the server execution plan indi-cates the MV name.

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The SQL that Discoverer sends to the server can be viewed from the SQL tab in the SQL Inspector dialog in Discoverer Plus. The SQL rewritten by the server can be viewed on the Execution Plan tab in the SQL Inspector dialog in Discoverer Plus.

Figure 15–2 SQL tab displaying the SQL statement

In the above figure the SQL remains unchanged.

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Figure 15–3 Execution Plan tab displaying the execution plan (using a MV)

The MV is used by the RDBMS and is identified in the Execution Plan by the table name EUL4_MV{Identifier}

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15.1.4.3.4 Viewing the SQL with a pre-8.1.6 database (not using a MV)

When running against a pre-8.1.6 database Discoverer controls redirection to a summary table. The SQL can be viewed at the SQL tab and the server Execution Plan can be viewed on the Execution Plan tab in the SQL Inspector dialog in Discoverer Plus.

Figure 15–4 shows a crosstab worksheet of items from the Video Analysis folder (created as part of the tutorial (see Chapter 4, “Tutorial”) and the resulting SQL statement in the SQL Inspector dialog. The SQL statement shows that the summary table EUL4_SUM100750 is referenced. The table at the bottom of Figure 15–4 is taken from the Combinations | Prop-erties | Mappings page of the Edit Summary dialog box in Discoverer Administration Edi-tion and shows the database column mapping in the EUL4_SUM100750 summary table.

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Figure 15–4 Summary Redirection in Progress

Discoverer Plus automatically chooses the most appropriate summary table to process the query efficiently. This action is completely transparent to the user.

Figure 15–5 shows the same worksheet as before after the user has drilled down from Year to Month. Notice Discoverer Plus has redirected the second part of the query to EUL4_SUM100774 instead of EUL4_SUM100750.

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Figure 15–5 Summary Redirection in Progress

Figure 15–6 shows the same worksheet again, this time the user has drilled down from Region to City. Again, Discoverer Plus automatically chooses the most efficient summary tables for each part of the query.

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Figure 15–6 Summary Redirection in Progress

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15.1.5 An ExampleThis example consists of five tables, one of which has almost 70,000 records (see Figure 15–7). The schema and data are taken from the tutorial.

Figure 15–7 Example schema and data

Consider a query requiring the following items:

■ Region

■ Department

■ Year

■ SUM (Dollar_Profit)

This would require a five-table join and an aggregation of all matching rows in SALES_FACT (the table with almost 70,000 rows). Producing results to the query could take several minutes depending on the capability of the server.

On the other hand, if the query could be redirected to a single table that already contains the data for Region, Department, Year, and SUM (Dollar_Profit) (see Figure 15–8), then the query would produce an almost instantaneous response.

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Figure 15–8 Sample summary table

The sample summary table shown in Figure 15–8 stores the information needed by the query at the month level, and only has to be aggregated to the year level. Discoverer Plus knows it is faster to aggregate from the single table than from the six-table join and full table scan option.

15.2 Good Summary Folder DesignThis section applies specifically to Discoverer summary management with a pre-8.1.6 data-base. For information about operating against an 8.1.6+ database you may find it useful to refer to the Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76994-01.

15.2.1 Creating appropriate Summary CombinationsDesigning useful Summary Folders involves a trade off between the database space used to store the resulting summary tables and the required performance of queries. The key to good Summary Folder design is creating the most appropriate Summary Combinations for the pat-tern of system usage.

Consider Summary Combinations in two basic ways:

■ Summary Combinations that closely match popular and frequent queries

Summary Combinations for popular queries should include all the items and joins used in those queries. Because they may include text items, they may take up considerable database space, but they produce the fastest performance, because no Joins are done.

■ Summary Combinations that meet ad hoc, less-frequent queries

Summary Combinations for the more ad hoc environment (where queries are far less standardized) are typically based on different combinations of keys in the main fact table.

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For example, the columns of the two summary tables shown in Figure 15–9 are mapped to the appropriate Items in the Sales Fact Folder. Although TIME_KEY, PRODUCT_KEY and STORE_KEY are EUL Items hidden from the end user, you can still map the corresponding summary table columns to those Items.

Figure 15–9 Sample summary tables

Discoverer will join one of these tables to one or more of the dimension tables (STORE, PRODUCT, or FISCAL DATE) to obtain a quick answer. The requirement is that the target dimension table must be joined to the FACT table by Items defined in the EUL, and that the Summary Folder contains the foreign key items in the FACT folder.

If the user requests Product Category, Month, SUM(Dollar Profit), Discoverer will join EUL4_SUM200801 to PRODUCT and FISCAL DATE to obtain results. Discoverer knows about the foreign and primary keys between SALES_FACT and the two tables, and can apply them to EUL4_SUM200801.

15.2.2 Hints for setting up Summary FoldersBuilding Summary Combinations in “layers” is usually an efficient way to work:

■ For frequent queries, provide a number of Summary Combinations that combine only a few (three or four) axis items. Space is minimized and performance gains maximized.

■ For a wider variety of queries, provide a smaller number of Summary Combinations that combine a medium number of (five to seven) axis items. More space is required, but large performance gains are still realized. The larger number of Items in each Sum-mary Combination serve the wider variety of queries.

■ Provide one Summary Combination that contains all of the Items in the Summary Folder (as long as the total number is less than the number of Items in the source folder). This type of Summary Combination provides a “catch-all” summary table that works for any combination of Items. Although the speed of the query results are slower than the first two options in this list, performance is still considerably better than if the detailed tables are queried. Discoverer Administration Edition creates this Summary

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Combination automatically when you use the Summary Wizard (specifying the summaries yourself).

■ Include all data points in all of the Summary Combinations. Additional data points take up little extra room in the summary tables.

■ Include aggregates, with the possible exception of STDEV and VARIANCE, which are rarely used. Multiple aggregates don’t require much space and can improve perfor-mance significantly. Keep in mind that AVG requires the inclusion of SUM and COUNT, which Discoverer uses to calculate the average.

■ It is unnecessary to include Items at all levels in a hierarchy. If you include Items at the bottom level, queries that use Items higher up in the hierarchy can still use the sum-mary table. However, for this to work the Summary Folder must contain a foreign key to the Folder that contains the hierarchy. Creating a Summary Combination for all lev-els in a hierarchy improves performance, but the gain may be marginal. For example, the hierarchy from Year to Quarter only saves a 4:1 aggregation because quarters are added up to years.

15.2.3 Notes on when an expression will use a summary■ An expression such as SUM(Salary + Comm) will not use a summary even if SUM(Sal-

ary) and SUM(Comm) are available as summarized items. This occurs because SUM(Salary + Comm) is not relationally equal to SUM(Salary) + SUM(Comm). Because the results could be wrong, the expression will not be used.

■ You can query expressions such as SUM(Salary) * 12, and if SUM(Salary) is summa-rized it will use the summary.

■ Expressions that use SQL functions such as NVL(SUM(Comm),0) will use a summary if SUM(Comm) is available in a summary. An expression such as SUM(NVL(Comm,0)) will not use a summary, because no direct match exists between a part of the expression and the available summarized item, SUM(Comm).

15.3 How to create Summary FoldersThis section consists of the following topics:

■ 15.3.1 Prerequisites

■ 15.3.2 Creating Summary Folders Based on Items in the EUL

■ 15.3.3 Creating Summary Folders Based on Query Statistics

■ 15.3.4 Creating Summary Folders Based on External summary tables

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15.3.1 PrerequisitesTo be able to create summary folders, the following requirements must be met:

■ The database must support PL/SQL.

■ The DBMS_JOB package must be installed for scheduling summary creation and refresh. See Chapter 2.2.1, “Confirming that DBMS_JOBS is Installed”

■ The User ID that you intend to use to create the Summary Folders must have the follow-ing database privileges (see Chapter 2.2.2, “Privileges” for details about granting these privileges):

■ CREATE TABLE

■ CREATE VIEW

■ CREATE PROCEDURE

■ SELECT ON V_$PARAMETER

■ ANALYZE ANY (ASM)

■ CREATE/DROP/ALTER ANY MATERIALIZED VIEW (8.1.6+)

■ GLOBAL QUERY REWRITE (8.1.6+)

■ The User ID that you intend to use to create the Summary Folders must have sufficient quota in the tablespace for the summary tables to be created. See Chapter 2.2.3, “Deter-mining Tablespace Quotas”.

■ For external summaries, Discoverer does not need to create the summary table(s) as the user has already done this. The only prerequisite is that the EUL owner should be granted SELECT privilege on the underlying summary table(s) and this needs to be granted explicitly and not through a role.

15.3.2 Creating Summary Folders Based on Items in the EULThis section describes how to create managed Summary Folders based on Items in the EUL.

1. Start the Summary Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Summary toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Summary.

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■ Popup MenuRight-click an existing Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose New Summary… on the popup menu.

Figure 15–10 Summary Wizard Step 1 - Specify summaries yourself

2. Select the I want to specify the summaries myself option

3. Click Next.

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Figure 15–11 Summary Wizard Step 2 - From items in the EUL

4. Select the From items in the End User Layer option.

This option creates a Managed summary table. It is only available if the Summary Man-agement feature is enabled. See Section 2.2, “Summary Management,” for more infor-mation.

5. Click Next to display Summary Wizard: Step 3 (see Figure 15–12).

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Figure 15–12 Selecting Summary and Axis Items

6. Move the Items and Measures that you want to be included in the new Summary Folder from the Available items list to the Selected items list.

There are three ways of moving Items and Measures from one list to the other:

■ Drag and DropDrag one or more Items from one list to the other.

■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more Items in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an Item to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one Item or Measure at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Items.

Remember to include:

■ All aggregate functions for each data point.See Section 15.2, “Good Summary Folder Design” for more information.

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■ Items from Complex Folders (where necessary).See Section 15.1.4, “Summary Redirection” for more information.

■ Derived Items (where necessary).See Section 15.1.4, “Summary Redirection” for more information.

You can select any Axis Items and math functions, but if the Items are from different Folders, a Join must exist between the Folders.

7. Click Next to display Summary Wizard: Step 4 which enables you to define all the Summary Combinations you require for your new Summary Folder (see Figure 15–13).

Figure 15–13 Defining Summary Combinations

By default, the first Summary Combination (column 0) is a “catch all” Summary Combina-tion which includes all the Items selected in Summary Wizard: Step 3.

8. Add more Summary Combinations by clicking Add Combination.

Each Summary Combination is listed in its own numbered column.

9. Define the Items included in each Summary Combination by ticking or clearing the rel-evant check boxes.

For more information, see:

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■ Section 15.1.2, “Summary Combinations.”

■ Section 15.2, “Good Summary Folder Design.”

10. Click Estimate Space.

This helps you decide whether the performance gains offered by using the specified Summary Combinations are outweighed by the amount of tablespace they occupy.

11. Click OK.

12. Remove any unwanted Summary Combinations by selecting the relevant column num-ber and clicking Remove Combination.

13. Click Next to display the Summary wizard step 5 where you can schedule the refresh of this summary and specify the interval between subsequent automatic refreshes. (see Figure 15–14)

Note: You can view and edit database storage properties for the selected Summary Combination by clicking Storage Properties…. For more infor-mation, see Section 15.9, “Editing Database Storage Properties.”

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Figure 15–14 Refresh a Summary Folder

14. Select the Automatically refresh this Summary Folder, starting on check box.This enables you to specify the date, time and frequency of automatic refresh for this summary. Clear this check box if the data is static and will not change, or if you want to refresh the Summary Folder manually. To refresh manually, select the Summary Folder in the Summaries tab

15. Set the Date and Time you want the first refresh to run.

16. Set the Repeat every fields for the refresh interval you want.The refresh period you specify here is the period of time that will elapse before Discov-erer refreshes and updates the data. This refreshment pattern will persist until you change the specification.

17. Click Next to display the last page of the wizard, Summary Wizard: Step 6 (see Figure 15–15).

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Figure 15–15 Specifying general Summary Folder information

18. Specify a name and description for the Summary Folder.

19. Specify when you want to build this Summary Folder.

■ Click the Build immediately radio button when you have smaller summary tables, or when you need to build the Summary Folder right away, without relying on the scheduling capabilities of the database server.

■ Click the Build at radio button when you have larger summary tables which are best built at off-peak hours, then enter the time and date you want the Summary Folder build to run on the server.

20. Click Finish.

This creates the Summary Folder in the Business Area and the resulting summary tables or MVs (8.1.6+) in the database. The summary data is generated and the Summary Table/MV marked as Ready to use. For a Summary Folder with multiple Summary Combinations, the Summary Tables/MVs are generated in order with the summary tables/MVs with the largest number of Items generated first.

When the process is complete the new Summary Folder appears on the Summaries page of the work area.

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15.3.3 Creating Summary Folders Based on Query StatisticsThis section describes how to create a new Summary Folder based on query statistics. This saves time and work as you don’t have to choose the Items yourself.

1. Start the Summary Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Summary toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Summary.

■ Popup MenuRight-click an existing Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose New Summary… on the popup menu.

Figure 15–16 Summary Wizard Step 1 - Specify summaries yourself

2. Click I want to specify the summaries myself

3. Click Next

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Figure 15–17 Summary Wizard Step 2 - Using query performance statistics

4. Click Using query performance statistics.

This option creates a managed summary table/MV. It is only available if the Summary Management feature is enabled. See Section 2.2, “Summary Management,” for more information.

5. Click Next to display Summary Wizard: Step 3 (see Figure 15–18).

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Figure 15–18 Selecting a Query to be Summarized Based on Query Performance

This screen (Figure 15–18) is divided into three sections:

■ Section 1 enables you to specify search criteria to obtain statistics on query perfor-mance.

■ Section 2 shows queries that meet the search criteria.

■ Section 3 shows a selected query’s Folders, joins etc.

6. Specify the values in Section 1 that you want to use to search for previously run queries.

7. Click Search.

If the search time is significant, a progress bar is displayed.

All the queries that match the threshold values in section 1 are displayed in section 2. You may need to narrow or expand this list further by re-specifying the threshold val-ues.

If a query in the list uses items and measures that are already summarized, a cube icon appears against the query in the left-most column.

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To sort the list in section 2 on a column, click the relevant column heading.

8. Select the row that represents the query you want to summarize from the list in section 2.

This displays the query’s Folders, Joins, and Items in section 3.

9. Click Next.

This displays Summary Wizard: Step 4 (see Figure 15–19, “Selecting the items to include in the Summary Folder”) which enables you to select the Items to include in the Summary Folder. By default, the Selected Items list contains the Items and Mea-sures from the query you selected on the previous page.

Figure 15–19 Selecting the items to include in the Summary Folder

10. Move the Items and Measures, that you want to include in the new Summary Folder from the Available items list to the Selected items list.

There are three ways of moving Items and Measures from one list to the other:

■ Drag and DropDrag one or more Item or Measure from one list to the other.

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■ Include / Exclude buttonsSelect one or more Item or Measure in a list and then click either the Include (right arrow) or Exclude (left arrow) button.

■ Double-clickDouble-click an Item or Measure to move it from one list to the other.

To select more than one Item or Measure at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Items.

Remember to include:

■ All aggregate functions for each data point.See Section 15.2, “Good Summary Folder Design” for more information.

■ Items from Complex Folders (where necessary).See Section 15.1.4, “Summary Redirection” for more information.

■ Derived Items (where necessary).See Section 15.1.4, “Summary Redirection” for more information.

You can select any Axis Items and math functions, but if the Items are from different Folders, a Join must exist between the Folders.

11. Click Next.

This displays Summary Wizard: Step 5 which enables you to define all the Summary Combinations you require for your new Summary Folder (see Figure 15–20).

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Figure 15–20 Defining Summary Combinations

By default, the first Summary Combination (column 0) is a “catch all” Summary Com-bination which includes all the Items selected in Summary Wizard: Step 4.

12. Add more Summary Combinations by clicking Add Combination.

Each Summary Combination is listed in its own numbered column.

13. Define the Items included in each Summary Combination by selecting or clearing the relevant check boxes.

For more information, see:

■ Section 15.1.2, “Summary Combinations.”

■ Section 15.2, “Good Summary Folder Design.”

14. Click Estimate Space.

This helps you decide whether the performance gains offered by using the specified Summary Combinations are outweighed by the amount of tablespace they occupy.

15. Click OK.

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16. Remove any unwanted Summary Combinations by selecting the relevant column num-ber and clicking Remove Combination.

17. Click Next to display the Summary wizard step 6 where you can schedule the first refresh of this summary and specify the interval between subsequent automatic refreshes. (see Figure 15–21).

Figure 15–21 Manage the refresh of a Summary Folder

18. Select the Automatically refresh this Summary Folder, starting on check box.This enables you to specify the date, time and frequency of automatic refresh for this summary. Clear this check box if the data is static and will not change, or if you want to refresh the Summary Folder manually. To refresh manually, select the Summary Folder in the Summaries tab

Note: You can view and edit database storage properties for the selected Summary Combination by clicking Storage Properties…. For more infor-mation, see Section 15.9, “Editing Database Storage Properties.”

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19. Set the Date and Time when you want the first refresh to begin.

20. Set the Repeat every fields for the refresh interval you want.The refresh period you specify here is the period of time that will elapse before Discov-erer refreshes and updates the data. This refreshment pattern will persist until you change the specification.

21. Click Next to display the last page of the wizard, Summary Wizard: Step 7 (see Figure 15–22).

Figure 15–22 Specifying general Summary Folder information

22. Specify a name and description for the Summary Folder.

23. Specify when you want to build this Summary Folder.

■ Click the Build immediately radio button when you have smaller summary tables, or when you need to build the Summary Folder right away without relying on the scheduling capabilities of the database server.

■ Click the Build at: radio button when you have larger summary tables which are best built at off-peak hours. Then enter the time and date you want the Summary Folder build to run on the server.

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24. Click Finish.

This creates the Summary Folder in the Business Area and the resulting summary tables in the database. The summary data is generated and the summary table marked as Ready to use. For a Summary Folder with multiple Summary Combinations, the summary tables are gen-erated in order with the summary tables with the largest number of Items generated first.

When the process is complete the new Summary Folder appears on the Summaries page of the work area.

15.3.4 Creating Summary Folders Based on External summary tablesThis section describes how to create a new Summary Folder based on external summary tables or Views.

For the privileges required to create summary folders see Section 15.3.1, “Prerequisites”.

1. Start the Summary Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Summary toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Summary.

■ Popup MenuRight-click an existing Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose New Summary… on the popup menu.

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Figure 15–23 Summary Wizard Step 1 - Specify summaries yourself

2. Click I want to specify the summaries myself

3. Click Next

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Figure 15–24 Summary Wizard Step 2 - Registering an external summary

4. Click Registering an external summary table.

This registers an existing summary table created by another application. When running against an 8.1.6+ database this also creates a Materializeed View

For more information about external summary tables, see Section 15.1.3.2, “Managed versus external summary tables/MVs.”

5. Click Next to display the Summary Wizard: Step 3 (see Figure 15–25).

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Figure 15–25 Selecting an External summary table and Mapping Items

6. Click Select to display the Choose table or view dialog box.

Figure 15–26 Selecting the database and external summary table

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7. Select the database (from the drop-down list) that contains the external summary table that you want to register.

8. Select the external summary table that you want to register with Discoverer Administra-tion Edition.

9. Click OK.

This displays all the database columns found in the external summary table in the Mapped items list.

Note: When connected to Oracle 8.1.6 or above Oracle prevents a user from registering an external summary over a database link. This is because the database does not allow a Materialized View (MV) to be created over a database link.

However, this may be achieved by creating a view in the database that the EUL is in and referencing the external summary in the view. This view may then be registered within Discoverer as an external summary.

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Figure 15–27 Mapping database columns with items in the EUL

10. Map each database column to the corresponding Item in the EUL.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Drag and DropDrag an Item from the Available Items list onto the corresponding database col-umn in the Mapped Items list.

■ Include buttonSelect a database column in the Mapped items list and the corresponding Item in the Available items list and click the Include (right arrow) button.

TIP: If a Folder in the EUL contains more than one Item that corresponds to a database column in the external summary table, you drag and drop the Folder from the Available items list on to one of the corresponding rows in the Mapped items list. Discoverer Administration Edition will attempt to map the correct Items to the database columns by examining the names of the Items in the Folder.

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■ Double-clickSelect a database column in the Mapped items list and double-click the corre-sponding Item in the Available Items list.

For more information on the fields on this page of the Summary Wizard, click Help.

11. Click Next to display the Summary Wizard: Step 4 (see Figure 15–28).

Figure 15–28 Setting external summary refresh information

12. Select the Manage the refresh of this summary check box if you want Discoverer to manage the refresh of this external summary table.

13. Select the Automatically refresh this Summary Folder, starting on: check box to schedule the refresh of this summary and specify the interval between subsequent auto-matic refreshes of this external summary.

Note: To remove the mapping between a database column in the external summary table and an Item in the EUL, select the relevant row in the Mapped items list and click the Exclude button (left arrow).

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14. Click Next to display the last page of the wizard, Summary Wizard: Step 5 (see Figure 15–29).

Figure 15–29 Specifying General Summary Folder Information

15. Specify a name and description for the Summary Folder.

16. Click Finish.

This creates the Summary Folder in the Business Area and finishes registering the external summary table.

When the process is complete the new Summary Folder appears on the Summaries page of the work area.

15.4 Editing Summary Folder PropertiesSummary Folder properties are accessible through Summary Properties dialog boxes. This section shows you how to enhance the user’s view of the data by editing Summary Folder properties. Figure 15–30 shows an example Summary Properties dialog box.

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Figure 15–30 Summary Properties Dialog Box with the General Page Selected

15.4.1 Editing the Properties of a Single Summary FolderThis section describes how to edit a Summary Folder’s properties.

1. Open the Summary Folder’s Properties dialog box.

There are four ways to do this:

■ Double-clickDouble-click the Summary Folder on the Summaries page.

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and click the Properties tool-bar icon ( )

■ MenuClick the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose Edit | Properties.

2. Make your changes as required.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

3. Click OK.

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15.4.2 Editing the Properties of Multiple Summary FoldersThe following steps show you how to set common properties for more than one Summary Folder at a time:

1. On the Summaries page, select all of the Summary Folders whose properties you want to edit.(To select more than one Summary Folder, hold down the Ctrl button while you click each Summary Folder that you want to select.)

2. Display the Summary Properties dialog box.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Summary Folders and choose Properties on the popup menu.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Properties toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Edit | Properties.

All properties that are common to each of the selected Summary Folders are displayed. If the data for a field is not common to each of the selected Summary Folders, the field is blank.

3. Make your changes as required.Any changes you make here will be applied to all of the selected Summary Folders.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

15.5 Editing Summary Folders

15.5.1 Editing a Summary FolderThis section describes how to edit an existing Summary Folder.

Summary Folders can be edited whether they are valid or broken. A Summary Folder is con-sidered broken when the summary table, MV or detail tables cannot be used. To find out more about why a Summary Folder is broken, use the View | Validate Folders option. You

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might want to edit a broken summary to investigate the composition of its Summary Folders and remove any broken folders.

Valid managed summaries are represented by a cube with a clock face ( ) valid managed summaries are represented by a cube ( ). Broken summaries are represented by a warning triangle ( ).

1. Select the Summaries tab.

2. Select the plus symbol ( ) next to a Business Area to display its available Summaries ( ).

3. Display the Edit Summary dialog box (see Figure 15–31).

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose Edit Sum-mary… on the popup menu.

■ MenuClick the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose Edit | Edit…

4. (Optional) Select the Tools | Options | Validate folders option to provide diagnostics at the folder level if required.

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Figure 15–31 The Edit Summary Dialog Box with the General Page Selected

5. Edit the Summary Folder as required.

The Edit Summary dialog box is divided into four pages. Each page corresponds to a page of the Summary Wizard:

■ Choose ItemsUse this page to add or delete the Summary and Axis Items.

■ CombinationsUse this page to edit, add, or delete Summary Combinations. You can also use this page to alter the names and physical storage properties of summary tables.

■ RefreshUse this page to set the refresh and refresh interval of the summary folder.

■ GeneralUse this page to edit the name, description and view the build time of the Sum-mary Folder.

For more information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

6. Click OK.If a summary remains broken ( ) following an edit, any modifications made in Dis-

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coverer are not written to the summary table or MV. Where a summary is valid ( or ) following an edit, any modifications made in Discoverer are also written to the sum-

mary table/MV.

15.6 Refreshing Summary FoldersThis section describes what happens when a Summary Folder is refreshed, how to manually refresh one or more Summary Folders and why you need to refresh after you import/export across database versions (i.e. from pre-8.1.6 to 8.1.6+).

15.6.1 What Happens When a Summary Folder is Refreshed?With an 8.1.6+ database the server’s own refresh mechanism is used (this can be an incre-mental refresh) depending on your refresh settings.

Whenever a Summary Folder is refreshed, the following actions are performed by Discov-erer:

■ The Summary Folder is marked as unavailable.

■ With an 8.1.6+ database the MV associated with summary is reconciled against its EUL metadata and if necessary the definition is updated.

■ All existing summary data that is about to be refreshed is deleted.

■ The summary data is regenerated and inserted into the corresponding summary tables.

■ The Summary Folder is marked as available.

15.6.1.1 Manually Refreshing a Summary Folder1. On the Summaries page, select the Summary Folder(s) that you want to refresh.

To select more than one Summary Folder, hold down the Ctrl button while you click each Summary Folder that you want to select.)

2. Refresh the Summary Folder(s).

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Summary Folders and choose Refresh Summary on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Tools | Refresh Summaries.

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This opens the Refresh Summaries dialog box (see Figure 15–32).

Figure 15–32 Refresh summaries

3. Choose how you want to refresh the selected Summary Folder(s)

■ Select the Refresh the summary immediately radio buttonThis option is useful when you have smaller summary tables, or when you need to refresh the Summary Folder right away, without relying on the scheduling capabili-ties of the database server. Discoverer Administration Edition displays a progress bar enabling you to monitor the refresh.

■ Select the Schedule the refresh at a later time radio buttonThis option submits a job to the queue using DBMS_JOB and immediately returns you to Discoverer Administration Edition (rather than waiting for the refresh to be complete) enabling you to continue working. This option is useful when you have larger summary tables (which are best built at off-peak hours).

Perform incremental refresh (Oracle 8.1.6+ only)

During a summary refresh with pre-Oracle 8.1.6 databases, a full table scan is carried out whereas with Oracle 8.1.6+ the option exists to carry out an incremental refresh (which is faster).

■ Select the Perform incremental refresh check box refresh the summary incremen-tally if allowed.

■ Clear the Perform incremental refresh check box to refresh the summary using a full table scan.

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For further information on the conditions required for incremental refresh please refer to Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76994-01.

15.6.1.2 Refresh following Import/Export across pre-8.1.6 and 8.1.6+ database versions

15.6.1.2.1 From a pre-8.1.6 to an 8.1.6+ database

When you export a Business Area with Summary Folders from a pre-8.1.6 database and then import it into an 8.1.6 database, MVs need to be created for these Summary Folders. For the server to create the MVs, you must refresh the Summary Folders in Discoverer.

15.6.1.2.2 From an 8.1.6+ to a pre-8.1.6 database

When you export a Business Area with Summary Folders from a 8.1.6+ database and then import it into a pre-8.1.6 database, Discoverer needs to be able to convert these Summary Folders to summary tables instead of to MVs. For Discoverer to do this, you must refresh the Summary Folders.

15.7 Viewing the Status of Managed summary tablesThis section describes how to display the status of managed summary tables.

1. Select the Summary Folder (on the Summaries page of the work area) that contains the summary table you are interested in.

2. Display the Edit Summary dialog box (see Figure 15–31).

There are two ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click the Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose Edit Sum-mary… on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Edit…

Note: Sometimes it is useful to refresh a summary after some external event has completed, such as the loading of data into a warehouse. You can use the Command Line option to refresh a summary from a batch command file to do this. See Appendix D.1 for more information.

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3. Click the Combinations tab.

4. Select the numbered column heading for the Summary Combination that corresponds to the summary table you are interested in.

The summary table’s status is shown in the Status Bar at the bottom of the dialog box.

Additional diagnostic information can be achieved when in the Summaries tab by using the View | Validate Folders option. This will display errors where applicable (see Chapter 6.9, “Validating Folders”).

For more information on the possible status messages, click Help.

15.8 Deleting Summary FoldersThis section describes how to delete Summary Folders.

1. On the Summaries page, select the Summary Folder(s) that you want to delete.

To select more than one Summary Folder at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the Summary Folders.

2. Delete the Summary Folder(s):

There are three ways to do this:

■ Popup MenuRight-click one of the selected Summary Folder(s) and choose Delete Sum-mary… on the popup menu.

■ MenuChoose Edit | Delete.

■ KeyboardPress Delete.

This opens the Confirm Delete dialog box.

3. Click Impact.This displays the Impact dialog box that shows any other objects that may be affected by the deletion (Figure 15–33). The Impact dialog box helps you to make the right choice.

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Figure 15–33 The Impact Dialog Box

4. When you have finished reviewing the impact this action will have, click OK.

5. If you still want to delete the selected Summary Folder(s), click Yes.

15.9 Editing Database Storage PropertiesThis section describes how to edit the various database storage properties associated with Managed summary tables. Editing database storage properties is an advanced topic that gives you control of how Summary Combinations are stored in the database.

1. Select the Summary Combination whose database storage properties you want to edit.

There are two places where you can do this:

■ On the Combinations page of the Summary Wizard when you are creating a new Summary Folder (specifying the summaries yourself).

■ On the Combinations page of the Edit Summary dialog box when you want to edit an existing Summary Combination.

2. Click Properties

This displays the Database Storage Properties dialog box (see Figure 15–34).

The Database Storage Properties dialog is divided into a number of tabs:

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Figure 15–34 Database Storage Properties - Properties tab

■ Properties tabThis page enables you to view and set database storage properties and the sum-mary table name.

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Figure 15–35 Database storage properties dialog - Mappings tab

■ Mappings tabThis page enables you to view the mappings between the Items in the Summary Combination and the columns in the summary table.

Figure 15–36 Database storage properties dialog - Tablespaces tab

■ Tablespaces tabThis page enables you to view storage attributes for available tablespaces, includ-

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ing the available space in each tablespace. This information can help you to select a tablespace on the Properties page.

Figure 15–37 Database storage properties dialog - 8i Properties tab

■ 8i Properties tab (displayed with Oracle 8.1.6 databases and above)This page enables you to view and set database storage properties which are spe-cific to Oracle 8.1.6 and above.

3. Edit the database storage properties for the selected Summary Combination as required.

For information on the fields on this dialog box, click Help.

4. Click OK.

15.9.0.3 Refresh Options (Oracle 8.1.6+ only)Oracle 8.1.6+ databases support incremental refresh, when available, enabling you to work with large data warehouses/databases. Parallelism is also supported for the refresh operation.

For further information on the conditions required for incremental refresh please refer to Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76994-01.

■ Refresh TypeIncremental - Only rows that have changed in the master tables will be applied to the

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summary tables. Full - The summary is entirely recalculated from the detail tables.

■ Refresh (Mode)On Demand - Refresh is either manually carried out or through scheduled refreshes.On Commit - Refresh occurs every time detail tables are updated. There will be no need to schedule refreshes and the scheduling option of the Summary Wizard will not be enabled.Restrictions apply as to when Refresh On Commit may be performed. Please refer to Oracle8i Data Warehousing Guide Release 2 (8.1.6) Part Number A76994-01 for a complete description.

■ ParallelismAllows a degree of parallelism to be chosen for the refresh option.

■ Incremental LoadRead only property that provides you with an indication of the load type required for incremental refresh support.

For further details click Help

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Automated Summary Management

This chapter describes how to automatically create and maintain summary folders using Dis-coverer’s Automated Summary Management (ASM) feature. To understand summary fold-ers and learn how Discoverer allows you to specify and maintain them yourself see Chapter 15, “Summaries”.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 16.1 Introduction

■ 16.1.1 What is Automated Summary Management?

■ 16.1.2 How does ASM work?

■ 16.1.3 When to use ASM or create summaries manually?

■ 16.1.4 Running ASM

■ 16.1.5 Running ASM after Bulk Load

■ 16.1.6 The ASM Policy (User Defined Constraints and Options)

■ 16.2 Running ASM using the Summary Wizard

■ 16.2.1 Prerequisites

■ 16.2.2 Launch the Summary Wizard - Step 1

■ 16.2.3 Analyze folders - Step 2

■ 16.2.4 Allocate space for summaries - Step 3

■ 16.2.5 Recommended summaries dialog

■ 16.2.6 Change default settings dialog

■ 16.2.7 Refreshing ASM summaries

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16.1 IntroductionDiscoverer is able to create summaries that improve query performance in Discoverer Plus (formerly known as Discoverer User Edition). Summaries represent combinations of pre-aggregated data held in summary tables or Materialized Views (see Chapter 15.1.1.1, “Sum-mary tables or Materialized Views?”). Queries in Discoverer Plus can be redirected to the summary data when that data satisfies the conditions of the query. This means that summary data is quickly accessed without having to perform a new query on the database.

By using summaries Discoverer greatly reduces the time taken to display data in Discoverer Plus and provides a significant improvement in query performance.

In this chapter the term summary refers to pre-aggregated data held in a summary table or Materialized View (8.1.6+ databases) and is represented in Discoverer as a summary folder.

16.1.1 What is Automated Summary Management?Automated Summary Management (ASM) delivers fast performing queries while greatly reducing the amount of time spent on administration.

ASM simplifies the process of summary creation and maintenance by offering you a fully automated solution to summary management. When run periodically ASM can automati-cally refine the set of summaries it creates using query statistics gathered by Discoverer from user queries. ASM also provides guidance should you wish to control the specification of default values during summary creation/maintenance.

Discoverer provides two ways to create summaries:

■ Define the summary items yourselfSee Chapter 15, “Summaries” for further details on how you manually create and main-tain summaries in Discoverer

■ Let ASM define summaries for youASM does this by analyzing your Discoverer EUL and database tables to find the opti-mum summary configuration.

16.1.2 How does ASM work?ASM analyzes your tables, uses query statistics (when available) and default values (the summary policy) to determine how summaries are created for you. ASM is able to automati-cally create and maintain the best set of summaries based on this combination.

ASM converts your summary policy into a list of recommended summary folder definitions. You can either implement these recommendations without further intervention (the actual set of summary tables dynamically adjusts with system usage) or execution can be stalled until you have specifically sanctioned one or more of them.

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ASM will require some table space to create your summaries but you can adjust how much space is used via the Summary Wizard (see Section 16.2.4, “Allocate space for summaries - Step 3”).

16.1.3 When to use ASM or create summaries manually?If you want Discoverer to automatically create and maintain your summaries you should select the ASM option: Have Discoverer recommend and create the best summaries from the Summary Wizard.

If you want to control the composition of your summaries then you should select the manual option: I want to specify the summaries myself from the Summary Wizard. See Chapter 15, “Summaries” for further details.

16.1.4 Running ASM

16.1.4.1 How often do I need to run ASM?ASM should be run periodically as it is an iterative process, though you shouldn’t need to alter your ASM policy (see Figure 16.1.6, “The ASM Policy (User Defined Constraints and Options)”).

Running ASM periodically will ensure that ASM dynamically changes the set of summaries it creates or deletes to best fit your query usage patterns.

16.1.4.2 How do I run ASM?ASM can be run in three ways:

■ Using the command lineEnables you to run ASM immediately without Discoverer running

■ Using a batch file and the scheduler (this also employs the command line)Enables you to type an ASM command into a file, then set the scheduler to run the file at pre-determined interval(s).

■ Using the Summary Wizard

16.1.4.3 Using the command lineThe advantage of using the command line is that Discoverer does not need to be running at the time. This reduces any intervention required by you to a minimum (see Appendix D.9.15, “Running Automated Summary Management (ASM)” for further details about how to run ASM via the command line).

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16.1.4.4 Using a batch file and the schedulerYou can run ASM through the batch file/scheduler facility provided by your operating sys-tem. This way you specify when you want ASM to run including the scheduled intervals when you want to repeat the process.

By using the command line within a batch file the process can be run automatically over-night or on a weekends. This allows the system to maintain itself.

Before you can run ASM from a batch file you first need to create a file suitable to run in batch mode (e.g. asmsched.bat). You then need to enter the command line details as text into the batch file.

To learn how to schedule a batch file refer to your operating system documentation or help. For details of ASM command line syntax see Appendix D.9.15, “Running Automated Sum-mary Management (ASM)”.

16.1.4.5 Using the Summary WizardYou need to connect to Discoverer as the EUL owner (i.e. the schema owner of the EUL tables) before using the Summary Wizard and ASM option.

ASM generates its own list of recommendations, which you can preview. You then accept or decline either all or a subset of these recommendations (see Section 16.2, “Running ASM using the Summary Wizard” for information on using the wizard).

16.1.5 Running ASM after Bulk LoadDuring the Bulk Load process the Load Wizard gives you the option (a check box) to create summaries (by running ASM) based on the Folders created during Bulk Load (see Chapter 7.2.2.6, “Load Wizard: Step 4, Automatic Attributes”). If you select this option suit-able summaries will be created after Bulk Load.

NOTE: ASM works on the EUL as a whole, not just currently selected business areas which means it can use the folders from all business areas in the current EUL.

NOTE: In order for ASM to be able to analyze folders, permission must be granted to the EUL owner (the ASM user) to analyze either specific fold-ers or ‘all’ folders (see your database administrator for details).

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When ASM is run after a Bulk Load the summaries created are derived from table analysis and summary policy (see Section 16.1.6, “The ASM Policy (User Defined Constraints and Options)”). Query statistics are not available in this instance.

You do not need to make any changes to summary policy settings for a Bulk Load ASM pro-cess; default settings are used if no changes are made to the ASM policy. Once changes are made, these settings then become the defaults. The minimum required information for an ASM policy is a tablespace name and an allocated amount of disc space. The table space is the user’s given tablespace, and a standard/default amount of disc space is used.

16.1.6 The ASM Policy (User Defined Constraints and Options)

16.1.6.1 OverviewYou can control how ASM behaves and what summaries it produces through a range of user defined constraints and options known as the ASM policy.

The ASM policy is divided into space options and advanced settings. In many cases you will only need to set the space options.

You may never need to customize a policy at all as the default settings are designed to pro-vide a balanced range of values to ensure that suitable summaries are created and main-tained without your intervention.

16.1.6.2 Space optionsThese determine the amount of system resources set aside for ASM. (see Section 16.2.4, “Allocate space for summaries - Step 3”)

16.1.6.2.1 Allocate space This defines the maximum estimated space that can be used for the automatic generation of summary data and is specified in terms of a Tablespace and then further qualified as an allotted quota within the Tablespace.

■ Total KbytesSpace is limited to a specific number of bytes in the specified table space.

NOTE: Where Discoverer has been in use for a while, query statistics (gathered by Discoverer) will be available. ASM is usually run through using the Summary Wizard or the Command Line and will use the avail-able query statistics to create more suitable summaries.

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■ Default valuesThe default value is set as half of the remaining space within the default tablespace for the current user

Performance benefit is displayed, for the allocated space selected, in the form of a chart showing space verses performance gain.

16.1.6.3 Advanced settingsThe preset default values found within Advanced Settings enable ASM to create and main-tain the best set of summaries for your needs. If you want you can further refine the default setting to alter how ASM creates and maintains your summaries.

The Advanced Settings define which objects in the database to consider for inclusion in the ASM process and influence what ASM produces (see Section 16.2.6, “Change default set-tings dialog”).

The Advanced Settings consist of the following areas:

■ Analysis

■ Folders and users

■ Query usage

■ Deletion

16.1.6.3.1 Analysis Enables you to modify some of the settings related to table analy-sis, which is a requirement for ASM (see Section 16.2.6.1, “Analyze tab”).

16.1.6.3.2 Folders and users Enables the following EUL objects to be filtered for inclusion in the ASM process.

Selections can be based on:

■ folders (see Section 16.2.6.2, “Folders tab”)

■ users (see Section 16.2.6.3, “Query User tab”)the user who issued the query

The default selects all folders and all users for the current EUL to be available for the ASM process.

16.1.6.3.3 Query usage This enables filtering of sets of previously run queries which can help determine previous system performance. These are based on characteristics of the workload statistics:

Options available (see Section 16.2.6.4, “Query Usage tab”):

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■ All queries

■ Queries run since last execution of ASM

■ Specific queries, meeting one or more of the following conditions:

■ Queries that are less than x days oldWhen you want to create summaries based on recently run queries

■ Queries that have a number of executions greater than x per day/monthWhen you want to create summaries based on frequently run queries.

■ Queries that have an average elapsed timer greater than x seconds.When you want to create summaries for slow queries

16.1.6.3.4 Deletion This enables Summary Folders to be deleted based on specified cri-teria.

16.1.6.4 Performance versus coverage(see Section 16.2.6.4, “Query Usage tab”)

During folder analysis (see Section 16.2.3, “Analyze folders - Step 2”) this control influ-ences whether the constructed summary data favors predetermined (performance) or ad hoc (coverage) queries.

For a performance based approach ASM would for example, recommend a list of exact match summaries, corresponding one-to-one with previously run queries (where ASM deter-mines there is a benefit). For example, this could result in a list of say, five summaries.

For a coverage based approach ASM might combine the five exact-match summaries to form fewer but more general summaries. These would provide benefit not only for the five previously run queries but also for a greater number of other potential queries (i.e. there would be a gain in overall coverage).

If the setting is predetermined, the summaries maintained by ASM will be optimized to reflect historical queries, that is, the summaries will give great performance improvements where queries stay much the same over time.

On the other hand if the setting is ad hoc then combining summaries, as described above, will increase the coverage of a summary. This will give a potential performance gain for

Performance Default Coverage(Predetermined) (ad hoc)

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queries that have never been run before, but are closely related to previous system usage. However, the cost of this is that the individual performance gain for the previously run que-ries may not be as high.

The setting of this constraint should therefore be left to your own discretion.

The ASM wizard (see Section 16.2.6.4, “Query Usage tab”) represents the above control as a sliding bar, with a choice between Predetermined and Ad hoc query usage. Moving the slider to the Ad hoc end of the bar means that most of your users perform principally ad hoc queries (as with coverage above), and moving the slider to the Predetermined end means that most of your users perform principally predetermined queries (as with performance above).

The default value used for analysis will balance performance with coverage.

16.2 Running ASM using the Summary WizardThis section describes how you use ASM to create Summary Folders. The summaries cre-ated by the ASM process will be exactly the same as other summaries.

16.2.1 PrerequisitesTo create summary folders in Discoverer you need certain privileges (see Chapter 15.3.1, “Prerequisites” for the privileges required to create summary folders).

■ In addition to the privileges referenced above, the user ID that you intend to use to cre-ate the summary folders must also have the following database privileges (see Chapter 2.2.2, “Privileges” for details about granting privileges):

■ ANALYZE ANY

See Section 16.2.3.1, “When some folders cannot be analyzed” for the reasons why some folders cannot be analyzed).

■ You must connect as the EUL owner.

■ If you are using an Oracle 8.1.6 database, your folders must not contain SET operators, such as UNION, UNION ALL, MINUS, INTERSECT etc. If ASM finds a folder that contains a SET operator, the following message is displayed: Database Error ORA-30370- set operators are not supported in this context. Summaries will not be created for that folder.

NOTE: For more information about Oracle Set Operators, refer to refer to the section Set Operators in the Oracle 8i SQL Reference, Release 2 (8.1.6), Part Number A76989-01.

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16.2.2 Launch the Summary Wizard - Step 11. Start the Summary Wizard.

There are three ways to do this:

■ Toolbar IconClick the New Summary toolbar icon ( )

■ MenuChoose Insert | Summary.

■ Popup MenuRight-click an existing Summary Folder on the Summaries page and choose New Summary… on the popup menu.

The following dialog is displayed:

Figure 16–1 Summary Wizard Step 1 - Choose between ASM and manual summary creation

The above dialog gives you two choices:

Have Discoverer recommend and create the best summaries for youThis displays the ASM wizard (see Figure 16–2, “Summary Wizard Step 2 - Analyze Fold-ers”)

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I want to specify the summaries myselfThis displays the Summary Wizard step 2 for building new summary folders, where three ways of creating summaries are displayed (see Chapter 15.3, “How to create Summary Fold-ers”).

2. Click Have Discoverer recommend and create the best summaries.

3. Click Next.

16.2.3 Analyze folders - Step 2In order for Discoverer to work out the best summaries to create, it needs to analyze every folder that is to be involved in the summary process. Discoverer uses available query statis-tics (gathered by Discoverer), table structure information and summary policy details to cre-ate suitable summaries. Depending on the number and size of folders to be analyzed this could take a little time to complete. Discoverer allows you to start and stop this process at your own pace.

Figure 16–2 Summary Wizard Step 2 - Analyze Folders

Your progress will be displayed during the analyze process.

1. Click the Start button to begin the analysis:

■ For further information on advanced settings see Section 16.2.6, “Change default set-tings dialog”

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■ To pause the analysis, click the Stop buttonYou might want to pause the analysis to make changes to the default settings

■ To resume the analysis, click the Continue buttonThe analysis always resumes from exactly the same point in the process at which the Stop button was clicked.

Folder analysis comprises four steps:

■ Step one checks the folders in the policy to see if they have already been analyzed:

Figure 16–3 Checking folders

■ Step two indicates that the folders are being analyzed:

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Figure 16–4 Analyzing folders

■ Step three indicates that the advice is being set up:

Figure 16–5 Setting up advice

■ Step four indicates that the analysis is complete:

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Figure 16–6 Analysis complete

2. When analysis is complete click Next to allocate space for summaries.

16.2.3.1 When some folders cannot be analyzedIf at the end of the “Setting up advice” step some folders cannot be analyzed then a dialog box appears (Figure 16–7, “Not Analyzed”) asking if you would like the offending folders to be removed from the policy.

Reasons why folders cannot be analyzed are listed below:

16.2.3.1.1 You do not have ANALYZE privileges for a given object/table

In order to ANALYZE a table, you need one of the following:

a. to be the owner of that table

b. to have general ANALYZE privileges for the database (e.g. via ‘grant ANALYZE any to me’)

Where one of the underlying tables that make up a folder does not fit the above rules, that folder will not be analyzed. This means that if one or more tables within a folder cannot be analyzed, the whole folder cannot be analyzed.

16.2.3.1.2 Where a folder is Invalid

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How you fix this depends on why a folder is marked as invalid.

To display the error message associated with an invalid folder go to View | Validate Folders.

16.2.3.1.3 You are trying to ANALYZE over a DB-Link

If a folder refers to a table that resides on a database accessed over a DB-Link then ANA-LYZE will fail. This operation is not supported in the Oracle Server.

16.2.3.1.4 When Discoverer cannot determine or access the full list of tables that constitute a folder.

A Discoverer folder can contain more than one underlying database table and/or view. Get-ting a full set of the underlying tables may be impossible. For example:

■ where a view is based upon a view and the ASM user has access to the top level view, but not to the referenced view underneath. This makes it impossible for the ASM user to see which database tables are actually used to make that view.

16.2.3.1.5 Where folders do not fully resolve to tables

This only applies to the server dynamic tables (e.g. the V$ tables, and many DBA_tables). Not all these views and tables resolve to physical tables; some of them are stored in mem-ory, thus they cannot be analyzed.

For example:

V$_LOCKS

Although you may run queries on this kind of table/view, in practice it makes more sense not to have summaries built on them as the summarized data would soon be out of date.

Figure 16–7 Not Analyzed

■ Click Yes to exclude the folders that could not be analyzed

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■ Click No to include them.

16.2.4 Allocate space for summaries - Step 3The next step of the wizard requires you to allocate space for summaries by specifying:

■ the tablespace in which to store summary data

■ the amount of space to allocate for summary data

Figure 16–8 Allocate space for summaries - space not yet selected

The graph plots the expected performance gain from allocating a certain amount of space for summaries.

The information is calculated and displayed here as a result of the folder analysis carried out in the previous step. Changes you make in the Advanced Settings dialog might cause Dis-coverer to recalculate the graph.

1. Select the tablespace in which to store summary data in the Tablespace to use for sum-maries list box

We recommend you place summaries in a separate tablespace specifically intended for sum-mary data. If such a tablespace does not exist, we strongly recommend you do not use the SYSTEM or TEMP tablespaces.

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2. Specify the amount of space to allocate for summary data in one of the following ways:

■ click the graph area and drag the pointer/red line to select the space you want to allocate for summaries

■ by specifying a figure in the Create summaries to fill field

Figure 16–9 Allocated space for summaries - space selected

3. (Optional) To view the summaries that ASM will create/remove for you click the Rec-ommended Summaries button (see Section 16.2.5, “Recommended summaries dia-log” for details).

4. (Optional) To display the Advanced Settings dialog click the Advanced Settings but-ton (see Section 16.2.6, “Change default settings dialog” for details)

NOTE: If there is insufficient available space displayed below the Tablespace to use for summaries field, this does not matter if you have set your tablespace to autoextend. With your tablespace set to autoex-tend the extra space needed will be added automatically to the database.

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5. Click Finish if you want to generate summary folders based on the current settings.This includes those in the Recommended summaries and/or Advanced settings dia-logs.

16.2.5 Recommended summaries dialogThis dialog lists the summaries which Discoverer recommends will be created for optimum performance gain given the space currently allocated.

Should you not wish to display this page but instead click the Finish button in one of the previous dialogs, the selected summaries will be created/removed as determined by the cur-rent ASM policy. The Recommended summaries dialog gives you a chance to view which summaries Discoverer intends to create/delete and change the included list by selecting some and deselecting others. Discoverer may mark existing summaries for deletion when they fall outside the threshold values of the current ASM policy.

Figure 16–10 Recommended summaries

Summaries recommended by Discoverer are displayed in Figure 16–10, “Recommended summaries”. When you first display this dialog, the summaries that Discoverer recommends for the allocated space are ticked. This means that should you click the Finish button in the main wizard the summaries which are ticked will be either be created or deleted depending on whether Create or Delete is displayed in the Action column. You can change which sum-maries are created/deleted by selecting or clearing check boxes from the list of recom-mended summaries.

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The right hand pane lists the currently selected summary’s components. In Figure 16–10, “Recommended summaries” the first summary in the list is based on a number of folders; details of these folders are displayed in the right hand pane.

The total space required for the selected summaries is displayed underneath.

The method used to derive the figure for the Total space required (in Figure 16–10, “Rec-ommended summaries”) from the list of recommended summaries is as follows:

■ The amount of space required is totalled and displayed in the Total space required field

■ Where summaries are to be deleted, the space displayed (in kb) will be ‘returned’ (i.e. made available) to be used by one of the other summaries listed. This will effectively reduce the Total space required by the sum of the kb of any summaries to be deleted.

16.2.6 Change default settings dialog

16.2.6.1 Analyze tabWhere there are many hundreds of folders to analyze, the analysis process can take some time. This tab gives you the ability to optimize the analysis.

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Figure 16–11 Change default settings - Analyze

How do you wish to analyze the selected folders?The default for this is Only analyze folders that have not already been analyzed. If you choose Analyze all folders regardless then every time you click Start/Continue in the Analyze dialog, all folders will be analyzed.

When would you like a folders analysis to expire?The default for this is 30 days. If you set this field to 30 days then any folder which was ana-lyzed over 30 days ago will be treated as if it had not been analyzed.

How would you like the analysis to be optimized?The default for this is Max Accuracy giving 100% analysis and enabling the broadest range of suitable summaries to be created by ASM. If you are using a very large data warehouse then this setting may cause analysis to take longer. Reducing the Accuracy/Speed measure above in no way affects the accuracy of a summary, it just reduces the range of summaries created by ASM.

If set to Max Speed then around 10% analysis will occur (this reduces the range of summa-ries created by ASM) but speed of analysis will improve.

16.2.6.2 Folders tabIn this tab you can select which folders to include in the ASM process. By default all fold-ers are included, so if your system has thousands of folders then it may take some time for

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them all to be analyzed. If so you can use this dialog to choose just the most important fold-ers (for instance the fact tables) which will improve the analysis time (due to having less folders to analyze).

Figure 16–12 Change default settings - Folders

The available folders are listed in the left hand list box, the included folders are in the right hand list box. To include a folder you can drag and drop between list boxes or you can use the buttons.

■ The > button will move the selected folder from Available into Included.

■ The < button will move the selected folder from Included into Available.

Folders that have already been analyzed are shown with a green tick in the folder icon.

16.2.6.3 Query User tabThis tab enables you to select one or more users, for the current EUL, to be available for the ASM process. If a single user is selected then the queries made by that user can be included with ASM only using the Query Performance Prediction statistics (QPP) generated for that user. This means that ASM can be set up to create summaries from the queries of a restricted list of users cutting down the amount of QPP that feeds into the ASM process. The default is for all users to be selected. To exclude a user drag the user from the Included column into the Available column, or highlight one or more users and use the buttons.

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Figure 16–13 Change default settings - Query User

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16.2.6.4 Query Usage tabThis tab enables you to select which queries are made available to be considered for sum-mary recommendation.

Figure 16–14 Change default settings - Query Usage - All Queries/Queries run since last execution

Include

■ All Queries - Considers recommendations for summaries based upon all queries previ-ously run.

■ Queries run since last execution to - Considers recommendations for summaries based upon those queries run since the last execution of ASM.

■ Specific queries - Displays additional controls (see Figure 16–15, “Change default set-tings - Query Usage - Specific queries”) that allow you to refine the conditions under which queries will be included in the ASM process (see Section 16.1.6.3.3, “Query usage” for further details).

Move the slider to the position that best reflects the nature of your users’ queries

■ Predetermined - Gives performance gain where queries stay the same over time. There is usually a significant gain in performance using ASM, the trade off is that the perfor-mance gain for ad hoc queries is reduced slightly.

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■ Mixed - A balance between predetermined and ad hoc.

■ Adhoc - Gives potential performance gain for queries never run before. There is usu-ally a significant gain in performance using ASM, the trade off is that performance gain for more frequently run queries is reduced slightly.

Figure 16–15 Change default settings - Query Usage - Specific queries

16.2.6.5 Deletion tabThis tab enables you to purge summary data that is not being used. This is a significant requirement for a system that automatically manages summary data. At some point the sum-maries will need to be cleaned up and this dialog allows you to determine what is removed.

Removing unused summaries means that the space they occupied can be re-used by alterna-tive (more appropriate) summaries.

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Figure 16–16 Change default settings - Delete summaries

Delete specific summary folders if:

These settings define the circumstances where summaries will be deleted.

The default setting is to allow all summaries to be deleted except summaries created via existing non-ASM methods. Such summaries are automatically placed on to the exclusion list (the Selected column) (see Section 16.2.6.5.1, “External summary deletion message”).

Summaries in the Available column will be deleted subject to the settings made above

This means that those summaries you want to create yourself, without the recommendations of ASM, will be placed on the exclusion list and not deleted by ASM, unless explicitly removed from that list.

Always retain the following summaries:

If you select this check box summaries in the Selected column will be retained.

If you clear this check box summaries may be deleted subject to entries made in the Delete specific summary folders if: section (see Figure 16–16, “Change default settings - Delete summaries” above).

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16.2.6.5.1 External summary deletion message Discoverer does not delete exter-nal summary data as it does not own it, also deleting the meta data associated with external summaries would not yield any great space gain which is why it is not done.

Figure 16–17 External summary deletion

If you try to move an external summary from the Selected to the Available column a warn-ing message appears and the summary remains in the Selected column.

16.2.7 Refreshing ASM summariesASM summaries are the same as any other summaries and need to be refreshed at regular intervals (see Section 15.6, “Refreshing Summary Folders”). This is also achieved when ASM ia run via the command line (see Section 16.1.4.3, “Using the command line” for fur-ther details).

If you are using an Oracle 8.1.6 database you can employ the dba facilities to carry out a refresh.

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Using Discoverer with Oracle Applications

This chapter explains how Discoverer supports access to Oracle Applications databases using Oracle Applications security.

This chapter consists of the following sections:

■ 17.1 Supported Features

■ 17.2 Prerequisites

■ 17.3 Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)

■ 17.4 Configuring the Connect dialog for Discoverer 4i Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer

■ 17.5 How to use Discoverer Administration Edition in Applications Mode

■ 17.6 Create an Applications Mode EUL

■ 17.7 Connect to an Applications Mode EUL

■ 17.8 Granting Access Permission for Business Areas

■ 17.9 Granting Task Privileges

17.1 Supported FeaturesThe following Oracle Applications features are supported by Discoverer:

■ Access to Oracle Applications databases using Applications user names, passwords and responsibilities

■ Oracle Applications Multiple Organizations

These features are only available when Discoverer is running in Applications mode against an Oracle Applications mode EUL against an Oracle Applications database (Applications Mode).

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17.2 PrerequisitesThe following need to be satisfied for Discoverer to function when connecting as an Oracle Applications user (Applications Mode):

17.2.1 Oracle Applications installed■ Oracle Applications must be installed before Discoverer can be used in Applications

Mode.

17.2.2 Oracle Applications versions supported by DiscovererThe following Oracle Applications versions are supported by Discoverer:

■ Release 10.7 (SmartClient and Character mode)

■ Release 11

■ Release 11i

17.2.3 For Oracle Applications users to launch Discoverer 4i Plus via a link on an Oracle Applications page.

Oracle Applications users can launch Discoverer 4i Plus and view Discoverer worksheets directly through a link on an Oracle Applications page.

The following prerequisites apply:

■ JInitiator must be installed.

■ With Solaris installations, the plugin must be installed.

■ If the language is to be set other than English (usually selected in the start pages) it can be done on the URL.

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17.3 Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)

This section explains how to configure the Connect dialog for Oracle Applications users of Discoverer Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows).

Before you connect to Oracle Discoverer as an Oracle Applications User, you can configure the Oracle Discoverer Connect dialog to expect Oracle Applications users, as follows:

1. Select Tools | Options from the main menu to display the following dialog:

Figure 17–1 The Options dialog

2. Select one of the following radio buttons:

■ Connect to standard EULsThe Oracle Applications User check box is not displayed in the Connect dialog and Discoverer expects standard database users.

■ Connect to applications EULsThe Oracle Applications User check box is not displayed in the Connect dialog but Discoverer expects users to connect using an Applications user id/password and Oracle Applications database connect string.

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■ Connect to both standard and applications EULsThe Oracle Applications User check box is displayed in the Connect dialog and (depending on whether the check box is cleared or selected) you can connect to either standard or Oracle Applications database EULs.

17.3.1 Entering Details into the fields GWYUID/Password and FNDNAMIf you select either the Connect to applications EULs or Connect to both standard and applications EULs radio button, further details can be entered into the following fields:

■ Gateway User ID (GWYUID)/PasswordThis field enables you to record your Gateway User ID and Password (the default value ‘applsyspub/pub’ will be used if nothing is entered here).

■ Foundation Name (FNDNAM)This field enables you to enter the Foundation Name (Default value ‘apps’ will be used if nothing is entered here).

If you do not know what the above values are contact your Oracle Applications system administrator.

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17.4 Configuring the Connect dialog for Discoverer 4i Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer

This section explains how to configure the Connect dialog for Oracle Applications users of Discoverer 4i Plus and Discoverer 4i Viewer.

Oracle Discoverer 4i Plus and Oracle Discoverer 4i Viewer can be configured to validate Oracle Applications usernames and passwords during the connect process.

For further details please refer to Oracle Discoverer 4i Configuration Guide for Oracle 9i Application Server.

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17.5 How to use Discoverer Administration Edition in Applications Mode

17.5.1 Enable Discoverer Applications ModeIn order to run Discoverer in Applications mode you first need to start Discoverer Adminis-tration Edition in Applications mode then create an Applications mode EUL.

This section describes the how you start Discoverer Administration Edition in Applications Mode.

1. Create an Applications Mode EUL.

This EUL has special features that provide support for use with Oracle Applications.

For more information, see Section 17.6, “Create an Applications Mode EUL.”

2. Connect to Discoverer Administration Edition using an Applications User Name and Responsibility.

For more information, see Section 17.7, “Connect to an Applications Mode EUL.”

17.5.2 Enable Multiple Organizations Support in DiscovererThis section describes the prerequisites required for you to use Discoverer in conjunction with the Oracle Applications Multiple Organizations Support feature.

Using Discoverer with Oracle Applications Multiple Organizations Support enables you to to work with data from more than one Organization. Users can query and analyze data from a set of Organizations to which they have been granted access.

To use Discoverer Administration Edition in conjunction with the Oracle Applications Mul-tiple Organizations Support feature the following prerequisites must be met:

■ Discoverer Administration Edition must be running in Applications mode.

■ The Folders in the EUL you are connecting to must be based on Oracle Business Views (available in Oracle Applications 11i).

■ You must have an Applications mode EUL

17.5.3 Changes in BehaviorThis section describes the noticeable changes in behavior that occur when Discoverer Administration Edition is running in Applications mode.

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17.5.3.1 Privileges and securityThe Privileges and Security dialogs display Oracle Applications user names and responsibil-ities instead of native Oracle Users and database Roles. Privileges and security are assigned to Oracle Applications Usernames and Responsibilities. To learn more about granting privi-leges via the Public user see Section 17.7.1.1.1, “Grant Task privileges to all Oracle Appli-cations users via the Public user”.

For more general information about Discoverer Access Privileges and Security see Chapter 8, “Access Privileges and Security”.

17.5.3.2 Managed SummariesSome Applications Database Views contain row level security and return differing result sets depending upon the currently active responsibility. This means that the Summary Table or Materialized View (MV) (8.1.6+ databases) would contain different data depending on the responsibility of the user that refreshed the table.

If a user performs a query against the detail data associated with such a Managed Summary Folder, and Summary Redirection is performed, the user will be told that no rows satisfy this criteria (this ensures that the user does not see data they should not have access to). As an administrator, you should ensure that Summary Folders that are based on Applications Secure Views or Applications Business Views are created as External (rather than Man-aged).

Managed Summaries Folders on data without Applications row level security are com-pletely unaffected. Users can continue to use External Summary Tables. If the External Sum-mary Table is registered against an object with Applications row level security, it is the responsibility of the administrator to make sure the External Summary Table provides secure access.

Some views with row-level security, support "public" rows (particularly the Apps Human Resources). So sometimes Managed Summary Tables or MVs contain small amounts of data.

17.5.3.3 Secure Views and Language SettingsWhen Discoverer Plus or Discoverer 4i users access Workbooks accessing Secure Views, they may get different results on different machines, even when using the same Connect details. A possible cause is that the machines have different local language (NLS) settings.

When using Secure Views, machines’ local language settings affect the data retrieved by Discoverer. To change a machines local language setting, on Windows NT, choose Start\Set-tings\Control Panel\Regional Settings and change the language value. Discoverer will then display data consistently across machines with the same language setting.

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For more information on Secure Views refer to Chapter C.4, “Running queries against Secure Views and making Query Prediction faster”.

You can also define a language setting (NLS) for a User/Responsibility/Application/Site using the Profiles setting in Oracle APPS application. Refer to your Oracle Applications documentation for more information.

17.6 Create an Applications Mode EULThis section describes how you create an Applications Mode EUL (including and new Ora-cle Applications user) using the Create EUL dialog.

An Applications Mode EUL can also be created via the command line (see Section D.9.6, “Creating an Applications Mode EUL” for details).

The only native-Oracle user that can connect to an Applications Mode EUL is the EUL owner.

1. Start Discoverer Administration Edition

2. Connect as the dba entering the username/password and database connect string in order to create an Oracle Applications user.For example, dba/dbapassword@oracleappsdbThe EUL owner must be a database user and not an Oracle Applications user.

Figure 17–2 Connect to an Oracle Applications database as dba

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3. If the Oracle Applications User check box is displayed beneath the Connect dialog, make sure that you select the Oracle Applications User option.

4. Click Connect to display the following dialog:

Figure 17–3 Choose whether to create an EUL now

5. Click Yes to display the EUL Manager dialog:

Figure 17–4 EUL Manager (create EUL)

Note: The Oracle Applications User Connect dialog may or may not dis-play the Oracle Applications user check box. For further details see Section 17.3, “Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)”.

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6. Click Create an EUL to start the Create EUL Wizard where you create a new data-base schema/user and Oracle Applications EUL:

Figure 17–5 Create EUL Wizard (Create Apps user and Apps EUL)

7. Select the Create a new user radio button.This enables you to create a new Oracle Applications EUL user/schema. (If there is an existing user/schema select the Select an existing user radio button you can choose that user as the owner of the new Oracle Applications EUL).

8. Select the Grant access to PUBLIC check box.We recommend that you select this check box, however if you wish to explicitly give access to your EUL then do not check this box. But you will need to grant access to your EUL tables manually.

9. Select the New EUL is for Oracle Applications users ONLY check box.This creates an Oracle Applications EUL in the user’s Oracle schema (displayed in the User field).

10. Either enter a name and password for the new Oracle Applications user.Or Select the previously created user as the owner of the new Oracle Applications EUL.

11. Click Next to display the Create EUL Wizard Step 2 where you select the Oracle Applications schema and enter the schema password:

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Figure 17–6 Create EUL Wizard Step 2 (select Apps schema)

12. Use the drop down list to select the Oracle Applications schema containing the Oracle Applications FND tables.

13. Enter the password for the Oracle Applications schema.

14. Click Next to display Step 3 of the wizard where you select the Default and Tempo-rary Tablespaces for the new database user/schema:

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Figure 17–7 Create EUL Wizard Step 3 (Select default and Temporary Tablespace for new Apps user)

15. Highlight the required Default and Temporary Tablespaces you want to use for the new Oracle Applications user.

16. Click FinishThis creates the tables and views for the new Oracle Applications EUL and populates them with default data. The following message is displayed:

Figure 17–8 Create EUL wizard - Success (create Oracle Applications EUL/user)

17. Click OK to display the following dialog:

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Figure 17–9 Install tutorial data into new EUL?

18. Click No unless you want to install the tutorial dataThe following dialog is displayed:

Figure 17–10 Do you want to connect as the owner of the EUL you have just created?

19. Click Yes to connect as the owner of the EUL you have just createdOr click No to remain connected as the dba using the current database connection.

If you clicked Yes at the previous step, you are now connected to the Oracle Applications EUL just created (as the EUL owner).

You can now grant Task Privileges to an Oracle Applications user so that they can now administer this Oracle Applications EUL. See Section 17.9, “Granting Task Privileges”.

You could also create a new Business Area using the Oracle Applications tables. See Chapter 7, “Business Areas” for further information on creating Business Areas.

Note: When creating a new Applications Business Area, the schema objects you load into the BA need to be based on Secure Views. This retains the row-level security associated with a specific Oracle Applica-tions Responsibility. See your Applications database administrator for fur-ther information

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17.7 Connect to an Applications Mode EULThis section describes how you connect to an Applications Mode EUL using Discoverer Administration Edition and includes the following sections:

■ Connect as the EUL Owner to grant permissions and task privileges to other Oracle Applications users

■ Connect as an Applications user

■ Oracle Applications Responsibilities

17.7.1 Connect as the EUL Owner to grant permissions and task privileges to other Oracle Applications users

17.7.1.1 Grant permissions to Oracle Applications usersThe only native-Oracle user that can connect to an Applications Mode EUL is the EUL owner. However the EUL owner can grant administration privileges to Oracle Applications users. The authorized Oracle Applications users can then connect to the Applications Mode EUL using Discoverer Administration Edition. See Section 8.2, “Granting Access Permis-sion for Business Areas” for details.

17.7.1.1.1 Grant Task privileges to all Oracle Applications users via the Pub-lic user

You can grant task privileges to all users in one action by using the Public user in the follow-ing way:

If you access the Tools | Privileges option (when connected to Discoverer as an Oracle Applications user), you will see a user called Public. The user Public is not an Oracle Appli-cations user but represents every Oracle Applications user. By giving one or more privileges to the Public user you are in fact giving the privileges to all Oracle Applications users. You can subsequently modify user’s privileges by removing them (the privileges) on a per-user basis.

17.7.2 Connect as an Applications userOnce you have been granted Discoverer Plus task privileges (see Section 17.7.1.1, “Grant permissions to Oracle Applications users”) you can connect to Discoverer as an Oracle Applications user:

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17.7.2.1 Before you startIf Discoverer is not configured to use Oracle Applications EULs, you need to re-configure your Connect dialog, (see Section 17.3, “Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)”).

Figure 17–11 An Oracle Discoverer Connect dialog for Applications Users

When you connect to Discoverer as an Oracle Applications User, the Connect dialog prompts you to enter your Oracle Applications connect details (see Status area in Figure 17–11).

17.7.2.2 ConnectOnce you have configured Discoverer to use Oracle Applications EULs, (see Section 17.3, “Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Win-dows)”), connect to Discoverer as follows:

1. Select the Oracle Applications User check box (if displayed) in the Connect dialog.

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Figure 17–12 Oracle Discoverer Connect dialog for Applications Users with check box

2. Enter your Oracle Applications username, password and Oracle Applications database connect string

3. Click Connect.If you have more than one responsibility the Choose Responsibilities dialog is dis-played (if you have only one responsibility, you will automatically be connected as that user):

Note: The Oracle Applications User Connect dialog may or may not dis-play the Oracle Applications user check box. For further details see Section 17.3, “Configuring the Connect dialog for Administration Edition and Discoverer Plus (for Windows)”.

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Figure 17–13 Responsibilities dialog

Once you have chosen a responsibility, Discoverer connects to the applications database and displays the first screen of the Load Wizard (see Figure 3–2, “Using Load Wizard to Open a Business Area”).

The above dialog can display two columns if security groups are present (Oracle Applica-tions v11i only).

Discoverer Administration Edition is now running and connected to your applications data-base, the next step is to either open a business area or create a new one.

17.7.3 Oracle Applications ResponsibilitiesOracle Applications users can connect with just one of a number of potential Responsibili-ties and each Responsibility can have a number of Privileges granted to it.

This means that an Oracle Applications user can decide the Responsibility with which to connect, and by default will assume the Privileges granted to that Responsibility (see Section 17.9, “Granting Task Privileges” for further details). Native Oracle database users (on the other hand) have Roles rather than Responsibilities and can only decide the user with which they want to connect, not the Role. Any Role(s) associated with a native Oracle data-base user are not selectable at connect time.

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17.8 Granting Access Permission for Business AreasThis section describes how to grant (or deny) access permission for business areas to spe-cific users or responsibilities.

The Security dialog box enables you to set access permission for business areas. To open the Security dialog box, choose Tools | Security (or click the Security icon on the toolbar).

The Security dialog box has two pages:

■ The Business Area -> User page shows which users have access to a specific business area.

■ The Users -> Business Area page shows which business areas a specific user can access.

The two pages provide two ways of looking at the same information. The page you choose depends on the specific task you want to perform.

Before displaying the folders in a business area, Discoverer checks if the user has database access to the tables referenced in the folders. If they don’t have the necessary permission, Discoverer does not display the folders. You can override this check by changing a registry setting. For more information, see ObjectsAlwaysAccessible in Chapter E.2, “Registry Set-tings”.

17.8.1 Specifying the Users/Responsibilities who can access a Business Area

This section describes how to specify which users or responsibilities can access a specific business area.

1. Open the Security dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Security toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Security.

2. Click the Business Area->User tab (see Figure 17–14).

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Figure 17–14 Business Area->User Tab

3. Select the business area, to which, you want to grant (or deny) access permission for, from the Business area drop-down list.

4. If you want the lists to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

5. If you want the lists to include responsibilities, tick Responsibilities (otherwise, clear it).

6. To grant a user or role access to this business area, move it to the Selected users/responsibilities list.

To select more than one user/responsibility at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the users/responsibilities.

The Available User/Responsibility list includes a role called Public. Select this role to view or edit the privileges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or roles/responsibilities whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

7. For each new user or responsibility added to the Selected users/responsibilities list, specify whether they have Administration access to the business area. To do this:

1. Click on the user or responsibility in the Selected users/responsibilities list.

2. Tick or clear Allow Administration as required.

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The actual administration tasks a user can perform also depends on their Administra-tion privileges. See Section 17.9, “Granting Task Privileges,” for more information.

8. To deny a user or responsibility access to this Business Area, move it to the Available users/responsibilities list.

9. When you have finished, click Apply or OK.

17.8.2 Specifying the Business Areas a User/Responsibility can AccessThis section describes how to specify which business areas a specific user or responsibility can access.

1. Open the Security dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Security toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Security.

2. Click the User->Business Area tab (see Figure 17–15).

NOTE: You may also want to ensure the user PUBLIC does not have access to this Business Area.

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Figure 17–15 Users-> Business Area

3. If you want the drop-down list to include users, tick Users (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the drop-down list to include responsibilities, tick Responsibilities (other-wise, clear it).

5. Select the user or responsibility whose access permissions you want to change.

The drop-down list for user/responsibility includes a role called Public. Select this role to view or edit the privileges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or roles/responsibilities whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

6. To allow the selected user or responsibility to access a business area, move it to the Selected business areas list.

To select more than one business area at once, hold down Ctrl while you click on the users/roles.

7. For each new business area added to the Selected business areas list, specify whether the selected user or role has Administration access. To do this:

a. Click on the business area in the Selected business area list.

b. Tick or clear Allow Administration as required.

The actual administration tasks a user can perform also depends on their Administra-tion privileges. See Section 17.9, “Granting Task Privileges,” for more information.

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8. To deny the selected user or responsibility access to a Business Area, move it to the Available users/roles list.

9. When you have finished, click Apply or OK.

17.9 Granting Task PrivilegesThis section describes how to grant (or deny) the privilege to perform certain tasks as an Oracle Applications user.

The Privileges dialog box enables you to set task privileges. To open the Privileges dialog box, choose Tools | Privileges (or click the Privileges icon on the toolbar).

The Privileges dialog box has four pages, we will focus on the first two which help you specify task privileges:

■ The Privileges page enables you to specify the task privileges granted to a responsibil-ity or user.

■ The User/Responsibilities page enables you to grant task privileges to a user or respon-sibility.

These two pages provide two ways of looking at the same information. The page you choose depends on the specific task you want to perform.

17.9.1 Specifying the Tasks a User/Responsibility can PerformThis section describes how to specify the tasks a specific user or responsibility can perform.

See Section 17.7.3, “Oracle Applications Responsibilities” for further information about Responsibilities.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

NOTE: You may also want to ensure the user PUBLIC does not have access to this Business Area.

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2. Click the Privileges tab (see Figure 17–16).

Figure 17–16 Granting Privileges

3. If you want the drop-down list to include Oracle Applications users, tick Users (other-wise, clear it).

4. If you want the drop-down list to include Responsibilities, tick Responsibilities (other-wise, clear it).

5. Select the user or responsibility whose task privileges you want to change (from the drop-down list).

6. Grant or deny specific task privileges as required. These privileges only apply to the selected user or responsibility.

■ To grant a specific privilege, select the relevant check box in the Privilege list.

■ To deny a specific privilege, clear the relevant check box in the Privilege list.

To grant a minor privilege (shown indented in the list) you must first grant the corre-sponding major privilege (the first, non-indented privilege above the minor privilege).

Deselecting (revoking) a major privilege revokes the subordinate, minor privileges for the selected user/responsibility only. This means that if a major privilege is revoked from an Oracle Applications user alone, subordinate minor privileges may not necessar-

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ily be revoked if the user’s current responsibility (chosen during login) also has this major privilege. The minor privilege check boxes may remain checked.

As you move the mouse over a privilege in the Privilege list, a brief description of the privilege appears on the right-hand side of the dialog box.

The drop-down list for the Privileges tab (on the right hand side of this dialog) includes a responsibility called PUBLIC. Select this Responsibility to view or edit the privi-leges that Discoverer Administration Edition provides by default for users or responsi-bility whose task privileges you have not yet defined.

7. Choose a system profile to apply to the user or responsibility (from the Select a system profile drop-down list.

8. Click Apply or OK.

17.9.2 Specifying the Users / Responsibilities who can Perform a Specific Task

This section describes how to specify the users or responsibilities that can perform a spe-cific task.

1. Open the Privileges dialog box.

There are two ways of doing this.

■ Toolbar IconClick the Privileges toolbar icon ( ).

■ MenuChoose Tools | Privileges.

2. Click the User/Responsibility tab (see Figure 17–17).

NOTE: If you wish to grant Administration privileges to a user or respon-sibility, you must also grant that user Administration access to the busi-ness area. For more information, see Section 8.2.1, “Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business Area.”

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Figure 17–17 Maintaining Assigned Privileges

3. If you want the list to include Oracle Applications users, select the Users check box (otherwise, clear it).

4. If you want the list to include Oracle Applications Responsibilities, select the Responsi-bility check box (otherwise, clear it).

The list is sorted alphabetically, with users at the top and responsibilities next.

5. Select the task privilege that you want to grant (or deny) to a set of users or responsibili-ties (from the drop-down list).

When you select a privilege from the drop-down list, a brief description of the privilege appears on the right-hand side of the dialog box.

6. Grant or deny the task privilege as required.

■ To grant a user or responsibility the task privilege, tick the relevant check box in the list.

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■ To deny a user or responsibility the task privilege, clear the relevant check box in the list.

7. Click Apply or OK.

NOTE: If you wish to grant (or deny) Administration privileges to a user or responsibility, you must also grant (or deny) that user Administration access to the business area. For more information, see Section 8.2.1, “Specifying the Users / Roles who can Access a Business Area.”

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Error Messages

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ A.1 Introduction

■ A.2 Discoverer Administration Edition Errors

A.1 IntroductionThis appendix lists the errors that may be encountered when using Discoverer. For each error, there is a probable cause and a suggested corrective action.

Many errors listed in this appendix are client errors produced by Discoverer Administration Edition. You may also encounter server or database errors produced by the Oracle database itself. These errors will be received from the database when an error condition exists in the database and not in Discoverer Administration Edition. They are identified by the prefix “ORA-num:”. For a complete description of all Oracle errors, see the Oracle SQL Server Manual.

Because Discoverer Administration Edition is part of a client/server system, some errors that may be displayed will not pertain to Discoverer Administration Edition (which is the cli-ent). The cause of the error in this case is often incidental to the current operation you are attempting. For example, there may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or with the Oracle database. In these instances, use the normal troubleshooting procedures to determine that the network, server, and Oracle database are operating normally before pro-ceeding.

A.2 Discoverer Administration Edition ErrorsA database role exists which conflicts with this username

Cause: An attempt was made to use a database user that has the same name as an exist-ing database role. Roles and users cannot conflict.

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Action: Log onto the database using a user ID that is not the same as a role.

A detail folder must be selectedCause: You have attempted to create a join that does not have a detail folder selected.

Action: Select a detail folder and item on the right side of the equation and retry.

A join must contain at least one predicateCause: An error occurred when attempting to create or edit a join. The error is proba-bly incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

A master folder must be selectedCause: You have attempted to create a join that does not have a master folder selected.

Action: Select a master folder and item on the left side of the equation and retry.

Alternative Sort Items must come from the same folder as the LOV ItemCause: When specifying the item to sort by, it must be in the same folder as the item that you used to identify the list of values for this item class. This is so that the folder can be joined into the query at run time in order to correctly sort your data using the alternative sort item.

Action: Choose an item to sort by from the same folder as the item you used to iden-tify the list of values for this item class and retry.

Ambiguous joins detectedCause: You are creating a condition between two folders that have more than one join between them. Discoverer Administration Edition does not know which join to use for the condition.

Action: Discoverer Administration Edition displays a dialog box which lists all of the joins between the folders. Select one join.

An error occurred. Please refer to the release notesCause: An error has occurred which has not been documented in this manual.

Action: See the release notes supplied with Discoverer Administration Edition and take the appropriate action.

Another condition named [condition-name] already exists. Please type in a different name

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Cause: You have entered a condition name that already exists in the folder.

Action: Re-enter a unique condition name and retry. Each condition name in the folder must be unique.

Another join named join-name already exists. Please enter a different name.Cause: You have entered a name for a join which already exists.

Action: Re-enter a unique name and retry. The name for a join must be unique to the End User Layer.

Argument must be namedCause: You have attempted to specify an argument without a name during the creation or editing of a PL/SQL function.

Action: Enter a valid argument name in the name field and retry. Each argument in a PL/SQL function must be named.

Argument name is too longCause: You have entered an argument name which is longer than the maximum allowed length.

Action: Re-enter an argument name which is no longer than the maximum length allowed for an argument name in the database you are connected to. The maximum length of an argument name may vary with Oracle versions. See the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual for package name conventions.

Business area must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a business area without entering a name.

Action: Enter a unique name in the name field and retry. Each business area must be named.

Changing IdentifierCause: An attempt was made to click into the Identifier field.

Action: Click Help for further information before attempting to make any changes. Select the Don’t show this warning again during this session to not display this error message again during the current session.Click Yes to proceed with the change in this Identifier.Click No to abandon the attempt to alter this Identifier.

Column data type does not match item data typeCause: An attempt was made to use a database column for an item that has a different data type. This message is sometimes a warning and sometimes prevents the attempted

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action, where such a mismatch would be invalid. This depends on the operation attempted.

Action: Change the data type of the item, perhaps by modifying the formula with a function such as TO_CHAR, TO_DATE or TO_NUMBER, or by creating a derived item of the appropriate type, or use a different database column.

Column is not large enoughCause: An attempt was made to use a database column that is not as large as the item.

Action: Increase the size of the database column, or reduce the size of the item (for example, by using a function such as SUBSTR).

Combinations are not fully mappedCause: The combination of all the items in a query that use the summary have not been mapped to existing table columns, or you have accidentally deleted combination maps if you have chosen to automatically generate summary tables.

Action: Map each item in the query to existing table columns and retry.

Combinations are not uniquely mappedCause: When you are creating or editing an external summary, you have assigned a column to an item that has been previously been assigned to another item.

Action: Re-assign an unused column to the item and retry.

Condition is not completeCause: You have entered a condition which is not complete or does not follow the cor-rect syntax.

Action: Re-enter the condition following proper syntax. For example, you may not have entered matching quotes or you may not have entered a value to the right of the operator.

Condition is not validCause: You have entered a condition which does not follow the correct syntax.

Action: Re-enter the condition following proper syntax. For example, you may not have entered matching quotes or you may not have entered a value to the right of the operator.

Condition mixes different levels of aggregationCause: You have created a condition which attempts to compare an aggregated mea-sure with a non-aggregated measure. For example, in the condition AVG(SAL) > COMM if SAL is non-aggregated and COMM is aggregated, the condition mixes differ-

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ent levels of aggregation.

Action: You must compare group functions, such as SUM(Salary), with other group functions, or compare non-group functions with other non-group calculations. You can-not mix group functions with non-group functions in a calculation or condition. Modify the condition and retry.

Condition must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a condition without entering a name.

Action: Enter a unique condition name in the name field and retry. Each condition must be named.

Connected to a database that does not support this functionalityCause: The database or version of the database that you are connected to does not sup-port the functionality required to complete the operation attempted.

Action: Upgrade your database to a later version to use this functionality. Ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Could not create new conditionCause: The condition has been entered correctly; however, an error was detected when attempting to save the new condition in the End User Layer. The error is probably inci-dental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edi-tion. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Could not create new joinCause: An error occurred when attempting to save the join you have just created, but the join has been validated. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Could not modify conditionCause: The condition has been edited correctly; however, an error was detected when attempting to save the modified condition in the End User Layer. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Could not modify joinCause: An error occurred when attempting to save a modified join in the End User Layer. The join is valid; however, it cannot be saved. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Cyclic Hierarchy - This hierarchy node, or its items are already used in the hierarchyCause: You attempted to add an item into a hierarchy twice.

Action: Do not add an item to a hierarchy twice.

Data type not valid for summariesCause: You cannot use an item of this data type in a summary.

Action: Use a different item or change the data type of the item.

Database ErrorCause: A database error has occurred.

Action: Note the database error number and the message and ask your systems admin-istrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Database timed_statistics parameter is set to FALSECause: Timed_statistics is a parameter in the database init.ora configuration file that affects the ability of Discoverer to perform Query Performance Prediction.

Action: Determine if the database server has timed statistics turned on. To turn on timed statistics, execute the following query in SQL*Plus:

select valuefrom v$parameterwhere name = “timed_statistics”;

The query should return the value TRUE. If it returns FALSE, change the init.ora parameter timed_statistics to TRUE, shutdown, and restart the server.

Date hierarchy must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a date hierarchy without entering a name. Each date hierarchy must be named.

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Action: Enter a unique name in the name field and retry.

Description is too long. Max length is num bytesCause: You have entered a description which is longer than the maximum allowed length. The maximum length of a description is 240 bytes.

Action: Re-enter a description which is 240 bytes long or less.

Oracle Designer not availableCause: There are no accessible Oracle Designer database repository tables.

Action: Check that Oracle Designer is installed on the database you are using. Set up the user ID you are using as an Oracle Designer user and retry. If you are still unable to access the Oracle Designer database repository tables, check that the user ID you are logged in as has SELECT access to the Oracle Designer tables, and that they have valid synonyms that point to the Oracle Designer tables and retry.

Duplicate business area nameCause: You have attempted to create a business area with the same name as one that already exists. Choose a different name, or rename the existing one.

Action: Business areas in an End User Layer must be named uniquely.

Duplicate Server database link, owner and object nameCause: You have attempted to use a duplicate database link, owner, and object name. Database links, owner, and object names must be unique.

Action: Choose a different name.

Duplicate summary table name and ownerCause: You have attempted to use a duplicate summary table name and owner. Sum-mary table and owner names must be unique.

Action: Choose a different name.

End User Layer tables version n requires End User Layer DLL of at least version n Cause: You are attempting to connect to a database that has a set of End User Layer database tables that are incompatible with the version of Discoverer Administration Edi-tion that you are using.

Action: Upgrade the End User Layer tables, install the latest release of Discoverer or connect to a different database.

End User Layer transaction found object changed in the databaseCause: Another Discoverer Administration Edition user has changed the End User

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Layer element you are modifying.

Action: Exit from Discoverer Administration Edition, reconnect, and retry.

Error adding combinationCause: An error was detected when attempting to add a new combination when you are creating or editing a summary. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error adding summary tableCause: An error was detected when attempting to create a summary table used by a managed summary. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the net-work, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error applying date template to this itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to use the date template with this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Dis-coverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error checking combinationCause: An error was detected when attempting to set combinations when you are creat-ing or editing a summary. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating business areaCause: An error occurred when attempting to create a business area. The error is prob-ably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new business area

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Cause: An error occurred when attempting to create a new business area. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new conditionCause: An error occurred when attempting to create a condition. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new folderCause: An error occurred when attempting to create a new folder. The error is proba-bly incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new functionCause: An error occurred when attempting to create a new PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new function argumentCause: An error occurred when specifying an argument during the creation or editing of a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new itemCause: An error occurred when attempting to create an item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating new joinCause: Discoverer Administration Edition was unable to save the join you have just created. However, the join has been validated. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating summaryCause: An error was detected when attempting to create a summary. The error is prob-ably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating summary refresh setCause: An error was detected when creating the summary refresh set. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error creating summary setCause: An error was detected when attempting to create a new summary. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error exporting End User Layer objectsCause: An error occurred when attempting to export the End User Layer. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error deleting function argumentCause: An error occurred when deleting an argument during the creation or editing of a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond

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the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the net-work, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error deleting registered functionCause: An error occurred when attempting to delete a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error found parsing SQL statementCause: An unspecified error was detected when parsing an SQL statement. There may be an error in the SQL statement, or the SQL is of a type of query which is not cur-rently supported by the Discoverer import parser. See the Release Notes for more infor-mation.

Action: Check the SQL statement for errors. Correct the error and retry. See the Ora-cle SQL Language Reference Manual for SQL syntax conventions.

Error granting admin optionCause: An error was detected when attempting to make security modifications in the Security dialog with the Admin option checked. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error granting privilegesCause: An error was detected when attempting to grant or revoke a user’s privilege. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Dis-coverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error granting/revoking business areaCause: An error occurred when attempting to grant or revoke business area privileges to a user or role. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error importing End User Layer objectsCause: An error occurred when attempting to import an End User Layer. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of the Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error in condition descriptionCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: You may have entered a character that is not acceptable. Re-enter and retry.

Error in condition nameCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: You may have entered a character that is not acceptable. Re-enter and retry.

Error in databaseCause: Discoverer Administration Edition has detected an error associated with the Oracle database; however, the specific error cannot be determined. The error is proba-bly incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error in End User Layer import file - InvalidClassCause: The End User Layer import file is corrupted or is not a valid import file.

Action: Export the business area into an new file and import it again. Retry the opera-tion that failed.

Error in End User Layer import file - NoTypeFoundCause: The End User Layer import file is corrupted or is not a valid import file.

Action: Export the business area into an new file and import it again. Retry the opera-tion that failed.

Error in End User Layer import file - ParseErrorCause: The End User Layer import file is corrupted or is not a valid import file.

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Action: Export the business area into an new file and import it again. Retry the opera-tion that failed.

Error in formulaCause: The formula you have entered does not follow the SQL expression syntax.

Action: Re-enter the formula following SQL syntax conventions. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for a description.

Error in formula - ambiguous or duplicate item namesCause: The formula contains unqualified item names which appear in multiple folders.

Action: Qualify item names with the folder name (for example, Employee.Name).

Error in formula - circular recursive expression detectedCause: The formula contains a reference to an item whose formula references this for-mula.

Action: Modify the formula to remove the circular reference and retry.

Error in formula - invalid item name or unrecognized itemCause: The formula contains some text that is not recognized as an item name.

Action: Change the item name to a valid item name and retry.

Error in formula - item is not in scope of the folders available for this formulaCause: The formula contains an item that is not in the folders that this formula can ref-erence. In Discoverer Administration Edition you can create derived items in complex folders that reference items in either the component folders or the complex folder itself. In simple folders you can only reference items in the folder itself.

Action: Correct the item name and retry.

Error in formula - mismatched ( ) (parentheses)Cause: There are mismatched parentheses in the formula.

Action: Edit the formula for matching parentheses and retry.

Error in formula - Nested aggregate functions are not allowedCause: Discoverer does not directly support the use of nested aggregates, such as AVG(SUM(SAL)).

Action: Remove the nested aggregate. You can achieve the same result shown in the example by using the first aggregate SUM(SAL) called, for example, SumOfSalary, and then creating a new folder. Drag over the items you need (excluding the aggregate), and

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create a new item with the formula AVG(SumOfSalary).

Error in formula - uncategorized errorCause: An unspecified error was found in the formula.

Action: Check the formula and correct the error. See the Oracle SQL Language Refer-ence Manual for formula syntax conventions.

Error in formula - unexpected end of formulaCause: The formula is unfinished, possibly ending in an operator or function name.

Action: Check the end of the formula and correct the error. See the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual for formula syntax conventions.

Error in Formula - unknown function nameCause: The formula contains a function that is not registered in the End User Layer.

Action: Check the formula to determine if the function name is wrong and correct it. If the function named in the formula is the correct function, then choose Register PL/SQL Function in the Tools menu to register the function in the End User Layer. Retry the formula with the registered function name.

Error in join descriptionCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: You may have entered a character that is not acceptable. Re-enter and retry.

Error in join nameCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: You may have entered a character that is not acceptable. Re-enter and retry.

Error loading database linkCause: An error occurred when attempting to retrieve all of the database links to obtain a list of users for that database. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error loading Oracle Designer applicationCause: An error was detected when attempting to import information from Oracle Designer. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the

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server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error loading users for database linkCause: An error occurred when attempting to obtain a list of users for database link you have selected. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the net-work, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error mapping columnCause: An error occurred when attempting to map an item in the summary table to an existing column in the database. The error is probably incidental to the current opera-tion and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a prob-lem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error modifying function argumentCause: An error occurred when changing an argument during the editing of a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error modifying item classCause: An error occurred when attempting to modify an item class. The error is proba-bly incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error modifying joinCause: An error occurred when attempting to save a join that you have modified. How-ever, the join itself has been validated. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error modifying PL/SQL functions

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Cause: An error occurred when attempting to modify a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error refreshing the definition of End User LayerCause: An error occurred when attempting to refresh the End User Layer. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error registering PL/SQL functionsCause: An error occurred when attempting to register a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting business area propertyCause: An error was detected when attempting to set a business area property. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting case storage of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the case storage attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting condition propertyCause: An error was detected when attempting to set a condition property. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting content type of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the content type attribute for this item.The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting default placement of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the default placement (top, left, right, page) attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current opera-tion and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a prob-lem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting default width of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the default width attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting display case of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the display case attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting folder propertyCause: An error was detected when attempting to set a folder property. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting heading style of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the heading style attribute for this item.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting item propertyCause: An error was detected when attempting to set an item property.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting join propertyCause: An error was detected when attempting to set a join property. The error is prob-ably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administra-tion Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting maximum characters fetched for itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the maximum character fetch value for this item.The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the net-work, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting nameCause: An error was detected when attempting to set a name property. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Admin-istration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting show null as character of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the show null as attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting show/hidden of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the Visible to User attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

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Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Error setting style of itemCause: An error was detected when attempting to set the style attribute for this item. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Dis-coverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

EUL File Invalid, DQ4Admin.dll needs updating, please check in the README file for further information.Cause: You attempted to import an End User Layer export file produced by an older version of Data Query where the file format is not compatible with Discoverer.

Action: Check the release notes to see how to upgrade your release of Data Query. This normally requires replacing a DLL. Produce the export file again.

EUL_PLAN_TABLE not accessibleCause: You do not have write access to one of the End User Layer database tables.

Action: Check the log files created when the End User Layer database tables were installed, rebuild the End User Layer tables, or grant explicit access on the table EUL_PLAN_TABLE.

EUL_PLAN_TABLE not modifiableCause: You do not have access to one of the End User Layer database tables.

Action: Check the log files created when the End User Layer database tables were installed, rebuild the End User Layer tables, or grant explicit access on the table EUL_PLAN_TABLE.

EUL_QPP_STATISTICS not accessibleCause: You do not have write access to one of the End User Layer database tables.

Action: Check the log files created when the End User Layer database tables were installed, rebuild the End User Layer tables, or grant explicit access on the table EUL_QPP_STATISTICS.

EUL_QPP_STATISTICS not modifiableCause: You do not have access to one of the End User Layer database tables.

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Action: Check the log files created when the End User Layer database tables were installed, rebuild the End User Layer tables, or grant explicit access on the table EUL_QPP_STATISTICS.

Failed to add filter to folderCause: An error occurred creating a condition on a folder.

Action: Check the expression used in the condition, correct any errors and retry. If the error occurs again, save your work and exit from Discoverer Administration Edition. Launch Discoverer Administration Edition again and retry.

Failed to connect to databaseCause: You did not supply a valid user name, password or database in the login dialog.

Action: Correct the user name, password and database and retry connecting to the data-base. Ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Failed to open fileCause: Unable to open a specified file. The file may be unreachable on the network or have the wrong properties.

Action: Verify that you have access to the file from your computer independent of Dis-coverer Administration Edition. Check network connections and file access permis-sions or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Failed to write to output fileCause: Unable to write to a specified file. You may not be able to access the file on the network, or file access properties may be set incorrectly.

Action: Verify that you have write access to the file from your computer independent of Discoverer Administration Edition. Check network connections and file access per-mission or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Floating point numbers not allowed hereCause: You attempted to use a floating-point number where an integer is required.

Action: Change the number to an integer and retry.

Folder [name] not imported - already exists in business areaCause: The End User Layer import failed because a folder in the import file already exists in the End User Layer.

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Action: Rename the folder or choose one of the import options to have the renaming performed automatically when you import the business area.

Folder [name] referenced in the export was not found in this End User LayerCause: A folder was referenced in the End User Layer import file that does not exist in the End User Layer.

Action: Include this folder when you export the business area or import the folder sep-arately.

Folder [name] was not loaded because it’s related folders have not been created during this importCause: A folder was referenced in the End User Layer import file that does not exist in the End User Layer.

Action: Include this folder when you export the business area, or import the folder sep-arately.

Folder [name] was not loaded because of a missing dependencyCause: A folder was referenced in the End User Layer import file that has dependen-cies on other elements that are not in the End User Layer.

Action: Include the dependencies required when you export the business area.

Folder [name] was not loaded due to name clashCause: The End User Layer import failed because a folder in the import file already exists in the End User Layer.

Action: Rename the folder or choose one of the import options to have the renaming performed automatically when you import the business area.

Folder must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a folder without entering a name.

Action: Enter a unique name in the name field and retry. Each folder must be uniquely named.

Format mask is too long. Max length is num bytesCause: You have entered a format mask which is longer than the maximum (100 bytes).

Action: Re-enter a format mask which is 100 bytes or less. See the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual for a description of the format mask definition.

Formula is too long. Max length is num bytes

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Cause: You have entered a formula which is longer than the maximum (2,000 bytes).

Action: Re-enter a formula which is 2,000 bytes or less.

Function display name is too longCause: You have entered a name for the PL/SQL function which is longer than the maximum (100 bytes).

Action: Re-enter a name which is 100 bytes or less.

Function is invalidCause: You are attempting to register a PL/SQL function in a condition which is invalid.

Action: Enter a valid function and retry.

Function is used in one or more items or filters. Deletion not allowed.Cause: This function is referenced in the formula of other items or conditions.

Action: Delete the items and conditions that use this function or edit them to remove the reference to the function and retry.

Function must have a display nameCause: You have attempted to create or edit a PL/SQL function without a name.

Action: Enter a name in the name field and retry. Each PL/SQL function must be uniquely named.

Function name is too longCause: You have entered a function name which is longer than the maximum allowed length.

Action: Re-enter a function name which is no longer than the maximum length allowed for function name in the Oracle database you are connected to. The maximum length of function name may vary with Oracle versions. See the Oracle SQL Language Refer-ence Manual for package name conventions.

Function name must be specifiedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a PL/SQL function without a function name.

Action: Enter a valid function name in the name field and retry. Each PL/SQL func-tion must have a valid name. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for func-tion name conventions.

Heading is too long. Max length is num bytes

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Cause: You have entered a heading which is longer than the maximum (240 bytes).

Action: Re-enter a heading which is 240 bytes or less.

Identifier must be uniqueCause: Changes made to an Identifier mean that it is no longer unique in the current EUL.

Action: Re-enter the Identifier details ensuring that it is unique in the current EUL.

Inconsistent or invalid data types used in arithmetic operationCause: The data types of items used in this formula or condition are mismatched.

Action: Check the formula to correct the error or change the data type of the items by using TO_CHAR, TO_DATE or TO_NUMBER functions.

Insufficient End User Layer privilege to change summariesCause: You do not have the privilege required to edit summaries in the End User Layer.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the Create Summaries privilege using Privileges in the Tools menu in Discoverer Administration Edition.

Insufficient privilege for attempted operationCause: You do not have the End User Layer privilege required to perform the requested operation. You also get this message if you have insufficient database privi-leges.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the relevant privileges using Privi-leges in the Tools menu in Discoverer Administration Edition or to grant you the rele-vant database privileges.

Insufficient privilege to run DiscovererCause: You do not have the privilege required to use the Discoverer.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the Administration privilege using Privileges in the Tools menu in Discoverer Administration Edition.

Insufficient server privilege to change summariesCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the server ’Create Table’ privilege using SQL*Plus and to ensure that you have quota and privileges to be able to create

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tables in a tablespace. See the Oracle Database Administration documentation for more details.

Internal EUL Error: DataError = Invalid function typeCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ExportIdAlreadyExists - Object has already reserved this idCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ExportInvalidCTypeCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ExprInvNumArgs - Invalid number of arguments for expression nodeCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ExprParseBracketErr - No bracket found in canonical formulaCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ExprParseNodeType - Invalid type in canonical formulaCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

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Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: Failed to get summary status from the serverCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: HierarchyNodeNotConnected - the nodes in hierarchy are not the same as those in the segmentsCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: HierarchyNodeNotConnected - this hierarchy node is not con-nectedCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: HierarchySegNotConnected - the segments in hierarchy are not the same as those in the nodesCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidConstructOpt - Invalid handle constructor optionCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidDQ4Query - error importing DQ4 queryCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

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Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidDrillOption - Invalid drill option requestedCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidId - Failed to find EUL element by idCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidItem - Item is not valid in this contextCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidNode - Invalid Hierarchy NodeCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidRefreshSetType - Invalid summary refresh set typeCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have succeeded correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidRollupOnQR - Rollup item is not in the Query RequestCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

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Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidSegInHierarchy - Invalid segment found in hierarchyCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidString - String or string length is not validCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidStringLength - String length is not validCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: InvalidSummaryTableDef - The specified server table is invalid Cause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ItemNotInNode - The item to be removed is not in this hierarchy node Cause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ItemNotInServerObject - Column specified does not existCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

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Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: LXInitializationFailure- lxlinit failed to allocate memoryCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: MapInsertFailed - insert failed in PrivateAddObjectToMapCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: NoTransaction - there is no current transactionCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: NotSimpleFilter - complex element found in simple filterCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ObjectNotFound - Can’t find EUL elementCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: PrivilegeNotFound - No privilege record found for this userCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

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Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: RollupValueMismatch - filter does not contain rollup valueCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: TokenStreamError - Error tokenizing input streamCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: TransError - Unexpected transaction errorCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: UniqueKeyViolation - internal id is used by another EUL elementCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Internal EUL Error: ValidateFailure - data integrity error during transactionCause: An internal error has occurred in Discoverer. You might be able to continue working, but the current operation may not have been performed correctly.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Invalid argument nameCause: You have attempted to enter an argument without a valid name.

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Action: Enter a name for the argument which conforms to the argument naming con-vention. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for argument name conven-tions.

Invalid character used in identifierCause: You have attempted to use one or more invalid characters in an identifier.

Action: Either remove the invalid character or replace with any of the following valid characters: a-z, A-Z, 0-9, -_!~*’()

Invalid Combination of Joins involving Outer JoinsCause: An attempt was made to join folders using a combination of outer joins that is not supported in the database you are connected to. You cannot outer join the same folder to more than one other folder at the same time.

Action: Create a complex folder that joins two of the folders with one outer join, then join this to the third folder.

Invalid data typeCause: An error occurred when specifying the data type of an argument during the cre-ation or editing of a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Invalid database linkCause: You have entered an invalid database link.

Action: Enter a valid database link and retry.

Invalid date display formatCause: The date format used is invalid.

Action: Edit the date format to conform to the proper format. See the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual for information on valid date formats.

Invalid date formatCause: You have entered a date which does not comply with Oracle’s date format.

Action: Re-enter a date. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for a description of the date format.

Invalid date/time enteredCause: You have entered an invalid date or time to use when refreshing the summary.

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Action: Re-enter a date or time which complies with the date format MM/DD/YY and the time format HH:MM.

Invalid descriptionCause: You may have entered an invalid character in the description.

Action: Remove the invalid character(s) and retry. For information, see the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

Invalid display nameCause: You may have entered an invalid character as the display name.

Action: Remove the invalid character(s) and retry. For information, see the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

Invalid End User Layer import fileCause: The End User Layer export file that you are trying to import is corrupt or is not valid.

Action: Recreate the export file and try importing it again.

Invalid Format MaskCause: The date, number, or character format used is invalid.

Action: Edit the format to comply with the proper format. See the Oracle SQL Lan-guage Reference Manual for information on valid formats.

Invalid formulaCause: You may have entered a formula which violates the syntax.

Action: Follow the syntax found in the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual. Re-enter and retry.

Invalid formula or filterCause: An unspecified error was found in the formula or filter.

Action: Correct the error in the formula or filter and retry.

Invalid FunctionCause: The formula contains a function that is not registered in the End User Layer.

Action: Check the formula to determine if the function name is wrong and correct it. If the function named in the formula is the correct function, then choose Register PL/

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SQL Function in the Tools menu to register the function in the End User Layer. Retry the formula with the registered function name.

Invalid function nameCause: You have attempted to enter a PL/SQL function without a valid name.

Action: Enter a name for the function which conforms to the function naming conven-tion. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for function name conventions.

Invalid function ownerCause: You have entered a user ID as the PL/SQL function owner which does not exist in the database. Each PL/SQL function must be owned by a valid user.

Action: Enter a valid user ID in the owner field and retry.

Invalid headingCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: Remove the invalid character(s) and retry. For information, see the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

Invalid join configuration - includes a master with two separately joined detail foldersCause: You have attempted to join a master folder with two detail folders at the same time. This would result in a Cartesian product being generated which would give poten-tially confusing or incorrect results from the database. This combination of joins is not allowed within Discoverer.

Action: Construct the join so that the folder specified as the master actually contains the master key and the folders specified as detail actually contain the detail keys. If the join you are creating is necessary, create a complex folder to hide one of the joins. This is normally only the case where the relationship between the folders is one-to-one, and there is no actual master folder.

Invalid nameCause: You may have entered an invalid character.

Action: Remove the invalid character(s) and retry. For information, see the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

Invalid numberCause: The number you have entered is invalid.

Action: Enter a valid number and retry.

Invalid number format

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Cause: You have entered a format mask which does not comply with the format mask syntax.

Action: Select a valid format mask from the drop-down list in the Item Properties sheet.

Invalid operator in formulaCause: A symbol was found in the formula that is the position of an operator, but is not a valid operator. Valid operators are +, –, * / and ||.

Action: Change the operator to one of the valid operators and retry.

Invalid return typeCause: An error occurred when specifying a return type in a PL/SQL function. The error is probably incidental to the current operation and beyond the scope of Discoverer Administration Edition. There may be a problem with the network, the server, SQL*Net, or the Oracle database itself.

Action: Retry or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Item class must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit an item class without entering a name.

Action: Enter a name in the name field and retry. Each item class must be uniquely named.

Item hierarchy must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit an item hierarchy without entering a name.

Action: Enter a name in the name field and retry. Each item hierarchy must be uniquely named.

Item is used in one or more summaries. Deletion not allowed.Cause: An attempt was made to delete an item or folder which contains items that are used in one or more summaries.

Action: Delete the summary folder using the item and retry.

Item must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit an item without entering a name.

Action: Enter a name in the name field and retry. Each item must be uniquely named.

Item [old name] referenced in the export was not found in this End User LayerCause: An item in the End User Layer export file was not found in the End User Layer during import.

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Action: Include the item in the export file and import the EUL again or define the item in the End User Layer.

Item [old name] was not loaded because of a missing dependencyCause: An item was referenced in the End User Layer import file that does not exist in the End User Layer.

Action: Include this item when you export the business area or import the item sepa-rately.

Item [old name] was not loaded due to name clashCause: The End User Layer import failed because an item in the import file already exists in the End User Layer.

Action: Rename the item or choose the import option to rename items and folders auto-matically.

Join fan trap detectedCause: You are creating a complex folder and attempting to place an item in the folder which would create a master-detail join that will produce an invalid result set.

Action: Select another item to place in the complex folder and retry.

Join is used in one or more summaries. Deletion not allowed.Cause: An attempt was made to delete a join that is used in one or more summaries.

Action: Delete the summary folder using the join and retry.

Join must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a join without entering a name.

Action: Enter a name in the name field and retry. Each join must be uniquely named.

Join [old name] referenced in the export was not found in this End User LayerCause: A join in the End User Layer export file was not found in the End User Layer during import.

Action: Include the joined folders in the export file and import the file again or define the join in the End User Layer.

Join [old name] was not loaded because of a missing dependencyCause: A join was referenced in the End User Layer import file that does not exist in the End User Layer.

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Action: Include this join when you export the business area and retry.

Join [old name] was not loaded due to name clashCause: The End User Layer import failed because a join in the import file already exists in the End User Layer.

Action: Rename the join or choose the import option to rename items and folders auto-matically.

Message text not found for this errorCause: An error occurred for which there is no message.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Missing parameter valueCause: A parameter was found that has no associated value.

Action: Make sure that all referenced parameters have values entered and retry.

Name is too long. Max length is num bytesCause: You have entered a name which is longer than the maximum (100 bytes).

Action: Re-enter a name which is 100 bytes or less.

Name must be uniqueCause: You have entered a name for a business area, folder, or item that already exists.

Action: Re-enter a unique name and retry. The name for a business area or folder must be unique to the End User Layer. The name for a calculation or item must be unique to the folder it is located in.

New item is in a different folder to other items in the hierarchyCause: Attempt was made to add an item into a hierarchy node which already contains an item from another folder.

Action: Use an item in the same folder as the existing item and retry.

No joins detected. Join relationships must existCause: You are creating an item hierarchy and linking items from different folders which do not have joins between them. Alternatively, you are placing items into a com-plex folder from different simple folders that do not have joins between them.

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Action: Create joins between the folders that contain items you want to link in an item hierarchy or place in the same complex folder and retry.

No joins detected between these objects: foldera, folderb.Cause: You are creating an item hierarchy and linking items from different folders which do not have joins between them. Alternatively, you are placing items into a com-plex folder from different simple folders that do not have joins between them.

Action: Create joins between the folders that contain items you want to link in an item hierarchy or place in the same complex folder and retry.

No joins found where requiredCause: An operation was attempted where a join is required to another folder, and no join was found.

Action: Determining which joins are required to support the operation you are per-forming and enter the joins first.

No table specified for this summary combinationCause: An attempt was made to create a summary combination with no database table specified.

Action: Enter a table name in the Summary Combination dialog and retry.

Null can only be used with Is Null or Is Not Null Comparisons Cause: An attempt was made to use a null value in a condition with an operator other than IS NULL or IS NOT NULL.

Action: Use IS NULL or IS NOT NULL to refer to null values in conditions.

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Error Messages A-37

Number cannot be greater than nCause: A number was entered that is greater than the maximum allowed.

Action: Enter a smaller number and retry.

Number cannot be less than nCause: A number was entered that is less than the minimum allowed.

Action: Enter a larger number and retry.

Number outside maximum rangeCause: A number was entered that is greater than the maximum allowed.

Action: Enter a smaller number and retry.

One or more items are mapped to the same columnCause: When mapping columns in the Summary Wizard, you can only use one col-umn to map to one item.

Action: Map the item to another column or change the summary definition.

One or more items is not mapped to a columnCause: When mapping columns in the Summary Wizard, you must map all the items.

Action: Map all items in the summary or change the summary definition and retry.

Only folders with an OWNER attribute may be summarizedCause: You cannot use folder items in a summary (pre 8.1.6 databases only) that do not have an Owner attribute set.

Action: Click on the Data tab, select the appropriate Folder, view the Properties for the Folder and update the Owner value (see Chapter 6.6.3.1, “Entering a value into the Owner field” for more information).

Only the Owner of an Internal Summary may refresh the data.Cause: You cannot refresh a summary created by a different user.

Action: Log on as the owner of the summary in order to refresh the data.

ORA-num: Cause: Discoverer Administration Edition is displaying an error that has been found by the Oracle database.

Action: Take appropriate action for Oracle error number. See Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual.

Owner name is too long

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Cause: You have entered a name which is longer than the maximum allowed length.

Action: Re-enter a name which is no longer than the maximum length allowed for in the Oracle database you are connected to. The maximum length may vary with Oracle versions. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for owner name conven-tions.

Owner of function must be specifiedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a PL/SQL function without a valid user ID.

Action: Enter a valid user ID in the owner field and retry. Each PL/SQL function must be owned by a valid user.

Package name is invalidCause: You have attempted to create or edit a PL/SQL function without a valid pack-age name.

Action: Enter a package name which conforms to the package naming convention. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for package name conventions.

Package name is too longCause: You have entered a package name which is longer than the maximum allowed length.

Action: Re-enter a package name which is no longer than the maximum length allowed for package name in the Oracle database you are connected to. The maximum length of package name may vary with Oracle versions. See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for package name conventions.

Performing EUL Upgrade…Cause: Your EUL tables use an older version of Discoverer. The tables and metadata definitions are now being automatically upgraded in order to use this latest version of the software.

Action: Do not interrupt this process. Wait until the message has been dismissed before continuing with Discoverer. If you have a large EUL with many folders, this can take a few minutes.

Server package DBMS_JOB has not been installed or is not availableCause: You cannot use the Summary Management feature of Discoverer because the DBMS_JOB package is not installed on the server.

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Action: See the Release Notes for information on installing the DBMS_JOB package.

Space estimate unavailableCause: The system was unable to estimate the space required for this summary.

Action: Set up an item class for each item in a summary in order to be able calculate a space estimate and retry.

Summary must be namedCause: You have attempted to create or edit a summary without entering a name.

Action: Enter a unique name in the name field and retry. Each summary must be named.

Summary refresh ’job_queue_interval’ parameter is n secondsCause: The init.ora parameter job_queue_interval is set to the specified value. This period determines how often DBMS_JOB processes summary refresh operations. You cannot refresh summaries at an interval less than that specified by job_queue_interval.

Action: This message is informational only. You may want to make job_queue_interval smaller to accommodate more frequent summary refresh operations.

SYS.V$SESSION not accessibleCause: Query performance prediction feature requires that you have access to this SYS owned object.

Action: See Section 2.3, “Query Prediction” to determine how to get access to this object.

SYS.V$SESSTAT not accessibleCause: Query performance prediction feature requires that you have access to this SYS owned object.

Action: See Section 2.3, “Query Prediction” to determine how to get access to this object.

The detail folder must be different than the master folderCause: You have selected the same folder on both sides of the join.

Action: You must select items from different folders. A Join condition which tests for Items in the same Folder is not allowed.

The End User Layer table EUL_VERSIONS is invalidCause: The End User Layer tables have been modified in an unsupported way.

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Action: Contact your system administrator for assistance.

The folder for this item class is either not accessible or is InvalidCause: An attempt was made to use an item class where the folder required is not cur-rently accessible to the logged on user.

Action: Check database permissions on the tables used by folders in the item class and that the folders are in accessible business areas.

The join attributes are not validCause: During the creation or editing of a join, one of the attributes of the join is null and has not been set.

Action: Enter an attribute on each side of the join and retry.

There are multiple join paths between these foldersCause: More than one join exists between the folders, creating multiple ways of join-ing them. This ambiguous situation must be resolved before the query can be executed.

Action: Delete the joins which you do not want to use and retry.

There are no items in this hierarchy nodeCause: An attempt was made to remove the last item from a hierarchy node.

Action: If you want to remove the hierarchy node, delete it.

There is no accessible Oracle Designer repositoryCause: You do not have access to an Oracle Designer repository in the database.

Action: Determine that Oracle Designer is installed on this database, and verify in Ora-cle Designer that this user has been granted access to, or owns one or more applica-tions. Finally, determine that the user has a set of synonyms which point to the Oracle Designer repository tables.

This folder is used in summaries. An owner value must be specified.Cause: You cannot delete the details in the Folder Properties Owner field (pre 8.1.6 databases only) where a summary uses that Folder.

Action: Either alter or remove the summary that uses the Folder so that the summary no longer uses the Folder.

This foreign key defines a self-joinCause: The current version of Discoverer does not support self joins.

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Action: Load the database table twice, creating two Folders and join the Folders together. The folders should be renamed to reflect their status in the join (for example, Manager and Employee).

This item hierarchy node has multiple parentsCause: The current release of Discoverer does not support multi-parent hierarchies.

Action: Define a separate hierarchy that connects to the same items to define the alter-native parent and retry.

This item is already included in the summaryCause: An attempt was made to include an item in a summary twice.

Action: Use items only once in each summary.

This item is already used in this hierarchyCause: An attempt was made to include an item in a hierarchy twice.

Action: Use items only once in each hierarchy.

This item is contained in a hierarchy and cannot be hiddenCause: You cannot hide items used in item hierarchies.

Action: Remove the item from the hierarchy.

This item is not a date data typeCause: An attempt was made to use an item where only an item with the data type of DATE is expected.

Action: Use the item’s Properties sheet to determine its data type and either change the item being used, or convert the item to a DATE data type by using the TO_DATE func-tion in a calculation.

This item is used in a hierarchy and cannot be hiddenCause: You cannot hide items used in item hierarchies.

Action: Remove the item from the hierarchy.

This operation requires DBMS_JOB package to be configured. Please notify your DBA.Cause: You cannot use the Summary Management feature of Discoverer because the DBMS_JOB package is not installed on the server.

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Action: See the release notes for information on installing the DBMS_JOB package.

This operation will cause some summaries to be disabledCause: An attempt was made to edit a join, a formula, or a folder that will cause the result set of the owning folder to change. As a result, all summaries that use items in this folder will be set to invalid.

Action: If the summaries are managed summaries, display the Refresh dialog and refresh the summaries. This will cause new summary data to be generated and the sum-maries will be made valid again. If the summaries are external registered summaries, display the Edit Summary dialog and set the summary to be valid, once you have ensured that your summary data still matches the definition of the folder.

This user does not have access to user profilesCause: An attempt was made to set the user profile by a user who does not have the ALTER USER database privilege.

Action: Use SQL*Plus to grant the ALTER USER privilege to the user.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to create a procedureCause: In order to use the Summary Management feature of Discoverer you must have the CREATE PROCEDURE database privilege.

Action: Use SQL*Plus to grant the CREATE PROCEDURE privilege to the user.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to create a tableCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the CREATE TABLE privilege using SQL*Plus and to ensure that you have quota and privileges to be able to create tables in a tablespace. See the Oracle Database Administration documentation for more details.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to create a viewCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the CREATE VIEW privilege using SQL*Plus and to ensure that you have quota and privileges to be able to create tables in a tablespace. See the Oracle Database Administration documentation for more details.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to delete from specified tableCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or refresh summa-

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Error Messages A-43

ries in the server.

Action: You must have SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges on the server summary table.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to insert into specified tableCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or refresh summa-ries in the server.

Action: You must have SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges on the server summary table.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to select from specified tableCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or refresh summa-ries in the server.

Action: You must have SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges on the server summary table.

This user does not have sufficient privileges to update specified tableCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or refresh summa-ries in the server.

Action: You must have SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE, and DELETE privileges on the server summary table.

This user is unable to create a procedure in current schemaCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the privileges and quotas neces-sary to create a procedure in the schema you are using.

This user is unable to create a table in current schemaCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the privileges and quotas neces-sary to create a table in the schema you are using.

This user is unable to create a view in current schemaCause: You do not have the database privileges required to create or edit summaries in the server.

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Action: Ask your system administrator to grant you the privileges and quotas neces-sary to create a table in the schema you are using.

Unable to find error text for this exceptionCause: An error occurred for which there is no message.

Action: Note the information and error numbers displayed, and the actions immedi-ately preceding this error, then contact your customer support representative.

Unable to load invalid database viewCause: An attempt was made to load a view in the server which is marked as invalid. This may be because tables used in the view no longer exist, or synonyms used are invalid.

Action: Check the view definition in the server and make sure it is valid and retry.

Unable to obtain lock in End User Layer transaction - element is already lockedCause: Someone else is changing the End User Layer element you are modifying.

Action: Wait for a while, then try the transaction again. If the error is still reported, exit from Discoverer, reconnect, and repeat the transaction.

Unable to resolve synonym which spans multiple database linksCause: At attempt was made to translate a synonym when loading a table across a database link, where the synonym points to a further database link.

Action: Load the object directly from the database link in which the object is physi-cally stored.

Unknown error (in summary creation)Cause: An unspecified error occurred when creating a summary.

Action: Record the steps and actions taken immediately before this error was reported and contact your customer support representative with the details.

Unknown VersionCause: When you have displayed the About Discoverer dialog, no valid version num-ber is found. The application has either been installed incorrectly or may be corrupted.

Action: Reinstall the Discoverer software, or ask your systems administrator or Oracle representative for assistance.

Unrecognized token found in import file - name = Cause: The End User Layer import file is corrupted or is not a valid import file.

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Action: Export the business area into a new file and import it again.

Unsupported date arithmetic requestedCause: An attempt was made to use DATE type items in a formula in an invalid combi-nation. Typically this is caused by trying by add, subtract, multiply, or divide two dates.

Action: See the Oracle SQL Language Reference Manual for information on date arithmetic syntax.

User-defined PL/SQL function import not available - requires Oracle 7.3 and access to ALL_ARGUMENTS database viewCause: Although you can define PL/SQL functions and arguments in Discoverer using any version of Oracle 7, only version 7.3 and above supports the facil-ity that enables Discoverer to automatically find the function name and arguments.

Action: Type in the function name and arguments directly, checking that they are the correct ones and retry.

User specified summary tables can only contain a single summaryCause: An attempt was made to map the same external summary table to multiple sum-mary combinations.

Action: Use a different summary table for each summary combination.

Version number of DCE.DLL is not compatible with version number of the EUL tablesCause: You are attempting to connect to a database that has an incompatible set of End User Layer database tables.

Action: Upgrade the End User Layer tables, install the latest release of Discoverer or connect to a different database.

You do not have access to any business areasCause: This user has access to an End User Layer, but has not been granted access to any business areas.

Action: Use the Security dialog in Discoverer Administration Edition to grant access to business areas. The user will also require Oracle SELECT access to any database tables used in the business areas.

You do not have access to any End User Layer tablesCause: There are no End User Layer tables set up or this user does not have access to them.

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Action: See the release notes for information on setting up the End User Layer tables.

You do not have access to this business areaCause: This user has access to an End User Layer, but has not been granted access to this business area.

Action: Use the Security dialog in Discoverer Administration Edition to grant access to business areas. The user will also require Oracle SELECT access to any database tables used in the business areas.

You have connected to an Applications EUL but the required Applications tables can-not be found. Check your value of FNDNAMCause: The value of the FNDNAM variable may not have been set.

Action: The value can be set via the Tools | Options | Connection tab or on the com-mand line or the registry.

Cause: An unsupported version of Oracle Applications is being used.

Action: The Applications security features will only work with Oracle Applications releases 10.7 and 11.0 and 11i.

Cause: The EUL owner has insufficient privileges.

Action: The EUL owner needs to have SELECT privileges on the following Applica-tions tables. Connect to the database using the account specified in the FNDNAM vari-able and execute the following statements.

grant select on FND_USER to &EULOWNER grant select on FND_APPLICATION to &EULOWNER grant select on FND_USER_RESPONSIBILITY to &EULOWNER grant select on FND_RESPONSIBILITY_VL to &EULOWNER grant select on FND_ORACLE_USERID to &EULOWNER grant select on FND_DATA_GROUP_UNITS to &EULOWNER

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The EUL Status Workbooks

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ B.1 Introduction

■ B.2 Installation

■ B.3 EUL Data Definition

■ B.4 Query Statistics

■ B.5 Creating Your Own Workbooks

B.1 IntroductionThe “EUL Status” workbooks provide some useful reports for managing and documenting EULs. For information on enabling these workbooks see Section B.2, “Installation”. Although you can provide any user with access to these Workbooks, they are intended pri-marily for administrative purposes.

The “EUL Status” Workbooks (found in the {ORACLE_HOME}\discvr4 directory) are:

■ EUL Data Definition

■ Query Statistics

Each Workbook describes how to use the individual Worksheets.

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B.2 InstallationThere are two types of installation depending on whether you are running against a standard EUL or an Oracle Applications EUL.

■ Standard EUL Status workbooks install steps

■ Oracle Applications EUL Status workbooks install steps

B.2.1 Standard EUL Status workbooks install steps

B.2.1.1 PrerequisitesYou must have an EUL installed (see Chapter 5.2, “Creating an End User Layer” for further information).

B.2.1.2 Install the workbooks1. Run the SQL file 'EUL4.sql' as the EUL Owner

For example:

SQL> connect <eul owner>/<eul owner password> SQL> Start d:\{ORACLE HOME}\discvr4\sql\EUL4.sql

This creates some custom PL/SQL functions required by the Discoverer V4 EUL busi-ness area.

2. Exit the SQL session.

3. Start Discoverer Admin. Edition.

4. Import the file 'EUL4.eex' For example:From the menu choose - File | Import | Add

5. Select the file d:<ORACLE_HOME>\discvr4\EUL4.eex.

6. Click Open

7. Click NextLeave the defaults.

8. Click Next

9. Click StartYou should then see an ‘Import Successful’ message

10. Click FinishThis completes the import.

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11. Start Discoverer PlusYou will be able to open the Eul Data Definition or Query Statistics workbooks.

B.2.1.3 Delete Business Area/remove PL/SQL filesIf you have the Business area EUL for Discoverer V3.1 included in your EUL, upgraded from your V3.1 EUL, then you can delete it, as it is no longer required. You can then remove the associated PL/SQL files:

EUL_GET_ANALYZEDEUL_GET_COMPLEX_FOLDEREUL_GET_HEIRLVLEUL_GET_HIERORDEUL_GET_ITEMEUL_GET_ITEM_NAMEEUL_GET_OBJECTEUL_GET_OBJECT_NAMEEUL_GET_SIMPLE_FOLDER

B.2.2 Oracle Applications EUL Status workbooks install steps

B.2.2.1 PrerequisitesYou must have an Oracle Applications EUL installed (see Chapter 17.6, “Create an Applica-tions Mode EUL” for further information).

B.2.2.2 Install the workbooks1. Run the SQL file 'EUL4.sql' as the EUL Owner

For example:

SQL> connect <eul owner>/<eul owner password> SQL> Start d:\{ORACLE HOME}\discvr4\sql\EUL4.sql

This registers some custom PL/SQL functions required by the Discoverer V4 EUL busi-ness area.

2. Run the SQL file 'EUL4_APPS.sql' as the EUL Owner You will be prompted for the username of the Oracle Applications FNDNAM For example:

SQL> connect <eul owner>/<eul owner password> SQL> Start d:\{ORACLE HOME}\discvr4\sql\EUL4_APPS.sql

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3. You will see the following prompt: “Please enter the 'FNDNAM' used in your apps connection”Do not include any passwords (e.g. APPS)

4. Enter value for fndnam:

5. A warning message is displayed: “Check the FNDNAM you entered here --> apps_appdemo <-- very carefully.

6. If incorrect rerun the script

7. Start Discoverer Admin. Edition.

8. Import the file 'EUL4.eex' For example:From the menu choose - File | Import | Add then select the file d:<ORACLE_HOME>\discvr4\EUL4.eex.

9. Click Open

10. Click NextLeave the defaults.

11. Click Next

12. Click Start

13. Start Discoverer Plus*You will be able to open the Eul Data Definition or Query Statistics workbooks.

B.2.2.3 Enable workbooks to run in Discoverer Plus for Oracle Applications EULTo run these workbooks with an Oracle Applications EUL in Discoverer Plus you must con-nect as an Oracle Applications User. You will not be able to run them as the EULOWNER.

You must first connect to the Administration Edition as the EULOWNER and then grant (either an Oracle Applications User or Responsibility) access to the EUL4 Business Area. You can then connect to Discoverer Plus as that User and run the workbooks.

These workbooks have been shared with the PUBLIC user and are owned by the EULOWNER. This means that all users who are able to access the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area will be able to successfully run both the EUL Data Definition and Query Sta-tistics workbooks.

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B.2.3 Un-installing Discoverer V4 EUL Business AreaThis section describes how to un-install the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area.

1. Connect to Discoverer Administration Edition as the owner of the EUL that you want to uninstall the Business Area from.

The Load Wizard opens.

2. Click Open an Existing Business Area.

3. Highlight the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area

4. Click FinishThis loads the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area.

5. Highlight the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area in the work area.

6. Choose Edit | Delete from the menu.

7. Select Delete this Business Area and its Folders

8. Click YesThis deletes the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area and its Folders.

9. Choose Tools| Register PL/SQL Functions to remove the associated PLSQL functions

10. Highlight the following Functions:

EUL4_GET_ANALYZEDEUL4_GET_APPS_USERRESPEUL4_GET_COMPLEX_FOLDEREUL4_GET_HEIRLVLEUL4_GET_HIERORDEUL4_GET_ISITAPPS_EULEUL4_GET_ITEMEUL4_GET_ITEM_NAMEEUL4_GET_OBJECTEUL4_GET_OBJECT_NAMEEUL4_GET_SIMPLE_FOLDER

11. Click Delete for each of the functions in turn.This deletes the Custom PL/SQL Functions that were required for the Discoverer V4 EUL Business Area.

12. Connect to Discoverer Plus as the EUL Owner and delete the following workbooks:- EUL Data Definition- Query Statistics

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Removal is now complete.

B.3 EUL Data DefinitionThis Workbook provides reports on the objects contained in the EUL. It consists of the fol-lowing Worksheets:

B.4 Query StatisticsThis Workbook displays statistical information about the queries that have been run by end users. It consists of the following Worksheets:

Worksheet Description

EUL Version The version of the Discoverer EUL you are currently using.

Business Areas and Folders Folders, by Business Area.

Folders and Items Items, by Folder by Business Area.

Joins Joins defined, by Business area.

Conditions Conditions defined, by Business Area.

Hierarchies Hierarchies defined, by Business Area.

Item Classes - LOVs List of Values Defined, by Business Area.

Security Access to Business Areas, by Users/Roles/Responsibilities.

Privileges Access Privileges, by Users/Roles/Responsibilities.

Summary Mappings Mapping of Folders to Summaries, by Business Area.

Workbook Management List of workbooks saved to the database and who can access them.

Worksheet Description

Query Statistics The version of the Discoverer EUL you are currently connected.

Workbooks Queried by User Workbooks queried by user.

Workbook Query Statistics Query statistics about each workbook.

Workbooks that have used summaries.

Which workbooks have used summaries.

Ad-hoc Queries by User Shows the User and the Folders and Items queried but not saved to the database.

Ad-hoc Queries by Work-book

Shows the workbooks queried but not saved to the database.

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B.5 Creating Your Own WorkbooksThe “EUL Status” Workbooks can only be run against Oracle databases. They can be run against standard or Oracle Applications EULs.

The “EUL Status” Workbooks analyses the main areas held in the EUL. You can edit the Workbooks or the “Discoverer V4 EUL” Business Area to suit your requirements. You can also create your own “EUL Status” Workbooks.

The “Discoverer V4 EUL” Business Area is a standard business area, like others you may have created. It consists of many folders such as:

You can use these folders, plus the others provided, to build your own Workbooks which analyze and document the structure of your Discoverer Business Areas.

If you modify the supplied “EUL Status” Workbooks, we recommend that you save them under a different name, as the original filenames are upgraded (overwritten) automatically with each new release of Discoverer.

B.5.1 Grant SELECT on dba_jobs_runningIf your Folder EUL4_DBA_JOBS_RUNNING reports the error (ORA01031 insufficient privileges) you will need to carry out the following steps:

Ad-hoc Queries that used a Summary

Shows the queries not saved to the database that used a summary.

Folder Description

BA & Folders Business Areas & folders defined in the EUL

Folders & Items Folders & Items defined in the EUL

Joins The structures of Joins defined in the EUL

Hierarchies The structure of Hierarchies

Item Classes The structure of Item Classes or LOV’s

Summary Mappings Mapping of Summary Tables to Folders

Security Users access to Business Areas

Privileges Users Discoverer privileges

Workbook Management List of workbooks saved to the database and who can access them.

Worksheet Description

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1. Either:

■ Use Server Manager and "connect internal", or

■ Log into SQL*Plus as the user SYS:<PASSWORD>

2. Grant SELECT access on dba_jobs_running to your End User Layer Owner <EULOWNER>.

For example:

SQL> connect sys/<sys password> SQL> Grant select on DBA_JOBS_RUNNING to <EUL OWNER>; SQL> Commit;

Certain folders in the Discoverer V4 EUL business area require access to the items in this table.

3. (Optional) To check whether this has worked, log into SQL*Plus as the EUL owner and describe the table SYS.DBA_JOBS_RUNNING

For example:

SQL> connect <eul owner>/<eul owner password> SQL> desc SYS.DBA_JOBS_RUNNING

You should see the following results:

Name Null? Type

SID NUMBER

JOB NUMBER

FAILURES NUMBER

LAST_DATE DATE

LAST_SEC VARCHAR2(8)

THIS_DATE DATE

THIS_SEC VARCHAR2(8)

INSTANCE NUMBER (if it is an 8.1.6+ database)

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Query Prediction

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ C.1 What is Query Prediction?

■ C.3 Improving the Accuracy of Query Prediction

■ C.4 Running queries against Secure Views and making Query Prediction faster

■ C.5 Deleting Old Query Prediction Statistics

C.1 What is Query Prediction?Query Prediction provides an estimate of the time required to retrieve the information in a query. The Query Prediction appears before the query begins, so you can decide whether or not to run the query. Query Prediction uses the Cost-Based Optimizer (CBO) in Oracle RDBMS Release 7.2 or later.

C.2 Enabling and Configuring Query Prediction■ Section 2.3, “Query Prediction,” contains information on enabling and optimizing

Query Prediction.

■ Section E.2, “Registry Settings,” includes Registry Settings that you can use to config-ure various Query Prediction options.

C.3 Improving the Accuracy of Query PredictionImproving the Query Prediction accuracy enables users to make better decisions on whether to run their queries immediately or schedule them for later. Quite often, this results in reduced server load, and therefore improved query performance.

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To implement Query Performance Prediction effectively, you should analyze the tables you intend to query using the ANALYZE TABLE command.

e the Business Areas and Folders Worksheet of the EUL Data Definition Workbook to dis-play when the Folders in the EUL were last analyzed (see Section B.3, “EUL Data Defini-tion”) for more information.

Query Prediction uses the cost-based optimizer in Oracle RDBMS Release 7.2 or later. Cre-ating histogram statistics by performing column level analysis will lead to more accurate query predictions, reducing the server load and improving query performance.

For Oracle 7.2 databases issue the following SQL statement using SQL*Plus (logged in as the data table owner):

SQL> analyze table <username.tablename> compute statistics;

For Oracle databases (v7.3 upwards), issue the following SQL statement using SQL*Plus (logged in as the data table owner):

SQL> analyze table <username.tablename> compute statistics for all columns;SQL> analyze table <username.tablename> compute statistics;

NOTE: If you expect the table contents to change significantly over time, your analysis should be reapplied at regular intervals.

C.4 Running queries against Secure Views and making Query Prediction faster

Query Prediction uses the EXPLAIN PLAN statement in order to analyze queries which Discoverer Plus runs. Unfortunately, EXPLAIN PLAN does not work against secure views, and therefore, Query Prediction is not normally able to work in these environments.

With Discoverer, it is possible to workaround this by granting your users access to the sys-tem view V$SQL. In fact, it is generally recommended to do this as it usually has the added benefit of making Query Prediction faster.

To do this log into SQL*DBA (Oracle7 7.2) or SVRMGRL (Oracle7 7.3) on the database (UNIX) server as the user INTERNAL.

Note: SVRMGR on Personal Oracle7 7.3, SVRMGR23 or SVRMGR30 on WindowsNT Server.

Grant the select by issuing the following command:

NB: 'v$xxxxxx' is a public synonym to a view called 'v_$xxxxxx', so the grant statements would read as follows:

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SQL> grant select on v_$sql to public;

NB. You can do this by running the script {oracle_home}\discvr4\sql\eulsuqpp.sql in sql-plus. You must know the SYS password to use this script.

C.5 Deleting Old Query Prediction StatisticsThis section describes how to delete old Query Prediction statistics from the database.

1. Either use Server Manager or SQL*Plus to connect to the database as the EUL owner.

For example:

SQL> connect <eul owner>/<eul owner password>

2. Run eulstdel.sql.

For example:

SQL> Start d:\{ORACLE HOME}\discvr4\sql\eulstdel.sql

This displays a summary of the query statistics stored in the database. And offers to delete query statistics older than a specified number of days.

3. Enter the number of days (or leave it blank if you don’t want to delete any statistics).

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Command-line Interface

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ D.1 Introduction

■ D.5 Restrictions

■ D.3 Required Privileges

■ D.4 Using Commands

■ D.6 Command Syntax

■ D.8 Using Command Files

■ D.9 Command Reference

■ D.10 Command Modifier Reference

D.1 IntroductionDiscoverer Administration Edition provides a command-line interface for a simple and effi-cient means of performing repetitive administrative tasks, such as:

■ Importing EUL elements

■ Exporting EUL elements

■ Refreshing EUL elements

Using the Discoverer Command Line Interface, you can perform administrative tasks with-out having to launch the Discoverer Administration Edition graphical user interface.

In addition, you can write command files (much like MS-DOS batch files or Unix script files) to perform groups of administrative tasks automatically.

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D.2 How to use the Discoverer Command Line InterfaceYou can run Discoverer commands in the following ways:

■ Enter a command directly at the Windows Start\Run dialog, (see screen shot below).

■ Open an MSDOS window, and enter a command directly at the command prompt, (see screen shot below).

■ Store commands in a text file and run the text file as a single parameter to the Discov-erer executable file, for example ’Dis4adm.exe /cmdfile Import.txt’, (see screen shot below).

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D.3 Required PrivilegesTo run Discoverer commands, you need the appropriate security privileges. If you write a command line referring to a particular EUL, you must have sufficient privileges in that EUL for the operation to succeed. The same restriction applies for an EUL name in the Windows system registry.

If you do not have administration privileges for the selected EUL (whether it be a command line named EUL or the registry entry), or if none is selected due to the absence of a registry entry, the option to bypass the Connect dialog is ignored, and no status message is generated from the operation.

If you wish to run a batch of commands, make sure that you bypass the Connect dialog by including the appropriate /connect commands in your command file.

D.4 Using CommandsWhen using commands, the following rules apply:

■ Commands are not case-sensitive - you can use either upper-case or lower-case charac-ters interchangeably.

■ Commands can appear in any order as long as their arguments immediately follow them in the order defined.

■ Command modifiers can appear in any order as long as their arguments immediately follow them in the order defined.

■ After each command is executed, Discoverer Administration Edition writes a status message indicating whether the command was successful. You can override the name and location of the log file using the /log modifier.

■ If you do not specify an object name where one is required, (such as an EUL or Busi-ness Area), Discoverer defaults to the administrator-owned object.

■ When specifying Discoverer EUL elements, you can use either a Display Name or an Identifier. For example, if a Discoverer folder called Sales has the Identifier SALES_132388, you can specify this folder in a command as either of the following arguments:

■ /refresh_folder Sales

(Where ’Sales’ is the Display Name of the folder element.)

■ /refresh_folder SALES_132388 /identifier

(Where ’SALES_132388’ is the Identifier for the folder element.)

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For more information on Identifiers, refer to Section 7.5.1, “About Identifiers”.

■ When specifying an element Display Name or Identifier that contains one or more spaces, enclose the entire name in double quotation marks, (“ “). For example, the folder element Sales Figures should be entered as /folder “Sales Figures”.

D.5 RestrictionsWhen using commands, you should be aware of the following restrictions:

■ The /REFRESH_SUMMARY command-line option only works in conjunction with Ora-cle databases.

■ When using the command line interface, execute commands one at a time. If you try to run more that one command at a time, you may cause errors, (see Appendix A.1, “Intro-duction”).

If you are using command files, you can run more than one command file at once - this is because batch files contain single commands that run in sequence.

D.6 Command SyntaxUse this syntax for the command-line interface:

dis31adm.exe [/connect <userid>/<passwd>[@[ODBC:]<dbname>]] /<command> [/<argument(s)>] [/<modifier(s)> [/<argument(s)>]]

Where:

■ dis4adm.exe - is the name of the Discoverer executable file.

■ [/connect <userid>/<passwd>[@[ODBC:]<dbname>]] - this optional command argument enables you to bypass the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administra-tion Edition security dialog box.

■ /<command> [/<argument(s)>] - a valid Discoverer command name followed by any required arguments.

■ [/<modifier(s)> [/<argument(s)>]] - one or more valid Discoverer modifiers fol-lowed by any required arguments.

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D.7 Syntax ConventionsThe following command syntax conventions are used in this guide:

■ Discoverer commands are shown in plain type.

■ Mandatory command parameters are enclosed in single brackets < >.

■ Optional command parameters are enclosed in square brackets [ ].

■ Where command parameters are separated by a pipe character, enter one from the list. For example, for the command parameter ’/refresh | /rename’, enter either ’/refresh’ or ’/rename’.

■ If you are connecting to a non-Oracle database, use the optional @[ODBC:]<dbname>]argument.

■ If you use the /connect argument to bypass the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition security dialog box, remember that arguments that begin with a slash must be enclosed in double-quotes. For example,

/connect "/[@[ODBC:]<dbname>]"

An example using the \connect command syntax:

Figure D–1 An example Discoverer command

D.8 Using Command FilesCommand files are text files containing Discoverer commands that can be run automatically from the command line. Command files work in a similar way to MS-DOS batch files and Unix script files. To run command files, start the Discoverer Administration Edition executable (dis4adm.exe) with the name of the command file as an argument to the /cmdfile command. For example, to run commands stored in the text file Import.txt, type:

Dis4adm.exe /cmdfile Import.txt

/connect <user>/<password> [@[ODBC:]<host>]

Command Mandatoryarguments

Optional arguments

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You can also run more than one command file by repeating the /cmdfile command. For example, to run commands stored in the text file Login.txt, then commands in Import.txt, type:

Dis4adm.exe /cmdfile Login.txt /cmdfile Import.txt

The commands in a command file are treated as though they were entered directly on the command line in all respects, except that the command file can contain any number of car-riage returns embedded within the text.

A command file may in turn invoke other command files. This provides a convenient work around for the Microsoft Windows imposed limitation of restricting a command line to not more than 255 characters in length.

Command files are a convenient way to store modular commands, which can then be used in different combinations. For example, the following three command files contain the follow-ing commands:

■ connect.cmd contains the line /connect me/mypassword@mydatabase

■ create.cmdcontains the line /create eul /log create.log

■ delete.cmdcontains the line /delete eul /log delete.log

These three files can then be run from the command line in any of the following three com-binations:

■ dis4adm.exe /cmdfile connect.cmdThis would be a simple connect from the command line.

■ dis4adm.exe /cmdfile connect.cmd /cmdfile create.cmdThis would connect and create an EUL for the connected user, storing all output into a log file named create.log.

■ dis4adm.exe /cmdfile connect.cmd /cmdfile delete.cmdThis would connect and delete the EUL owned by the connected user, storing all output into a log file named delete.log.

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D.9 Command ReferenceThis section provides comprehensive reference information on the Discoverer Administra-tion Edition command-line interface. (For information on using command modifiers, see also: Section D.10, “Command Modifier Reference”.)

D.9.1 Quick Guide to commandsThis sections contain an alphabetical list of commands.

Table D–1 Alphabetical summary of commands

Command Description

/? Display on-line help.

/ASM <modifier(s)> Run ASM.

/CONNECT <user-name>/<password> [@<database>] Connect to an EUL.

/CREATE_EUL Create an EUL.

/DELETE <modifier(s)> Delete EUL elements.

/DELETE_BUS_AREA <business area> Delete a Business Area.

/DELETE_EUL Delete an EUL.

/EXPORT <export file> <modifier(s)> Export EUL elements.

/IMPORT <import file(s)> <modifier(s)> Import EUL elements.

/LOAD <business_area> Load a Business Area.

/REFRESH_BUS_AREA <bus area name(s)> Refresh Business Areas.

/REFRESH_FOLDER <folder name(s)> Refresh Folders.

/REFRESH_SUMMARY <summary name(s)> <bus area name>

Refresh Summaries.

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D.9.2 How the Command Reference section is arrangedThis section uses common administrative tasks to describe the Discoverer Administration Edition command-line interface. These tasks are arranged into the following sections:

■ Displaying Command-line Help

■ Running Command Files

■ Connecting to an EUL

■ Creating an Applications Mode EUL

■ Setting connection options for Oracle Applications users

■ Change an existing standard database user to an Oracle Applications user.

■ Connect as an Oracle Applications user

■ Creating an EUL

■ Bulk Loading Data into an EUL

■ Deleting a Business Area

■ Deleting an EUL

■ Deleting an EUL element

■ Running Automated Summary Management (ASM)

■ Refreshing a Business Area

■ Refreshing a Folder

■ Refreshing a Summary

■ Import a Business Area

■ Importing EUL elements from an EEX File

■ Exporting EUL elements to an EEX File

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D.9.3 Displaying Command-line HelpThe /? option displays a list of Discoverer commands and their arguments.

■ Syntax: /?

■ Modifiers: None

■ Notes: None

■ Restrictions: None

■ Example: Dis4adm.exe /?

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D.9.4 Running Command Files

The /cmdfile command enables you to run Discoverer commands stored in a text file automatically.

■ Syntax: /cmdfile <file name>

■ Modifiers: None

■ Restrictions: None

■ Notes: To create a command file, create a text file containing one or more Discoverer commands using a standard text editor. To run the com-mand(s) in the text file, at the command line enter:

dis4adm.exe /cmdfile <file name>

For more information, see Section D.8, “Using Command Files”.

■ Example: To run command(s) stored in the text file myFile, type the following command at the command line:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /cmdfile myFile

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D.9.5 Connecting to an EULThis option enables you to connect to an EUL without having to enter a user ID and pass-word at the Connect to Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition dialog box.

■ Syntax: [/connect <userid>/<passwd>[@[ODBC:]<dbname>]]

■ Modifiers: [/eul <eul>][/apps_user][/apps_responsibility <responsibility>][/apps_gwuid <gwuid>][/apps_fndnam <fndnam>][/apps_security_group <security_group>]

■ Notes: See also Section D.9.7, “Setting connection options for Oracle Appli-cations users” and Section D.9.9, “Connect as an Oracle Applications user”.

■ Restrictions: None

■ Example: /connect user/password@datatbase

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D.9.6 Creating an Applications Mode EULThis option enables you to create an Applications Mode EUL using the Command Line. This starts Discoverer Administration Edition (in Applications Mode), creates the Applica-tions Mode EUL in the database, and connects you to it. The example also includes the spec-ification of schema/password.

■ Syntax: /create_eul /apps_mode

■ Modifiers: /apps_grant_details

■ Example dis4adm.exe /connect eul_owner:appsresp/appspwd /create_eul

/apps_mode /apps_grant_details apps/apps

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D.9.7 Setting connection options for Oracle Applications usersThis option overrides the values for both the fields GWYUID (including Gateway User ID password) and FNDNAM in the Tools | Options | Connection tab dialog.

■ Syntax: /apps_fndnam <foundation name>

■ Syntax: /apps_gwyuid <gateway user id>/<password>

■ Example: dis4adm.exe /connect appsuser:appsresp/appspwd /apps_fndnam apps /apps_gwyuid applsyspub/pub

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D.9.8 Change an existing standard database user to an Oracle Applications user.

This option (now deprecated by both the Oracle Applications User check-box and the Tools | Options | Connection dialog) tells Discoverer that the user (a database user) is now an Oracle Applications user. The /apps_user command displays the Discoverer login dialog assuming that the user is an Oracle Applications user.

■ Syntax: /apps_user <apps user name>

■ Example dis4adm.exe /connect /apps_user

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D.9.9 Connect as an Oracle Applications userThis option enables you to connect to Discoverer as an Oracle Applications user.

■ Syntax: /apps_user <apps user name>

■ Modifiers /apps_responsibility/apps_security_group

■ Example dis4adm.exe /connect appsuser/appspwd /apps_user /apps_responsibility “UK_Purchasing” /apps_security_group “UK_Managers”Ordis4adm.exe /connect appsuser:UK_Purchasing/appspwd /apps_user /apps_security_group “UK_Managers”

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D.9.10 Creating an EULThe /create_eul option enables you to create a Discoverer EUL.

■ Syntax: /create_eul

■ Modifiers: /apps_mode/apps_grant_details/default_tablespace/log/overwrite/password/private/show_progress/temporary tablespace/user

■ Notes: Use the following guidelines:

Specify a user name and password for the owner of the new EUL. Not specifying a user name and password causes the ownership to default to your user ID

Specify whether to overwrite any existing EUL owned by the intended owner of the new EUL.

Specify whether the new EUL should be public(default) or private.

For more information regarding the creation and deletion of End User Layers, see Chapter 5, “The End User Layer”.

■ Example: To create a private EUL for a user named, “Bob”, whose password is welcome, overwriting any existing EUL and recording all log entries in a file named create.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /create_eul /overwrite /user bob /password welcome /private /log create.log

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D.9.11 Bulk Loading Data into an EULThe /load option enables you to bulk-load data from a database into a Discoverer Busi-ness Area.

■ Syntax: /load <bus_area>

■ Modifiers: /aggregate/capitalize /date_hierarchy/db_link/description/eul/join/log/lov/object/remove_prefix/replace_blanks/source/user/show_user

■ Notes: Specify the source of the data. The current database server is the default. If you are loading data from an EUL Gateway, the source name must exactly match the EUL Gateway name.Specify an EUL in which to load the objects. The administrator’s own EUL is the default. If you specify the EUL, you must have access privi-leges to the named EUL in order for the operation to succeed.Specify an alternative database link from which to fetch the data. The current connection is the default.Filter the load by schema name (/user). By default, no filter is used.Filter the load by object name. By default, no filter is used.Specify pre-formatting of the data with respect to capitalization, prefixes and blank spaces. By default, no pre-formatting is done.Specify a date hierarchy. The default is the Discoverer default date hier-archy.Specify which types should have an associated list of values. By default, no types have an associated list of values.Specify the default aggregate to be used on data points. The SUM aggre-gate is the default.Provide a description for the new Business Area, (default is NULL).Specify the join policy, (default is primary key), and a log file.

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Bulk Loading Data into an EUL continued.

■ Restric-tions:

/db_link & /source can not be used in conjunction with an ODBC database

■ Example: To bulk load into an EUL named eul31 from an Oracle Designer source on the current connection, creating a new Business Area named Test BA that:

contains tables matching the pattern test% owned by user Bob

pre-formats columns to remove prefixes, remove blanks, and capitalize them

contains no date hierarchy

contains lists of values for CHAR, INTEGER, and DECIMAL, using AVG as the aggregate

writes to a log file named load.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /load "Test BA" /source "Designer 6i - bobsworkarea" /eul eul31 /user bob /object test% /capital-ize /remove_prefix /replace_blanks /date_hierarchy "" /lov "CHAR, INTEGER, DECIMAL" /aggregate AVG /log load.log /description "Test BA" /join

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D.9.12 Deleting a Business AreaThe /delete_bus_area option enables you to remove a Discoverer Business Area from the database. See also Section D.9.13, “Deleting an EUL” and Section D.9.14, “Deleting an EUL element”.

■ Syntax: /delete_bus_area <business area>

■ Modifiers: Modifiers for configuring the deletion:

/keep_folder/log <log file name> [log_only]/show_progress

■ Notes: This command has been superseded by the /delete command, and is included for backwards compatibility. (For more information on the /delete command, refer to Section D.9.14, “Deleting an EUL ele-ment”.)

■ Example: To delete the Business Areas named Test BA and Final BA, and write to a log file named delba.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /delete_bus_area "Test BA, Final BA" /log delba.log

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D.9.13 Deleting an EULThe /delete_eul option enables you to delete a Discoverer EUL. You can also selec-tively remove individual EUL elements using the /delete command, (see Section D.9.14, “Deleting an EUL element,”).

■ Syntax: /delete_eul

■ Modifiers: /log/show_progress

■ Notes: None

■ Restrictions: You can only delete EULs for which you are the registered owner.

■ Example: dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /delete_eul /log "c:\my log dir\delete_eul.log"

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D.9.14 Deleting an EUL elementThe /delete option enables you to remove EUL elements from the database. You can also remove an entire EUL using the /delete_eul command, (see Section D.9.13, “Deleting an EUL,”).

■ Syntax: /delete <modifier(s)> [/identifier]

■ Modifiers: Modifiers for configuring the deletion:/log <log file name> [log_only]

/show_progress

Modifiers for defining which EUL element(s) to delete:/business_area <business area>

/ba_link <business area> <folder>

/condition <folder>.<condition>

/folder <folder>

/function <PL/SQL function>

/hierarchy <hierarchy>

/hier_node <hierarchy>.<hierarchy_node>

/identifier

/item <folder>.<item>

/item_class <item class>

/join <join name>

/parameter <folder>.<parameter>

/summary <summary>

/workbook <workbook>

■ Notes: You can delete one or more EUL elements at a time, (see examples below). Wildcards are not allowed for parameters (E.g. Business Areas, Folders etc.) these must be named explicitly.

■ Example: To delete two Business Areas named Test BA and Final BA, residing in an EUL named eul31, and write to a log file named delba.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /delete /business_area "Test BA, Final BA" /eul eul31 /log delba.log

To delete a Folder named "Sales", and a Summary named "Sum1", residing in an EUL named eul31, and write to a log file named del.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /delete /folder "Sales" /sum-mary "Sum1" /eul eul31 /log del.log

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D.9.15 Running Automated Summary Management (ASM)The /asm command enables you to execute Discoverer’s Automated Summary Manage-ment facility (ASM)

■ Syntax: /asm [/asm_space <bytes> | /asm_space <bytes> /asm_tablespace <tablespace name>]

■ Modifiers: /asmspace/asm_tablespace

■ Restrictions: If you specify an /asm_tablespace argument, you must specify an asm_space argument.

■ Example: dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /asm /asm_space 2182 /asm_tablespace user_data

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D.9.16 Refreshing a Business AreaThe /refresh_bus_area option enables you to refresh one or more Discoverer Busi-ness Areas, by retrieving an up-to-date EUL structure from the database.

■ Syntax: /refresh_bus_area <bus_area>

■ Modifiers: /db_link/eul/log/schema/source/show_progress

■ Notes: When using the /refresh_bus_area, use the following guide-lines:

Specify the data source from which to refresh the named Business Area(s).

Specify an EUL in which to find the Business Area(s) to refresh. The administrator’s own EUL is the default. If you specify the EUL, you must have access privileges to the named EUL in order for the opera-tion to succeed.

Filter the refresh by schema name. By default, no filter is used.

Specify a log file.

■ Restrictions: /db_link & /source can not be used in conjunction with an ODBC database.

■ Example: To refresh two Business Areas named Test BA and Final BA that reside in an EUL named eul31, from an Oracle Designer source on the current connection that contains tables matching the pattern test% owned by user Bob, and summarize information in a log file named refba.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /refresh_bus_area "Test BA, Final BA" /source "Designer 6i - bobsworkarea" /eul eul31 /user bob /log refba.log

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D.9.17 Refreshing a FolderThe /refresh_folder option enables you to refresh one or more Discoverer Folders. The query on which the folder is based is re-run in order to retrieve up-to-date data.

■ Syntax: /refresh_folder <folder> <bus_area>

■ Modifiers: /log/show_progress/source/user <username>

■ Notes: When using the /refresh_folder option, use the following guidelines:

The administrator’s own EUL is the default EUL for the search.Specify a log file path (optional).A status message indicating the success or failure of the operation will be output to the specified log file path, or the default log file if one is not specified.

■ Restrictions: This option can not be used in conjunction with an ODBC database.

■ Example: To refresh two folders named Sales1 and Sales2, residing in a Busi-ness Area named Test BA, found in an EUL named eul31, and write to a log file named refsum.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /refresh_folder "Sales1, Sales2" "Test BA" /log refsum.log

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D.9.18 Refreshing a SummaryThe /refresh_summary option enables you to refresh one or more Discoverer Summa-ries. The query on which the summary is based is re-run in order to retrieve up-to-date data.

■ Syntax: /refresh_summary <summary> <bus_area>

■ Modifiers: /log/show_progress

■ Notes: When using the /refresh_summary option, use the following guidelines:

Specify in which EUL the Business Area can be found. The adminis-trator’s own EUL is the default EUL for the search. If you specify the EUL, you must have access privileges to the named EUL in order for the operation to succeed.

It is necessary to name at least one Business Area summary folder and explicitly name the Business Area in which the summary resides.

Specify a log file path (optional).

A status message indicating the success or failure of the operation will be output to the specified log file path, or the default log file if one was not specified.

■ Restrictions: This option is not valid in conjunction with an ODBC database.

■ Example: To refresh two summaries named Summary1 and Summary2, resid-ing in a Business Area named Test BA, found in an EUL named eul31, and write to a log file named refsum.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /refresh_summary "Summary1, Summary2" "Test BA" /log refsum.log

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D.9.19 Import a Business AreaThe /import option enables you to import a Discoverer Business Area from the database. For information on selectively importing Discoverer EUL elements, see also Section D.9.20, “Importing EUL elements from an EEX File”.

■ Syntax: /import <business area>

■ Modifiers: Modifiers for configuring the deletion:

/log <log file name> [log_only]/rename <rename-policy>/show_progress

■ Notes: This command has been superseded by the /import <source filename(s)> <modifier(s)> command, and is included for backwards compatibility. (For more information on the /import com-mand, refer to Section D.9.20, “Importing EUL elements from an EEX File”.)

■ Example: To import the Business Areas named Test BA and Final BA, and write to a log file named delba.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /import "Test BA, Final BA" /log delba.log

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D.9.20 Importing EUL elements from an EEX FileThe /import option enables you to import EUL elements from one or more Discoverer export files (EEX file). Discoverer export files are created using the /export command, and contain EUL elements, (for example Folders, Business Areas, Functions, or an entire EUL).

■ Syntax: /import <source filename(s)> <modifier(s)> [/identifier]

■ Modifiers: /eul <EUL>/identifier/keep_format_properties/log <log file name> [log_only]/multi_commit/refresh | /rename/show_progress

■ Notes: <source filename(s)> - the name(s) of the source *.EEX file(s). You must specify the full path name for the file, for example ’c:\data\sales.eex’, (the directory path must be an absolute path, not a relative path).

Wildcards are not allowed for parameters (E.g. Business Areas, Fold-ers etc.) these must be named explicitly.

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D.9.21 Exporting EUL elements to an EEX FileThe /export option enables you to export EUL elements to a Discoverer export file (EEX file). You can selectively export individual EUL elements, (for example Folders, Business Areas, and Functions), or entire EULs (using the /all modifier).

When you import multiple files references between the files are resolved automatically. For example you can export the Emp folder in fileA.eex and the Dept folder in fileB.eex. If Emp and Dept are joined, the join information will actually be in both files, but neither file con-tains the information for both folders. By importing both files the join will be recreated at the time the second file is processed.

■ Syntax: /export <filename> [<bus_area_name>]Or/export <filename> <modifier(s)> [/identifier]

■ Modifiers: /all/audit_info <audit details>/business_area <business area>/folder <folder>/function <function>/hierarchy <hierarchy>/identifier/item_class <item_class>/log <log file name> [log_only]/summary <summary>/workbook <workbook>

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Exporting EUL elements to an EEX file continued.

■ Notes: <filename> - the name of the target *.EEX file. If a directory path is not specified, the target file is created in the default Discoverer folder. To override the default target directory setting, specify a directory path for the file, for example c:\data\sales.eex, (the directory path must be an absolute path, not a relative path).

Wildcards are not allowed for parameters (E.g. Business Areas, Fold-ers etc.) these must be named explicitly.

[<bus_area_name>] - use this option to export an entire Business Area and contents. If you only want to export the Business Area defi-nition and metadata for the contents, use the /business_area modi-fier.

If you specify a Business Area to export using the /business_area modifier it does not export all the folders in that Business Area, these have to specified by name. Also the workbooks are not exported either. Exporting the Business Area using this command exports the Business Area definition and links to Folders that are in it, but not the Folders themselves.

<modifiers> - When specifiying elements, you can use either their Display Name or Identifier.

To maintain data relationships, you must also export linked (or joined) elements.

■ Example: To export two Business Areas named Test BA and Final BA, residing in an EUL named eul31, into a file named export.eex, and to write to a log file named export.log, enter:

dis4adm.exe /connect me/mypassword /export export.eex "Test BA, Final BA" /eul eul31 /log import.log

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D.10 Command Modifier Reference

D.10.1 IntroductionThis section defines optional modifiers that can be used to refine the commands described in Section D.9, “Command Reference,”.

■ Where a modifier has a finite set of values, these appear in a Values section below the modifier syntax.

D.10.2 How the Command Modifier Reference section is arrangedThis section lists command modifiers in alphabetical order.

D.10.3 /aggregateThe /aggregate modifier enables you to specify the default aggregate to be used by a command.

D.10.4 /allThe /all modifier enables you to select every element in an EUL for import, export, or deletion.

■ Syntax: /aggregate <aggregate>

■ Values: SUMMAXMINCOUNTAVGDETAIL

■ Syntax: /all

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D.10.5 /apps_grant_detailsThe optional modifier /apps_grant_details enables you to specify an Oracle Applications schema and password when creating an Oracle Applications mode EUL.

D.10.6 /apps_responsibilityThe modifier /apps_responsibility enables you to specify an Oracle Applications responsi-bility when connecting as an Oracle Applications database user. This can also be included immediately following a colon (:) placed after the Oracle Applications user name but before the password.

D.10.7 /apps_security_groupThe modifier /apps_security_group enables you to specify an Oracle Applications security group when connecting as an Oracle Applications database user.

D.10.8 /asm_space, /asm_tablespaceThe /asm_tablespace modifier ignores any tablespace value set in the ASM policy and uses this tablespace constraint instead. The /asm_space modifier ignores any space value set in the ASM policy and uses this space constraint instead. The following are valid combina-tions of tablespace and space values:

■ No command line modifiers - The EUL policy tablespace and space will be used

■ /asm_space - The EUL policy tablespace will be used with the specified value of space

■ /asm_tablespace /asm_space - The specified values of tablespace and space will be used. An exception will be raised if you specify an invalid tablespace.

■ Syntax: /apps_grant_details <schema>/<password>

■ Syntax: /apps_responsibility <“Oracle Applications responsibility name”>

■ Syntax: /apps_security_group <“Oracle Applications security group name”>

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D.10.9 /audit_infoThe /audit_info modifier enables you to export audit fields with every element, (Cre-ated By, Created Date, Updated By, Updated Date). You can override the Created By and Updated By fields using the additional modifiers :/set_created_by and :/set_updated_by.

D.10.10 /ba_linkThe /ba_link modifier enables you to specify a Business Area and folder for deletion.

D.10.11 /business_areaThe /business_area modifier enables you to specify a Business Area for import, export, or deletion.

D.10.12 /capitalizeThe /capitalize modifier enables you to request that folder names use initial capital let-ters when they are generated from their respective column names during a bulk load.

■ Syn-tax:

/asm [/asm_space <bytes> | /asm_space <bytes> /asm_tablespace <tablespace name>]

■ Values: /asm_space <bytes>/asm_tablespace <tablespace name>

■ Syntax: /audit_info [:/set_created_by] [:/set_updated_by]

■ Values: :/set_created_by <name of creator>:/set_updated_by <name of updater>

■ Syntax: /ba_link <business area>.<folder>

■ Syntax: /business_area <business area>

■ Syntax: /capitalize

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D.10.13 /conditionThe /condition modifier enables you to specify a condition for deletion.

D.10.14 /date_hierarchyThe /date_hierachy modifier enables you to specify the date hierarchy to be used dur-ing a bulk load.

D.10.15 /db_linkThe /db_link modifier enables you to specify the database link to be used by a command.

D.10.16 /descriptionThe /description modifier enables you to specify a description for an object.

■ Syntax: /condition <condition>

■ Syntax: /date_hierachy <date_hier>

■ Values: Any valid date hierarchy name or ““. If you set <date_hier> to "", Discoverer Administration Edition will not create a hierarchy for dates during bulk load.

■ Syntax: /db_link <db_link>

■ Values: Any valid database link.

■ Restrictions: This modifier is not valid in conjunction with an ODBC database.

■ Syntax: /description <description>

■ Values: Any string.

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D.10.17 /eulThe /eul modifier enables you to specify an EUL on which to run a command. You must have access privileges to a specified EUL. If not specified, the default is the administrator’s EUL.

Note that this does not change the default EUL for the user.

D.10.18 /folderThe /folder modifier enables you to specify a folder for import, export, or deletion.

D.10.19 /functionThe /function modifier enables you to specify an function for import, export, or dele-tion.

D.10.20 /hier_nodeThe /hier_node modifier enables you to specify a node in a hierarchy for deletion.

D.10.21 /hierarchyThe /hierarchy modifier enables you to specify an function for import, export, or dele-tion.

■ Syntax: /eul <EUL>

■ Values: The name of a valid EUL.

■ Syntax: /folder <folder>

■ Syntax: /function <PL/SQL function>

■ Syntax: /hier_node <hierarchy>.<hierarchy node>

■ Syntax: /hierarchy <hierarchy>

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D.10.22 /identifierThe /identifier modifier enables you to specify EUL elements by Identifier, rather than by Display Name. If not specified, the element is identified by Display Name by default (see also Section 7.5.1, “About Identifiers”).

D.10.23 /insert_blanksThe /insert_blanks modifier enables you to request that folder names use spaces instead of underscore characters when they are generated from their respective column names during a bulk load.

D.10.24 /itemThe /item modifier enables you to specify an item for deletion.

D.10.25 /item_classThe /item_class modifier enables you to specify an item class for import, export, or deletion.

D.10.26 /joinThe /join modifier has two applications depending on which command you use it with:

■ Syntax: /identifier

■ Syntax: /insert_blanks

■ Values: Any string.

■ Syntax: /item <item>

■ Syntax: /item_class <item class>

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■ Used with the /load command, it enables you to specify how Discoverer Administra-tion Edition should create joins during a bulk load.

■ Used with the /delete command, it enables you to remove a specific join.

D.10.27 /keep_folderThe /keep_folder modifier enables you to leave the folders in place when deleting a Business Area. If not specified, the folders are removed along with the Business Area.

D.10.28 /keep_format_propertiesThe /keep_format_properties modifier enables you to keep existing element for-mat properties. For example, display names, descriptions etc, and Item element, format, word-wrap, display case, default width, and ‘show NULL as’ settings). The default is to change element format properties on refresh.

D.10.29 /logThe /log modifier enables you to specify a log filename used for storing command status messages.

■ Syntax: Used with the /load command:/join <NONE|COLUMN NAME|PRIMARY KEY>

Used with the /delete command:/join <join name>

■ Syntax: /keep_folder

■ Syntax: /keep_format_properties

■ Syntax: /log <filename>

■ Values: Any valid filename (dependent on the operating system).

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D.10.30 /log_onlyThe /log_only modifier enables you to simulate an command and generate a log, with-out changing your data. This option enables you to check for errors and exceptions before changing your data.

D.10.31 /lovThe /lov modifier enables you to specify the data types for which a list of values should be generated during a bulk load.

D.10.32 /multi_commitThe /multi_commit modifier enables you to perform a database commit after each type of element has been imported, (for example, Business Areas, objects, items etc).

D.10.33 /objectThe /object modifier enables you to specify an object (or folder) for import, export, or deletion.

■ Syntax: /log <filename> [/log_only]

■ Values: Any valid filename (dependent on the operating system).

The optional log_only argument enables you to simulate an import and generate a log, without importing the data. This option enables you to check for import errors before changing your data

■ Syntax: /lov [CHAR|DATE|DECIMAL|INTEGER|KEY]

■ Syntax: /multi_commit

■ Syntax: /object <mask>

■ Values: Any valid object name. You can use wildcard characters.

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D.10.34 /overwriteThe /refresh modifier enables you to overwrite an existing EUL owned by the intended owner. If omitted, the default is to not overwrite an existing EUL.

D.10.35 /parameterThe /parameter modifier enables you to specify a parameter for deletion.

When specifiying elements, you can use either their Display Name or Identifier.

D.10.36 /passwordThe /password modifier enables you to specify the password to be used by the operation.

D.10.37 /privateWhen you create an EUL, the /refresh modifier enables you to define its status as pri-vate to the administrator. If committed, the status defaults to ‘public’.

D.10.38 /refreshThe /refresh modifier enables you to merge imported elements with existing elements. By default, merged elements are matched on Display name. Use the /identifier modifier to

■ Syntax: /overwrite

■ Syntax: /parameter <folder>.<parameter>

■ Syntax: /password <password>

■ Values: Any valid password.

■ Syntax: /private

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match on Identifier. For more information on Identifiers, see Section 7.5.1, “About Identifi-ers”.

D.10.39 /remove_prefixThe /remove_prefix modifier enables you to request that folder names do not include the column name prefix when they are generated from their respective column names dur-ing a bulk load.

D.10.40 /renameThe /rename modifier enables you to specify which objects are renamed when you import elements that match your existing elements.

D.10.41 /schemaThe /schema modifier enables you to specify a schema for the operation.

D.10.42 /show_progressThe /show_progress modifier enables you to monitor a command in operation.

■ Syntax: /refresh

■ Syntax: /remove_prefix

■ Syntax: /rename <style>

■ Values: ‘NEW’ - rename the imported objects to match the existing objects.

‘OLD’ - rename the existing objects to match the imported objects.

‘NONE’ - abort the operation without importing the objects.

■ Syntax: /schema

■ Syntax: /show_progress

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D.10.43 /sourceThe /source modifier enables you to specify the source for the operation.

D.10.44 /summaryThe /summary modifier enables you to specify a summary for import, export, or deletion.

D.10.45 /userThe /user modifier enables you to specify the user ID to be used for the operation.

■ Syntax: /source <server|gateway>

■ Notes: <server> is the name of a native Oracle database

<gateway> is the name of an Oracle Designer object or other gateway.The gateway name must exactly match the gateway name displayed in the Load Wizard. In the case of Oracle Designer, specify "Designer 6i - <workarea name>" (if you are using a version of Oracle Designer prior to Oracle Designer 6i, simply specify "Oracle Designer Repository").

■ Restrictions: This modifier is not valid in conjunction with an ODBC database.

■ Syntax: /summary <summary>

■ Syntax: /user <user_id>

■ Values: Any valid user ID.

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D.10.46 /workbookThe /workbook modifier enables you to specify a workbook for import, export, or dele-tion.

■ Syntax: /workbook <workbook>

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Registry Settings E-1

Registry Settings

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ E.1 Introduction

■ E.2 Registry Settings

E.1 IntroductionDiscoverer uses Windows Registry Settings to store some internal values options. By default, each setting is set to the most commonly required setting. In some cases you may want to change some of the settings. This appendix describes some of these settings.

All Discoverer 3.1 registry settings are stored under:\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 3.1\

All Discoverer 4.1 registry settings are stored under:\\HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 4\

Use extreme caution when editing the Windows Registry. If in doubt, contact your system administrator.

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E.2 Registry SettingsMany of the Discoverer Windows Registry settings are in the following table:

Table E–1 Table of Discoverer Windows Registry settings.

Item Key Name Description Default/Values

AppsFNDNAM Used on an Oracle Applications EUL and defines the schema that owns the core Applications tables and views

"APPS"

AppsGWYUID Used on an Oracle Applications EUL and defines the Username and Password of the public Gateway used in the Applications Login. Separate the username and password using a slash (/) character.

"APPLSYSPUB/PUB"

ArchiveCacheFlushInterval Controls the interval between EUL cache flushes during Export and Import of .eex files. Used to avoid excessive memory usage during the Exp or Imp of a very large archive

1000

>0 = The number of elements that are processed between EUL cache flushes when importing and exporting .eex files

BusinessAreaFastFetchLevel Controls the amount of pre-caching that occurs for components and items whenever a Business Area is fetched.

In general terms, the lower the value, the less folders and items are immediately fetched into the Navigator dialog.

1

Possible values are:

0 - No Fast Fetch

1 - Fast Fetch the objects within each business area

2 - Fast Fetch objects within each business area and items in user mode only

3 - Fast Fetch objects within each business area and items in admin mode only

4 - Fast Fetch objects and items within each business area

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CreateJoinInOtherBAs This setting enables you to control the extent to which Discoverer Administration Edition generates joins when you load or refresh a folder. By default, joins are only generated automatically between folders within the same business area. However, you can spec-ify that joins are created automatically across business areas as well

This setting controls that option:

0

(0 - Do not generate/check joins to folders outside the current business area.

>0 - Generate/check joins to folders outside the current business area).

DisableAutoOuterJoinsOnFilters This setting toggles the behaviour of Dis-coverer when running queries involving an outer join with a condition (or conditions) applied. The effect of this setting is explained in an example in Chapter 13.6.3, “Outer Join with Conditions behavior”

0

(0 = Do not disable outer joins on filters,

1=disable outer joins on filters)

EULUpgradeForceCommitForAllSteps This affects the commit processing and hence Rollback space usage during the upgrade of a previous version EUL. If you are having problems upgrading an EUL due to limited Rollback space, it is possible to commit more frequently using this setting.

default 0

EULUpgradeRollbackSegment If this setting is defined then it should be the name of the rollback segment that you want to be used for the duration of the Upgrade. I.E. If set to "Large_RB1" then a "SET TRANSACTION USE ROLLBACK SEGMENT Large_RB1" statement would be issued

type - string, default ""

FormatXML Set the value to 1 if you want the XML export file to include spaces that make the file more readable, but larger.

If the value is 0 or the entry is not present, the export file will not use indentation thus reducing file size.

0, 1

Table E–1 Table of Discoverer Windows Registry settings.

Item Key Name Description Default/Values

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MaterializedViewRedirectionBehaviour This controls (For 8.1.6+ databases) when a Discoverer query will be rewritten to go against materialized view.

0 = always redirect the query to a materialized view when avail-able

1 = always redirect the query to a materialized view when sum-mary data not stale

2 = never redirect the query to a materialized view

MaxNumberJoinPredicates type dword, default 20

During bulk load you have an option to create an automatic join based on column names (rather than primary/foreign keys). If you have the same table already loaded (for example) then a join will be created that matches every column in the table. You can stop these being created by specifying the maximum number of predicates in 1 join using matching column names in bulk load.

type dword, default 20

ObjectsAlwaysAccessible By default, when Discoverer Plus displays folders and items in the Item Navigator, it validates that the tables/views they refer to exist and that the user has access to them. You can enable or disable this validation using this setting.

Disabling this validation speeds up the dis-play of folders & items in the Item Naviga-tor. When a user executes a query, if the database objects don’t exist or the user does not have access to them and this setting is set to 1, Discoverer Plus displays an error (for example, “942 Table or View does not exist”)

0

(0 = Enable object accessibil-ity validation

1 = Disable object accessibil-ity validation)

Table E–1 Table of Discoverer Windows Registry settings.

Item Key Name Description Default/Values

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QPPCBOEnforced Will use cost-based optimizer if set to 1. Will use default optimizer if set to 0.

Query Prediction needs to parse statements in order to obtain their cost. The cost is only available when parsing with the cost based optimizer (it is not produced if parsing with the rule based optimizer). The default behav-ior in Discoverer is to force the use of the cost based optimizer when parsing these statements.

If this registry setting is set to 0 then Dis-coverer will use the default optimizer for the database and for the tables involved in the query, (i.e. if the default optimizer is rule-based and the tables have not been ana-lyzed then query prediction will not be avail-able.)

1

(0 = use the default query opti-mizer,

1 = use the cost based opti-mizer)

QPPCreateNewStats Records new statistics if set to 1. These sta-tistics are used by Query Prediction

If you set this to zero, Discoverer doesn’t create any new statistics for query prediction.

1 (0 = false, 1 = true)

QPPEnable This setting enables you to turn Query Prediction on or off.

Uses query prediction/performance (QPP) if set to 1

1 (0 = false, 1 = true)

RdbFastSQLOff This only applies to Discoverer against RDB. If set to 1 then it turns off "fast sql" on the RDB server.

This registry setting should only be used if errors are encountered against RDB and may help avoid some types of problems. See Appendix F.1 for further information about support for rdb.

0 (0, 1)

Table E–1 Table of Discoverer Windows Registry settings.

Item Key Name Description Default/Values

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ShowReadOnlyPrompt You can set the operating system privilege for a file-based workbook to read-only. In this instance, when a user opens the workbook they get a warning message informing them that the workbook cannot be opened

read/write and to save any changes to another workbook. In release 3.1.26, a new registry setting is available that enables you to switch this warning off.

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\ORACLE\Discoverer 3.1\Application\ShowReadOnlyPrompt

0 (0, 1)

SQLType This entry determines how SQL is displayed in the SQL-dialog.

The valid values for this entry are 0, 1 and 2:

0 = flattened SQL, (i.e standard Oracle format - the default)

1 = odbc SQL,

2 = native SQL. (i.e Discoverer SQL sent to the kernel, with Inline Views)

0

TablespaceForMVS Controls which tablespace a user points to on DB2. This registry setting would typically be used by the administrator when installing the End User Layer. The registry setting is:

HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Oracle\Discoverer 3.1\Administrator\TablespaceForMVS

No default.

Table E–1 Table of Discoverer Windows Registry settings.

Item Key Name Description Default/Values

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RDB Support F-1

RDB Support

Discoverer release 4.1 works against RDB directly without using ODBC.

This appendix consists of the following sections:

■ F.1 Software requirements

■ F.2 Features not supported using RDB

F.1 Software requirementsTo use Oracle Discoverer directly with Oracle Rdb you need:

■ Oracle Discoverer 4.1 or later

■ Oracle Rdb Release 7.0.1.3 or later

■ SQL*Net for Rdb7 Release 1.0.2. or later

■ A special image for SQL*Net for Rdb7 with bug fixes specifically for Discoverer 3 is also required --supported customers can obtain by contacting their Oracle Support Rep-resentative.

SQL*Net for Rdb7 enables an Rdb7 server to appear as an Oracle7 server to the client.

You need to install SQL*Net for Rdb7 software only once on each server system. You also need to prepare each Rdb7 database environment by defining the Oracle7 functions and the emulated Oracle7 data dictionary to serve with SQL*Net for Rdb7.

If you need further information about SQL*Net for Rdb7, refer to the following documenta-tion:

■ Guide to SQL*Net for Rdb7 This guide helps you set up and use SQL*Net for Rdb7 software to configure and develop useful connections between SQL*Net clients and Oracle Rdb7 databases.

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■ Oracle SQL/Services Release Notes Release 7.1.2 This manual contains Oracle SQL/Services release notes that are specific to SQL*Net for Rdb7 Release 1.0.2. The notes describe changed and enhanced features; upgrade and compatibility information; new and existing software problems and restrictions; and other software documentation.

■ Comparison of SQL Dialects for Oracle and Oracle Rdb The principal purpose of this manual is to help users of the SQL*Net for Rdb software understand differences in the Oracle7 and Rdb7 SQL dialects. This manual identifies where differences in the SQL dialects might occur, and provide additional information to help you achieve the desired functions.

F.2 Features not supported using RDBThe following features are not supported in Discoverer 4.1 when using RDB:

■ Query Prediction. Oracle Specific - Uses Oracle’s Cost Based Optimizer.

■ The Discoverer4 EUL - eul4.eex. This uses Oracle’s PLSQL.

■ Register PLSQL functions.

■ Internally Managed Summaries. Uses Oracle’s PLSQL.

■ Database Roles.Later versions of SQL*NET for RDB may support this.

■ Parser Hints on Folders. Oracle Specific.

■ Server side Batch / Scheduled Reporting. Uses Oracle’s PLSQL.

■ Security - Roles and Users. This can be done outside the tool. Later versions of SQL*NET may support this.

■ Oracle Specific Functions. i.e. INSTR, INSTRB ,VSIZE, UID, DUMP, TRANSLATE , SOUNDEX, STDDEV, VARIANCE, STDDEV_DISTINCT, VARIANCE_DISTINCT.

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Glossary

A

access rights and privileges

Specific functionality such as update and delete privileges which are granted to a specific user ID by a database administrator, or by the user ID which "owns" the tables for which the authority is being granted.

aggregate

Summarized data. For example, unit sales of a particular product could be aggregated by day, month, quarter and yearly sales.

alignment

The way in which data is positioned in a field. It may be positioned to the left, right, center, flush/left, flush/right, or flush/center of the defined width of a field.

automated summary management (ASM)

A Discoverer feature to simplify the process of summary creation and maintenance. ASM enables you to set a range of input parameters known as a summary policy for Discoverer to operate within. Discoverer will automatically create and maintain the best set of summaries according to the summary policy.

axis

One of the three directions of a sheet. Items that you choose for a query appear in the axes. See: top axis, side axis, page axis, axis item.

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axis item

An item appearing in either the top axis, side axis, or page axis of a sheet. In a table, items can appear only in the top axis or page axis; in a crosstab, items can appear in any axis. See: axis, data item.

B

business area

A conceptual grouping of tables and/or views that apply to user’s specific data requirements. For example, an accounting department may have an accounting Business Area that repre-sents data about budgets and finance, while project leaders in an engineering department would have a business area specifically for projects requiring budget information.

Although some of the items may be the same, the exact combination of tables and views for each department may be different. A Business Area is represented as a file cabinet in Dis-coverer. This can be opened to display folders, and all the items in those folders.

C

cache (memory)

A temporary storage place for database data that is currently being accessed or changed by users, or for data that Oracle Server requires to support users. The terms are often used inter-changeably.

calculation

A mathematical formula performed on one or more items. Oracle Discoverer enables you to build complex calculations

clipboard

A memory buffer. An object remains on the Clipboard until you cut or copy another object, or until you quit the application.

collapse

To remove all levels of related items from below a selected item. In effect, to undo a drill-down. See: drill down.

color palette

Contains all the colors available to the windowing system, the drawing surface, or a win-dow and its views.

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column

A vertical space in a database table that represents a particular domain of data. A column has a column name (e.g., ENAME) and a specific data type (e.g., CHAR). For example, in a table of employee information, all of the employees’ names would constitute one column. A record group column represents a database column.

In Discoverer, the particular type of data is displayed vertically in your worksheet.

command line An operating-system command line. Most Oracle products can be invoked from a com-mand line using a number of executable arguments.

complex folder

A folder created in Administration Edition that contains items from more than one folder (or database table).

conceptually identical object

Conceptually Identical Objects are elements in different EULs that refer to the same busi-ness objects, (e.g, folders, item-classes, hierarchies). When identifying Conceptually Identi-cal Objects, Discoverer uses either Display Names or Identifiers to match elements.

condition

A filter created on an item to restrict which values return. It contains a column and some qualifying data used to specify the volume of data. Conditions created in the Administration Edition can be optional or mandatory as business conditions dictate.

Conditions can also be created while defining a query in Discoverer Plus. For example, if you request all cities in the East Region you are using a condition (show East Region only) to limit the cities you get in your result set.

connect

To log on to a database. You must connect if you want to create or modify queries or access an application stored in a database.

connect string The set of parameters, including a protocol, that SQL*Net uses to connect to a specific Ora-cle instance on the network.

copy

To store a replica of a selected object on the Clipboard, so that it may be pasted elsewhere in an editor if desired.

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crosstab

A sheet layout that arranges items in a matrix of rows and columns. Items appear in both the top and side axes. Use a crosstab to display summary information and show how one item relates to another, such as sales by region by month. A crosstab is sometimes called a matrix. See: table.

cursor

A small icon representing the position of the mouse. The shape of the cursor varies, depend-ing on the selected tool.

cut

To delete one or more objects and store them in the Clipboard, so that they may be pasted elsewhere in an editor, if desired.

D

data item

The item expressing the relationship between a top axis item and a side axis item. Only items which have a data item in common can appear opposite each other in the top and side axes. Applies only to crosstab-layout sheets. A data item is sometimes called a measure. See: axis item, data point.

data model

A relational model that defines what data should be fetched from the database, what values should be computed, and how data should be ordered in a report. Report Builder objects that define the data model are queries, groups, columns, parameters, and links.

data point

The value of a data item, as displayed in a cell of a sheet. A data point reflects the relation-ship between intersecting axis items in a crosstab. See: data item.

data type

A standard form of data. Some common Oracle data types are CHAR, VARCHAR2, DATE, NUMBER, LONG, RAW, and LONG RAW.

database

A set of dictionary tables and user tables that are treated as a unit.

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DATE

An Oracle Server data type. A date column may contain a date and time between January 1, 4712 BC and December 31, 4712 AD.

date hierarchy

Date hierarchies possess an inherent structure based on year, quarter, month, week, day, hour, minute, and second. The Administration Edition uses date hierarchy templates to define many common formats for date hierarchies. You can create customized date hierar-chies or use the default date hierarchy.

date hierarchy template

A predefined hierarchy of date levels including display format. Date hierarchy templates are applied to a date item to create a date hierarchy specific for that date item.

For example, apply a generic date hierarchy temple of Year (YYYY), Month (Mon-YY), Day (DD-Mon_YY) to ‘sales_date’ to allow users to drill down from Year to month level and to Day level (from 1996 to June, 1996 to 2-June-96).

Use the date hierarchy template to define which time/date levels and which display format to use.

default

A value supplied by the system when a user does not specify a required command parame-ter or attribute.

detail to master join

A detail-to-master join icon represents a many-to-one relationship between two items in dif-ferent folders. The foreign key is on left (Detail), the primary key is on right (Master). See: master to detail join, join.

dialog box A partial screen or window that prompts you to enter information necessary to complete an operation.

disabled

An interface element state that means a menu item, button, etc., cannot be used in the cur-rent context; i.e., it does not respond to keyboard or mouse input.

drag

Press and hold down a mouse button while you slide the mouse pointer to a particular loca-tion in a window.

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drill

To expand an item to include items related to it. Oracle Discoverer may requery the data-base. See: drill down, drill up.

drill down

To expand an item to include related items lower than it in the hierarchy. Oracle Discoverer may requery the database. See: drill, drill up, collapse.

drill up

To expand an item to include the next related item above it in the hierarchy. Oracle Discov-erer may requery the database. See: drill, drill down, collapse.

duplicate

An option that allows you to copy objects directly on the layout without affecting the con-tents of the Clipboard.

E

enabled

An interface element state that means that a menu item, button, etc., can be used in the cur-rent context, that is, it responds to keyboard or cursor/mouse input.

End User Layer (EUL)

A number of database tables and views that reside (conceptually) between the database dic-tionary/table definitions and client applications, such as Discoverer Plus. The End User Layer is a "meta-layer" that shields end users from the complexity of the database by provid-ing meaningful, business-like terminology for database objects.

The EUL controls several elements such as hierarchy templates, formatting information, summary table management and aggregate information. The EUL also controls the SQL generated to extract the information from the database.

environment

The user’s computer-based workplace, including the tools typically used and their configura-tions. For Project Builder, this refers to the subset of tools that are used to complete various tasks related to developing Developer/2000 applications.

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equijoin

A join of two columns with the equal operator, dictating that only those rows that have iden-tical data in the defined columns on opposite sides of the operator will be joined.

exception

Data in your result set which falls outside of a set of criteria set by you.

execute

See run.

export

To store a copy of an object, module, selected text or image to a file or database. In Project Builder, the process of writing out a file containing project, type, action, and/or macro defi-nitions in a portable format for distribution to others who may work on heterogeneous plat-forms. See also: export file, import.

export file

A shareable, portable file created by exporting a project.

external query

An ANSI-standard SQL SELECT statement that can be referenced by other Oracle products.

eulins.sql

The script the database administrator runs to install a Discoverer End User Layer. Use this script to create both public and private End User Layers.

F

field

An interface element in which you enter, edit, or delete data.

foreign key

Key that links a row or column of data in a table to a table in another business area. See: pri-mary key.

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focus The state of an entity that is able to respond to input from the user or the client. If an entity has the keyboard focus, it can receive events when the user presses a key. If a drawn view has the drawing focus, it can respond to client routines that affect drawing.

folders

A representation of a database table in the EUL. Presenting tables as folders is another way to shield the end user from the complexities of the database.

G

grant

To give a user access to a module. Only a module’s creator can grant its access to other users.

GUI

Acronym for graphical user interface. The use of pictures rather than just words to represent the input and output of a program. Programs with GUIs run under a windowing system (such as X Windows, Microsoft Windows, Apple Macintosh, and so on). GUI programs display icons, buttons, and so on, in windows on the screen; users control the GUI programs mainly by moving a pointer on the screen (typically controlled by a mouse). Also known as a bit-mapped interface.

H

hierarchy

Natural relationships among items, defined in the Administration Edition and stored in the End User Layer. Hierarchies enable users to drill up and down through the data to see differ-ent levels of detail. There are two types of hierarchies: Item and Date. Use the hierarchy wizard to create new hierarchies, and to edit existing hierarchies.

hierarchy wizard

A predefined set of steps in the Administration Edition that ask the user for the information and choices needed to create a hierarchy for use in Discoverer Plus.

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HTML Acronym for Hypertext Markup Language. A tag-based ASCII language used to specify the content and hypertext links to other documents on WWW servers on the Internet. End users with Web browsers view HTML documents and follow links to display other documents.

HTTP

Acronym for Hypertext Transfer Protocol. The protocol used to carry WWW traffic between a WWW browser computer and the WWW server being accessed.

hyperdrill

A way of establishing a link across the system to allow users to drill to details in another worksheet. Requires an existing join between the items or categories in each worksheet.

hyperlink

A reference (link) from some point in one hypertext document to (some point in) another document or another place in the same document. A Web browser usually displays a hyper-link in some distinguishing way (in a different color, font or style). When users activate hyperlinks (by clicking on them with a mouse) the browser displays the target of the link.

hypertext

A collection of documents containing cross-references which, with the aid of a browser, (such as a Web browser or Acrobat Reader, allow readers to move easily from one docu-ment to another.

I

icon A graphic representation of a window or tool.

identifier

Identifiers are unique names that Discoverer uses to identify workbooks. When matching elements common to different EULs, Discoverer uses Identifiers to locate elements in differ-ent EULs that refer to the same business objects (also known as Conceptually Identical Objects).

For example, a folder named 'Sales' in EUL ‘A’ may refer to the same folder named 'Sales Figures' in EUL ‘B’. Both folders have the same Identifier and can therefore be identified as referring to the same element.

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image

A bitmapped object that can be stored and loaded into an application. The client cannot modify an imported image.

import

To read a module from the file system or database, and incorporate it into an application.

independent data

A piece of data that does not depend on other data for its value. For example, an employee’s name may have the value Jones, which is independent of the values of other employee’s names or associated data. Also called category data.

index

An optional structure associated with a table that is used by Oracle Server to locate rows of the table quickly, and (optionally) to guarantee that every row is unique.

internet

A worldwide TCP/IP-based network of computers.

IP (Internet Protocol) Address

A four-part number with no more than three digits in each part that uniquely identifies a computer on the Internet.

item classes

A grouping of items that database values. An item class is used to define a list of values that may be used by more than one item, an alternative sort order for these items, and/or to define a summary-to-detail capability between items. For example, an item called Product may contain a description of products, and may be part of the Product folder. The same item, Product, may also be required in the Sales Revenue folder. To have both items use the same list of values, you create one item class which defines the values, and apply it to both items. Thus, you only have to define the list of values once. If you did not create an item class, you would have to define a list of values for Product in the Product folder, and for Product in the Sales Revenue folder.

item class wizard

A predefined set of steps in the Administration Edition that ask the user for the information and choices needed to create an item class.

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item hierarchy

Used to define the hierarchical relationship between items to allow end users to drill down to different levels of detail. For example form Country to Region to State.

items

A representation of database table’s column in the EUL. Presenting columns as items allows the administrator to make formatting changes, name changes and other similar changes enabling the user to clearly read the data. Items are stored in folders and can be created, deleted, and moved among different folders.

J

join

A logical pairing of tables in a database, based on matching data in a specific column(s). Creating joins in Administration Edition is critical for identifying the folders available to the user in Discoverer Plus. When the user selects an item or folder to create a worksheet, only those folders having joins with the selected folder are available. Thus, if a join does not exist between two folders, neither the unselected folder nor its items are available for the work-sheet.

Joins are derived from matching columns or primary or foreign keys in the database.

justification

See alignment.

K

keyword

1. Part of a command line syntax that must be supplied with a corresponding argument. 2. A required part of a PL/SQL construct.

L

label

Text identifying the values or meaning of an application’s visual objects.

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list of values

A set of the unique values that exist in an item. The values are from the items found in the database column.

For example, if a database contained 4 occurrences of widgets, 28 occurrences of bolts, 34 occurrences of fan belts, 90 occurrences of gaskets and 49 occurrences of brackets, list of values would produce the following list of five distinct values: [widget, bolt, fan belt, gas-ket, bracket]. Lists of values are used when creating and assigning conditions. The list of values is generated automatically at run time.

load wizard

A predefined set of steps in Administration Edition that ask the user for the information and choices needed load tables into the End User Layer and create a new business area.

local database 1. The database on the computer running the application. 2. The database to which an appli-cation is connected. This database parses and executes all SQL statements generated by the application.

M

master folder

Used in a join, the master folder identifies the table which has a one-to-many relationship with the detail folder. For example, for each video title (identified by a row with a unique key) in a Video Product folder, there may be many entries (rows) in the Sales Details folder for each time a customer has rented the video.

master to detail join

A master-to-detail join icon represents a one-to-many relationship between two items in dif-ferent folders. The primary key is on left (Master), the foreign key is on right (Detail).

Create joins while using the Load Wizard to create a business area or by choosing Join from the Insert menu. See: detail to master join, join.

materialized view

A Materialized View is a summary mechanism used by the Oracle 8.1.6+ server. Material-ized Views pre-compute and store aggregated data for use in SQL queries.

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megabyte (Mb)

A unit of memory equal to 1,048,576 bytes (1024 x 1024). Often rounded to one million bytes.

message box

A modal window that notifies you of a condition that occurred because of your last action. You must respond to a message box.

meta data

Data about data. The data contained in the EUL is meta data because it is information describing the data in the actual database tables. Creating meta data allows the administrator to translate the database terminology into business terminology.

modal window

A window that elicits a response from the operator before the application can continue.

N

NOCACHE

A data type indicating that the data will be fetched when the page on which it appears is for-matted (instead of fetched and cached until formatted).

non-caching column A report column that references a database column of data type NOCACHE.

NULL value

The absence of a value.

O

object

An item that can be placed on the layout. The following are examples of objects: rectangle, line, ellipse, arc, polygon, polyline, rounded rectangle, freehand, chart, text, symbol, and text field.

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ODBC

Acronym for Open Database Connectivity. A standard for accessing different database sys-tems. An application can submit statements to ODBC using the ODBC flavor of SQL. ODBC then translates these to whatever flavor the database understands. Using the Oracle Open Client Adapter (OCA), an application can access different database management sys-tems in one consistent manner. This allows an application developer to develop, compile, and ship an application without targeting a specific DBMS.

OLE Object Linking and Embedding.

OLE container

An application that can store and display OLE objects.

OLE Server

An application that creates OLE objects.

one-to-many relationship

A relationship where there is one uniquely identified row in one table relating to one or more rows in another table. The relationship is based on the unique key found in the first table. For example, for each video title (identified by a row with a unique key) in a Video Product table, there may be many entries (rows) in the Sales Details table for each time a customer has rented the video.

one-to-one relationship

A relationship where there is one and only one match for a unique row in two tables.

For example, for each video title (identified by a row with a unique key) in a Video Product table, there is one and only one row in the VIdeo Details table that contains the description. Since there is only one description for each product, it could be located directly in the Video Product table; however it could be placed in another table for other processing reasons. In the latter case, the two rows would be uniquely identified by a common key joining them together.

ORACLE_HOME An environment variable that indicates the root directory of Oracle products.

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Oracle Designer

An Oracle Corporation tool for system analysis and designing, generating, and maintaining applications.

Oracle Designer uses an enhanced Oracle dictionary for application system designs and model information.

orphan folder

A folder which does not exist in any business area. An orphan folder cannot be viewed in the work area because it is not located inside any business area; therefore it is unusable. A folder can only be created (and saved in the End User Layer) inside a business area and potentially used repetitively in several business areas. However, if it is subsequently removed from its last business area without being deleted from the End User Layer, it becomes an "orphan folder".

You can view orphaned folders by choosing Manage | Folders from the Tools menu.

own

A term defining proprietorship of a specific element in Discoverer. For example, a user owns an EUL if its tables reside in the user’s database account. A user may have permission to access the tables in another user’s account, but the permitted user does not own the EUL.

P

page axis

The axis that displays a page item. The page axis appears above the top axis.

page item

An item that enables you to view data from a particular perspective. Page items apply to a whole sheet. When you create a page item from an axis item or data item, one value appears at a time, such as 1997 for Year. You change the value of the page item—such as 1997, 1998, or 1999—by choosing from the list of available values in the Page item box. items can be dragged to the Page item box from either the top axis or the side axis.

parameter

1. A PL/SQL construct used to pass information to a subprogram. For example, in the sub-program call MYPROC (x),x is a parameter.

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partially restricted tables

Tables you own and have granted access to for other user IDs. Or, tables you don’t own but their owner has granted you access.

paste To place the contents of the Clipboard (cut or copied objects) at the current cursor location.

pattern A graphical property you can apply to the edge or fill of most objects.

PDF

Acronym for Portable Document Format. A file format (native for Adobe Acrobat) for rep-resenting documents in a manner that is independent of the original application software, hardware, and operating system used to create the documents. A PDF file can describe docu-ments containing any combination of text, graphics, and images in a device-independent and resolution independent format.

physical page The size of a page that is output by your printer.

pivot

To drag an item from one axis to the other (crosstabs only), or from an axis to the Page item box. A side axis item becomes a top axis item or a page item or vice versa. Pivoting enables you to display the data more compactly and show relationships between items more clearly.

PL/SQL

Oracle's proprietary extension to the SQL language. Adds procedural and other constructs to SQL that make it suitable for writing applications.

pop-up list

A list that pops up when the user performs a particular action.

port

A number that TCP uses to route transmitted data to and from a particular program.

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pre-defined action

An action shipped with Project Builder and automatically available to the user via a menu item and/or a toolbar button. Pre-defined actions include Build, Deliver, and several source control options. When a pre-defined action is defined for a supported file type, the action is invoked for any selected item of that type when the user calls the action from Project Builder. See also: action, user-defined action.

preference

A setting that affects the behavior of the application’s interface.

primary key

A column in a database table whose members consist of unique values that can be used to identify a row in a table.

Private End User Layer

An End User layer only available to specific user IDs. Access is explicitly granted by the owner of the End User Layer.

A database can have one or more Private End User Layers.

private tables

Tables in a database accessible only by those user IDs granted access by the user ID who "owns" the table. A user ID "owns" a table if that user ID has created the table.

Properties

A characteristic of an object that determines the behavior or appearance of that object.

public tables

Tables in a database accessible by all user IDs.

Q

query

1. A search that retrieves information from a database according to criteria you specify. The criteria include items, layout, formatting, conditions, and calculations. Results of a query are displayed in a sheet.

2. A SQL SELECT statement that specifies the data you wish to retrieve from one or more tables or views of a database.

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Query Prediction

A Oracle Discoverer feature that gives an estimate of the time required to retrieve the infor-mation in a query. The Query Prediction appears before the query begins, so you can cancel the query.

quit

An option that terminates the current session and returns the user to the operating system. On some systems, Quit is Exit.

R

radio button

A control (similar to a check box), appearing in sets of two or more, only one of which may be either "on" or "off" at any given time.

radio group

A set of two or more radio buttons, only one of which may be either "on" or "off" at any given time.

RDBMS

Acronym for Relational Database Management System. A database that allows the defini-tion of data structures, storage and retrieval operations, and integrity constraints. In such a database, data and relations between them are organized in tables.

record

One row fetched by a SQL SELECT statement.

remote database

A database on a computer other than the local database. Usually a computer on the same net-work, but at a different node (i.e., a database that you use through a database link).

Role

A set of privileges. A Role is assigned to a user ID to grant all of the privileges defined in that Role. A role is useful for a DBA assigning the same privileges to large numbers of peo-ple.

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For example, the database administrator for a staff of airline reservation employees defines the role “reservationist” containing all of the necessary privileges for a reservationist. Then the DBA assigns every reservationist that role (reservationist), instead of having to define all of the privileges for each reservationist.

row

One set of field values in a table; for example, the fields representing one employee in the example table EMP.

run

To execute a runtime version of an application or program unit.

S

scheduled workbook

A workbook that has been programmed to run automatically at a scheduled date, time, and frequency. You can schedule a workbook by choosing File | Schedule.

schema

A collection of related database objects, usually grouped by database user ID. Schema objects includes tables, views, sequences, stored program units, synonyms, indexes, clus-ters, and database links.

scope

The level at, or range in which, an object operates. For Project Builder: 1. Describes the range of files affected by Compile and Compile All commands invoked against compilable project items. 2: Describes the range of files influenced by inheritable definitions.

SELECT statement

A SQL statement that specifies which rows and columns to fetch from one or more tables or views.

send

In Discoverer you can mail a workbook (or part of a workbook) in an email. The data you send can be in the text of the mail message or an attachment. In Discoverer Plus, choose File | Send to send a workbook.

session

The period between invoking and quitting the executable.

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sheet

A tab in the workbook window. A sheet displays the results of one or more queries.

side axis

The axis of a sheet that runs vertically along the left side of the sheet. Applies only to a crosstab. See: axis, axis item.

sort

To specify how data in an item should be ordered. For example, you can sort an item from low to high (A–Z) or from high to low (Z–A).

SQL

Acronym for Structured Query Language, the language used to define and manipulate data in a database. You can view the current SQL code for a particular sheet by choosing SQL Inspector from the View menu.sql file

SQL script

A file containing SQL statements that you can run to perform database administration quickly and easily. Several SQL scripts are shipped with Oracle products.

SQL statement

A SQL instruction to Oracle. A SELECT statement is one type of SQL statement.

statement

A PL/SQL construct used for conditional, iterative, and sequential control, and for error han-dling. A semi-colon (;) must terminate every PL/SQL statement.

summary redirection

The process that Discoverer Plus uses to redirect a query to use a summary table rather than the detail data.

summary folder

The folder for storing information about summary tables, and the EUL items that can use them. Summary folders improve performance by directing queries to run against the sum-mary tables' pre-aggregated and pre-joined data which, nevertheless, still satisfies the query requests. The process is automatic from the user's view-that is, to the user it isn't apparent that the query is being handled by the summary folder, instead of the base data tables. The net result is quick response times for queries and accurate results.

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summary table

Results from a query, listing information in table format.

summary wizard

A predefined set of steps in Administration Edition that query the user for the information and choices needed to create a summary folder fro summary redirection of end user queries.

syntax

The orderly system by which commands, qualifiers, and parameters are combined to form valid command strings.

T

table

1. A named collection of related information, stored in a relational database or server, in a two-dimensional grid that is made up of rows and columns.

2. A sheet layout that arranges items in columns. Items appear in the top axis. Use a table to list all information that fits the query criteria, such as sales transactions for the last month. See: crosstab.

tabular

A default layout displaying labels at the top of the page and rows of data underneath the labels.

task list

A window in Administration Edition that lists each task for creating a comprehensive busi-ness area in logical order. It is helpful in keeping track of the tasks to complete. Click on a task to invoke its respective wizard to help you complete the task.

TCP

Acronym for Transmission Control Protocol. The underlying communication protocol for exchanging HTTP requests between clients and Web servers.

tear-off menu

A submenu that the user can remove from its source using a mouse or other pointing device and drag to another part of the display screen.

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Glossary-22

text item

In Form Builder, an item that displays a character string value.

title bar

The horizontal area at the top of a window that displays the name of the application or inter-face element in that window.

toggle

To turn a setting alternately on or off. For example, you can hide or show the Toolbar.

tool An iconic button used to create and manipulate objects in an application.

toolbar Collection of iconic buttons that perform product commands. Usually aligned horizontally along the top, or vertically down the side of a window.

tool palette

A collection of tools

total

The result of a calculation that summarizes data in a sheet. Examples of totals are minimum, maximum, average, and sum.

trailer

A optional report region that can contain closing material for the report, including text, graphics, data, and computations. The report trailer appears last, following the header and body.

transaction

A sequence of SQL statements treated as a single unit.

trigger

A PL/SQL procedure that is executed, or "fired," upon a specific event.

Page 573: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Glossary-23

type

A description of a file type, such as a form, a document, etc., containing such information as type name and description. Each description applies to a single file type. In addition, there are four meta-types: "updtext", which applies to all text files, “updproj” which applies to all project files, “updlink”, which applies to all project links, and "all" which applies to any file type. Types are the foundation for defining actions and macros.

U

user exit

A way in which to pass control (and possibly arguments) from Developer/2000 to another Oracle product or 3GL, and then return control (and possibly arguments) back to Developer/2000.

user ID

a unique character string used to access a database. A user ID always has an associated pass-word. When logging onto an Oracle database, a person must have an authorized user ID and password.

V

variable

A named object that can be assigned a value and whose assigned value may change over time.

W

wildcard

A character used to mean 'any one character' or 'a contiguous set of characters' within a word or phase.

window

A rectangular area of the desktop that contains an application. Each window has an area where you can interact with the application. Windows can be opened, resized, moved, reduced to an icon, or enlarged to fill the entire desktop.

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Glossary-24

work area

A window in Administration Edition which is the view into the End User Layer. Use the work area window to work with each business areas in the End User Layer. It is where you can create new business areas and folders, move items from one folder to another, and cre-ate and edit items. Essentially, everything you do that affects the End User Layer is done in the work area.

workbook

A collection of worksheets in Discoverer Plus. Workbooks are essentially documents con-taining query definitions, which can be stored in database tables, network file server and shared with other Discoverer Plus users over a network. They can also be stored on your PC.

worksheet

The way Discoverer displays the results of your query. The Worksheet also contains the query to be executed against the End User Layer. Multiple worksheets are stored in a Work-book.

Z

zoom

To expand an object to allow more room for editing the contents of the field.

Page 575: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-1

IndexSymbols% wildcard, 7-6, 7-9/apps_fndnam, D-13/apps_grant_details, D-31/apps_gwyuid, D-13/apps_responsibility, D-31/apps_security_group, D-31/apps_user, D-14, D-15/asm, D-22/asm_tablespace, D-31/audit_info, D-32/cmdfile, D-10/create_eul, D-16< > operator, 11-4< operator, 11-4<= operator, 11-4= operator, 11-4> operator, 11-4>= operator, 11-4

Aaccess rights, 5-2, 8-1

and external summaries, 15-20creating summaries and, 2-6, 15-20tutorial, 4-17 to 4-24

accessingbusiness areas, 8-1data, 1-5, 8-1online help, 3-20PL/SQL functions, 12-13

addingfolders to business areas, 3-10, 6-9

items to complex folders, 4-60, 4-63items to folders, 3-10items to hierarchies, 4-66, 4-68, 4-75items to joins, 11-3, 11-7objects to business areas, 7-5tables and views to business areas, 7-10

address records, 4-56Administration Edition, 1-2

access rights and privileges, 8-1insufficient, A-23

client errors, A-1described, 1-5main window, 3-6, 4-16

Administration privilege, 8-2administrators, xxi

maintaining assigned privileges, 8-10, 17-25maintaining EUL, 5-8predefining items, 12-4role defined, 1-1, 1-9setting up EUL, 1-10tasks summarized, 1-9

aggregate calculations, 12-2 to 12-3defined, 12-2restrictions, 12-3

aggregate derived items, 12-2defined, 12-3

aggregate functionsexamples, 12-2mixing levels, A-4nesting, 12-3, A-13

aggregate icon, 3-11aggregated detail items, 4-82aggregated items

examples, 4-57

Page 576: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-2

summary tables and, 15-19viewing, 3-11

aliases, 6-8alphabetical listing of errors, A-1Alternative Sort tab, 10-16alternative sorts, 1-8, 10-3

changing sort sequences, 10-16tutorial, 4-49viewing attributes, 3-16

analysis, 1-9, 4-37item hierarchies and, 14-6simplifying, 4-60, 4-85

ANALYZE TABLE command, C-2applications

Discoverer components and, 1-4launching external, 4-79, 4-80workbook scheduling and, 9-2

Applications Mode EUL, D-12Apply button, 4-26Arguments tab (PL/SQL), 12-15arithmetic operations, 3-11

invalid types in, A-23ASM

about, 16-2advanced settings, 16-18after loading a business area, 7-11allocate space for summaries, 16-15analyze, 16-18analyze folders, 16-10ASM policy, 16-5bulk load, 16-4creating summary folders, 16-8deletion, 16-23executing, 16-2external summary deletion, 16-25folders, 16-19launch summary wizard, 16-9performance verses coverage, 16-7permission to analyze folders, 16-4policy

advanced settings, 16-6space options, 16-5

query usage, 16-22query user, 16-20recommended summaries, 16-17

works on EUL as a whole, 16-4assigning

items to date hierarchies, 4-76rights and privileges

End User Layer, 5-2tutorial, 4-17 to 4-24

user IDs to databases, 7-6attributes, 3-17

assigning to business areas, 7-11viewing, 3-16

auto-load options, 4-12automated summary management

asm, 16-1auto-starting with tasklist, 3-6AVG function, 12-2, 12-4axis item icon, 3-11axis items, 7-12

aggregates and, 12-2, 12-3in reports, 4-89selecting, 3-11setting display sequence, 4-42summary tables and, 15-18

axis position options, 3-11

Bbatchusr.sql, 2-3BFILE - Content Type, 10-7bulk load

asm, 16-4running ASM after, 16-4

bulk loads, 4-14business area icon, 3-9business areas, 3-5, 7-2

accessing, 8-1tutorial, 4-17 to 4-24

adding folders, 3-10, 6-9, 6-15bulk loading, 4-14changing

tutorial, 4-25 to 4-31closing, 3-10creating, 3-10, 7-3

prerequisites, 7-2tutorial, 4-7 to 4-15with tasklist, 3-6

Page 577: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-3

creation errors, A-8defined, 1-6designing, 7-2formatting defaults, 7-11hiding items, 4-41, 4-42inaccessible, A-45, A-46loading objects, 7-5loading tables and views, 4-10 to 4-11, 7-10naming, 7-13opening, 3-10, 7-3, 7-14overview, 1-6 to 1-7removing folders, 6-18reordering folders, 6-17terms defined, 1-7viewing structure and content, 3-8

business example, 4-1buttons (toolbar), 3-19

Ccalculated items, 12-4

creatingtutorial, 4-55 to 4-57

creating joins with, 11-7calculations, 6-2, 12-1

creatingtutorial, 4-55

examples, 4-56aggregates, 12-2, 12-3derived items, 12-2, 12-3

restrictions for aggregate, 12-3syntactical reference, 12-7types described, 12-1

calculations, getting more information, 12-5Cartesian products, 11-6case storage attribute, A-16catch-all summaries, 15-18changing

business areastutorial, 4-25 to 4-31

condition type, 13-2content types, 4-79item names in complex folders, 6-5options in dialogs, 4-26property settings, 6-10

characters, 4-68invalid, A-12

choosingdata sources, 7-3, 7-14items

for item classes, 4-46for summary reports, 4-88, 4-89from list of values, 4-48in hierarchies, 4-68, 4-75

menu commands, 3-19circular references, A-13client errors, A-1client/server applications

Discoverer components and, 1-4workbook scheduling and, 9-2

closingbusiness areas, 3-10dialog boxes, 4-26tasklist, 3-6

columns, 1-6, 1-7, 4-29, 4-79, 6-2aliasing expressions in, 6-8analyzing details, 2-11mapping to summary tables

example, 15-18tutorial, 4-89

resizing, A-4command line interface

/aggregate, D-30/all, D-30, D-31/asm, D-32/audit_info, D-32/ba_link, D-32/business_area, D-32/capitalize, D-32/cmdfile, D-10/condition, D-33/connect, D-11/create_eul, D-16/date_hierachy, D-33/db_link, D-18, D-33/delete, D-19, D-21, D-26/delete_eul, D-20/description, D-33/developer_key, D-35/eul, D-34

Page 578: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-4

/export, D-28/folder, D-34/function, D-34/hier_node, D-34/hierarchy, D-34/import, D-27/insert_blanks, D-35/item, D-35/item_class, D-35/join, D-36/keep_folder, D-36/keep_format_properties, D-36/load, D-17/log, D-36, D-37/lov, D-37/multi_commit, D-37/object, D-37/overwrite, D-38/password, D-38/private, D-38/refresh_bus_area, D-23/refresh_summary, D-22, D-24, D-25/remove_prefix, D-39/rename, D-39/source, D-39, D-40/summary, D-40/user, D-40/workbook, D-41case-sensitivity, D-3change existing standard database user to an Oracle

Applications user, D-14command rules, D-3connect as an Oracle Applications user, D-15

command-line interface, D-1command-line options, D-1

syntax, D-4commits, 8-14complex folder icon, 3-10complex folders, 6-1 to 6-5

adding items, 3-10, 4-60, 4-63creating, 4-60 to 4-65mandatory conditions and, 6-5, 13-2

Conceptually Identical Objects, 7-19condition icon, 3-11conditions, 3-17

adding multiple join, 11-4aggregates and, 12-3calculated items and, 12-8changing type, 13-2creating

tutorial, 4-63 to 4-65creation errors, A-9, A-20, A-39displaying existing, 3-11duplicate names, A-2invalid, A-4mandatory, 6-3types described, 13-2

Confirm Folder Delete dialog, 6-18, 10-24, 11-12, 12-11, 13-11, 14-17, 15-51

CONNECT BY clauses (SQL), 6-8Connect dialog box, 3-2connect.cmd, D-6connection errors, A-20, A-45connections, D-6

getting information about, 3-20Content Type

avi, 10-7BFILE, 10-7BLOB, 10-7CLOB, 10-7LCLOB, 10-7

Content Type propertyusage tutorial, 4-79

copied items, 4-60, 6-3Copy command, 6-3copying folders, 6-3corrupted files, fixing, A-12, A-31Cost optimizer, 2-11Create EUL Wizard, 5-5, 5-6Create Procedure privilege, 2-3Create Subquery option, 6-8Create Table privilege, 2-3Create View privilege, 2-3create.cmd, D-6creating

business areas, 3-10, 7-3prerequisites, 7-2tutorial, 4-7 to 4-15with tasklist, 3-6

custom folders, 6-6

Page 579: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-5

foldersfor summary reports, 4-85tutorial for complex, 4-60 to 4-65

hierarchies, 3-12tutorial, 4-66

item classes, 3-14, 3-17, 10-2tutorial, 4-45 to 4-48

joins, 11-7from multiple items, 11-7 to 11-8tutorial, 4-37 to 4-40with calculated items, 11-7

list of values, 3-17for item classes, 10-9tutorial, 4-44 to 4-49

sort tables, 10-3summary reports tutorial, 4-85 to 4-92worksheets, 4-40

cross tab worksheetsplacing items, 7-12

Custom Folder dialog, 4-33, 6-6custom folder icon, 3-11Custom Folder Properties dialog, 6-14Custom Folder Properties dialog box, 4-35custom folders

aliasing expressions in, 6-8creating, 6-6editing SQL statements, 6-13queries and, 6-8setting properties, 6-4tutorial for creating, 4-31 to 4-36

customizing items tutorial, 4-41 to 4-59cyclic hierarchies, A-6

Ddata

accessing, 1-5, 8-1analyzing, 1-9, 4-37, 4-60, 4-85

item hierarchies and, 14-6in external applications, 4-79, 4-80retrieving, 6-8

setting character limits, 8-12with conditions, 4-63

sorting, 1-8, 4-49, 10-3changing alternate sort sequences, 10-16

viewing alternative attributes, 3-16storage limits, 2-2summary tables and, 15-7viewing, 1-5, 4-16

data integrity, 1-5data point item icon, 3-11data point items, 7-12data points

creating, 3-11data sources, 7-3

Oracle Designer and, 7-14Data tab, 3-8 to 3-9data types

axis items and, 7-12incompatible, A-3invalid, A-6, A-20, A-23, A-30, A-41, A-45

database administrators, xxiDatabase Information command, 2-9, 3-20database links, 7-6database servers

connection errors, A-20, A-45reducing load, C-1testing operational parameters, 2-10

databases, 1-2, 1-5access rights and privileges, 8-1connecting to, 3-2defining hierarchical relationships, 14-1duplicate links, A-7generated values and, 1-8invalid links, A-30loading tables, 7-7non-Oracle, 1-9

calculations and, 6-3creating EULs, 5-4workbook scheduling and, 2-1

row retrieval limits, 8-12setting data limits, 2-2

date hierarchies, 4-68associating with items, 4-76automating creation of, 4-74creating

tutorial, 4-74 to 4-77invalid date formats, A-30moving through, 4-78selecting items, 4-75

Page 580: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-6

viewing, 3-13Date Hierarchy

changing a Template, 14-15items removed, 14-15

Date Hierarchy Template - applying to a Date Item, 14-15

date hierarchy template folder icon, 3-14date hierarchy templates, 4-74

viewing, 3-14Date Items - applying Date Hierarchy Templates, 14-15date template icon, 3-14date templates, 14-3dates

invalid types, A-41, A-45DBMS_JOB package, 2-1, 15-20

installing, 2-1, 2-5not installed, A-38, A-41

DBMS_JOB queue, 2-4controlling, 8-14pending jobs, 2-4

DECIMALS, 7-12defaults

axes display, 4-42date hierarchies, 14-4formatting, 7-11privileges, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 17-19, 17-21, 17-24properties, 1-8

delete.cmd, D-6deleting

End User Layers, 5-8folders from business areas, 6-18

demonstration database, 4-1dependencies, missing, A-21derived items, 12-2

aggregate, 12-2, 12-3defined, 12-2PL/SQL functions and, 12-13

descriptionsbusiness areas, 7-13

tutorial for adding, 4-25folders

tutorial for adding, 4-26item classes

changing, 10-17items

tutorial for adding, 4-29joins, 11-4maximum length, A-7

detail folderschanging items, 11-6

detail itemsadding to joins, 11-4creating, 4-38drilling to, 10-4

tutorial, 4-82joins and, 11-2, 11-7null values and, 11-5reassigning, 11-6with no master, 11-5

Detail to Master icon, 11-7detail-to-master join icon, 3-11detail-to-master joins, 3-11

viewing primary/foreign keys, 3-11dialog boxes, 4-26

selecting options, 4-26dictionary, 7-4, 7-5

options, 7-7dis4adm.exe, D-6Discoverer

components, 1-2 to 1-4getting help, 1-11internal errors, A-24overview, 1-1 to 1-7

Discoverer 4i Plus, 1-5Discoverer 4i Viewer, 1-5Discoverer Plus, 1-2

described, 1-5enabling query prediction, 2-9selecting values in list, 4-48viewing conditions, 4-65

displayingdefault privileges, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 17-19, 17-21, 17-24

documentationtypographical conventions, xxi

drilling, 1-8setting drilldown sequence, 14-6through hierarchies, 3-12

tutorial, 4-66, 4-72, 4-74through summary reports, 4-82to detail items, 10-4

Page 581: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-7

tutorial, 4-82drill-to-detail item classes, 4-82, 10-4

tutorial for creating, 4-82duplicate database links, A-7duplicate names

conditions, A-2formulas, A-13joins, A-3summary tables, A-7

duplicating items, 4-60

EEdit Calculation dialog, 4-56Edit Custom Folder dialog, 4-35, 6-14Edit Item Class dialog, 4-83edit items in the business area, 8-2editing

SQL statements, 4-34 to 4-36, 6-4, 6-13EEX file format, 7-19equality, 11-4equi-joins, 4-39, 11-4equivalent values, 4-39error messages, A-1errors, A-1

found by database, A-37undocumented, A-2with no messages, A-35, A-44

EUL, 1-2, 5-1corrupted files, A-12, A-31creating

for existing users, 5-4deleting, 5-8described, 1-5granting access rights, 5-2installing tutorial, 5-6, 5-8, 5-11, 5-12

multiple copies, 5-14insufficient access privileges, A-23internal errors, A-24maintaining, 5-8ownership, 5-2PL/SQL functions and, 12-13prerequisites for setting up, 1-10removing folders, 6-19removing tutorial, 5-14 to 5-16

retrieving list of values, 4-47tables inaccessible, A-19, A-45tables incompatible, A-45tables invalid, A-39unable to obtain lock, A-44unrecognized token, A-44

EUL Gateway, 7-5how to set up an EUL Gateway, 7-4

EUL Manager, 5-3creating EULs, 5-5installing tutorial, 5-14opening, 5-4uninstalling tutorial, 5-15

EUL Manager command, 5-4EUL_DATE_TRUNC function, 14-12example database, 4-1EXECUTE access, 8-1Export

EUL Elements, 5-10export

workbooks, 5-10expressions, 15-19

aliases in column, 6-8circular references, A-13creating for joins, 11-4

external application icons, 4-80external applications, 4-79, 4-80

Ffan trap detection, 11-6, 11-12fetching data, 6-8

setting retrieval limits, 8-12with conditions, 4-63

filesfixing corrupted, A-12, A-31inaccessible system, A-39unable to save, A-20unabled to open, A-20

filing cabinet, 3-9filter icon, 4-65filters, 4-63

invalid, A-31folder icons, 3-10, 3-14Folder Properties sheet, 4-28

Page 582: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-8

folders, 1-7, 3-5adding items, 3-10, 4-60, 4-63adding to business areas, 3-10, 6-9copying, 6-3creating

for summary reports, 4-85tutorial for complex, 4-60 to 4-65

creation errors, A-9customizing, 6-6

tutorial, 4-31 to 4-36hierarchies and multiple, 14-6inaccessible, A-40linking, 4-37mandatory conditions and, 6-3orphan, 6-1removing from business areas, 6-18renaming, 4-26 to 4-29reordering, 6-17reordering items, 3-10sharing across business areas, 6-15types described, 6-1types in work area, 3-10viewing, 3-10viewing existing conditions, 3-11

foreign keysnull values and, 11-5viewing, 3-11

format masksinvalid, A-31, A-32maximum length, A-21

formatting defaults, 7-11formulas

adding to conditions, 13-2aggregates and, 12-2circular references, A-13duplicate names, A-13editing in custom folders, 6-4invalid, A-31invalid operators, A-33maximum length, A-21mismatched parentheses, A-13uncategorized errors, A-14unfinished, A-14unknown functions, A-14unqualified names, A-13

unrecognized items, A-13functions

EUL_DATE_TRUNC, 14-12invalid, A-22, A-31joins and, 11-7nesting, A-13predefined, 12-13

Functions tab (PL/SQL), 12-14, 12-15

GGateway User ID, D-13gateways, 7-4

refreshing from, 7-27General tab

item classes, 10-17granting rights and privileges

End User Layer, 5-2tutorial, 4-17 to 4-24

graphs, 4-42grouping users, 4-18GWYUID, D-13

Hhelp, 1-8, 1-11, 4-2Help Topics command, 3-20hiding items, 4-41, 4-42hierarchical relationships, 14-1hierarchies, 1-8

adding items, 4-66, 4-68, 4-75changing item content type, 4-79creating, 3-12

tutorial, 4-66cyclic, A-6display options, 3-13displaying nodes, 3-12drilling through, 3-12

tutorial, 4-66, 4-72, 4-74duplicate items, A-41grouping items, 4-73moving through, 4-71, 4-78multi-parent, A-41multiple folders and, 14-6node creation errors, A-35

Page 583: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-9

node deletion errors, A-40queries and, 14-3setting drilldown sequence, 14-6summary reports and, 15-19viewing definitions, 3-12

Hierarchies tab, 3-12 to 3-13hierarchy icon, 3-14hierarchy templates, 3-14, 4-74

viewing, 3-12Hierarchy Wizard

selecting itemsfrom multiple folders, 14-6

tutorial, 4-66hints, 6-8HTML documents, 4-79hyperdrilling, 1-8, 10-4

See also drill-to-detail item classes

Iicons, 3-5

external applications, 4-80toolbar, 3-19work area, 3-9

Identifiers, 7-18using to match objects, 7-22

Impact dialog boxopening, 6-19, 7-26, 10-24, 11-12, 12-11, 13-11, 14-

17, 15-51Import Business Area dialog, 7-19Import command, 7-19Import PL/SQL Functions dialog, 12-16Import Wizard

element match actions, 7-21element match options, 7-21error messages, 7-23Import log, 7-23starting, 7-19Step 1, 7-20Step 2, 7-20Step 3, 7-23using, 7-19

importing EUL elements, 7-18importing PL/SQL functions, 12-13, 12-15

inaccessible folders, A-40

incompatible data types, A-3inequality, 11-4INIT<SID>.ORA file, 2-4

job_queue_interval parameter, 2-4optimizer_mode parameter, 2-11timed_statistics parameter, 2-10

initialization file, 2-4INITORCL.ORA, 2-5Inline Views, E-6input, 1-8Install the Tutorial Wizard, 5-12 to 5-14installation

DBMS_JOB package, 2-1, 2-5tutorial, 5-6, 5-8, 5-11

errors during, 5-12multiple copies, 5-14

integers, 7-12internal errors, A-24invalid argument names, A-29invalid characters, A-12invalid conditions, A-4invalid data types, A-6, A-20, A-23, A-30, A-41, A-45invalid formulas, A-31invalid functions, A-22, A-31item class icon, 3-17Item Class Wizard

tutorial for creating classes, 4-45 to 4-48tutorial for drilling, 4-82

item classesalternative sorts and, 4-49, 10-4creating, 3-14, 3-17, 10-2

for list of values, 10-9tutorial, 4-45 to 4-48

defined, 10-2display options, 3-15displaying associated items, 3-15, 3-17folders inaccessible, A-40overview, 10-2 to 10-4renaming, 10-17selecting items, 4-46viewing values, 3-17

Item Classes tab, 3-14 to 3-17Item Formula property, 6-4item group icon, 3-17item hierarchies, 4-68

Page 584: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-10

creatingcomplex, 4-72tutorial, 4-66 to 4-74

selecting items, 4-68viewing, 3-13

Item Properties sheet, 4-30items, 1-7

adding to complex folders, 4-60, 4-63adding to folders, 3-10adding to hierarchies, 4-66, 4-68, 4-75adding to joins, 11-3, 11-7alternative sorts and, 10-4assigning to date hierarchies, 4-76calculations and predefined, 12-4case storage attribute, A-16changing content type, 4-79creation errors, A-9custom folders and, 6-4customizing tutorial, 4-41 to 4-59displaying associated class, 3-15displaying in folders, 3-10hiding, 4-41, 4-42naming, 3-10PL/SQL functions and, 12-13placing on cross tabs, 7-12renaming, 4-29, 6-5reordering, 3-10selecting

for item classes, 4-46for summary reports, 4-88, 4-89from list of values, 4-48

setting display axes, 4-42setting properties, 10-2sharing similar attributes, 10-2style attribute, troubleshooting, A-19

Jjob_queue_interval parameter, 2-4job_queue_processes parameter, 2-4Join command, 11-3join icons, 3-11, 11-7Join Options dialog, 11-5joins

adding detail items, 11-4

aggregate calculations and, 12-3available operators, 11-4calculated items and, 12-8combining equivalent values, 4-39complex folders and, 6-2conditions

adding multiple, 11-4creating, 11-7

multi-item, 11-7 to 11-8tutorial, 4-37 to 4-40with calculated items, 11-7

creation errors, A-10, A-32custom folders and, 6-7defining outer, 11-4, 11-5duplicate names, A-3invalid attributes, A-40multiple paths, A-40naming, 11-4null values and, 11-5selecting primary items, 11-3

Llanguage setting - Oracle Applications, 17-8launching external applications, 4-79, 4-80links

database to user, 7-6duplicate database, A-7invalid database, A-30

list of values, 10-2creating, 3-17

for item classes, 10-9tutorial, 4-44 to 4-49

displaying attributes, 3-16getting from EUL, 4-47querying, 6-8selecting, 10-15selecting items, 4-48

list of values icon, 3-17List of Values tab, 10-15literals, 11-7load options, 4-7, 4-12Load Wizard, 3-4

tutorial, 4-7 to 4-15loading tables, 7-7

Page 585: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-11

tutorial, 4-10 to 4-11lossless joins, 11-5

Mmain window, 3-6, 4-16Manage Folders dialog, 6-15, 6-16mandatory conditions, 6-3

changing status, 13-2optional condition vs., 13-2

manual registration (PL/SQL), 12-13Manuals command, 3-20many-to-many joins, 11-2many-to-one joins, 11-7many-to-one relationships, 3-11mapping columns

example, 15-18tutorial, 4-89

master foldersadding items, 11-3changing items, 11-6

master itemsin multi-item joins, 11-7reassigning, 11-6selecting, 11-3

Master to Detail icon, 11-7master-detail relationships, 11-2master-to-detail join icon, 3-11master-to-detail joins, 3-11

viewing primary/foreign keys, 3-11mathematical operations, 3-11

invalid types in, A-23measure items, 4-89menus, 3-7

shortcuts for choosing, 3-19metadata, 1-5, 4-79

choosing source, 7-3Oracle Designer and, 7-14

metalayer, 1-5mismatched data types, A-3mismatched parentheses, A-13missing dependencies, A-21moving through hierarchical structures, 4-78moving through hierarchies, 4-71Multi-item button, 11-7

multi-item joins, 11-7 to 11-8multi-parent hierarchies, A-41multiple folders

creating item hierarchies, 14-6multiple work area views, 4-61

Nname conflicts, A-1, A-21, A-34names (maximum length), A-35names with numeric suffixes, 4-60naming

business areas, 7-13items, 3-10joins, 11-4PL/SQL functions, A-22

navigating hierarchies, 4-71, 4-78nested aggregates, 12-3New Condition dialog box

Advanced options, 13-7New Join dialog, 4-37, 11-3 to 11-7

opening, 11-6New Multi-Item Join dialog, 11-7, 11-8New Multi-item Join dialog, 11-4New Window command, 4-61NLS, 17-8non-Oracle databases, 1-9

calculations and, 6-3creating EULs, 5-4workbook scheduling and, 2-1

non-standard sorts, 4-49null values

detail items and, 11-5troubleshooting, A-36, A-40

NUMBER data types, 7-12numeric items, 4-68

comparing, 13-6, 13-8range errors, A-37

numeric suffixes, 4-60numeric values, 3-11

Oobjects, 3-5, 3-10

adding to business areas, 7-5

Page 586: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

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assigning attributes, 7-11renaming, 6-10

ODBC, 3-3ODBC-specific SQL statements, 6-7OK button, 4-26one-to-many joins

displaying, 11-7one-to-many relationships, 3-11one-to-one joins, 11-2

creating, 11-6on-line dictionary, 7-4, 7-5

options, 7-7online help, 1-8, 1-11, 4-2

accessing, 3-20Open Business Area dialog, 7-15, 7-16opening

business areas, 3-10, 7-3, 7-14multiple work areas, 4-61tasklist, 3-6

operators, 4-31, 4-56, 11-4invalid, A-33set, 6-7

optimizer, C-1enabling, 2-11

optimizer hints, 6-8optimizer_mode parameter, 2-11optional conditions

changing status, 13-2mandatory condition vs., 13-2

Oracle ApplicationsApplications table cannot be found, A-46configuring the Connect dialog, 17-3Connect dialog, 17-15connect to Discoverer, 17-15Profiles, 17-8

Oracle Applications Userchange existing standard database user to, D-14connect as, D-15connection options, D-13

Oracle Designererror when loading, A-14inaccessible repository, A-40loading metadata from, 7-14tables unavailable, A-7

orphan folders

defined, 6-1outer joins, 11-4, 11-5owners

End User Layer, 5-2name too long, A-37not specified, A-38

Ppackage names, troubleshooting, A-38page axis, 4-42parameters

scheduled workbooks, 2-4timed statistics, 2-10with no associated values, A-35

Partially Restricted Tables option, 7-8pending jobs, 2-4percentages, 4-55, 4-59periodic refresh intervals, 4-91personnel records, 4-57PL/SQL functions

creation errors, A-9importing, 12-13, 12-15invalid argument names, A-29invalid package names, A-38naming, A-22naming arguments, A-3registering, 12-13

automatically, 12-15return type invalid, A-33unknown, A-14

PL/SQL support, 15-20, A-45pop-up menus, 3-7predefined functions, 12-13primary keys

viewing, 3-11printing reports, 9-2private EULs, 4-2Private Tables option, 7-8privileges

complex folders and, 6-3creating external summaries, 15-20creating summaries and, 2-6, 15-20displaying default, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 17-19, 17-21, 17-24End User Layer, 5-2

Page 587: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-13

insufficient, A-23, A-42tutorial, 4-17 to 4-24

Privileges dialog, 4-17Privileges tab, 8-7usage tutorial, 4-17 to 4-22

profiles, A-42properties

complex folders and, 4-63custom folders, 6-4default, 1-8items, 10-2saving changes automatically, 6-10

PUBLIC responsibility, 17-24Public role, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 17-19, 17-21Public Tables option, 7-8

Qqueries, 1-5, 5-2, 15-17

against scheduled workbooks, 8-14aggregates and, 12-3, 12-4analyzing usage, 15-9canceling, 8-12conditions and, 13-1expressions and, 15-19fan trap detection, 11-6folder definitions and subqueries, 6-8frequently run, 15-18hierarchies and, 14-3misleading or incorrect results returned, 11-2optimizing, 4-85, 6-8, C-1performance predictions, C-1

enabling, 2-9unavailable, 2-9

summary tables and, 11-5Query Governor tab

usage tutorial, 4-21Query Statistics Business Area, 15-9

Rrange errors, A-37ratio, computing, 12-3rdb

features not supported, F-2

software requirements, F-1RDBMS directory, 2-2, 2-6referenced items, 6-3, 6-5refresh intervals

creation errors, A-30, A-37tutorial for setting, 4-91

refresh sets, 3-18Register PL/SQL Functions command, 12-14, 12-15registering PL/SQL functions, 12-13

automatically, 12-15reinstalling tutorial, 5-13, 5-14relational databases, 1-2relationships, 3-14

joins, 11-2renaming

folders, 4-26 to 4-29item classes, 10-17items, 4-29, 6-5objects, 6-10

reordering folder items, 3-10reports, 1-8, 4-55, 12-4, 14-2, 14-3

creating from hierarchies, 4-71printing, 9-2processing requests, 2-4running

setting start time, 2-4repository, 2-3

inaccessible, A-40specifying users, 2-4, 8-13tables unavailable warning, A-7

Repository User property, 2-3requests, 2-4resizing columns, A-4restricted tables, 7-8result sets, 4-31, 9-1

complex folders and, 6-3custom folders and, 6-3storing, 2-2

right-click menus, 3-7roles, 4-18

granting rights and privileges, 8-1tutorial, 4-18

rows, 1-7setting retrieval limits, 8-12

Rule optimizer, 2-11

Page 588: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-14

running scheduled workbooks, 2-1process described, 9-2setting start time, 2-4

Ssample database, 4-1scheduled workbooks

output, 9-1Scheduled Workbooks tab

usage tutorial, 4-22scheduling workbooks

process described, 9-2setting parameters, 2-4timed intervals for, 2-4

schemas, 6-3defined, 7-9owners, 7-9workbook scheduling and, 2-2, 2-3

scripts (workbook scheduling), 2-3Secure Views, 17-7security, 1-9

complex folders and, 6-3Security dialog, 4-17

usage tutorial, 4-23 to 4-24SELECT access, 8-1SELECT ANY TABLE access, 2-4Select Items tab, 10-16SELECT statements, 6-7, 6-8selecting

data sources, 7-3, 7-14items

for item classes, 4-46for summary reports, 4-88, 4-89from list of values, 4-48in hierarchies, 4-68, 4-75

menu commands, 3-19servers

connection errors, A-20, A-45reducing load, C-1testing operational parameters, 2-10

set operators, 4-31example, 6-7

setting propertiescomplex folders and, 4-63

custom folders, 6-4items, 10-2

Show menuhierarchies, 3-13item classes, 3-15

side axis, 4-42similar values, 3-17simple folder icon, 3-10simple folders, 6-2

adding to business areas, 3-10sort tables, 10-3sorting data, 1-8

changing alternate sort sequences, 10-16defining alternate sorts, 10-3

tutorial, 4-49viewing alternative attributes, 3-16

spreadsheets, 4-42SQL commands

ANALYZE TABLE, C-2CONNECT BY, 6-8SELECT, 6-7, 6-8

SQL functions, 15-19naming arguments, A-3

SQL scripts, 2-3SQL statements, 1-5, 4-31, 5-2

aggregates and, 12-3, 12-4conditions and, 13-1, 13-7custom folders and, 6-4, 6-8editing, 6-4, 6-13joins and, 11-6ODBC-specific, 6-7optimizing, C-1parsing, A-11tutorial for editing, 4-34 to 4-36

SQL*Net, 1-5, 5-2SQL*Plus, 10-3starting external applications, 4-79, 4-80static values, 12-2statistics, 2-11storing data, 2-2storing result sets, 2-2subqueries, 6-8SUM function, 12-2, 12-4summaries

refresh following import/export to and from pre-8.1.6/

Page 589: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-15

8.1.6+ databases, 15-50Summaries tab, 3-18summary combinations

building, 4-89, 15-18creation errors, A-36frequently run queries and, 15-18mapping errors, A-4

summary folder icon, 3-18summary folders, 15-3

creatingtutorial, 4-85 to 4-92

setting up, 15-19, 15-20summary items, 3-18Summary Management feature, 15-20summary reports

creation errors, A-10drilling through, 4-82hierarchies and, 15-19periodic refresh intervals, 4-91selecting items, 4-88, 4-89tutorial for creating, 4-85 to 4-92

summary tables, 15-17displaying refresh sets, 3-18duplicate names, A-7mapping columns to

example, 15-18tutorial, 4-89

required privileges, 2-6, 15-20running queries against, 11-5updating, 4-91, 15-7

Summary Wizard, 15-3tutorial, 4-85 to 4-92

summary wizardautomated summary management(asm), 16-4

need to connect as the EUL owner, 16-4synonyms, 4-31, 6-7

unresolved, A-44system administrators, xxisystem files, inaccessible, A-39System Generated command, 3-13, 3-16system-generated hierarchies, 3-13system-generated item classes, 3-16

Ttables, 1-6, 3-10

access rights and privileges, 8-1analyzing content, 2-11creating joins

from multiple items, 11-7 to 11-8with calculated items, 11-7

creation errors, A-42inaccessible, A-19, A-45invalid, A-39loading, 7-7

tutorial, 4-10 to 4-11setting row retrieval limits, 8-12

tables and viewsadding to business areas, 7-10

tablespaces, 5-8, 5-14tasklist, 3-6templates, 4-74, 14-3text items, 3-11, 4-68timed intervals for scheduled workbooks, 2-4timed_statistics parameter, 2-10tokens (unrecognized), A-44toolbar, 3-19top axis, 4-42transactions, 1-2tutorial, 4-1

installing, 5-6, 5-8, 5-11errors during, 5-12multiple copies, 5-14

installing the tutorial data, 5-10make note of password, 5-13reusing, 4-93uninstalling, 5-13, 5-14 to 5-16

Uunavailable messages, 2-9uncategorized errors, A-14undocumented errors, A-2Uninstall the Tutorial Wizard, 5-15uninstalling tutorial, 5-13, 5-14 to 5-16unique values, 3-17unknown Discoverer version, A-44unmatched data types, A-3unrecognized tokens, A-44

Page 590: Oracle Discoverer Administrator's Guide

Index-16

unresolved synonyms, A-44updating

summary tables, 15-7User Defined command, 3-13, 3-16user IDs, 4-18, 7-8

attaching to databases, 7-6maximum length, A-37tutorial, 5-10

user profiles, A-42user requirements, 1-10User/Role tab

usage tutorial, 4-20user-defined hierarchies, 3-13user-defined item classes, 3-16user-defined PL/SQL functions, 12-13users, 4-18

creating tablespaces for new, 5-8granting rights and privileges

to multiple, 8-1tutorial, 4-18

grouping, 4-18insufficient privileges, A-23, A-42problems getting current, A-15specifying repository for, 2-4

Using Help command, 3-20

VValidate SQL button, 4-33values, 1-8

derived items and, 12-2equivalent, 4-39foreign keys with null, 11-5similar, 3-17unique, 3-17

VIDEO4 user, 5-10viewing

conditions, 3-11data, 1-5, 4-16default privileges, 8-4, 8-5, 8-9, 17-19, 17-21, 17-24EUL objects, 3-10hierarchy templates, 3-12tasklist, 3-6

views, 1-6, 3-10, 4-16creation errors, A-42

invalid, A-44multiple work area, 4-61

Wwarnings, A-1Web pages, 4-79wildcards, 7-6, 7-9wizards, 1-8

invoking from tasklist, 3-6work area, 3-5

icons described, 3-9overview, 3-5tabs described, 3-8usage tutorial, 4-16working with multiple views, 4-61

workbooks, 1-9adding calculated items, 12-4creating worksheets, 4-40invalid formats, A-31, A-32processing requests, 2-4scheduling

process described, 9-2setting parameters, 2-4timed intervals for, 2-4

storing result sets, 2-2

XXML import format, 7-19


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