Contents

Title and Copyright Information

Preface

Intended Audience

Documentation Accessibility

Related Information Sources

1 Introduction to Oracle BI Publisher Administration

1.1 Introduction

1.2 Configurations Performed by the BI Platform Installer

1.3 Flow of Tasks for First Time Setup of BI Publisher

1.4 Starting and Stopping BI Publisher

1.4.1 Using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

1.5 About the Administration Page

1.6 About Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

1.7 About the Security Model Options

1.8 About the Data Source Connections

1.9 About Report Delivery Destinations

1.10 About Setting Runtime Configuration Properties

1.11 About the Server Configuration Settings

2 Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model

2.1 Understanding the Security Model

2.2 Key Security Elements

2.3 Permission Grants and Inheritance

2.4 Default Security Configuration

2.4.1 Default Users and Groups

2.4.2 Default Application Roles and Permissions

2.4.2.1 Granting the BIAdministrator Role Catalog Permissions

2.5 Managing Authentication

2.5.1 Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

2.5.2 Managing Users and Groups Using the Default Authentication Provider

2.6 Managing Authorization

2.6.1 Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control

2.6.2 Managing the Policy Store Using Fusion Middleware Control

2.6.3 Modifying Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control

2.6.4 Modifying Membership in an Application Role

2.7 Managing Credentials

2.7.1 Managing the Credential Store

2.7.2 Managing BISystemUser Credentials

2.8 Customizing the Default Security Configuration

2.8.1 Configuring a New Authentication Provider

2.8.2 Configuring a New Policy Store and Credential Store Provider

2.8.2.1 Reassociating the Policy Store and Credential Store

2.8.3 Customizing the Policy Store

2.8.3.1 Creating Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control

2.8.3.2 Creating Application Policies Using Fusion Middleware Control

2.8.3.3 Changing Permission Grants for an Application Policy

3 Alternative Security Options

3.1 About Alternative Security Options

3.2 Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions

3.2.1 Options for Configuring Users and Roles

3.3 About Privileges to Use Functionality

3.4 About Catalog Permissions

3.5 How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together

3.5.1 A Role Must Be Assigned Catalog Permissions

3.5.2 A Role Can Be Granted Catalog Permissions Only

3.5.3 Inherited Permissions

3.6 About Access to Data Sources

3.7 Configuring Users, Roles, and Data Access

3.7.1 Creating Roles

3.7.2 Creating Users and Assigning Roles to a User

3.7.3 Granting Catalog Permissions

3.7.4 Granting Data Access

3.8 Security and Catalog Organization

3.9 Configuring BI Publisher to Use an LDAP Provider

3.9.1 Using the Client Application

3.9.1.1 Set Up Users and Roles

3.9.1.2 Configure the BI Publisher Server to Recognize the LDAP Server

3.9.1.3 Assign Data Access and Catalog Permissions to Roles

3.10 Integrating with Microsoft Active Directory

3.10.1 Configuring the Active Directory

3.10.2 Configuring BI Publisher

3.10.3 Logging In to BI Publisher Using the Active Directory Credentials

3.10.4 Assign Data Access and Catalog Permissions to Roles

3.11 Configuring Single Sign-On

3.12 Configuring BI Publisher to Use Oracle Access Manager (OAM) Single Sign-On

3.13 Setting Up Oracle Single Sign-On

3.13.1 Setup Procedure

4 Other Security Topics

4.1 Enabling a Local Superuser

4.2 Enabling a Guest User

4.3 Configuring BI Publisher for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Communication

4.3.1 Pointing BI Publisher to the System-Wide Keystore

4.3.2 Importing Certificates for Web Services Protected by SSL

4.3.3 Configuring the Delivery Manager

4.4 Configuring Proxy Settings

5 Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models

5.1 Before You Begin: Create a Local Superuser

5.2 Integrating with Oracle BI Server Security

5.2.1 Configuring BI Publisher for Oracle BI Server Security

5.2.2 Adding Data Sources to BI Server Roles

5.3 Integrating with Oracle E-Business Suite

5.3.1 Features of the Integration with E-Business Suite Security

5.3.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use E-Business Suite Security

5.3.3 Adding Data Sources to the E-Business Suite Roles

5.3.4 Granting Catalog Permissions to the E-Business Suite Roles

5.4 Integrating with Oracle Database Security

5.4.1 Defining the BI Publisher Functional Roles in the Oracle Database

5.4.2 Adding Data Sources to Roles

5.4.3 Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles

5.5 Integrating with Oracle Siebel CRM Security

5.5.1 Setting Up BI Publisher Roles as Siebel CRM Responsibilities

5.5.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use Siebel Security

5.5.3 Adding Data Sources to Roles

5.5.4 Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles

6 Implementing a Digital Signature

6.1 Introduction

6.2 Prerequisites and Limitations

6.3 Obtaining Digital Certificates

6.4 Creating PFX Files

6.5 Implementing a Digital Signature

6.5.1 Registering Your Digital Signature ID and Assigning Authorized Roles

6.5.2 Specifying the Signature Display Field or Location

6.5.3 Specifying a Template Field in a PDF Template for the Digital Signature

6.5.4 Specifying the Location for the Digital Signature in the Report Properties

6.6 Running and Signing Reports with a Digital Signature

7 Configuring the Scheduler

7.1 Understanding the BI Publisher Scheduler

7.1.1 Architecture

7.1.2 About Clustering

7.1.3 How Failover Works

7.2 Set Up Considerations

7.2.1 Choosing JNDI or JDBC Connection

7.2.2 Supported JMS Providers

7.3 About the Scheduler Configuration

7.3.1 Configuring the Shared Directory

7.4 Configuring Processors and Processor Threads

7.5 Adding Managed Servers

7.5.1 Adding a Managed Server

7.5.2 Configure the Processors in BI Publisher

7.6 Scheduler Diagnostics

7.6.1 Resolving Quartz Configuration Errors

8 Configuring Server Properties

8.1 Setting the Path to the Configuration Folder

8.2 Configuring the Catalog

8.2.1 Configuring the Oracle BI Publisher File System Catalog

8.2.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI EE Catalog

8.2.2.1 Configuring the BI Search Fields

8.3 Setting General Properties

8.3.1 The System Temporary Directory

8.3.1.1 About Temporary Files

8.3.1.2 Setting the System Temporary Directory

8.3.1.3 Sizing the System Temporary Directory

8.3.2 Setting the Report Scalable Threshold

8.3.3 Setting the Database Fetch Size

8.4 Setting Server Caching Specifications

8.5 Setting Retry Properties for Database Failover

8.6 Enabling Monitor and Audit

8.7 Setting Report Viewer Properties

8.8 Setting the BI Publisher Session Time Out Value

9 Setting Up Data Sources

9.1 Overview of Setting Up Data Sources

9.1.1 About Other Types of Data Sources

9.1.2 About Data Sources and Security

9.1.3 About Proxy Authentication

9.1.4 Choosing JDBC or JNDI Connection Type

9.1.5 About Backup Databases

9.1.6 About Pre Process Functions and Post Process Functions

9.2 Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source

9.3 Setting Up a Database Connection Using a JNDI Connection Pool

9.4 Setting Up a Connection to an LDAP Server Data Source

9.5 Setting Up a Connection to an OLAP Data Source

9.6 Setting Up a Connection to a File Data Source

9.7 Viewing or Updating a Data Source

10 Setting Up Integrations

10.1 Configuring Integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services

11 Setting Up Delivery Destinations

11.1 Configuring Delivery Options

11.2 Adding a Printer or Fax Server

11.3 Adding an E-Mail Server

11.4 Adding a WebDAV Server

11.5 Adding an HTTP Server

11.6 Adding an FTP Server

11.7 Adding a Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) Server

12 Defining Run-Time Configurations

12.1 Setting Run-Time Properties

12.2 PDF Output Properties

12.3 PDF Security Properties

12.4 PDF Digital Signature Properties

12.5 RTF Output Properties

12.6 HTML Output Properties

12.7 FO Processing Properties

12.8 RTF Template Properties

12.9 PDF Template Properties

12.10 Flash Template Properties

12.11 CSV Output Properties

12.12 Excel 2007 Output Properties

12.13 All Outputs Property

12.14 Defining Font Mappings

12.14.1 Making Fonts Available to BI Publisher

12.14.2 Setting Font Mapping at the Site Level or Report Level

12.14.3 Creating a Font Mapping

12.14.4 BI Publisher's Predefined Fonts

12.15 Defining Currency Formats

12.15.1 Understanding Currency Formats

13 Diagnostics and Performance Monitoring in Oracle BI Publisher

13.1 Diagnosing and Resolving Issues in Oracle BI Publisher

13.2 About Diagnostic Log Files

13.2.1 About Log File Message Categories and Levels

13.2.2 About Log File Formats

13.2.3 About Log File Rotation

13.3 Configuring Log Files

13.4 Viewing Log Messages

13.4.1 Viewing Messages by Reading the Log File

13.5 About Performance Monitoring and User Auditing

13.6 Enabling Monitoring and Auditing

13.6.1 Enable Monitor and Audit on the Server Configuration Page

13.6.2 Configure the Audit Policy Settings

13.6.3 Restart the WebLogic Server

13.7 Viewing the Audit Log

13.8 Configuring an Audit Repository

13.8.1 Creating the Audit Schema Using RCU

13.8.2 Creating the Data Source in WebLogic Server

13.8.3 Registering the Audit Storage Database to Your Domain

13.9 Using BI Publisher to Create Audit Reports

13.9.1 Registering the Data Source in BI Publisher

13.9.2 Creating a Data Model

13.9.3 Creating the Report

13.10 Viewing Performance Statistics in the MBean Browser

14 Adding Translations for the BI Publisher Catalog and Reports

14.1 Introduction

14.1.1 Limitations of Catalog Translation

14.2 Exporting and Importing a Catalog Translation File

14.3 Template Translation

14.3.1 Generating the XLIFF File from the Layout Properties Page

14.3.2 Translating the XLIFF File

14.3.3 Uploading the Translated XLIFF File to BI Publisher

14.4 Using the Localized Template Option

14.4.1 Designing the Localized Template File

14.4.2 Uploading the Localized Template to BI Publisher

15 Moving Catalog Objects Between Environments

15.1 Overview

15.1.1 When to Use the Catalog Utility

15.1.2 Other Options for Moving Catalog Objects

15.1.3 What Files Are Moved

15.2 Preparing to Use the BI Publisher Catalog Utility

15.2.1 Configuring the Environment

15.3 Exporting BI Publisher Reporting Objects

15.3.1 Example Export Command Lines

15.3.1.1 Exporting a Single Report in Archive Format

15.3.1.2 Exporting a Single Report with Files Extracted

15.3.1.3 Exporting a Set of Reports to a Specified Folder

15.4 Importing BI Publisher Reporting Objects

15.4.1 Example Import Command Lines

15.4.1.1 Importing a Report to an Original Location

15.4.1.2 Importing a Report to a New Location

15.4.1.3 Importing a Zipped Report

15.4.1.4 Importing a set of BI Publisher Reporting Objects Under a Specified Folder

15.5 Generating Translation Files and Checking for Translatability

15.5.1 Generating a Translation File for a Report Definition File (.xdo)

15.5.2 Generating a Translation File for an RTF Template

A Setting Up Print Servers

A.1 Setting Up CUPS on Linux

A.1.1 Prerequisites

A.1.2 Setting Up a Printer on CUPS

A.1.3 Installing and Setting Up Fax for CUPS

A.1.4 Making CUPS Accessible from Other Machines

A.2 Setting Up Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) on Windows

A.2.1 Setting Up IPP Printers on Windows XP Professional

B Scheduler Configuration Reference

B.1 Introduction

B.2 Configuring BI Publisher for ActiveMQ

B.2.1 Install ActiveMQ

B.2.2 Register ActiveMQ as a JNDI Service

B.2.3 Update the BI Publisher Scheduler Configuration Page

B.3 Manually Configuring the Quartz Scheduler

B.3.1 Recommendations for Using DataDirect Connect or Native Database Drivers

B.3.2 Set Up a User on Your Scheduler Database

B.3.3 Connecting to Your Scheduler Database and Installing the Schema

B.3.4 Connecting to Oracle Database

B.3.5 Connecting to IBM DB2

B.3.6 Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

B.3.7 Connecting to Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise Database

C Integration Reference for Oracle BI Enterprise Edition

C.1 About Integration

C.1.1 Prerequisites

C.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog

C.3 Configuring Integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services

C.4 Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Oracle BI Server

D Configuration File Reference

D.1 BI Publisher Configuration Files

D.2 Setting Properties in the Runtime Configuration File

D.2.1 File Name and Location

D.2.2 Namespace

D.2.3 Configuration File Example

D.2.4 Understanding the Element Specifications

D.3 Structure of the Root Element

D.3.1 Attributes of Root Element

D.3.2 Description of Root Element

D.4 Properties and Property Elements

D.4.1 <properties> Element

D.4.1.1 Description of <properties> Element

D.4.2 <property> Element

D.4.2.1 Attribute of <property> Element

D.4.2.2 Description of <property> Element

D.5 Font Definitions

D.5.1 <fonts> Element

D.5.1.1 Attribute of <fonts> Element

D.5.1.2 Description of <fonts> Element

D.5.2 <font> Element

D.5.2.1 Attributes of <font> Element

D.5.2.2 Description of <font> Element

D.5.3 <font-substitute> Element

D.5.3.1 Attributes of <font-substitute> Element

D.5.3.2 Description of <font-substitute> Element

D.5.4 <type1> element

D.5.4.1 Attribute of <type1> Element

D.5.4.2 Description of <type1> Element

D.6 Predefined Fonts

D.6.1 Included Barcode Fonts

Index

Oracle® Fusion Middleware

Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

11g Release 1 (11.1.1)

E22255-01

December 2011

Explains how to administer Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, including how to configure security, set up data source connections, define delivery servers, manage the scheduler and delivery server load, and configure run-time properties.

Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher, 11g Release 1 (11.1.1)

E22255-01

Copyright © 2010, 2011, Oracle and/or its affiliates. All rights reserved.

Primary Author: Leslie Grumbach Studdard 

Contributing Author:  Trish Fuzesy

Contributor:  The Oracle BI Publisher product management, development, and quality assurance teams.

This software and related documentation are provided under a license agreement containing restrictions on use and disclosure and are protected by intellectual property laws. Except as expressly permitted in your license agreement or allowed by law, you may not use, copy, reproduce, translate, broadcast, modify, license, transmit, distribute, exhibit, perform, publish, or display any part, in any form, or by any means. Reverse engineering, disassembly, or decompilation of this software, unless required by law for interoperability, is prohibited.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice and is not warranted to be error-free. If you find any errors, please report them to us in writing.

If this is software or related documentation that is delivered to the U.S. Government or anyone licensing it on behalf of the U.S. Government, the following notice is applicable:

U.S. GOVERNMENT RIGHTS Programs, software, databases, and related documentation and technical data delivered to U.S. Government customers are "commercial computer software" or "commercial technical data" pursuant to the applicable Federal Acquisition Regulation and agency-specific supplemental regulations. As such, the use, duplication, disclosure, modification, and adaptation shall be subject to the restrictions and license terms set forth in the applicable Government contract, and, to the extent applicable by the terms of the Government contract, the additional rights set forth in FAR 52.227-19, Commercial Computer Software License (December 2007). Oracle America, Inc., 500 Oracle Parkway, Redwood City, CA 94065.

This software or hardware is developed for general use in a variety of information management applications. It is not developed or intended for use in any inherently dangerous applications, including applications that may create a risk of personal injury. If you use this software or hardware in dangerous applications, then you shall be responsible to take all appropriate fail-safe, backup, redundancy, and other measures to ensure its safe use. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates disclaim any liability for any damages caused by use of this software or hardware in dangerous applications.

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This software or hardware and documentation may provide access to or information on content, products, and services from third parties. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates are not responsible for and expressly disclaim all warranties of any kind with respect to third-party content, products, and services. Oracle Corporation and its affiliates will not be responsible for any loss, costs, or damages incurred due to your access to or use of third-party content, products, or services.

Preface

Welcome to Release 11g (11.1.1) of the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Intended Audience

This document is intended for system administrators who are responsible for managing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher processes, logging, caching, monitoring, data source connections, delivery servers, sercurity, and configuration.

Documentation Accessibility

For information about Oracle's commitment to accessibility, visit the Oracle Accessibility Program website at http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=docacc.

Access to Oracle Support

Oracle customers have access to electronic support through My Oracle Support. For information, visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=info or visit http://www.oracle.com/pls/topic/lookup?ctx=acc&id=trs if you are hearing impaired.

Related Information Sources

For more information, see the following documents in the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) documentation set:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Oracle Fusion Middleware Java API Reference for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

The Oracle Business Intelligence chapter in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Release Notes for your platform

Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence

Oracle Fusion Middleware Upgrade Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence

Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide

Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help

System Requirements and Certification

Refer to the system requirements and certification documentation for information about hardware and software requirements, platforms, databases, and other information. Both of these documents are available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

The system requirements document covers information such as hardware and software requirements, minimum disk space and memory requirements, and required system libraries, packages, or patches:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/files/fusion_requirements.htm

The certification document covers supported installation types, platforms, operating systems, databases, JDKs, and third-party products:

http://www.oracle.com/technology/software/products/ias/files/fusion_certification.html

1 Introduction to Oracle BI Publisher Administration

This chapter introduces administration in BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 1.1, "Introduction"

Section 1.2, "Configurations Performed by the BI Platform Installer"

Section 1.3, "Flow of Tasks for First Time Setup of BI Publisher"

Section 1.4, "Starting and Stopping BI Publisher"

Section 1.5, "About the Administration Page"

Section 1.6, "About Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition"

Section 1.7, "About the Security Model Options"

Section 1.8, "About the Data Source Connections"

Section 1.9, "About Report Delivery Destinations"

Section 1.10, "About Setting Runtime Configuration Properties"

Section 1.11, "About the Server Configuration Settings"

1.1 Introduction

Oracle BI Publisher is an enterprise reporting solution for authoring, managing, and delivering all your highly formatted documents, such as operational reports, electronic funds transfer documents, government PDF forms, shipping labels, checks, sales and marketing letters, and much more.

Administering BI Publisher requires setting up and maintaining the following system components:

BI Publisher security

Data source connections

Report delivery destinations

BI Publisher Scheduler configurations

Runtime configuration settings

Server configuration settings

See the guides that are outlined in Table 1-1 for more information about using the product for other business roles.

Table 1-1 Other Guides to Consult

Role
Sample Tasks
Guide

Data Model developer

Fetching and structuring the data to use in reports

Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Application developer or integrator

Integrating BI Publisher into existing applications using the application programming interfaces

Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Report consumer

Viewing reports Scheduling report jobs Managing report jobs

Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

Report designer

Creating report definitions Designing layouts

Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

1.2 Configurations Performed by the BI Platform Installer

After installation is complete, the following pieces are configured:

The security model is configured to use Oracle Fusion Middleware Security

The scheduler is configured to use Oracle WebLogic JMS. The schema tables are installed and configured in the database.

The BI Publisher catalog and repository are configured to ${xdo.server.config.dir}/repository

1.3 Flow of Tasks for First Time Setup of BI Publisher

If you are setting up BI Publisher for the first time, then consult Table 1-2 for the recommended flow of tasks to get the system up and running.

Table 1-2 Recommended Flow of Tasks

Task
Where to Get Information

Define a Local Superuser Set up this Superuser to ensure access to all administrative functions in case of problems with the current security setup.

Section 4.1, "Enabling a Local Superuser"

Set up the chosen security model and test

Chapter 2, "Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model"

Chapter 3, "Alternative Security Options"

Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models"

Set up the data sources and test

Chapter 9, "Setting Up Data Sources"

Set up the delivery servers and test

Chapter 11, "Setting Up Delivery Destinations"

Configure server properties

Chapter 8, "Configuring Server Properties"

Configure system runtime properties

Chapter 12, "Defining Run-Time Configurations"

1.4 Starting and Stopping BI Publisher

Use the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console to centrally manage Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

For detailed information about Oracle WebLogic Server, see:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help

Display Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console, using one of the following methods:

Using the Start menu in Windows

Clicking a link on the Overview page in Fusion Middleware Control

Entering a URL into a Web browser window

The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console is available only if the Administration Server for WebLogic Server is running.

To display Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console:

If the Administration Server for WebLogic Server is not running, start it.

Display the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console using one of the following methods:

Using the Windows Start menu:

From the Start menu, select All Programs, Oracle WebLogic, User Projects, bifoundation_domain, and Admin Server Console.

The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console login page is displayed.

Clicking a link on the Overview page in Fusion Middleware Control:

Display Oracle Fusion Middleware Control.

Expand the WebLogic Domain node and select the bifoundation_domain.

Click the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console link in the Summary region.

The Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console login page is displayed.

Using a URL in a Web browser window:

Enter the following URL into the browser:

http://<host>:<port>/console/

For example, http://mycomputer:7001/console/

where host is the DNS name or IP address of the Administration Server and port is the listen port on which the Administration Server is listening for requests (port 7001 by default).

If you have configured a domain-wide Administration port, then use that port number. If you configured the Administration Server to use Secure Socket Layer (SSL), then you must add the letter 's' after http as follows:

https://<host>:7001/console/

1.4.1 Using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

To use the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console to start and stop BI Publisher:

Start the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

Under the Domain Structure, expand Environment.

Click Servers to display the Summary of Servers table.

Click Control. Select the server and then click the appropriate action, as shown in Figure 1-1.

Figure 1-1 Administration Console

1.5 About the Administration Page

Many of the tasks described in the Administration section of this guide are performed from the BI Publisher Administration page. You must be granted Administrator privileges to access the Administration page.

The Administration page is accessed from the Administration link in the global header. Figure 1-2 shows the Administration page:

Figure 1-2 Administration Page

1.6 About Integration with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

If you installed Oracle BI Publisher with the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, then you must perform the Administration tasks in the BI Publisher Administration page, as described in Table 1-3. Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page as follows:

In the global header, click Administration, on the Administration page, click Manage BI Publisher.

Table 1-3 BI Publisher Administration Tasks

Task
Where to Get Information

Set up data source connections for reporting

Chapter 9, "Setting Up Data Sources"

Grant access to data sources for user roles defined in Oracle Business Intelligence

Section 3.7.4, "Granting Data Access"

Configure the connections to delivery servers (for example, printers, e-mail servers, FTP servers, and so on)

Chapter 11, "Setting Up Delivery Destinations"

Configure the scheduler processors

Chapter 7, "Configuring the Scheduler"

Configure system runtime properties such as PDF security properties, properties specific to each output format, template type properties, font mappings, and currency formats.

Section 12.1, "Setting Run-Time Properties"

Configure server properties such as caching specifications, database failover properties, and database fetch size.

Chapter 8, "Configuring Server Properties"

1.7 About the Security Model Options

BI Publisher offers the following security options:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Security

After installation, BI Publisher is configured to use Oracle Fusion Middleware Security. For more information, see Chapter 2, "Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model." If you prefer to use another security model, then choose from the alternative options.

BI Publisher Security

Use BI Publisher's Users and Roles paradigm to control access to reports and data sources. For more information see Chapter 3, "Alternative Security Options."

Integration with an LDAP server

Set up the BI Publisher roles in your LDAP server then configure BI Publisher to integrate with it. For more information see Chapter 3, "Alternative Security Options."

Oracle E-Business Suite

Upload a DBC file to recognize your Oracle E-Business Suite users. For more information see Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

Oracle BI Server

You can still leverage the 10g legacy BI Server authentication method if you choose not to upgrade to Oracle Fusion Middleware Security. For more information see Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

Oracle Database

Set up the BI Publisher roles in your Oracle Database and then configure BI Publisher to integrate with it. For more information see Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

Oracle Siebel CRM Security Model

For more information, see Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

1.8 About the Data Source Connections

BI Publisher reports rely on XML data. BI Publisher supports retrieving data from a variety of data sources.

The following data sources must be first set up in BI Publisher through the Administration page:

Database connections

BI Publisher supports direct JDBC connections and connections through a JNDI pool (recommended)

LDAP connections

OLAP connections

File directory connections - you can use an existing XML file or Microsoft Excel file that is stored in a directory that BI Publisher can access

For more information on setting up these data source connections, see Chapter 9, "Setting Up Data Sources."

The following data sources are defined when you create the data model:

Web services

HTTP XML feed

If you have integrated your system with Oracle Business Intelligence you can also take advantage of the following data source:

Oracle BI Analysis

1.9 About Report Delivery Destinations

The BI Publisher delivery manager supports the following delivery channels:

Printer

Fax

E-mail

HTTP notification

FTP

Web Folder (or WebDAV)

For more information on setting up the delivery options, see Chapter 11, "Setting Up Delivery Destinations."

1.10 About Setting Runtime Configuration Properties

Use the Runtime Configuration page to enable configuration settings for your system. The properties include settings that

Control the processing for different output types

Enable digital signature

Tune for scalability and performance

Define font mappings

For more information on setting configuration properties and font mappings, see Section 12.1, "Setting Run-Time Properties."

1.11 About the Server Configuration Settings

BI Publisher administration also includes a set of system maintenance settings and tasks. These are:

Configuring the catalog

Setting caching properties

Setting retry properties for failover

Enabling Auditing and Monitoring

For more information on these tasks and settings, see Chapter 8, "Configuring Server Properties."

2 Configuring Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Model

This chapter describes the configuration of the security model for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 2.1, "Understanding the Security Model"

Section 2.2, "Key Security Elements"

Section 2.3, "Permission Grants and Inheritance"

Section 2.4, "Default Security Configuration"

Section 2.5, "Managing Authentication"

Section 2.6, "Managing Authorization"

Section 2.7, "Managing Credentials"

Section 2.8, "Customizing the Default Security Configuration"

2.1 Understanding the Security Model

The Oracle Fusion Middleware security model is built upon the Oracle Fusion Middleware platform, which incorporates the Java security model. The Java model is a role-based, declarative model that employs container-managed security where resources are protected by roles that are assigned to users. However, extensive knowledge of the Java-based architecture is unnecessary when using the Oracle Fusion Middleware Security model. When using this security model, BI Publisher can furnish uniform security and identity management across the enterprise.

After installation BI Publisher is automatically installed into an Oracle WebLogic Server domain, which is a logically related group of WebLogic Server resources that are managed as a unit. After a Simple installation type the WebLogic Server domain that is created is named bifoundation_domain. This name might vary depending upon the installation type performed. One instance of WebLogic Server in each domain is configured as an Administration Server. The Administration Server provides a central point for managing a WebLogic Server domain. The Administration Server hosts the Administration Console, which is a Web application accessible from any supported Web browser with network access to the Administration Server. BI Publisher is part of the active security realm configured for the Oracle WebLogic Server domain into which it is installed.

For more information about the Oracle Fusion Middleware platform and the common security framework, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide. For more information about managing the Oracle WebLogic Server domain and security realm, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Understanding Security for Oracle WebLogic Server and Oracle Fusion Middleware Securing Oracle WebLogic Server.

2.2 Key Security Elements

The Oracle Fusion Middleware security model depends upon the following key elements to provide uniform security and identity management across the enterprise:

Application policy

BI Publisher permissions are granted to members of its application roles. In the default security configuration, each application role conveys a predefined set of permissions. Permission grants are defined and managed in an application policy. After an application role is associated with an application policy, that role becomes a Grantee of the policy. An application policy is specific to a particular application.

Application role

After permission grants are defined in an application policy, an application role can be mapped to that policy, and the application role then becomes the mechanism to convey the permissions. In this manner an application role becomes the container that grants permissions to its members. The permissions become associated with the application role through the relationship between policy and role. After groups are mapped to an application role, the corresponding permissions are granted to all members equally. Membership is defined in the application role definition. Application roles are assigned in accordance with specific conditions and are granted dynamically based on the conditions present at the time authentication occurs. More than one user or group can be members of the same application role.

Authentication provider

An authentication provider is used to access user and group information and is responsible for authenticating users. The default authentication provider that BI Publisher uses during a Simple or Enterprise installation is named DefaultAuthenticator. This is the same default authenticator used by a basic Oracle WebLogic Server installation. An Oracle WebLogic Server authentication provider enables you to manage users and groups in one place.

An identity store contains user name, password, and group membership information. An authentication provider accesses the data in the identity store and authenticates against it. For example, when a user name and password combination is entered at log in, the authentication provider searches the identity store to verify the credentials provided. The BI Publisher default authentication provider authenticates against Oracle WebLogic Server embedded directory server.

Users and groups

A user is an entity that can be authenticated. A user can be a person, such as an application user, or a software entity, such as a client application. Every user is given a unique identifier.

Groups are organized collections of users that have something in common. Users should be organized into groups with similar access needs to facilitate efficient security management.

Security realm

During installation an Oracle WebLogic Server domain is created and BI Publisher is installed into that domain. BI Publisher security is managed within the security realm for this Oracle WebLogic Server domain. A security realm acts as a scoping mechanism. Each security realm consists of a set of configured security providers, users, groups, security roles, and security policies. Only one security realm can be active for the domain. BI Publisher authentication is performed by the authentication provider configured for the default security realm for the WebLogic Server domain in which it is installed. Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console is the administration tool used for managing an Oracle WebLogic Server domain.

2.3 Permission Grants and Inheritance

BI Publisher provides application-specific permissions for accessing different features. BI Publisher permissions are typically granted by becoming a member in an application role. Permissions can be granted two ways: through membership in an application role (direct) and through group and role hierarchies (inheritance). Application role membership can be inherited by nature of the application role hierarchy. In the default security configuration, each application role is preconfigured to grant a predefined set of permissions. Groups are mapped to an application role. The mapping of a group to a role conveys the role's permissions to all members of the group. In short, permissions are granted in BI Publisher by establishing the following relationships:

A group defines a set of users having similar system access requirements. Users are added as members to one or more groups according to the level of access required.

Application roles are defined to represent the role a user typically performs when using BI Publisher. The default security configuration provides the following preconfigured application roles: BIAdministrator (an administrator), BIAuthor (an author of content), and BIConsumer (a consumer of content).

The groups of users are mapped to one or more application roles that match the type of access required by the population.

Application policies are created and BI Publisher permissions are mapped that grant a set of access rights corresponding to role type.

An application role is mapped to the application policy that grants the set of permissions required by the role type (an administrator, an author, a consumer).

Group membership can be inherited by nature of the group hierarchy. Application roles mapped to inherited groups are also inherited, and those permissions are likewise conveyed to the members.

How a user's permissions are determined by the system is as follows:

A user enters credentials into a Web browser at login. The user credentials are authenticated by the authentication provider against data contained the identity store.

After successful authentication, a Java subject and principal combination is issued, which is populated with the user name and a user's groups.

A list of the user's groups is generated and checked against the application roles. A list is created of the application roles that are mapped to each of the user's groups.

A user's permission grants are determined from knowing which application roles the user is a member of. The list of groups is generated only to determine what roles a user has, and is not used for any other purpose.

A user can also be granted permissions if they inherit other application roles. Members of application roles can include other groups and application roles. The result is a hierarchical role structure where permissions can be inherited in addition to being explicitly granted. This hierarchy provides that a group is granted the permissions of the application role for which it is a member, and the permissions granted by all roles descended from that role.

For example, the default security configuration includes several predefined groups and application roles. The default BIAdministrator application role includes the BIAdministrators group, the BIAuthor application role includes the BIAuthors group, and the BIConsumer application role includes the BIConsumers group. The default BIAdministrator application role is a member the BIAuthor application role, and the BIAuthor application role is a member of the BIConsumer application role. The members of these application roles inherit permissions as follows. Members of the BIAdministrators group are granted all the permissions of the BIAdministrator role, the BIAuthor role, and the BIConsumer role. By nature of this role hierarchy, the user who is a member of a particular group is granted permissions both explicitly and through inheritance. For more information about the default application roles and groups, see Section 2.4.2, "Default Application Roles and Permissions."

Note:

By themselves, groups and group hierarchies do not enable any privilege to access resources controlled by an application. Privileges are conveyed by the permission grants defined in an application policy. A user, group, or application role becomes a Grantee of the application policy. The application policy Grantee conveys the permissions and this is done by direct association (user) or by becoming a member of the Grantee (group or application role).

Figure 2-1 shows these relationships between the default groups and application roles.

Figure 2-1 Relationships Between Default Groups and Application Roles

Table 2-1 summarizes how permissions are granted explicitly or are inherited in the previous example and figure.

Table 2-1 Permissions Granted by the Role Hierarchy Example

User Name
Group Membership: Explicit/Inherited
Application Role Membership: Explicit/Inherited
Permission Grants: Explicit/Inherited

User1, User2, User3

BIConsumers: Explicit

BIConsumer: Explicit

Permission A: Explicit

User4, User5

BIAuthors: Explicit BIConsumers: Inherited

BIAuthor: Explicit BIConsumer: Inherited

Permission B: Explicit Permission A: Inherited

User6, User7

BIAdministrators: Explicit BIAuthors: Inherited BIConsumers: Inherited

BIAdministrator: Explicit BIAuthor: Inherited BIConsumer: Inherited

Permission C: Explicit Permission B: Inherited Permission A: Inherited

2.4 Default Security Configuration

Access control of system resources is achieved by requiring users to authenticate at login and by restricting users to only those resources for which they are authorized. A default security configuration is available for immediate use after BI Publisher is installed and is configured to use the Oracle Fusion Middleware security model. BI Publisher is installed into the Oracle WebLogic Server domain and uses its security realm. The default configuration includes three predefined security stores available for managing user identities, credentials, and BI Publisher-specific permission grants. Users can be added to predefined groups that are mapped to preconfigured application roles. Each application role is preconfigured to grant specific BI Publisher permissions.

The BI Publisher default security stores are configured as described in Table 2-2 during installation.

Table 2-2 BI Publisher Default Security Stores

Store Name
Purpose
Default Provider
Options

Identity store

Used to control authentication.

Stores the users and groups, and the users group for Oracle WebLogic Server embedded directory server.

Oracle WebLogic Server embedded directory server.

Managed with Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

BI Publisher can be configured to use alternative authentication providers. For a complete list, see System Requirements and Supported Platforms for Oracle Fusion Middleware 11gR1.

Policy store

Used to control authorization.

Stores the application role definitions and the mapping definitions between groups and application roles.

system.jazn-data.xml file. Default installation location is MW_HOME/user_projects/domain/your_domain/config/fmwconfig

Managed with Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control.

BI Publisher can be configured to use Oracle Internet Directory as the policy store provider.

Credential store

Stores the passwords and other security-related credentials either supplied or system-generated.

cwallet.sso file.

Managed using Fusion Middleware Control.

BI Publisher can be configured to use Oracle Internet Directory as the credential store provider.

2.4.1 Default Users and Groups

Table 2-3 lists the default user names and passwords added to the BI Publisher identity store provider after installation. These defaults can be changed to different values and additional users can be added to the identity store by an administrative user using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

Table 2-3 Default Names and Passwords

Default User Name and Password
Purpose
Description

Name:

administrator user

Password:

user supplied

Is the administrative user.

This user name is entered by the person performing the installation, it can be any desired name, and does not need to be named Administrator.

The password entered during installation can be changed later using the administration interface for the identity store provider.

This single administrative user is shared by BI Publisher and Oracle WebLogic Server. This user is automatically made a member of the Oracle WebLogic Server default Administrators group after installation. This enables this user to perform all Oracle WebLogic Server administration tasks, including the ability to manage Oracle WebLogic Server's embedded directory server.

Name:

BISystemUser

Password:

system generated

A fixed user created during installation for trusted communication between components when using Oracle BI Analysis as a data source for your BI Publisher Data Model.

If you are integrating BI Publisher with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, the recommendation is to use this default user name for trusted communication with Oracle BI Presentation Services. This is the default configuration automatically configured during installation.

Important: This is a highly privileged user whose credentials should be protected from non-administrative users.

Using a separate trusted system account for secure inter-component communication enables you to change the password for the system administrator account without affecting communication between components.

The name of this user can be changed or a different user can be created for the purpose of inter-component communication.

Table 2-4 lists the default group names and group members added to the identity store provider during installation. These defaults can be changed to different values and additional group names can be added by an administrative user using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

Table 2-4 Default Group Names and Members

Default Group Name and Members
Purpose
Description

Name: BIAdministrators

Members: Any administrator user

Contains the BI Publisher administrative users.

Members of the BIAdministrators group are granted administrative permissions because this group is mapped to the BIAdministrator application role at installation.

All users requiring administrative permissions should be added to the BIAdministrators group when using the default security configuration.

Name: BIAuthors

Members: BIAdministrators group

Contains the BI Publisher authors.

Members of the BIAuthors group have the permissions necessary to create content for other users to use, or to consume.

Name: BIConsumers

Members: BIAuthors group and Oracle WebLogic Server LDAP server users group.

Contains the BI Publisher consumers.

Members of the BIConsumers group have the permissions necessary to use, or consume, content created by other users.

The BIConsumers group represents all users that have been authenticated by BI Publisher. By default, every authenticated user is automatically added to this group.

Oracle WebLogic Server LDAP server users group members have the permissions necessary to log in to and use Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

2.4.2 Default Application Roles and Permissions

Table 2-5 lists the BI Publisher permissions and the application role that grants these permissions. This mapping exists in the default policy store.

Table 2-5 lists the permissions explicitly granted by membership in the corresponding default application role. Permissions can also be inherited from group and application role hierarchies. For more information about permission inheritance, see Section 2.3, "Permission Grants and Inheritance."

Table 2-5 BI Publisher Permissions and Application Roles

BI Publisher Permission
Description
Default Application Role Granting Permission Explicitly

oracle.bi.publisher.administerServer

Enables the Administration link to access the Administration page and grants permission to set any of the system settings.

Important: See Section 2.4.2.1, "Granting the BIAdministrator Role Catalog Permissions" for additional steps required to grant the BIAdministrator permissions on Shared Folders.

BIAdministrator

oracle.bi.publisher.developDataModel

Grants permission to create or edit data models.

BIAuthor

oracle.bi.publisher.developReport

Grants permission to create or edit reports, style templates, and sub templates. This permission also enables connection to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder.

BIAuthor

oracle.bi.publisher.runReportOnline

Grants permission to open (execute) reports and view the generated document in the report viewer.

BIConsumer

oracle.bi.publisher.scheduleReport

Grants permission to create or edit jobs and also to manage and browse jobs.

BIConsumer

oracle.bi.publisher.accessReportOutput

Grants permission to browse and manage job history and output.

BIConsumer

oracle.bi.publisher.accessExcelReportAnalyzer

Grants permission to download the Analyzer for Excel and to download data from a report to Excel using the Analyzer for Excel. Note that to enable a user to upload an Analyzer for Excel template back to the report definition, the permission oracle.bi.publisher.developReport must also be granted.

BIConsumer

oracle.bi.publisher.accessOnlineReportAnalyzer

Grants permission to launch the Analyzer and manipulate the data. Note that to save an Analyzer template to a report definition, the permission oracle.bi.publisher.developReport must also be granted.

BIConsumer

BIConsumer permissions granted implicitly

The authenticated role is a member of the BIConsumer role by default and, as such, all authenticated role members are granted the permissions of the BIConsumer role implicitly.

Authenticated Role

The authenticated role is a special application role provided by the Oracle Fusion Middleware security model and is made available to any application deploying this security model. BI Publisher uses the authenticated application role to grant permissions implicitly derived by the role and group hierarchy of which the authenticated role is a member. The authenticated role is a member of the BIConsumer role by default and, as such, all authenticated role members are granted the permissions of the BIConsumer role implicitly. By default, every authenticated user is automatically added to the BIConsumers group. The authenticated role is not stored in the obi application stripe and is not searchable in the BI Publisher policy store. However, the authenticated role is displayed in the administrative interface for the policy store, is available in application role lists, and can be added as a member of another application role. You can map the authenticated role to another user, group, or application role, but you cannot remove the authenticated role itself. Removal of the authenticated role would result in the inability to log in to the system and this right would need to be granted explicitly.

For more information about the Oracle Fusion Middleware security model and the authenticated role, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

2.4.2.1 Granting the BIAdministrator Role Catalog Permissions

The BIAdministrator role is granted only Read permissions on the catalog by default. This means that before a BIAdministrator can manage Shared Folders the BIAdministrator role must be granted to the BIAdministrator role Write and Delete permissions on the Shared Folders node. See Section 3.7.3, "Granting Catalog Permissions" for a detailed description of granting permissions in the catalog.

2.5 Managing Authentication

Authentication is the process of verifying identity by confirming the user is who she claims to be. Oracle WebLogic Server embedded directory server is the authentication provider for the default security configuration. Users, groups, and passwords are managed using Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console. It is fine to use the default authentication provider for a development or test environment. In a production environment, best practice is to use a full featured authentication provider.

Note:

Refer to the system requirements and certification documentation for information about hardware and software requirements, platforms, databases, and other information. These documents are available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

During installation an Oracle WebLogic Server domain is created. BI Publisher is installed into that domain and uses the Oracle WebLogic Server security realm. The security realm can have multiple authentication providers configured but only one provider can be active at a time. The order of providers in the list determines priority. The effect of having multiple authentication providers defined in a security realm is not cumulative; rather, the first provider in list is the source for all user and password data needed during authentication. This enables you to switch between authentication providers as needed. For example, if you have separate LDAP servers for your development and production environments, you can change which directory server is used for authentication by re-ordering them in the Administration Console. For information about how to configure a different authentication provider, see Section 2.8.1, "Configuring a New Authentication Provider."

Detailed information about managing an authentication provider in Oracle WebLogic Server is available in its online help. For more information, log in to Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console and launch Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help.

2.5.1 Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console

Oracle WebLogic Server is automatically installed and serves as the default administration server. The Administration Console is browser-based and is used to manage the embedded directory server that is configured as the default authenticator. It is launched by entering its URL into a web browser. The default URL takes the following form: http://hostname:port_number/console. The port number is the number of the administration server. By default, the port number is 7001.

To launch the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console:

Log in to Oracle WebLogic Server by entering its URL into a Web browser.

For example, http://hostname:7001/console. The Administration Console login page displays, as shown in Figure 2-2.

Figure 2-2 Administration Console Login Page

Log in using the BI Publisher administrative user and password and click Login.

The password is the one you supplied during the installation of BI Publisher. If these values have been changed, then use the current administrative user name and password combination.

The Administration Console displays, as shown in Figure 2-3.

Figure 2-3 Administration Console

2.5.2 Managing Users and Groups Using the Default Authentication Provider

Managing a group is more efficient than managing a large number of users individually. Best practice is to first organize all BI Publisher users into groups that have similar system access requirements. These groups can then be mapped to application roles that provide the correct level of access. If system access requirements change, then you need only modify the permissions granted by the application roles, or create a new application roles with appropriate permissions. Once your groups are established, continue to add or remove users directly in the identity store using its administration interface as you normally would.

To create a user in the default directory server:

If needed, launch Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

For more information, see Section 2.5.1, "Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console."

Log in as an administrative user.

In the Administration Console, select Security Realms from the left pane and click the realm you are configuring. For example, myrealm.

Select Users and Groups tab (shown in Figure 2-4), then Users. Click New.

Figure 2-4 Users and Groups tab

In the Create a New User page (shown in Figure 2-5) provide the following information:

Name: Enter the name of the user. See online help for a list of invalid characters.

(Optional) Description: Enter a description.

Provider: Select the authentication provider from the list that corresponds to where the user information is contained. DefaultAuthenticator is the name for the default authentication provider.

Password: Enter a password for the user that is at least 8 characters long.

Confirm Password: Re-enter the user password.

Figure 2-5 Create a New User Page

Click OK.

The user name is added to the User table.

To create a group in the default directory server:

If needed, launch Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

For more information, see Section 2.5.1, "Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console."

Log in as an administrative user.

In the Administration Console, select Security Realm from the left pane and click the realm you are configuring. For example, myrealm.

Select Users and Groups tab, then Groups. Click New.

In the Create a New Group page provide the following information:

Name: Enter the name of the Group. Group names are case insensitive but must be unique. See the online help for a list of invalid characters.

(Optional) Description: Enter a description.

Provider: Select the authentication provider from the list that corresponds to where the group information is contained. DefaultAuthenticator is the name for the default authentication provider.

Click OK.

The group name is added to the Group table.

To add a user to a group in the default directory server:

If needed, launch Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

For more information, see Section 2.5.1, "Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console."

Log in as an administrative user.

In the Administration Console, select Security Realm from the left pane and click the realm you are configuring. For example, myrealm.

Select Users and Groups tab, then Users, as shown in Figure 2-6. Select the user from Name.

Figure 2-6 Users Tab

From the Settings page, select the Groups tab to display the list of available groups.

Select one or more groups from the Available list and use the shuttle controls to move them to the Chosen list, as shown in Figure 2-7.

Figure 2-7 Available List and Chosen List

Click Save.

The user is added to the group.

To change a user password in the default directory server:

If needed, launch Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console.

For more information, see Section 2.5.1, "Accessing Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console."

Log in as an administrative user.

In the Administration Console, select Security Realms from the left pane and click the realm you are configuring. For example, myrealm.

Select Users and Groups tab, then Users.

In the Users table select the user you want to change the password for.

The settings page for the user displays, as shown in Figure 2-8.

Figure 2-8 Settings Page

Select the Passwords tab and enter the password in the New Password and Confirm Password fields.

Click Save.

2.6 Managing Authorization

After a user is authenticated, further access to BI Publisher resources is controlled by the granting of permissions, also known as authorization. The policy store contains the system and application-specific policies and roles required for BI Publisher. A policy store can be file-based or LDAP-based and holds the mapping definitions between the default BI Publisher application roles, permissions, users and groups. BI Publisher permissions are granted by mapping users and groups from the identity store to application roles and permission grants located in the policy store. These mapping definitions between users and groups (identity store) and the application roles (policy store) are also kept in the policy store.

Note:

Best practice is to map groups instead of individual users to application roles. Controlling membership in a group reduces the complexity of tracking access rights for multiple individual users. Group membership is controlled in the identity store.

The system-jazn-data.xml file is installed and configured as the default policy store. You can continue to use the default store and modify it as needed for your environment, or you can migrate its data to an LDAP-based provider. Oracle Internet Directory is the supported LDAP server in this release.

The policy store and credential store must be of the same type in your environment. That is, both must be either file-based or LDAP-based.

Permissions must be defined in a manner that BI Publisher understands. All valid BI Publisher permissions are premapped to application policies, which are in turn premapped to the default application roles. You cannot create new permissions in the policy store. However, you can customize the default application policy permission grants and application role mappings and you can create your own.

For more information about the default BI Publisher permissions grants, see Section 2.4.2, "Default Application Roles and Permissions." For more information about customizing application roles and permission grants, see Section 2.8.3, "Customizing the Policy Store."

2.6.1 Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control

Fusion Middleware Control is a Web browser-based, graphical user interface that you can use to monitor and administer a farm. A farm is a collection of components managed by Fusion Middleware Control. It can contain Oracle WebLogic Server domains, one Administration Server, one or more Managed Servers, clusters, and the Oracle Fusion Middleware components that are installed, configured, and running in the domain. During installation an Oracle WebLogic domain is created and BI Publisher is installed into that domain. If you performed a Simple or Enterprise installation type, this domain is named bifoundation_domain and is located within the WebLogic Domain in the Fusion Middleware Control target navigation pane.

Launch Fusion Middleware Control by entering its URL into a Web browser. The URL includes the name of the host and the administration port number assigned during the installation. This URL takes the following form: http://hostname:port_number/em. The default port is 7001. For more information about using Fusion Middleware Control, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

To display the Security menu in Fusion Middleware Control:

Log into Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control by entering the URL in a Web browser.

For example, http://hostname:7001/em.

The Fusion Middleware Control login page displays, as shown in Figure 2-9.

Figure 2-9 Fusion MIddleware Control Login Page

Enter the BI Publisher administrative user name and password and click Login.

The password is the one you supplied during the installation of BI Publisher. If these values have been changed, then use the current administrative user name and password combination.

From the target navigation pane, open WebLogic Domain to display bifoundation_domain. Display the Security menu by selecting one of the following methods:

Right-click bifoundation_domain to display the Security menu, as shown in Figure 2-10. Select Security to display a submenu.

Figure 2-10 Security Submenu

From the content pane, display the WebLogic Domain menu and select Security. Select Security to display a submenu, as shown in Figure 2-11.

Figure 2-11 Security Submenu

2.6.2 Managing the Policy Store Using Fusion Middleware Control

Use Fusion Middleware Control to manage the BI Publisher application policies and application roles maintained in the policy store whether it is file-based or LDAP-based. For more information about configuring an LDAP-based policy store, see Section 2.8.2, "Configuring a New Policy Store and Credential Store Provider."

Caution:

Oracle recommends you make a copy of the original system-jazn-data.xml policy file and place it in a safe location. Use the copy of the original file to restore the default policy store configuration, if needed. Changes to the default security configuration might lead to an unwanted state. The default installation location is MW_HOME/user_projects/domain/your_domain/config/fmwconfig.

The following are common policy store management tasks:

Modifying the membership of an application role. For more information, see Section 2.6.4, "Modifying Membership in an Application Role."

Modifying the permission grants for an application role. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.3, "Changing Permission Grants for an Application Policy."

Creating a new application role from the beginning. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.1, "Creating Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control."

Creating a new application role based on an existing application role. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.1, "Creating Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control."

2.6.3 Modifying Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control

Members can be added or deleted from an application role using Fusion Middleware Control. You must perform these tasks while in the WebLogic Domain that BI Publisher is installed in. For example, bifoundation_domain.

Caution:

Be very careful when changing the permission grants and membership for the default application roles. Changes could result in an unusable system.

2.6.4 Modifying Membership in an Application Role

Valid members of an application role are users, groups, or other application roles. The process of becoming a member of an application role is called mapping. That is, being mapped to an application role is to become a member of an application role. Best practice is to map groups instead of individual users to application roles for easier maintenance.

To add or remove members from an application role:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to Security, then select Application Roles to display the Application Roles page.

For information about navigating to the Security menu, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select the obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Role Name, as shown in Figure 2-12.

Figure 2-12 Search Icon

The BI Publisher application roles are displayed. Figure 2-13 shows the default application roles.

Figure 2-13 Default Application Roles

Select the cell next to the application role name and click Edit to display the Edit Application Role page. In Figure 2-14, the BIAuthor application role has been selected.

Figure 2-14 BIAuthor Application Role

You can add or delete members from the Edit Application Role page. Valid members are application roles, groups, and users.

Select from the following options:

To delete a member: From Members, select from Name the member to activate the Delete button. Click Delete.

To add a member: Click the Add button that corresponds to the member type being added. Select from Add Application Role, Add Group, and Add User.

If adding a member, complete Search and select from the available list. Use the shuttle controls to move the member to the selected field. Click OK.

For example, Figure 2-15 shows the Add Group dialog after the Report_Dev group has been selected.

Figure 2-15 Add Group Dialog

The added member displays in the Members column corresponding to the application role modified in the Application Roles page.

2.7 Managing Credentials

Credentials used by the system are stored in a single secure credential store. Oracle Wallet is the default credential store file (cwallet.sso). The credential store alternatively can be LDAP-based and Oracle Internet Directory is the supported LDAP server in this release. LDAP-based credential stores are configured and administered using Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control or WLST commands.

Each credential is uniquely identified by a map name and a key name. Each map contains a series of keys and each key is a credential. The combination of map name and key name must be unique for all credential store entries. The following credential maps are used by BI Publisher:

oracle.bi.system: Contains the credentials that span the entire BI Publisher platform.

oracle.bi.publisher: Contains the credentials used by only BI Publisher.

The following two credential types are supported:

Password: Encapsulates a user name and a password.

Generic: Encapsulates any customized data or arbitrary token, such as public key certificates.

To facilitate getting started with your development environment, default credentials are inserted into the file-based credential store during installation. Be aware that BI Publisher credentials such as user passwords are stored in the identity store and managed with its corresponding administrative interface.

2.7.1 Managing the Credential Store

Credentials can be managed either in Fusion Middleware Control or using WLST command. For more information about both methods, see "Managing the Domain Credential Store" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

2.7.2 Managing BISystemUser Credentials

If using Oracle Business Intelligence as a data store, BI Publisher establishes system communication with it as BISystemUser. If you change the BISystemUser password in the identity store administrative interface, you also must change the password in the credential store (oracle.bi.system credential map). This applies if you have created a custom application role to take the place of the default BISystemUser. Components cannot communicate with each other if the credentials are out-of-sync. For more information about how Oracle Business Intelligence uses BISystemUser for trusted system communication, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

2.8 Customizing the Default Security Configuration

You can customize the default security configuration in the following ways:

Configure a new authentication provider. For more information, see Section 2.8.1, "Configuring a New Authentication Provider."

Configure new policy store and credential store providers. For more information, see Section 2.8.2, "Configuring a New Policy Store and Credential Store Provider."

Migrate policies and credentials from one store to another. For more information, see Section 2.8.2.1, "Reassociating the Policy Store and Credential Store."

Create new application roles. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.1, "Creating Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control."

Create new application policies. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.2, "Creating Application Policies Using Fusion Middleware Control."

Modify the permission grants for an application policy. For more information, see Section 2.8.3.3, "Changing Permission Grants for an Application Policy."

2.8.1 Configuring a New Authentication Provider

You can configure another supported LDAP server to be the authentication provider. Configuring BI Publisher to use an alternative external identity store is performed using the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console. BI Publisher delegates authentication and user population management to the authentication provider and identity store configured for the domain it is a part of. For example, if configured to use Oracle WebLogic Server's default authentication provider, then management is performed in the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console. If configured to use Oracle Internet Directory (OID), then the OID management user interface is used, and so on.

If using an authentication provider other than the one installed as part of the default security configuration, the default users and groups that are discussed in Section 2.4.1, "Default Users and Groups" are not automatically present. You can create users and groups with names of your own choosing or re-create the default user and group names if the authentication provider supports this. After this work is completed, you must map the default BI Publisher application roles to different groups again. For example, if the corporate LDAP server is being used as the identity store and you are unable to re-create the BI Publisher default users and groups in it, you must map the default application roles to different groups specific to the corporate LDAP server. Use Fusion Middleware Control to map the groups to application roles.

For information about how to configure a different authentication provider, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help and Oracle Fusion Middleware Securing Oracle WebLogic Server.

2.8.2 Configuring a New Policy Store and Credential Store Provider

The policy store and credential store can be file-based or LDAP-based. The supported LDAP server for both stores in this release is Oracle Internet Directory. The pre-requisites for using an LDAP-based store are the same as for both the policy store and credential store. For more information, see "Configuring a Domain to Use an LDAP-Based Policy Store" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

2.8.2.1 Reassociating the Policy Store and Credential Store

Migrating policies and credentials from one security store to another is called reassociation. Both policy store and credential store data can be reassociated (migrated) from a file-based store to an LDAP-based store, or from an LDAP-based store to another LDAP-based store

Because the credential store and the policy store must both be of the same type, when reassociating one store you must reassociate the other.

For more information about reassociation and the steps required to migrate credential store and policy store data to Oracle Internet Directory, see "Reassociating Domain Stores with Fusion Middleware Control" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

2.8.3 Customizing the Policy Store

The Fusion Middleware Security model can be customized for your environment by creating your own application policies and application roles. Existing application roles can be modified by adding or removing members as needed. Existing application policies can be modified by adding or removing permission grants. For more information about managing application policies and application roles, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

Note:

Before creating a new application policy or application role and adding it to the default BI Publisher security configuration, familiarize yourself with how permission and group inheritance works. It is important when constructing a role hierarchy that circular dependencies are not introduced. Best practice is to leave the default security configuration in place and first incorporate your customized application policies and application roles in a test environment. For more information, see Section 2.3, "Permission Grants and Inheritance.".

2.8.3.1 Creating Application Roles Using Fusion Middleware Control

There are two methods for creating a new application role:

Create New — A new application role is created. Members can be added at the same time or you can save the new role after naming it and add members later.

Copy Existing — A new application role is created by copying an existing application role. The copy contains the same members as the original, and is made a Grantee of the same application policy. You can modify the copy as needed to finish creating the new role.

To create a new application role:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to Security, then select Application Roles to display the Application Roles page.

For information, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Role Name.

The BI Publisher application roles display.

Click Create to display the Create Application Role page. You can enter all information at once or you can enter a Role Name, save it, and complete the remaining fields later. Complete the fields as follows:

In the General section:

Role Name — Enter the name of the application role.

(Optional) Display Name — Enter the display name for the application role.

(Optional) Description — Enter a description for the application role.

In the Members section, select the users, groups, or application roles to be mapped to the application role, Select Add Application Role or Add Group or Add Users accordingly. To search in the dialog box that displays:

Enter a name in Name field and click the blue button to search.

Select from the results returned in the Available box.

Use the shuttle controls to move the desired name to the Selected box.

Click OK to return to the Create Application Role page.

Repeat the steps until all members are added to the application role.

Click OK to return to the Application Roles page.

The application role just created displays in the table at the bottom of the page.

To create an application role based on an existing one:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to Security, then select Application Roles to display the Application Roles page.

For information, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select the obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Role Name.

The BI Publisher application roles display.

Select an application role from the list to enable the action buttons.

Click Create Like to display the Create Application Role Like page.

The Members section is completed with the same application roles, groups, or users that are mapped to the original role.

Complete the Role Name, Display Name, and Description fields.

Figure 2-16 shows an application role based upon BIAuthor after being named MyNewRole, as an example.

Figure 2-16 Role Based on BIAuthor

Use Add and Delete to modify the members as appropriate and click OK.

The just created application role displays in the table at the bottom of the page. Figure 2-17 shows the example MyNewRole that is based upon the default BIAuthor application role.

Figure 2-17 MyNewRole Based on Default BIAuthor Role

2.8.3.2 Creating Application Policies Using Fusion Middleware Control

All BI Publisher permissions are provided and you cannot create new permissions. Permission grants are controlled in the Fusion Middleware Control Application Policies page. The permission grants are defined in an application policy. An application role, user, or group, is then mapped to an application policy. This process makes the application role, user, or group a Grantee of the application policy.

There are two methods for creating a new application policy:

Create New — A new application policy is created and permissions are added to it.

Copy Existing — A new application policy is created by copying an existing application policy. The copy is named and existing permissions are removed or permissions are added as needed.

To create a new application policy:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to Security, then select Application Policies to display the Application Policies page.

For information, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select the obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Permission.

The BI Publisher application policies are displayed. The Principal column displays the name of the policy Grantee.

Click Create to display the Create Application Grant page.

To add permissions to the policy being created, click Add in the Permissions area to display the Add Permission dialog.

Complete the Search area and click the blue search button next to the Resource Name field.

All permissions located in the obi application stripe are displayed. For information about the BI Publisher permissions, see Section 2.4.2, "Default Application Roles and Permissions."

Select the desired BI Publisher permission and click OK. Repeat until all desired permissions are selected. Selecting non-BI Publisher permissions has no effect in the policy.

To remove any items, select it and click Delete.

You are returned to the Create Application Grant page. The selected permissions display in the Permissions area.

To add an application role to the policy being created, click Add Application Role in the Grantee area to display the Add Application Role dialog.

Complete the Search area and click the blue search button next to the Resource Name field.

Select from the Available Roles list and use the shuttle controls to move it to Selected Roles.

Click OK.

You are returned to the Application Policies page. The Principal (Grantee) and Permissions of the policy just created are displayed in the table.

To create an application policy based on an existing one:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control navigate to Security, then select Application Policies to display the Application Policies page.

For information, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Permission.

The BI Publisher application policies are displayed. The Principal column displays the name of the policy Grantee.

Select an existing policy from the table.

For example, Figure 2-18 shows the BIAuthor Principal (Grantee) selected and the Create Like button activated.

Figure 2-18 BIAuthor Principal (Grantee)

Click Create Like to display the Create Application Grant Like page. The Permissions table displays the names of the permissions granted by the policy selected.

To remove any items, select it and click Delete.

To add application roles to the policy, click Add Application Role in the Grantee area to display the Add Application Role dialog.

The following figures use the MyNewRole application role as an example.

Complete the Search area and click the blue search button next to the Resource Name field, as shown in Figure 2-19.

Figure 2-19 Add Application Role Dialog

Select from the Available Roles list and use the shuttle controls to move it to Selected Roles. The Create Application Grant Like page displays (as shown in Figure 2-20) with the selected application role added as Grantee.

Figure 2-20 Create Application Grant Like Page

Click OK.

You are returned to the Application Policies page. The Principal and Permissions of the policy created are displayed in the table, as shown in Figure 2-21.

Figure 2-21 Principal and Permissions of Policy

2.8.3.3 Changing Permission Grants for an Application Policy

You can change one or more permissions granted by an application policy.

To add or remove permission grants from an application policy:

Log into Fusion Middleware Control, navigate to Security, then select Application Policies to display the Application Policies page.

For information, see Section 2.6.1, "Accessing Oracle Enterprise Manager Fusion Middleware Control."

Choose Select Application Stripe to Search, then select obi from the list. Click the search icon next to Role Name.

The BI Publisher application policies are displayed. The Principal column displays the name of the policy Grantee.

Select the name of the application role from the Principal column and click Edit.

Add or delete permissions from the Edit Application Grant view and click OK to save the changes.

3 Alternative Security Options

This chapter describes alternative security options for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 3.1, "About Alternative Security Options"

Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions"

Section 3.3, "About Privileges to Use Functionality"

Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions"

Section 3.5, "How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together"

Section 3.6, "About Access to Data Sources"

Section 3.7, "Configuring Users, Roles, and Data Access"

Section 3.8, "Security and Catalog Organization"

Section 3.9, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use an LDAP Provider"

Section 3.10, "Integrating with Microsoft Active Directory"

Section 3.11, "Configuring Single Sign-On"

Section 3.12, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use Oracle Access Manager (OAM) Single Sign-On"

Section 3.13, "Setting Up Oracle Single Sign-On"

3.1 About Alternative Security Options

This chapter describes security concepts and options for a standalone implementation of Oracle BI Publisher, that is, not installed as part of the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition. Note the following:

If you have installed the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, then see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for information about security.

If you have installed BI Publisher on its own and you plan to use Oracle Fusion Middleware Security, then see Section 2.1, "Understanding the Security Model." The following topics are included in this chapter:

Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions"

Section 3.6, "About Access to Data Sources"

To configure BI Publisher with these other Oracle security models:

Oracle BI Server security

Oracle E-Business Suite security

Oracle Database security

Siebel CRM security

See Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

Use the information in this chapter to configure the following:

BI Publisher (native) Security

Integration with an external LDAP provider

Note:

Any identity store provider that is supported by Oracle WebLogic Server can be configured to be used with BI Publisher. Configuring BI Publisher to use an alternative external identity store is performed using the Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console. For this configuration, see Section 2.8, "Customizing the Default Security Configuration."

Integration with a Single Sign-On provider

3.2 Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions

A user is assigned one or multiple Roles. A Role can grant any or all of the following:

Privileges to use functionality

Permissions to perform actions on catalog objects

Access to data sources

You can create a hierarchy of roles by assigning roles to other roles. In this way the privileges and permissions of multiple roles can roll up to higher level roles. Figure 3-1 shows an example of the hierarchy structure of User, Role, and Folder.

Figure 3-1 Hierarchy Structure of User, Role, and Folder

3.2.1 Options for Configuring Users and Roles

There are three options for setting up users and roles:

Set up users and roles in the BI Publisher Security Center

For this option, follow the instructions in this section.

Configure BI Publisher with an existing LDAP server

For this option, see Section 3.9, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use an LDAP Provider."

Set up users and roles in a supported Oracle security model. For this option, see Chapter 5, "Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models."

3.3 About Privileges to Use Functionality

BI Publisher provides a set of functional roles to grant access to specific functionality within the application. Assign these roles to users based on their need to perform the associated tasks. These roles cannot be updated or deleted.

Table 3-1 shows the privileges granted to each functional role.

Table 3-1 Privileges Granted to Functional Roles

Role
Privilege

BI Publisher Excel Analyzer

View Export History (public reports only) Grants access to the Excel Analyzer

BI Publisher Online Analyzer

View Export History (public reports only) Grants access to the Online Analyzer

BI Publisher Scheduler

View Export History Schedule

BI Publisher Template Designer

View Export History (public reports only) Enables access to Layout Editor Enables log on from Template Builder

BI Publisher Developer

View Export Schedule History Edit Report Enables access to Layout Editor Enables log on from the Template Builder Enables access to the Data Model Editor

BI Publisher Administrator

Enables the privileges of all other roles Grants access to the Administration page and all administration tasks

Roles assigned these privileges cannot perform any actions on objects in the catalog until they are also granted permissions on the catalog objects.

3.4 About Catalog Permissions

To perform the actions allowed by the functional roles above, a role must also be granted permissions to access the objects in the catalog. Table 3-2 describes permissions for roles.

Each of these permissions can be granted at the folder level to enable the operations on all items within a folder.

Table 3-2 Permissions for Roles

Permission
Description

Read

Enables a role to display an object in the catalog. If the object resides within a folder, a role must be granted the Read permission on the object and its parent Folder.

Write

Report - requires the BI Publisher Developer role

Data Model - requires the BI Publisher Developer role

Sub Template and Style Template - requires the BI Publisher Developer Role or the BI Publisher Template Designer Role

Delete

Enables a role to delete an object.

Run Report Online

Enables a role to run a report and view it in the report viewer.

Schedule Report

Enables a role to schedule a report.

View Report Output

Enables a role to access the Report Job History for a report.

It is important to note that for a report consumer to successfully run a report, his role must have read access to every object that is referenced by the report.

For example, a report consumer must run a report in a folder named Reports. The data model for this report, resides in a folder named Data Models. This report references a Sub Template stored in a folder named Sub Templates, and also references a Style Template stored in a folder named Style Templates. The report consumer's role must be granted Read access to all of these folders and the appropriate objects within.

3.5 How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together

It is important to understand the following rules regarding the behavior of privileges and permissions:

A role assigned a functional privilege cannot perform any actions in the catalog until catalog permissions are also assigned

A role can be assigned a set of permissions on catalog objects without being assigned any functional privileges

If a role is assigned a functional privilege, when catalog permissions are assigned, some permissions are inherited

3.5.1 A Role Must Be Assigned Catalog Permissions

A role assigned a functional role cannot perform any actions in the catalog until catalog permissions are granted. Note that the functional roles themselves (BI Publisher Developer, BI Publisher Scheduler, and so on) cannot be directly assigned permissions in the catalog. The functional roles must first be assigned to a custom role and then the custom role is available in the catalog permissions table.

3.5.2 A Role Can Be Granted Catalog Permissions Only

The permissions available directly in the catalog enable running reports, scheduling reports, and viewing report output. Therefore if your enterprise includes report consumers who have no other reason to access BI Publisher except to run and view reports, then the roles for these users consist of catalog permissions only.

3.5.3 Inherited Permissions

When a role is assigned one of the functional roles, and that role is granted permissions on a particular folder in the catalog, then some permissions are granted automatically based on the functional role.

For example, assume that you create a role called Financial Report Developer. You assign this role the BI Publisher Developer role. For this role to create reports in the Financial Reports folder in the catalog, you must grant this role Read, Write, and Delete permissions on the folder. Because the BI Publisher Developer role includes the run report, schedule report, and view report history privileges, these permissions are automatically granted on any folder to which a role assigned the BI Publisher Developer role is granted Read access.

3.6 About Access to Data Sources

A role must be granted access to a data source to view reports that run against the data source or to build and edit data models that use the data source. Add access to data sources in the Roles and Permissions page. See Section 3.7.4, "Granting Data Access."

3.7 Configuring Users, Roles, and Data Access

The following procedures describe:

Creating Roles

Creating Users and Assigning Roles to a User

Granting Catalog Permissions

Granting Data Access

3.7.1 Creating Roles

To create a new role in BI Publisher:

Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page.

Under Security Center, click Roles and Permissions.

Click Create Role.

Enter a Name for the role and optionally, enter a Description.

Click Apply.

Click Assign Roles to assign roles to the user.

Use the shuttle buttons to move Available Roles to Assigned Roles. Click Apply.

To add a role to a role, click Add Roles.

Use the shuttle buttons to move Available Roles to Included Roles. Click Apply.

To add data sources to a role, see Section 3.7.4, "Granting Data Access."

3.7.2 Creating Users and Assigning Roles to a User

To create a new user in BI Publisher:

Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page.

Under Security Center, click Users.

Click Create User.

Add the User Name and Password for the user.

Click Apply.

Click Assign Roles to assign roles to the user.

Use the shuttle buttons to move Available Roles to Assigned Roles. Click Apply.

3.7.3 Granting Catalog Permissions

For a role to access an object in the catalog, the role must be granted Read permissions on both the object and the folder in which the object resides. Permissions can be granted at the folder level and applied to all the objects and subfolders it contains, or applied to individual objects.

To grant catalog permissions to a role:

Navigate to the Catalog.

Locate the folder or object on which to grant permissions and click More. From the menu (shown in Figure 3-2), select Permissions. Alternatively, you can select the folder and click Permissions in the Tasks region.

Note:

Permissions cannot be granted on the root Shared folder.

Figure 3-2 More Menu

On the Permissions dialog (shown in Figure 3-3), click Create.

Figure 3-3 Permissions Dialog

On the Add Roles dialog (shown in Figure 3-4), enter a search string to find a role, or simply click Search to display all roles. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Selected Roles list.

Figure 3-4 Add Roles Dialog

When finished, click OK to return to the Permissions dialog.

On the Permissions dialog (shown in Figure 3-5), configure the permissions required by the role.

Figure 3-5 Permissions Dialog

Note the following:

The icon next to the Report Developer role indicates that this role is assigned one of the BI Publisher functional roles (in this case, the BI Publisher Developer role).

Once the Report Developer role is assigned access to this folder, the following permissions are automatically granted based on the privileges that comprise the BI Publisher Developer Role: Run report online, Scheduler Report, View Report Output.

If you are granting permissions on a Folder, select Apply permissions to items within this folder, if the permissions should apply to all objects.

3.7.4 Granting Data Access

A role must be granted access to a data source if the role must:

Run or schedule a report built on a data model that retrieves data from the data source

Create or edit a data model that retrieves data from the data source

To grant a role access to a data source:

Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page.

Under Security Center, click Roles and Permissions.

On the Roles and Permissions page, locate the role, then click Add Data Sources.

On the Add Data Sources page you see a region for each of the following types of data sources:

Database Connections

File Directories

LDAP Connections

OLAP Connections

Use the shuttle buttons to move the required data sources from the Available Data Sources list to the Allowed Data Sources list.

When finished, click Apply.

3.8 Security and Catalog Organization

Because permissions are granted in the catalog, it is very important to be aware of this design when creating roles for your organization and when structuring the catalog.

For example, assume that your organization requires the roles that are described in Table 3-3.

Table 3-3 Example Role Requirements

Role
Required Permissions

Sales Report Consumer

Needs to view and schedule Sales department reports.

Financial Report Consumer

Needs to view and schedule Financial department reports. Needs access to the Excel Analyzer.

Executive Report Consumer

Needs to consume both Sales and Financial reports and executive level reports.

Sales Report Developer

Needs to create data models and reports for Sales department only.

Financials Report Developer

Needs to create data models and reports for Financials department only. Needs to create some reports using the Excel Analyzer.

Layout Designer

Needs to design report layouts for all reports.

You might consider setting up the catalog structure as described in Table 3-4.

Table 3-4 Example Catalog Setup

Folder
Contents

Sales Reports

All reports for Sales Report Consumer. Also contains any Sub Templates and Style Templates associated with Sales reports.

Sales Data Models

All data models for Sales reports.

Financials Reports

All reports for Financials Report Consumer. Also contains any Sub Templates and Style Templates associated with Financials reports.

Financials Data Models

All data models for Financials reports

Executive Reports

All executive-level reports and data models.

Set up the roles as follows:

Example Role Configuration

Sales Report Consumer:

Grant catalog permissions:

To the Sales Reports folder add the Sales Report Consumer and grant:

Read

Schedule Report

Run Report Online

View Report Online

Select Apply permissions to items within this folder

To the Sales Data Models folder add the Sales Report Consumer and grant:

Read

Grant Data Access:

On the Roles page, locate the role, then click Add Data Sources. Add all data sources used by Sales reports.

Financials Report Consumer

Assign Roles:

On the Roles tab assign the Financials Report Consumer the BI Publisher Excel Analyzer role.

Grant catalog permissions:

To the Financials Reports folder add the Financials Report Consumer and grant:

Read

Schedule Report

Run Report Online

View Report Online

Select Apply permissions to items within this folder

To the Financials Data Models folder add the Financials Report Consumer and grant:

Read

Grant Data Access:

On the Roles page, locate the role, then click Add Data Sources. Add all data sources used by Financials reports.

Executive Report Consumer

Assign Roles:

On the Roles tab, assign the Executive Report Consumer the Sales Report Consumer and the Financials Report Consumer roles.

Grant catalog permissions:

To the Executive Reports folder add the Executive Report Consumer and grant:

Read

Schedule Report

Run Report Online

View Report Online

Select Apply permissions to items within this folder

Grant Data Access:

On the Roles tab, locate the role, then click Add Data Sources. Add all data sources used by Executive reports.

Sales Report Developer

Assign Roles:

On the Roles tab, assign the Sales Report Developer the BI Publisher Developer Role and the BI Publisher Template Designer Role.

Grant Data Access:

On the Roles tab, locate the Sales Report Developer and click Add Data Sources. Add all data sources from which Sales data models are built.

Grant Catalog Permissions:

In the catalog, to the Sales Data Models folder add the Sales Report Developer and grant:

Read, Write, Delete

To the Sales Reports folder, add the Sales Report Developer and grant:

Read, Write, Delete

Financials Report Developer

Assign Roles:

On the Roles tab, assign the Financials Report Developer the BI Publisher Developer Role, the BI Publisher Excel Analyzer Role, and the BI Publisher Template Designer Role.

Grant Data Access:

On the Roles tab, locate the Financials Report Developer and click Add Data Sources. Add all data sources from which Financials data models are built.

Grant Catalog Permissions:

In the catalog, to the Financials Data Models folder add the Financials Report Developer and grant:

Read, Write, Delete

To the Financials Reports folder, add the Financials Report Developer and grant:

Read, Write, Delete

Layout Designer

Assign Roles:

On the Roles tab, assign the Layout Designer the BI Publisher Template Designer Role and the BI Publisher Developer Role.

Grant Catalog Permissions:

In the catalog, to the Financials Data Models and the Sales Data Models folders add the Layout Designer Role and grant:

Read

To the Financials Reports and Sales Reports folders, add the Layout Designer and grant:

Read, Write, Delete

3.9 Configuring BI Publisher to Use an LDAP Provider

BI Publisher can be integrated with the LDAP provider to manage users and report access. Create the users and roles within the LDAP server, then configure the BI Publisher server to access the LDAP server.

In the BI Publisher security center module, assign folders to those roles. When users log in to the server, they have access to those folders and reports assigned to the LDAP roles.

Integrating the BI Publisher server with Oracle LDAP consists of three main tasks:

Set up users and roles in the LDAP provider

Configure BI Publisher to recognize the LDAP server

Assign catalog permissions and data access to roles

For information on supported LDAP servers, see "System Requirements and Certification" for the most up-to-date information on supported hardware and software.

3.9.1 Using the Client Application

The following steps must be performed in the LDAP provider. See the documentation for the provider for details on how to perform these tasks.

3.9.1.1 Set Up Users and Roles

To set up users and roles:

In the Domain root node of the LDAP provider, create the roles that are described in Table 3-5 to integrate with BI Publisher. See Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions" for full descriptions of the required functional roles.

Table 3-5 Roles to Integrate with BI Publisher

BI Publisher System Group
Description

XMLP_ADMIN

The administrator role for the BI Publisher server. You must assign the Administrator account used to access your LDAP server the XMLP_ADMIN group.

XMLP_DEVELOPER

Allows users to create and edit reports and data models.

XMLP_SCHEDULER

Allows users to schedule reports.

XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL

Allows users to use the Excel Analyzer feature.

XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE

Allows users to use the online analysis feature (online analyzer).

XMLP_TEMPLATE_BUILDER

Allows users to connect to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder for Word and to upload and download templates. Allows users to design layouts using the BI Publisher Layout Editor.

Create other functional roles as required by your implementation (for example: HR Manager, Warehouse Clerk, or Sales Manager), and assign the appropriate BI Publisher functional roles.

Assign roles to users.

Note:

Ensure that you assign the Administrator account the XMLP_ADMIN role.

3.9.1.2 Configure the BI Publisher Server to Recognize the LDAP Server

To configure the BI Publisher server to recognize the LDAP server, you update the Security properties in the BI Publisher Administration page.

To configure the BI Publisher Server for the LDAP Server:

On the Administration page, under Security Center click Security Configuration.

Create a Local Superuser.

Enter a Superuser Name and Password and select Enable Local Superuser check box. Enabling a local superuser ensures that you can access the Administration page of BI Publisher in case of security model configuration errors.

Scroll down to the Security Model region. Select LDAP for the Security Model.

Enter the following:

URL

For example: ldap://example.com:389/

If you are using LDAP over SSL, then note the following:

the protocol is "ldaps"

the default port is 636

An example URL would be: ldaps://example.com:636/

Administrator Username and Password for the LDAP server

The Administrator user entered here must also be a member of the XMLP_ADMIN group.

Distinguished Name for Users

For example: cn=Users,dc=example,dc=com

The distinguished name values are case-sensitive and must match the settings in the LDAP server.

Distinguished Name for Groups

For example: cn=Groups,dc=us,dc=oracle,dc=com

The default value is cn=OracleDefaultDomain,cn=OracleDBSecurity,cn=Products,cn=OracleContext,dc=example,dc=com

Group Search Filter

The default values is (&(objectclass=groupofuniquenames)(cn=*))

Group Attribute Name

The default value is cn

Group Member Attribute Name

The default value is uniquemember

Member of Group Attribute Name

(Optional) Set this attribute only if memberOf attribute is available for User and Group. Group Member Attribute is not required when this attribute is available. Example: memberOf or wlsMemberOf

Group Description Attribute Name

The default value is description

JNDI Context Factory Class

The default value is com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory

Group Retrieval Page Size

Setting this values enables support of the LDAPv3 control extension for simple paging of search results. By default, pagination is not used. This value determines the number of results to return on a page (for example, 200). Your LDAP server must support control type 1.2.840.113556.1.4.319 to support this feature, such as Oracle Internet Directory 10.1.4. See your LDAP server documentation for information on support of this control type.

For more information about LDAP pagination and the required control type, see the article: RFC 2696 - LDAP Control Extension for Simple Paged Results Manipulation (http://www.faqs.org/rfcs/rfc2696.html).

Attribute used for Login Username

Enter the attribute that supplies the value for the Login user name. This is also known as the Relative Distinguished Name (RDN). This value defaults to cn.

Automatically clear LDAP cache - to schedule the automatic refresh of the LDAP cache the LDAP cache per a designated interval, select this box. After you select this box the following additional fields become enabled:

Enter an integer for Ldap Cache Interval. For example, to clear the LDAP cache once a day, enter 1.

Select the appropriate Ldap Cache Interval Unit: Day, Hour, or Minute.

Default User Group Name

(Optional) Use this option if your site has the requirement to allow all authenticated users access to a set of folders, reports, or other catalog objects. The user group name that you enter here is added to all authenticated users. Any catalog or data source permissions that you assign to this default user group are granted to all users.

Attribute Names for Data Query Bind Variables

(Optional) Use this property to set attribute values to be used as bind variables in a data query. Enter LDAP attribute names separated by a commas for example: memberOf, primaryGroupID,mail

See Creating Bind Variables from LDAP User Attributes, Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Restart the BI Publisher server.

Figure 3-6 shows a sample of the LDAP security model entry fields from the Security Configuration page.

Figure 3-6 Sample of LDAP Security Model Entry Fields

If you are configuring BI Publisher to use LDAP over SSL, then you must also configure Java keystore to add the server certificate to JVM. For more information, see Section 4.3, "Configuring BI Publisher for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Communication."

3.9.1.3 Assign Data Access and Catalog Permissions to Roles

To assign data access and catalog permissions to roles:

Log in to BI Publisher as a user assigned the XMLP_ADMIN role in the LDAP provider.

On the Administration page click Roles and Permissions.

You see the roles that you created in the LDAP provider to which you assigned the XMLP_ roles. Note the following:

The XMLP_X roles are not shown because these are controlled through the LDAP interface.

The Users tab is no longer available under the Security Center because users are now managed through your LDAP interface.

Roles are not updatable in the BI Publisher interface, except for adding data sources.

Click Add Data Sources to add BI Publisher data sources to the role. A role must be assigned access to a data source to run reports from that data source or to build data models from the data source. For more information see Section 3.7.4, "Granting Data Access."

Grant catalog permissions to roles. See Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions" and Section 3.7.3, "Granting Catalog Permissions" for details on granting catalog permissions to roles.

Users can now log in using their LDAP username/password.

3.10 Integrating with Microsoft Active Directory

Microsoft Active Directory supports the LDAP interface and therefore can be configured with BI Publisher using LDAP Security.

3.10.1 Configuring the Active Directory

To configure the active directory:

Add users who must access BI Publisher.

Add the users under "Users" or any other organization unit in the Domain Root.

Add the BI Publisher system groups. The Scope of the groups must be Domain Local.

Table 3-6 describes the BI Publisher system groups that must be added.

Table 3-6 BI Publisher System Groups

BI Publisher System Group
Description

XMLP_ADMIN

The administrator role for the BI Publisher server. You must assign the Administrator account used to access your LDAP server the XMLP_ADMIN group.

XMLP_DEVELOPER

Allows users to create and edit reports and data models.

XMLP_SCHEDULER

Allows users to schedule reports.

XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL

Allows users to use the Excel Analyzer feature.

XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE

Allows users to use the online analysis feature (online analyzer).

XMLP_TEMPLATE_BUILDER

Allows users to connect to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder for Word and to upload and download templates. Allows users to design layouts using the BI Publisher Layout Editor.

Grant BI Publisher system groups to global groups or users.

You can grant BI Publisher system groups directly to users or through global groups.

Example 1: Grant Users the BI Publisher Administrator Role

Under the Active Directory User and Computers, open the XMLP_ADMIN group and click the Members tab.

Click Add to add users who need to BI Publisher Administrator privileges.

Example 2: Grant Users Access to Scheduling Reports

The "HR Manager" global group is defined under "Users".

All users in this group need to schedule reports.

To achieve this, add "HR Manager" as a Member of the XMLP_SCHEDULER group.

3.10.2 Configuring BI Publisher

To configure BI Publisher:

On the Administration page, click Security Configuration.

Set up a Local Superuser if one has not been configured. This is very important in case the security configuration fails, you must still be able to log in to BI Publisher using the Superuser credentials.

In the Security Model region of the page, select LDAP from the Security Model list.

Enter the details for the Active Directory server, as described in Section 3.9, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use an LDAP Provider," noting the following specific information for Active Directory:

Set Group Search Filter objectclass to "group"

Set Member of Group Member Attribute Name to "memberOf" (Group Member Attribute Name can be left blank).

Set Attribute used for Login Username to "sAMAccountName".

If your are using LDAP over SSL note the following:

the protocol is "ldaps"

the default port is 636

An example URL would be: ldaps://example.com:636/

Figure 3-7 shows an example configuration highlighting the recommendations stated above.

Figure 3-7 Example Configuration

Restart the BI Publisher application.

If you are configuring BI Publisher to use LDAP over SSL, then you must also configure Java keystore to add the server certificate to JVM. For more information, see Section 4.3, "Configuring BI Publisher for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Communication."

3.10.3 Logging In to BI Publisher Using the Active Directory Credentials

The User login name defined in Active Directory Users and Computers >User Properties >Account is used for the BI Publisher login name. Add the Domain to the user name to log in to BI Publisher. For example: "scott_tiger@domainname.com".

Note the following:

The Attribute used for Login Username can be sAMAccountName instead of userPrincipalName.

You must use sAMAccountName for the Attribute used for Login Username when the "User logon name (pre-Windows 2000)" is required to use for the BI Publisher login username.

User names must be unique across all organization units.

3.10.4 Assign Data Access and Catalog Permissions to Roles

To assign data access and catalog permissions to roles:

Log in to BI Publisher as a user assigned the XMLP_ADMIN role Active Directory.

On the Administration page click Roles and Permissions.

You see the roles that you created in Active Directory to which you assigned the XMLP_ roles. Note the following:

The XMLP_X roles are not shown because these are controlled through the Active Directory interface.

The Users tab is no longer available under the Security Center because users are now managed through Active Directory.

Roles are not updatable in the BI Publisher interface, except for adding data sources.

Click Add Data Sources to add BI Publisher data sources to the role. A role must be assigned access to a data source to run reports from that data source or to build data models from the data source. For more information see Section 3.7.4, "Granting Data Access."

Grant catalog permissions to roles. See Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions" and Section 3.7.3, "Granting Catalog Permissions" for details on granting catalog permissions to roles.

3.11 Configuring Single Sign-On

Integrating a single sign-on (SSO) solution enables a user to log on (sign-on) and be authenticated once per browser session. Thereafter, the authenticated user is given access to system components or resources according to the permissions and privileges granted to that user. Oracle BI Publisher can be configured to trust incoming HTTP requests that have been authenticated by a SSO solution that is configured for use with Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle WebLogic Server.

When BI Publisher is configured to use SSO authentication, it accepts authenticated users from whatever SSO solution Oracle Fusion Middleware is configured to use. If SSO is not enabled, then BI Publisher challenges each user for authentication credentials. When BI Publisher is configured to use SSO, a user is first redirected to the SSO solution's login page for authentication.

Configuring BI Publisher to work with SSO authentication requires minimally that the following be done:

Oracle Fusion Middleware and Oracle WebLogic Server are configured to accept SSO authentication. Oracle Access Manager is recommended in production environments.

The HTTP header information required for identity propagation with SSO configurations (namely, user identity and SSO cookie) is specified and configured.

BI Publisher is configured to trust incoming messages.

See "Configuring Single Sign-On in Oracle Fusion Middleware" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

Once you have configured your Single-Sign-On provider to protect Oracle BI Publisher, configure BI Publisher to trust incoming messages.

On the Administration page, under Security Center, click Security Configuration.

In the Single Sign-On region, select the User Single Sign-On check box.

Enter the fields appropriate for you your SSO provider.

3.12 Configuring BI Publisher to Use Oracle Access Manager (OAM) Single Sign-On

BI Publisher can be configured to use Oracle Access Manager as the SSO provider.

Required components:

Oracle Fusion Middleware is configured with Oracle WebLogic Server's embedded LDAP server as the default authenticator (DefaultAuthenticator)

Oracle Access Manager 10.1.4.x is configured with Oracle Internet Directory as the default LDAP server

Oracle HTTP is configured to be a Web proxy to access the application server, namely Oracle WebLogic Server

Oracle Access Manager SSO is configured to be the authentication provider for Oracle Fusion Middleware

Oracle BI Publisher is installed and has been configured to use Oracle Internet Directory as described in Section 3.9.1.2, "Configure the BI Publisher Server to Recognize the LDAP Server."

Directly after BI Publisher is installed, the embedded LDAP server in Oracle WebLogic Server is the default authentication source (identity store). The BI WebLogic domain must be configured to the new identity store, Oracle Internet Directory, as the main authentication source.

For more information about creating a new default authenticator in Oracle WebLogic Server, see the following Oracle Fusion Middleware guides:

Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help

Oracle Fusion Middleware Understanding Security for Oracle WebLogic Server 11g

Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide

After Oracle WebLogic Server has been configured, no further configuration is required in the BI Publisher application. Just ensure that Oracle Fusion Middleware is the selected security model in the Oracle BI Publisher Administration Security Configuration page as shown in the following figure:

Figure 3-8 Fusion Middleware Security Selection

3.13 Setting Up Oracle Single Sign-On

To set up Oracle Single Sign-On, first configure WebLogic Server using the instructions in the chapter, "Configuring Single Sign-On in Oracle Fusion Middleware" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide. BI Publisher must be configured to use Oracle Internet Directory as the default LDAP server.

Note:

When using Oracle SSO, BI Publisher assumes that a login user name can be derived from Osso-User-Dn, which is HTTP Header value. For example, if the Osso-User-Dn on HTTP Header looks like this:

cn=admin,cn=users, dc=us,dc=oracle,dc=com

Then BI Publisher assumes the value of first cn= is the login user name (that is, "admin" in this case).

Therefore if your Osso-User-Dn does not contain a login user name as the first cn value, then select "Other SSO Type" to configure the settings (even if you use Oracle SSO).

3.13.1 Setup Procedure

To set up SSO:

Modify the application server configuration file to protect the xmlpserver. See the "Configuring mod_osso to Protect Web Resources" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Application Security Guide.

In the mod_osso.conf add a new "Location" directive as follows:

<!-- Protect xmlpserver -->
<Location /xmlpserver>
      require valid-user
      AuthType Basic
</Location>

To allow Web service communication between BI Publisher and its client components (the Template Builder and the Excel Analyzer) you must make additional modifications to the mod_osso.conf file. To open up the xmlpserver to allow these Web services, enter the following directives:

<Location /xmlpserver/services/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

<Location /xmlpserver/report_service/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

Location /xmlpserver/ReportTemplateService.xls/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

For integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services, you must disable SSO for Web services between the BI Presentation Services server and the BI Publisher server. If you made this entry when performing the previous step, then you do not need to repeat this setup.

To open up the xmlpserver to allow the Web service, enter the following directive in the mod_osso.conf file:

<Location /xmlpserver/services/>
 require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

A sample mod_osso.conf file with the entries discussed in this section is shown below:

LoadModule osso_module libexec/mod_osso.so

 <IfModule mod_osso.c>
     OssoIpCheck off
     OssoIdleTimeout off
     OssoConfigFile /home/as1013/ohome/Apache/Apache/conf/osso/osso.conf

   <Location /xmlpserver>
     require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
   </Location>

<Location /xmlpserver/services/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

<Location /xmlpserver/report_service/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

Location /xmlpserver/ReportTemplateService.xls/>
  require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>

<Location /xmlpserver/Guest/>
 require valid-user
     AuthType Basic
     Allow from All
     Satisfy any
</Location>
 #
 # Insert Protected Resources: (see Notes below for how to protect resources)
 #

 #______-
 #
 # Notes
 #
 #______-
 #
 # 1. Here's what you need to add to protect a resource,
 #    e.g. <ApacheServerRoot>/htdocs/private:
 #
 #      <Location /private>
 #      require valid-user
 #      AuthType Basic
 #      </Location>
 #
 </IfModule>

 #
 # If you would like to have short hostnames redirected to
 # fully qualified hostnames to allow clients that need
 # authentication through mod_osso to be able to enter short
 # hostnames into their browsers uncomment out the following
 # lines
 #
 #PerlModule Apache::ShortHostnameRedirect
 #PerlHeaderParserHandler Apache::ShortHostnameRedirect

Restart the HTTP server.

In the BI Publisher: Set up the Single Sign-Off URL on the BI Publisher Security Configuration page.

From the Administration page, click Security Configuration. Enter the following in the Oracle Single Sign-On region:

Select Use Oracle Single Sign-On

Enter the Single Sign-Off URL with the value you wrote down in the preceding step. The remaining fields are not applicable to Oracle SSO.

A sample BI Publisher Security Configuration page is shown in Figure 3-9.

Figure 3-9 Sample BI Publisher Security Configuration Page

Create a BI Publisher Local Superuser to ensure access to BI Publisher regardless of your selected security configuration. See Section 4.1, "Enabling a Local Superuser" for more information.

Restart the application through the Oracle Fusion Middleware Control page.

Enter the URL to access the BI Publisher Enterprise application, and you are redirected to the SSO login page.

4 Other Security Topics

This chapter describes security information for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 4.1, "Enabling a Local Superuser"

Section 4.2, "Enabling a Guest User"

Section 4.3, "Configuring BI Publisher for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Communication"

Section 4.4, "Configuring Proxy Settings"

4.1 Enabling a Local Superuser

BI Publisher enables you to define an administration Superuser. Using the Superuser credentials you can directly access the BI Publisher administrative functions without logging in through the defined security model.

Set up this Superuser to ensure access to all administrative functions in case of failures with the configured security model. It is highly recommended that you set up a Superuser.

To enable a local superuser:

Click Administration.

Under Security Center click Security Configuration.

Under Local Superuser, select the box and enter the credentials for the Superuser, as shown in Figure 4-1.

Figure 4-1 Superuser Credentials

Restart the BI Publisher application.

4.2 Enabling a Guest User

BI Publisher allows you configure public access to specific reports by defining a "Guest" folder. Any user can access the reports in this folder without entering credentials. Note that Guest access is not supported if you are using a shared catalog with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Note:

Guest access is not supported with Single Sign-On.

All objects that are required to view a report must be present in the Guest folder because the Guest folder is the only folder the guest user has any access rights to. Therefore the report and the data model must be present in the Guest folder and Sub Templates and Style Templates, if applicable. The guest user must have read access only.

The Guest user must also be granted access to the report data source.

To enable guest access:

Under Shared Folders, create the folder to which you want to grant public access.

Click Administration.

Under Security Center select Security Configuration.

Under Guest Access, select Allow Guest Access.

Enter the name of the folder that you created for public access. as shown in Figure 4-2.

Figure 4-2 Public Access Folder

Restart the BI Publisher application.

Add the objects to the Guest folder that the guest users can access: folders, reports, data models, Sub Templates and Style Templates.

Note:

The report must reference the data model that is stored in the guest folder. Therefore, if you copy a report with its data model from another location, then ensure that you open the report and reselect the data model so that the report references the data model inside the guest folder.

Similarly, any references to Sub Templates or Style Templates must also be updated.

Grant access to the data sources used by data models in your Guest folder. See Chapter 9, "Setting Up Data Sources" for information on granting Guest access to a data source.

Users who access BI Publisher see the Guest button on the log on page. Users can select this button and view the reports in your chosen guest folder without presenting credentials.

4.3 Configuring BI Publisher for Secure Socket Layer (SSL) Communication

If BI Publisher is communicating with other applications over SSL you might need to perform additional configuration to ensure operability.

Note:

It is strongly recommended that you enable Secure Socket Layer (HTTPS) on the middle tier hosting the Web services because the trusted username/password that is passed can be intercepted. This also pertains to Web services that are used for communication between BI Publisher and Oracle BI Presentation Services.

Point BI Publisher to the System-Wide Keystore

Import certificates to the Java keystore

Configure the Delivery Manager

4.3.1 Pointing BI Publisher to the System-Wide Keystore

By default, BI Publisher uses the Java keystore: {java.home}/lib/security/cacerts

If you are using a different location as your keystore, then set the JAVA_OPTS environment variable for your Web server to tell the BI Publisher server where to find the keystore, as follows:

set JAVA_OPTS=-Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=<keystore file>

4.3.2 Importing Certificates for Web Services Protected by SSL

If you make calls to Web services that are protected through Secure Sockets Layer (SSL), then you must export the certificate from the Web server hosting the Web service and import it into the Java keystore on the computer that is running BI Publisher.

To import certificates for Web services:

Navigate to the HTTPS site where the WSDL resides.

Download the certificate by following the prompts; the prompts that you see vary depending on the browser that you are using.

Install the Certificate into your keystore using the Java keytool, as follows:

keytool -import -file <certfile> -alias <certalias> -keystore <keystore file>

Restart the application server.

These steps should not be required if the server certificate is linked to some certificate authority (such as Verisign). But if the Web service server is using a self-generated certificate (for example, in a testing environment), then these steps are required.

4.3.3 Configuring the Delivery Manager

If you want to use the default certificates built-in with BI Publisher, then no further configuration is required. SSL works with the default certificate if the server uses the certificate signed by a trusted certificate authority such as Verisign.

If the user uses the SSL with a self-signed certificate, then the certificate information must be entered in the Delivery Configuration page. A self-signed certificate means that the certificate is signed by a non-trusted certificate authority (usually the user).

4.4 Configuring Proxy Settings

To use external Web Services or HTTP data sources when the BI Publisher server is configured behind a firewall or requires a proxy to access the internet, you must configure Oracle WebLogic Server to allow the Web service requests and to be aware of the proxy. When configuring the proxy setting, you must also configure WebLogic Server to be aware of any hosts that BI Publisher must connect to directly (not through the proxy) for example, the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition host. Define the proxy host and the non-proxy hosts to WebLogic Server by setting the following parameters:

-Dhttp.proxyHost - specifies the proxy host. For example:

-Dhttp.proxyHost=www-proxy.example.com

-Dhttp.proxyPort - specifies the proxy host port. For example:

-Dhttp.proxyPort=80

-Dhttp.nonProxyHosts - specifies the hosts to connect to directly, not through the proxy. Specify the list of hosts, each separated by a "|" character; a wildcard character (*) can be used for matching. For example:

-Dhttp.nonProxyHosts="localhost|*.example1.com|*.example2.com

To set these proxy parameters and the Web service configuration for your WebLogic Server add the following to the WebLogic setDomainEnv script as follows:.

Open the setDomainEnv script (.sh or .bat) in the MW_HOME/user_projects/domains/DOMAIN_NAME/bin/ directory.

Enter the following parameters:

EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES="-Dhttp.proxyHost=www-proxy.example.com -Dhttp.proxyPort=80 -Dhttp.nonProxyHosts=localhost|*.mycompany.com|*.mycorporation.com|*.otherhost.com ${EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES}"
export EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES

EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES="-Djavax.xml.soap.MessageFactory=oracle.j2ee.ws.saaj.soap.MessageFactoryImpl
-Djavax.xml.soap.SOAPFactory=oracle.j2ee.ws.saaj.SOAPFactoryImpl -Djavax.xml.soap.SOAPConnectionFactory=oracle.j2ee.ws.saaj.client.p2p.HttpSOAPConnectionFactory  ${EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES}"
export EXTRA_JAVA_PROPERTIES

where

www-proxy.example.com is an example proxy host

80 is the example proxy port

localhost|*.mycompany.com|*.mycorporation.com|*.otherhost.com are example non-proxy hosts

5 Integrating with Other Oracle Security Models

This chapter describes how BI Publisher supports security models of other Oracle products and describes how to configure BI Publisher to use them. It covers the following topics:

Section 5.1, "Before You Begin: Create a Local Superuser"

Section 5.2, "Integrating with Oracle BI Server Security"

Section 5.3, "Integrating with Oracle E-Business Suite"

Section 5.4, "Integrating with Oracle Database Security"

Section 5.5, "Integrating with Oracle Siebel CRM Security"

For conceptual information regarding BI Publisher roles and permissions, see Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions."

5.1 Before You Begin: Create a Local Superuser

Before you implement any of these security models, first create a local superuser. The local superuser credentials ensure that you can access the Administration pages of Oracle BI Publisher in case of any unexpected failures in the configured security settings.

To create a local superuser:

On the Administration page, click Security Configuration.

On the Security Configuration tab, under the Local Superuser region, select Enable Local Superuser, as shown in Figure 5-1.

Figure 5-1 Enabling Local Superuser

Enter a name and password for your superuser.

Restart BI Publisher for the Superuser to become activated in the system.

5.2 Integrating with Oracle BI Server Security

If you have installed BI Publisher as part of the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition and you have configured Oracle BI Enterprise Edition to use legacy Oracle BI Server authentication, then follow these procedures to configure BI Publisher to use BI Server security:

Section 5.2.1, "Configuring BI Publisher for Oracle BI Server Security"

Section 5.2.2, "Adding Data Sources to BI Server Roles"

Note:

The Oracle BI Server security option is for customers who want to use legacy 10g authentication. This section does not apply to you if you have configured Oracle Fusion Middleware Security.

These procedures assume that you have performed the configuration required in the BI Server. For information on configuring legacy Oracle BI security, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition

5.2.1 Configuring BI Publisher for Oracle BI Server Security

To configure BI Publisher for BI Server Security:

Log in to BI Publisher with administrator credentials. Navigate to the BI Publisher Administration page. On the Administration page click Security Configuration.

Note:

To log in directly to the BI Publisher server, use the login URL with the /xmlpserver suffix, for example: http://example.com:9704/xmlpserver

In the Security Model region of the page, select Oracle BI Server from the list. Provide the following connection information for the Oracle BI Server:

JDBC Connection String — Example: jdbc:oraclebi://host:port/

If you do not know the connection string to the BI Server, then you can copy it from data source connection page. From the Administration page, under Data Sources, click JDBC Connection. Locate the Oracle BI EE server and copy the connection string. If this has not been configured, then see Section C.4, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Oracle BI Server."

Administrator Username and Administrator Password

Enter the BISystemUser and password.

Database Driver Class — Example: oracle.bi.jdbc.AnaJdbcDriver

Restart the BI Publisher application for the security changes to take effect.

5.2.2 Adding Data Sources to BI Server Roles

To add data sources to BI Server roles:

Log in to Oracle Business Intelligence as an administrator.

On the global header click Administration. On the Oracle BI Administration page, click Manage BI Publisher.

On the BI Publisher Administration page click Roles and Permissions. The groups to which you assigned the BI Publisher groups are displayed as available roles.

Find the group (role) to add data sources to and click Add Data Sources.

Alternatively, you can navigate to the data source and add the roles that require access to the data source.

Locate the appropriate data sources in the Available Data Sources list and use the shuttle buttons to move the sources to the Allowed Data Sources list for the role.

Click Apply.

Repeat for all roles that need access to report data sources.

5.3 Integrating with Oracle E-Business Suite

BI Publisher can leverage your E-Business Suite security to enable your users to log in to BI Publisher using their E-Business Suite credentials. The BI Publisher security integration recognizes the user's E-Business Suite responsibility and org_id combinations.

When users log in they are prompted to select a responsibility. Reports that users run against the E-Business Suite data tables then filter the data based on their responsibility and org_id combination. Users can switch responsibilities while still logged in using the My Account dialog.

When you integrate with the E-Business Suite security, your E-Business Suite responsibilities appear as roles in the BI Publisher security center. You can then add BI Publisher catalog permissions and data access privileges to the imported roles/responsibilities. See Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions."

Follow these procedures to integrate BI Publisher with Oracle E-Business Suite:

Section 5.3.2, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use E-Business Suite Security"

Section 5.3.3, "Adding Data Sources to the E-Business Suite Roles"

Section 5.3.4, "Granting Catalog Permissions to the E-Business Suite Roles"

Note:

In this release, users cannot access or execute reports that are stored on the E-Business Suite instance. Reports must reside in the BI Publisher catalog. The E-Business Suite data security is enforced when BI Publisher connects to the E-Business Suite data tables to retrieve the report data.

Oracle BI Publisher relies on information stored in the DBC file to connect to the E-Business Suite instance. Ensure that you can locate and have access to this file. The DBC file is typically located under the $FND_SECURE directory.

5.3.1 Features of the Integration with E-Business Suite Security

When BI Publisher is integrated with E-Business Suite security, the following features are enabled:

When users log in to BI Publisher using their E-Business Suite credentials, they are prompted to choose a responsibility, as shown in Figure 5-2.

Figure 5-2 Selecting a Responsibility at Log In

Users can switch responsibilities using the My Account dialog.

The data source connection to the E-Business Suite instance is automatically configured and available in the data model editor, as shown in Figure 5-3.

Figure 5-3 E-Business Suite Data Source Option in Data Model Editor

5.3.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use E-Business Suite Security

To configure BI Publisher for E-Business Suite Security:

In the Oracle E-Business Suite, log in as a System Administrator and create the following responsibilities to correspond to the BI Publisher functional roles:

XMLP_ADMIN — Serves as the administrator role for the BI Publisher server.

XMLP_DEVELOPER  — Allows users to build reports in the system.

XMLP_SCHEDULER — Allows users to schedule reports.

XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL — Allows users to use the Excel Analyzer feature.

XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE — Allows users to use the online analysis feature.

XMLP_TEMPLATE_BUILDER — Allows users to connect to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder and to upload and download templates. Allows users to design layouts using the BI Publisher Layout Editor.

Add these new BI Publisher responsibilities to the appropriate users.

Note:

Ensure that you assign at least one user to the XMLP_ADMIN group.

Log in to Oracle BI Publisher. On the Administration page, select Security Configuration.

In the Security Model section of the page, select Oracle E-Business Suite from the list.

Load the DBC file from the E-Business Suite instance. This is typically located under the $FND_SECURE directory. If you do not have access to this file, then contact your E-Business Suite system administrator. This file specifies how BI Publisher should access the E-Business Suite instance.

Restart BI Publisher for the security changes to take effect.

When you restart the system, the E-Business Suite responsibilities to which BI Publisher roles have been assigned are visible as roles in the BI Publisher security center.

5.3.3 Adding Data Sources to the E-Business Suite Roles

To view a report generated from a particular data source, a report consumer's role must be granted access to the data source. Similarly, to create a data model based on a particular data source, the report author's role must be granted access to the data source.

To grant a role access to a data source:

On the Administration tab, under Security Configuration, click Roles and Permissions. The responsibilities that are assigned BI Publisher roles in the E-Business Suite instance are displayed as available roles.

Find the role to which you want to add data sources and click Add Data Sources. The Add Data Sources page is displayed.

Locate the appropriate data sources in the Available Data Sources list and use the shuttle buttons to move the sources to the Allowed Data Sources list for the role.

Click Apply.

Repeat for all roles that need access to report data sources.

5.3.4 Granting Catalog Permissions to the E-Business Suite Roles

For a role to access objects in a folder, you must grant the role permissions to the catalog object. You can grant permissions at the folder level, so that a role has the same access to every object in a folder, or you can assign access individually to each object in a folder.

See the following sections for more information:

Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions"

Section 3.3, "About Privileges to Use Functionality"

Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions"

Section 3.5, "How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together"

To grant permissions to E-Business Suite roles:

In the catalog, navigate to a catalog object required for a role.

Click the More link for the object and then click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog.

Click the Create icon to open the Add Roles dialog.

Click Search to populate the list of Available Roles.

Use the Move button to move the appropriate roles from the Available Roles list to the Selected Roles list.

Click OK.

Enable the appropriate permissions for the role by selecting the check boxes.

If you have selected a folder: To apply the selections to all items within a folder, select Apply permissions to items within this folder.

5.4 Integrating with Oracle Database Security

BI Publisher offers integration with Oracle Database security so that you can administer the BI Publisher users with your Oracle Database users. Follow these procedures to integrate BI Publisher with Oracle E-Business Suite:

Section 5.3.2, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use E-Business Suite Security"

Section 5.4.2, "Adding Data Sources to Roles"

Section 5.4.3, "Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles"

Note:

For information on setting up Oracle Database security, see Oracle Database Security Guide.

When you restart the server, the roles to which BI Publisher roles have been assigned are visible as roles in the BI Publisher security center.

5.4.1 Defining the BI Publisher Functional Roles in the Oracle Database

To define the BI Publisher functional roles in the Oracle Database:

In the Oracle Database, create the following roles to correspond to the BI Publisher functional roles:

XMLP_ADMIN — Serve as the administrator role for the BI Publisher server.

XMLP_DEVELOPER — Allows users to build reports in the system.

XMLP_SCHEDULER — Allows users to schedule reports.

XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL — Allows users to use the Excel analysis feature.

XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE — Allows users to use the online analysis feature.

XMLP_TEMPLATE_BUILDER — Allows users to connect to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder and to upload and download templates.

Assign these roles to the appropriate Database roles and users. You might also want to create additional reporting roles that you can use when setting up your report privileges on the BI Publisher side. For example, you might create a role called "HUMAN_RESOURCES_MANAGER" that you can assign a Human Resources Folder of reports to. You can then assign that role to any user requiring access to the Human Resources reports.

Ensure to assign the XMLP_ADMIN role to a user with administration privileges, such as SYSTEM.

In the BI Publisher application, log in with Administration privileges. From the Administration tab select Security Configuration.

In the Security Model section of the page, select Oracle Database from the list. Provide the following connection information:

JDBC Connection String — Example: jdbc:oracle:thin:@mycompany.com:1521:orcl

Administrator Username and Administrator Password — Note the following requirements for this user:

The user must be granted the XMLP_ADMIN role

The user must have privileges to access data from the dba_users/_roles/_role_privs tables.

Database Driver Class — Example: oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver

Restart the BI Publisher server for the security changes to take effect.

5.4.2 Adding Data Sources to Roles

To view a report generated from a particular data source, a report consumer's role must be granted access to the data source. Similarly, to create a data model based on a particular data source, the report author's role must be granted access to the data source.

To grant a role access to a data source:

On the Administration tab, under Security Configuration, click Roles and Permissions.

Find the role to which you want to add data sources and click Add Data Sources. The Add Data Sources page is displayed.

Locate the appropriate data sources in the Available Data Sources list and use the shuttle buttons to move the sources to the Allowed Data Sources list for the role.

Click Apply.

Repeat for all roles that need access to report data sources.

5.4.3 Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles

For a role to access objects in a folder, you must grant the role permissions to the catalog object. You can grant permissions at the folder level, so that a role has the same access to every object in a folder, or you can assign access individually to each object in a folder.

See the following sections for more information:

Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions"

Section 3.3, "About Privileges to Use Functionality"

Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions"

Section 3.5, "How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together"

To grant catalog permissions to a role:

In the catalog, navigate to a catalog object required for a role.

Click the More link for the object and then click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog.

Click the Create icon to open the Add Roles dialog.

Click Search to populate the list of Available Roles.

Use the Move button to move the appropriate roles from the Available Roles list to the Selected Roles list.

Click OK.

Enable the appropriate permissions for the role by selecting the check boxes.

If you have selected a folder: To apply the selections to all items within a folder, select Apply permissions to items within this folder.

5.5 Integrating with Oracle Siebel CRM Security

To configure BI Publisher to integrate with Siebel security, perform the following tasks:

Section 5.5.1, "Setting Up BI Publisher Roles as Siebel CRM Responsibilities"

Section 5.5.2, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use Siebel Security"

Section 5.5.3, "Adding Data Sources to Roles"

Section 5.5.4, "Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles"

5.5.1 Setting Up BI Publisher Roles as Siebel CRM Responsibilities

To set up BI Publisher roles as Siebel CRM responsibilities:

Using Siebel Administrator credentials, navigate to Administration - Application, and then Responsibilities.

In the Responsibilities list, add a new record for each of the BI Publisher functional roles:

XMLP_ADMIN — Serves as the administrator role for the BI Publisher server.

XMLP_DEVELOPER — Allows users to build reports in the system.

XMLP_SCHEDULER — Allows users to schedule reports.

XMLP_ANALYZER_EXCEL — Allows users to use the Excel analyzer feature.

XMLP_ANALYZER_ONLINE — Allows users to use the online analysis feature.

XMLP_TEMPLATE_BUILDER — Allows users to connect to the BI Publisher server from the Template Builder and to upload and download templates and grants access to the layout editor.

Assign these roles to the appropriate users. You might also want to create additional reporting roles that you can use when setting up your report privileges in the BI Publisher. For example, you might create a role called "EXECUTIVE_SALES" that you can assign a executive-level report folder. You can then assign that role to any user requiring access to the Executive reports.

Ensure to assign the XMLP_ADMIN role to a user with administration privileges.

5.5.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use Siebel Security

To configure BI Publisher to use Siebel Security:

In the BI Publisher application, log in with Administration privileges. From the Administration tab select Security Configuration.

In the Security Model section of the page, select Siebel Security from the list. Provide the following connection information:

Siebel Web Service Endpoint String

Administrator Username.

Administrator Password

Restart the BI Publisher server for the security changes to take effect.

When you log back in to BI Publisher, the responsibilities to which you added the BI Publisher functional roles are displayed in the Roles and Permissions page.

5.5.3 Adding Data Sources to Roles

To view a report generated from a particular data source, a report consumer's role must be granted access to the data source. Similarly, to create a data model based on a particular data source, the report author's role must be granted access to the data source.

To grant a role access to a data source:

On the Administration tab, under Security Configuration, click Roles and Permissions.

Find the role to which you want to add data sources and click Add Data Sources. The Add Data Sources page is displayed.

Locate the appropriate data sources in the Available Data Sources list and use the shuttle buttons to move the sources to the Allowed Data Sources list for the role.

Click Apply.

Repeat for all roles that need access to report data sources.

5.5.4 Granting Catalog Permissions to Roles

For a role to access objects in a folder, you must grant the role permissions to the catalog object. You can grant permissions at the folder level, so that a role has the same access to every object in a folder, or you can assign access individually to each object in a folder.

See the following sections for more information:

Section 3.2, "Understanding BI Publisher's Users, Roles, and Permissions"

Section 3.3, "About Privileges to Use Functionality"

Section 3.4, "About Catalog Permissions"

Section 3.5, "How Functional Privileges and Permissions Work Together"

To grant catalog permissions to a role:

In the catalog, navigate to a catalog object that is required for a role.

Click the More link for the object and then click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog.

Click the Create icon to open the Add Roles dialog.

Click Search to populate the list of Available Roles.

Use the Move button to move the appropriate roles from the Available Roles list to the Selected Roles list.

Click OK.

Enable the appropriate permissions for the role by selecting the check boxes.

If you have selected a folder: To apply the selections to all items within a folder, select Apply permissions to items within this folder.

6 Implementing a Digital Signature

This chapter describes implementing a digital signature for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 6.1, "Introduction"

Section 6.2, "Prerequisites and Limitations"

Section 6.3, "Obtaining Digital Certificates"

Section 6.4, "Creating PFX Files"

Section 6.5, "Implementing a Digital Signature"

Section 6.6, "Running and Signing Reports with a Digital Signature"

6.1 Introduction

BI Publisher supports digital signatures on PDF output documents. Digital signatures enable you to verify the authenticity of the documents you send and receive. Oracle BI Publisher can access your digital ID file from a central, secure location and at runtime sign the PDF output with the digital ID. The digital signature verifies the signer's identity and ensures that the document has not been altered after it was signed.

For additional information on digital signatures, see the following sources:

Digital ID Introduction by Verisign

http://www.verisign.com/support/tlc/per/whitepaper.htm

Digital Signature by Adobe

http://www.adobe.com/security/digsig.html

Digital Signatures in PDF and Acrobat

http://acrobatusers.com/tutorials/digital-signatures-pdf-acrobat

6.2 Prerequisites and Limitations

Before you can implement digital signatures with Oracle BI Publisher output documents, you need the following:

A digital ID obtained from a public certificate authority or from a private/internal certificate authority (if for internal use only). You must copy the digital ID file to a secure location of the file system on the server that is accessible by the BI Publisher server.

Use of digital signatures with Oracle BI Publisher output documents has the following limitations:

Only a single digital ID can be registered with BI Publisher.

Only reports submitted through BI Publisher's Schedule Report Job interface can include the digital signature.

The digital signature is enabled at the report level; therefore, multiple templates assigned to the same report share the digital signature properties.

6.3 Obtaining Digital Certificates

To obtain a digital certificate, do one of the following:

Purchase one from a certificate authority, such as Verisign, and save it to your computer. This method is recommended because it is easier to verify (and therefore trust) the authenticity of the certificate that you purchase. Next, use Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later to create a PFX file based on the certificate you purchased. See Section 6.4, "Creating PFX Files."

Create a self-signed certificate using a software program, such as Adobe Acrobat, Adobe Reader, OpenSSL, or OSDT. This method is less preferred because anyone can create a self-signed certificate. Therefore, it is more difficult to verify and trust the authenticity of the certificate.

Typically, when you create a self-signed certificate using a software program, the program saves the certificate as part of a PFX file. If this is the case, you do not need to create another PFX file (as described in Section 6.4, "Creating PFX Files").

To create a self-signed certificate using Adobe Reader:

Open Adobe Reader.

On the Document menu click Security Settings.

Select Digital IDs on the left.

On the toolbar, click Add ID.

Follow the steps in the Add Digital ID wizard. For assistance, refer to the documentation provided with Adobe Reader.

When prompted, save your self-signed certificate as part of a PFX file to an accessible location on your computer.

After you create your self-signed certificate as part of a PFX file, you can use the PFX file to sign PDF documents by registering it with BI Publisher. See Section 6.5, "Implementing a Digital Signature."

6.4 Creating PFX Files

If you obtained a digital certificate from a certificate authority, you can create a PFX file using that certificate and Microsoft Internet Explorer 7 or later.

Note:

If you created a self-signed certificate using a software program such as Adobe Reader, it is likely that the program created the certificate in a PFX file. If this is the case, you don't have to create another PFX file. You can use the one you have.

To create a PFX file with Microsoft Windows Explorer 7 or later:

Ensure that your digital certificate is saved on your computer.

Open Microsoft Internet Explorer.

On the Tools menu, click Internet Options and then click the Content tab.

Click Certificates.

In the Certificates dialog, click the tab that contains your digital certificate and then click the certificate.

Click Export.

Follow the steps in the Certificate Export Wizard. For assistance, refer to the documentation provided with Microsoft Internet Explorer.

When prompted, select Use DER encoded binary X.509 as your export file format.

When prompted, save your certificate as part of a PFX file to an accessible location on your computer.

After you create your PFX file, you can use it to sign PDF documents.

6.5 Implementing a Digital Signature

The following steps provide an overview of the tasks required to set up and sign your output PDF documents with a digital signature.

Register the digital ID in the BI Publisher Administration page and specify the roles that are authorized to sign documents, as described in Section 6.5.1, "Registering Your Digital Signature ID and Assigning Authorized Roles."

Specify the display field location, as described in Section 6.5.2, "Specifying the Signature Display Field or Location."

Enable Digital Signature for the report using the report properties.

Log in to BI Publisher as a user with an authorized role and submit the report through the BI Publisher scheduler, choosing PDF output. When the report completes, it is signed with your digital ID in the specified location of the document.

6.5.1 Registering Your Digital Signature ID and Assigning Authorized Roles

BI Publisher supports the identification of a single digital ID file.

To register a digital ID in the BI Publisher Administration page:

On the Administration tab, under Security Center, click Digital Signature.

On the Digital Signature subtab, enter the file path to the digital ID file and enter the password for the digital ID.

Enable the Roles that must have the authority to sign documents with this digital ID. Use the shuttle buttons to move Available Roles to the Allowed Roles list.

Click Apply. Figure 6-1 shows the Digital Signature subtab.

Figure 6-1 Digital Signature Subtab

6.5.2 Specifying the Signature Display Field or Location

You must specify the location for the digital signature to appear in the completed document. The methods that available depend on whether the template type is PDF or RTF.

If the template is PDF, then you have the following options:

Section 6.5.3, "Specifying a Template Field in a PDF Template for the Digital Signature"

Section 6.5.4, "Specifying the Location for the Digital Signature in the Report Properties"

If the template is RTF, then:

Section 6.5.4, "Specifying the Location for the Digital Signature in the Report Properties"

6.5.3 Specifying a Template Field in a PDF Template for the Digital Signature

See the chapter: Creating a PDF Template, topic: "Adding or Designating a Field for a Digital Signature" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for instructions on including a field in the PDF template for the digital signature.

6.5.4 Specifying the Location for the Digital Signature in the Report Properties

When you specify a location in the document to place the digital signature, you can either specify a general location (Top Left, Top Center, or Top Right) or you can specify x and y coordinates in the document. You can also specify the field height and width. This is done through properties on the Runtime Configuration page. Therefore you do not need to alter the template to include a digital signature.

To specify the location for the digital signature:

In the catalog, navigate to the report.

Click the Edit link for the report to open the report for editing.

Click Properties and then click the Formatting tab.

Scroll to the PDF Digital Signature group of properties.

Set Enable Digital Signature to True.

Specify the location in the document where you want the digital signature to appear by setting the appropriate properties as follows (note that the signature is inserted on the first page of the document only):

Existing signature field name — Does not apply to this method.

Signature field location — Provides a list containing the following values:

Top Left, Top Center, Top Right

Select one of these general locations and BI Publisher places the digital signature in the output document sized and positioned appropriately.

If you set this property, then do not enter X and Y coordinates or width and height properties.

Signature field X coordinate — Using the left edge of the document as the zero point of the X axis, enter the position in points to place the digital signature from the left.

For example, to place the digital signature horizontally in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 306.

Signature field Y coordinate — Using the bottom edge of the document as the zero point of the Y axis, enter the position in points to place digital signature from the bottom.

For example, to place the digital signature vertically in the middle of an 8.5 inch by 11 inch document (that is, 612 points in width and 792 points in height), enter 396.

Signature field width — Enter in points the desired width of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are setting the X and Y coordinates.

Signature field height — Enter in points the desired height of the inserted digital signature field. This applies only if you are setting the X and Y coordinates.

Figure 6-2 shows a report that is configured to place the digital signature at specific x and y coordinates in the document.

Figure 6-2 Report Properties for Digital Signature

6.6 Running and Signing Reports with a Digital Signature

Users assigned a role with the digital signature privilege can attach the digital signature to their generated reports configured to include the digital signature. The digital signature can be inserted only on scheduled reports.

To sign reports with a digital signature:

Log in to BI Publisher as a user with a role granted digital signature privileges.

In the catalog, navigate to the report that has been enabled for digital signature and click Schedule.

Complete the fields in the Schedule Report Job page, selecting PDF output, and then submit the job.

The completed PDF displays the digital signature.

7 Configuring the Scheduler

This chapter describes how to configure the Scheduler for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 7.1, "Understanding the BI Publisher Scheduler"

Section 7.2, "Set Up Considerations"

Section 7.3, "About the Scheduler Configuration"

Section 7.4, "Configuring Processors and Processor Threads"

Section 7.5, "Adding Managed Servers"

Section 7.6, "Scheduler Diagnostics"

7.1 Understanding the BI Publisher Scheduler

The updated architecture of the 11g BI Publisher Scheduler uses the Java Messaging Service (JMS) queue technology. This architecture enables you to add multiple BI Publisher servers to a cluster and then dedicate each server to a particular function: report generation, document generation, or specific delivery channels.

7.1.1 Architecture

The architecture of the BI Publisher Scheduler uses JMS queues and topics to provide a highly scalable, highly performing and robust report scheduling and delivery system. Figure 7-1 displays the scheduler architecture.

Figure 7-1 Scheduler Architecture

The following list describes the tasks performed by the scheduler when a job is submitted:

Submit Job

Stores job information and triggers in Quartz tables

Job Processor

When quartz trigger is fired, puts job information in Scheduler job queue

Bursting Engine / Batch Job Process

Bursting Engine Listener

Takes the scheduled job information from the queue

Extracts data from data source

Splits data according to bursting split by definition

Stores data temporarily in temp folder

Puts report metadata into Report Queue

Batch Job Process

Takes the scheduled job information from the queue

Extracts data from data source

Stores data temporarily in temp folder

Puts report metadata into Report Queue

FO Report Processor

Listens to Report Q

Generates report based on metadata

Stores report in shared TEMP directory

Puts report delivery information in Delivery Queue

Delivery (E-mail, File, FTP) Processors

Listen to Delivery queue

Call delivery API to deliver to different channels

BI Publisher (BIP) System Topic

The BIP System Topic publishes the runtime status and health of the scheduling engine. The topic publishes the status of all instances, the thread status of messages in the JMS queues, the status of all scheduler configurations such as database configuration, JNDI configuration of JMS queues and so on.

7.1.2 About Clustering

BI Publisher clustering support enables you to add server instances on demand to handle processing and delivery load. Figure 7-2 illustrates clustering in an Oracle WebLogic Server. Note that the report repository and the scheduler database are shared across the multiple instances; also, the JMS queues for scheduling and JMS topic for publishing diagnostic information are shared across the server by registering JMS queues and topics through JNDI services.

Figure 7-2 BI Publisher Clustering

Each managed server instance points to the same report repository. In each managed server instance all the processes (Job Processor, Report Processor, E-mail Processor, FTP Processor, Fax Processor, File Processor, Print Processor, and Web Dav Processor) are configured. Therefore the moment a server instance pointing to the same repository is deployed, it is added to the cluster and all the processors in this instance are ready to run.

You can select the process to enable on any server instance, thereby using the resources optimally. Moreover, if there is a demand to process heavier jobs you can add more instances for report processing. Similarly, if e-mail delivery is the most preferred delivery channel, then more instances can be added to scale up e-mail delivery.

For more information about clustering and high availability, see Oracle Fusion Middleware High Availability Guide.

7.1.3 How Failover Works

BI Publisher provides a robust failover mechanism so that no report fails to deliver due to server unavailability. Achieve this by balancing each process of the Scheduler using two or more nodes in a cluster thereby ensuring that a failure of any node must be backed up by the second node without any loss of data. For example, by enabling the Job Processor in two nodes, if one node fails, then the second node can process the jobs.

Important:

If a node goes down, the other nodes continue to service the queue. However, if a report job is in one of the following stages of execution: data retrieval, data formatting, or report delivery, the job is marked as failed, and must be manually resubmitted.

7.2 Set Up Considerations

Following are topics to consider before setting up the scheduler.

7.2.1 Choosing JNDI or JDBC Connection

By default, the BI Platform installer configures the WebLogic JNDI connection URL. JDBC is not recommended for production use. JDBC should only be used for low volume local testing.

7.2.2 Supported JMS Providers

When you install BI Publisher, the scheduler is automatically configured to use WebLogic JMS. To use configure BI Publisher to use ActiveMQ instead, see Section B.2, "Configuring BI Publisher for ActiveMQ."

7.3 About the Scheduler Configuration

After you install BI Publisher using the BI Platform Installer and start the servers, the BI Publisher scheduler is running and the following are configured:

The scheduler schema is installed to the database by the Repository Creation Utility as a preinstall step.

JMS is configured in your server for BI Publisher.

The WebLogic JNDI URL is configured.

Default threads per processor is set to 5.

See Oracle Fusion Middleware Installation Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence for more information on configurations performed by the Oracle BI Platform Installer.

You can see this configuration in the Scheduler Configuration page: From the Administration page, under System Maintenance, click Scheduler Configuration. Figure 7-3 shows the Database Connection and JMS Configuration regions of the Scheduler Configuration page.

Figure 7-3 Database Connection and JMS Configuration Regions

7.3.1 Configuring the Shared Directory

The Shared Directory is used to temporarily store data and files used by the scheduler while jobs are executing. After a job completes, the temporary data for the job is deleted. If the BI Publisher scheduler is configured to run on different nodes or machines, you must define this directory. The directory is used to exchange data and document information among all the BI Publisher nodes and therefore must be accessible by all BI Publisher nodes. The size of the directory depends on the total size of the job data, output documents, and the number of concurrent jobs. The directory should be big enough to hold all the XML data and documents for all the parallel running jobs. If BI Publisher runs on different machines while this directory is not configured, the scheduler may fail.

If BI Publisher runs on a single machine, defining a shared directory is optional. BI Publisher uses the application server's temporary directory to store this data.

7.4 Configuring Processors and Processor Threads

For each cluster instance that you have configured, a processor configuration table is displayed. Use the tables to enable and disable processors and specify threads for each processor.

The default number of threads for each processor is set by the Threads per JMS Processor property under JMS Configuration, as shown in Figure 7-3. Edit the threads for a specific processor in the Cluster Instances region by updating the Number Threads setting, as shown in Figure 7-4. Note that processors that use the default setting show no entry in the table. Enter a Number Threads value only to set a thread count for a particular processor to differ from the default.

Figure 7-4 Cluster Instances Region

The optimum number of threads per processor depends on the requirements of the system. You can use the Scheduler Diagnostics page to help in assessing load in the system. See Section 7.6, "Scheduler Diagnostics."

To add managed servers to the system, see Section 7.5, "Adding Managed Servers."

7.5 Adding Managed Servers

Add managed servers in the Oracle WebLogic Administration Console and then configure the cluster instances in the BI Publisher Administration page.

7.5.1 Adding a Managed Server

For detailed information on using the Oracle WebLogic Administration Console see Oracle Fusion Middleware Oracle WebLogic Server Administration Console Online Help. For additional information about Fusion Middleware Control and how to use it, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide.

To add a managed server:

Access the Oracle WebLogic Administration Console using one of the following methods:

Click Lock & Edit.

Under Domain Structure, expand Environment and click Servers.

On the Servers table, click New.

On the Create a New Server: Server Properties page:

Enter the name of the server in the Name field.

In Listen Port, enter the port number from which you want to access the server instance.

Select Yes, make this server a member of an existing cluster.

Select the bi_cluster from the list.

Click Next.

Review the configuration options that you have chosen.

Click Finish.

The new server displays in the Servers table, as shown in Figure 7-5.

Figure 7-5 Servers Table

Click the server name to open the Settings page.

Select a Machine for the new server.

Click Save.

Click Activate Changes.

Start the new server.

7.5.2 Configure the Processors in BI Publisher

After the new managed server has been started, the set of processors for that server displays in BI Publisher, as shown in Figure 7-6.

Figure 7-6 Processors in BI Publisher

You can now configure the threads appropriately for your system load.

7.6 Scheduler Diagnostics

The Scheduler diagnostics page provides the runtime status of the scheduler. It provides status of its JMS configuration, JMS queues, Cluster instance status, Scheduler Database status, Toplink status, and Scheduler (Quartz) status.

The Diagnostics page displays how many scheduled report requests have been received by the JMS queues, how many of them have failed and how many are still running. The JMS status can be viewed at the cluster-instance level enabling you to decide whether to add more instances to scale up by one or more of these JMS processors.

For example, if there are too many requests queued up for the e-mail processor in one instance, you can consider adding another instance and enabling it to handle e-mail processing. Similarly, if there are very large reports being processed and showing in the Report Process queue in running status, then you can add another instance to scale up the Report Process capability.

Also, the Scheduler Diagnostics page reflects the status of each component to show if any component is down. You can see the connection string or JNDI name to the database, which cluster instance associates to which managed server instance, Toplink connection pool configuration, and so on.

If an instance shows a failed status, then you can recover the instance and with the failover mechanism of the JMS set up in the cluster, no jobs submitted are lost. When the server instance is brought back, it is immediately available in the cluster for service. The instance removal and addition reflects dynamically on the diagnostic page.

When an instance is added to the cluster, the Scheduler Diagnostics page immediately recognizes the new instance and displays the status of the new instances and all the threads running on that instance. This provides a powerful monitoring capability to the administrator to trace and resolve issues in any instance or any component of the scheduler.

The Scheduler Diagnostics page provides information on the following components:

JMS

Cluster

Database

Scheduler Engine

The JMS section provides information on the following:

JMS Cluster Config: This section provides configuration information for JMS setup:

Provider type (Weblogic / ActiveMQ)

WebLogic version

WebLogic JNDI Factory

JNDI URL for JMS

Queue names

Temporary directory

JMS Runtime: This provides runtime status of all JMS queues and topics, as shown in Figure 7-7

Figure 7-7 JMS Runtime Section

The Cluster section provides details on the cluster instance, as shown in Figure 7-8. Use this information to understand the load on each processor.

Figure 7-8 Cluster Section

JMS instance config

JMS Wrapper

JMS Client - System — Provides status of the BIP System topic. The scheduler diagnostic page is a subscriber to this topic.

JMS Client_producer — Not used in this release.

JMS Client_schedule — Provides status of the job processor and report processor, each processor showing number of active threads, number of messages received, number of messages failed, and number of messages running.

JMS Client_delivery — Provides status of different delivery processors as listeners, each delivery processor showing number of active threads, number of messages received, number of messages failed, and number of messages running.

The Database section provides information on these components, as shown in Figure 7-9:

Database Config — Connection type, JNDI Name, or connection string

Toplink Config — Connection pooling, logging level

Database Schema

Figure 7-9 Database Section

The Quartz section provides information on these components, as shown in Figure 7-10:

Quartz Configuration

Quartz Initialization

Figure 7-10 Quartz Section

7.6.1 Resolving Quartz Configuration Errors

The following is a common Quartz configuration error in the Scheduler Diagnostics page:

Error Description and Resolution

During the BI Publisher start up (when the WebLogic Managed server or Admin server are started) if the JNDI data source configured as jdbc/bip_datasource is unavailable, then the Quartz initialization will fail. The Scheduler Diagnostics page displays an error for Quartz Configuration.

If this occurs, perform the following:

Verify that the data source configured as jdbc/bip_datasource is available. On the Scheduler Configuration page, click Test Connection to ensure the connection is working.

On the Scheduler Diagnostics page locate the "Database Schema" diagnostics item and ensure it passed.

Go back to the Scheduler Configuration page and change the Scheduler Selection from "Quartz" to "None" and click Apply. Now change it back to "Quartz" and click Apply again.

On the Scheduler Diagnostics verify that the Quartz error has cleared.

8 Configuring Server Properties

This chapter describes server configuration settings under the System Maintenance region of the Administration page. It covers the following topics:

Section 8.1, "Setting the Path to the Configuration Folder"

Section 8.2, "Configuring the Catalog"

Section 8.3, "Setting General Properties"

Section 8.4, "Setting Server Caching Specifications"

Section 8.5, "Setting Retry Properties for Database Failover"

Section 8.6, "Enabling Monitor and Audit"

Section 8.7, "Setting Report Viewer Properties"

Section 8.8, "Setting the BI Publisher Session Time Out Value"

8.1 Setting the Path to the Configuration Folder

The Configuration folder stores the files that contain your server configuration settings, for example, the data source connections, delivery server definitions, and scheduler settings.

The path to the Configuration folder is stored in the xmlp-server-config.xml configuration file.

When you install BI Publisher, this is automatically configured to

${xdo.server.config.dir}/repository

The environment variable ${xdo.server.config.dir} is used to store the path to the location of the xmlp-server-config.xml configuration file. By default both the BI Publisher configuration folder and the xmlp-server-config.xml file are installed to <DOMAIN_HOME>/config/bipublisher.

For example: /OBI_HOME/user_projects/domains/bifoundation_domain/config/bipublisher, as shown in Figure 8-1.

Figure 8-1 Path for Configuration Folder

8.2 Configuring the Catalog

BI Publisher supports the following catalog types:

Section 8.2.1, "Configuring the Oracle BI Publisher File System Catalog"

The Oracle BI Publisher file system option is for installations of BI Publisher that are not integrated with Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Section 8.2.2, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI EE Catalog"

If you install BI Publisher with the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, the catalog is automatically configured to use the shared Oracle BI Presentation Catalog.

8.2.1 Configuring the Oracle BI Publisher File System Catalog

Note:

When using file systems such as NFS, Windows, or NAS for the repository, ensure that the file system is secured.

When you install BI Publisher, the catalog is configured by default to:

${xdo.server.config.dir}/repository

To change the location for the repository:

Under Catalog, select Oracle BI Publisher - File System as the Catalog Type.

Enter the absolute Path.

Apply your changes and restart your BI Publisher application.

Note:

Because the repository is in the file system, the case sensitivity of folder and report names is determined by the platform on which you run BI Publisher. For Windows-based environments, the repository object names are not case-sensitive. For UNIX-based environments, the repository object names are case-sensitive.

8.2.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI EE Catalog

If you installed BI Publisher as part of the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition, then BI Publisher is automatically configured to use the shared Oracle BI EE (Oracle BI Presentation) catalog.

For prerequisites and steps for manually integrating BI Publisher with Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, see Section C.1, "About Integration."

8.2.2.1 Configuring the BI Search Fields

If you have configured Oracle Business Intelligence with Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (Oracle SES), configure the following fields to enable the full text search for BI Publisher objects.

Prerequisites

Before configuring the fields in BI Publisher, you must first perform the following:

Set up Oracle Secure Enterprise Search (Oracle SES).

Integrate Oracle SES with Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services.

For the procedures for completing the prerequisites, see "Configuring for Full-Text Catalog Search" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Enter the following fields in BI Publisher:

BI Search URL - enter the basic URL for Oracle Business Intelligence, adding the search context name; takes the format:

http://computer_name:port/bisearch

For example: http://localhost:7001/bisearch

BI Search URL Suffix - this field defaults to "rest/BISearchQueryService/search". Do not edit this field.

BI Search Group name -enter the name of the search group that you created in Oracle SES, for example: bisearch_ws

BI Search Timeout (millisecond) - enter the maximum number of milliseconds that Oracle BI Publisher waits for a response to return with search results. This field defaults to 22000. There are no minimum or maximum values.

Figure 8-2 shows the BI search fields.

Figure 8-2 BI Search Fields

8.3 Setting General Properties

The general properties region includes the following settings:

System Temporary Directory

Report Scalable Threshold

Database Fetch Size

8.3.1 The System Temporary Directory

This setting is optional. As long as the disk drive where BI Publisher is deployed has enough space to run BI Publisher, it is not required.

8.3.1.1 About Temporary Files

BI Publisher creates the following types of temporary and cache files:

Temporary files:

Temporary files created by the formatting engines (FO processor, PDF Form Processor, PDF generators and so on)

Data Files

These files are removed after the reports generate successfully.

Dynamic image files for HTML output:

Dynamic charts

Embedded images in RTF templates

Cache files:

Data cache

LOV (List of Values) cache

Document Cache

XSL Cache from RTF templates

8.3.1.2 Setting the System Temporary Directory

If you do not specify a temporary directory here, temporary files and dynamic image files are generated under {bip_deployment_directory}/xdo/tmp. Cache files are generated under {bip_deployment_directory}/xdo/cache.

When you configure a System Temporary Directory using this field, for example: "/disk1/BIP_Temp", the BI Publisher server automatically creates the following directories:

/disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo

/disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo/tmp

/disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo/cache

Temporary files are generated under /disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo/tmp.

Cache files are generated under /disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo/cache.

Dynamic image files are still created in the {bip_deployment_directory}/xdo/tmp directory and are not affected by this configuration.

Whenever the BI Publisher server is restarted, any files under /disk1/BIP_Temp/xdo are removed.

8.3.1.3 Sizing the System Temporary Directory

Sizing requirements depend on how large the generated data files and reports are, how many reports enabled cache, and the number of concurrent users. If you must process 1 GB of data and then to generate a report that is 1 GB, then the temp disk should have more than 2 GB of disk space for a single report run. If you require ten concurrent report runs of similarly sized reports, then more than 20 GB of disk space is required. In addition, if you must cache the data and reports for these ten users, you need additional 20 GB of disk space. Note that cache is per user.

8.3.2 Setting the Report Scalable Threshold

This property specifies the threshold at which data is cached on the disk. When the data volume is large, caching the data saves memory, but results in slower processing. Enter a value in bytes. The default and general recommendation for this property is 10000000 (10 megabytes).

8.3.3 Setting the Database Fetch Size

This property specifies the number of rows that are fetched from the database at a time when more rows are needed. This setting can be overridden at the data model level by setting the Database Fetch Size in the general properties of the data model (see Entering Data Model Properties, Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher). If neither value is set, then the system default value of 300 is used.

8.4 Setting Server Caching Specifications

When BI Publisher processes a report, the data and the report document are stored in cache. Each item creates a separate cache file. Set the following properties to configure the size and expiration of this cache:

Cache Expiration — Enter the expiration period for the cache in minutes. The default is 30.

Cache Size Limit — Enter the maximum number of cached items to maintain regardless of the size of these items. The default is 1000.

When BI Publisher processes a report it stores the report definition in memory so that for subsequent requests for the same report the report definition can be retrieved from memory rather than from disk. Set the following property to configure this cache:

Maximum Cached Report Definitions — Enter the maximum number of report definitions to maintain in cache. The default is 50. This cache does not expire.

Note:

Report-specific caching of data sets can be set as a report property. See Configuring Report Properties, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

8.5 Setting Retry Properties for Database Failover

If BI Publisher fails to connect to a data source through the defined JDBC or JNDI connection, then these properties control the number of retries that are attempted before switching to the backup connection for the database.

Number of Retries

Default value is 6. Enter the number of times to attempt to make a connection before switching to the backup database.

Retry Interval (seconds)

Default value is 10 seconds. Enter the number of seconds to wait before retrying the connection.

8.6 Enabling Monitor and Audit

This setting enables user auditing an monitoring in BI Publisher. Performance monitoring enables you to monitor the performance of queries, reports and document generation and to analyze the provided details.

Selecting the Enable Monitor and Audit check box here on the Server Configuration page is the first step required for enabling performance monitoring and user auditing in your system.

For the complete steps, see Section 13.5, "About Performance Monitoring and User Auditing".

8.7 Setting Report Viewer Properties

The Report Viewer Configuration tab enables you to set the report viewer property Show Apply Button.

When set to True, reports with parameter options display the Apply button in the report viewer. When a user changes the parameter values, he must click Apply to render the report with the new values.

When set to False, the report viewer does not display the Apply button. Instead, when a user enters a new parameter value, BI Publisher automatically renders the report after the new value is selected or entered.

This property can also be set at the report level to override the system setting. For information on setting the property at the report level, see "Configuring Parameter Settings for the Report" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

8.8 Setting the BI Publisher Session Time Out Value

The BI Publisher session time out is controlled in a section in the web.xml file under the WEB-INF directory. The web.xml file must be manually updated to change the time out value.

To configure the BI Publisher time out value:

Locate the xmlpserver.war under the Middleware Home and create a backup.

Log in to the WebLogic Administration Console and click Deployments.

Delete the bipublisher entry.

Unpack the xmlpserver.war file, preserving directories.

Navigate to the WEB-INF directory and open the web.xml file.

In the web.xml file, locate the <session-config> section.

Update the <session-timeout> setting to the desired number of minutes.

<session-config>   <session-timeout>60</session-timeout> </session-config>

Zip up the xmlpserver.war file, preserving the directories.

Log back in to the WebLogic Administration Console and click Deployments. Install the BI Publisher WAR file, accepting all the defaults.

Restart BI Publisher. The new time out setting is applied.

9 Setting Up Data Sources

This chapter describes setting up data sources for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 9.1, "Overview of Setting Up Data Sources"

Section 9.2, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source"

Section 9.3, "Setting Up a Database Connection Using a JNDI Connection Pool"

Section 9.4, "Setting Up a Connection to an LDAP Server Data Source"

Section 9.5, "Setting Up a Connection to an OLAP Data Source"

Section 9.6, "Setting Up a Connection to a File Data Source"

Section 9.7, "Viewing or Updating a Data Source"

9.1 Overview of Setting Up Data Sources

BI Publisher supports a variety of data sources. The data can come from a database, an HTTP XML feed, a Web service, an Oracle BI Analysis, an OLAP cube, an LDAP server, or a previously generated XML file or Microsoft Excel file.

This section describes how to set up connections to the data sources that are described in the following sections:

Section 9.2, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source"

Section 9.3, "Setting Up a Database Connection Using a JNDI Connection Pool"

Section 9.4, "Setting Up a Connection to an LDAP Server Data Source"

Section 9.5, "Setting Up a Connection to an OLAP Data Source"

Section 9.6, "Setting Up a Connection to a File Data Source"

9.1.1 About Other Types of Data Sources

Connections to an HTTP XML feed or a Web service are configured when you define the data model for your report (see Creating Data Sets, Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher). Connection to Oracle BI Presentation Services is automatically configured by the Oracle BI Installer.

9.1.2 About Data Sources and Security

When you set up data sources, you can also define security for the data source by selecting which user roles can access the data source.

Access must be granted for the following:

A report consumer must have access to the data source to view reports that retrieve data from the data source

A report designer must have access to the data source to build or edit a data model against the data source

By default, a role with administrator privileges can access all data sources.

The configuration page for the data source includes a Security region that lists all the available roles. You can grant roles access from this page, or you can also assign the data sources to roles from the roles and permissions page.

See Section 3.7, "Configuring Users, Roles, and Data Access" for information.

If this data source must be used in guest reports, then you must also enable guest access here. For more information about guest access see Section 4.2, "Enabling a Guest User."

Figure 9-1 shows the Security region of the data source configuration page.

Figure 9-1 Security Region

9.1.3 About Proxy Authentication

BI Publisher supports proxy authentication for connections to the following data sources:

Oracle 10g database

Oracle 11g database

Oracle BI Server

For direct data source connections through JDBC and connections through a JNDI connection pool, BI Publisher enables you to select "Use Proxy Authentication". When you select Use Proxy Authentication, BI Publisher passes the user name of the individual user (as logged into BI Publisher) to the data source and thus preserves the client identity and privileges when the BI Publisher server connects to the data source.

Note:

Enabling this feature might require additional setup on the database. For example, the database must have Virtual Private Database (VPD) enabled for row-level security.

For more information on Proxy Authentication in Oracle databases, see Oracle Database Security Guide 10g or Oracle Database Security Guide 11g.

For connections to the Oracle BI Server, Proxy Authentication is required. In this case, proxy authentication is handled by the Oracle BI Server, therefore the underlying database can be any database that is supported by the Oracle BI Server.

9.1.4 Choosing JDBC or JNDI Connection Type

In general, a JNDI connection pool is recommended because it provides the most efficient use of your resources. For example, if a report contains chained parameters, then each time the report is executed, the parameters initiate to open a database session every time.

9.1.5 About Backup Databases

When you configure a JDBC connection to a database, you can also configure a backup database. A backup database can be used in two ways:

As a true backup when the connection to the primary database is unavailable

As the reporting database for the primary. To improve performance you can configure your report data models to execute against the backup database only.

To use the backup database in either of these ways, you must also configure the report data model to use it.

See Setting Data Model Properties, Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for information on configuring a report data model to use the backup data source.

9.1.6 About Pre Process Functions and Post Process Functions

You can define PL/SQL functions for BI Publisher to execute when a connection to a JDBC data source is created (preprocess function) or closed (postprocess function). The function must return a boolean value. This feature is supported for Oracle databases only.

These two fields enable the administrator to set a user's context attributes before a connection is made to a database and then to dismiss the attributes after the connection is broken by the extraction engine.

The system variable :xdo_user_name can be used as a bind variable to pass the login username to the PL/SQL function calls. Setting the login user context in this way enables you to secure data at the data source level (rather than at the SQL query level).

For example, assume you have defined the following sample function:

FUNCTION set_per_process_username (username_in IN VARCHAR2)
   RETURN BOOLEAN IS
     BEGIN
     SETUSERCONTEXT(username_in);
     return TRUE;
   END set_per_process_username

To call this function every time a connection is made to the database, enter the following in the Pre Process Function field: set_per_process_username(:xdo_user_name)

Another sample usage might be to insert a row to the LOGTAB table every time a user connects or disconnects:

CREATE OR REPLACE FUNCTION BIP_LOG (user_name_in IN VARCHAR2, smode IN VARCHAR2)
RETURN BOOLEAN AS
   BEGIN
   INSERT INTO LOGTAB VALUES(user_name_in, sysdate,smode);
   RETURN true;
   END BIP_LOG;

In the Pre Process Function field enter: BIP_LOG(:xdo_user_name)

As a new connection is made to the database, it is logged in the LOGTAB table. The SMODE value specifies the activity as an entry or an exit. Calling this function as a Post Process Function as well returns results such as those shown in Figure 9-2.

Figure 9-2 LOTGTAB Table

9.2 Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source

The following list shows prerequisites for setting up a JDBC connection to a data source:

The JDBC driver for the selected database must be available to BI Publisher. If you are using an Oracle database or one of the DataDirect drivers provided by WebLogic Server, then the drivers must be installed in the correct location and there is no further setup required.

If you plan to use a different version of any of the drivers installed with WebLogic Server, then you can replace the driver file in WL_HOME\server\lib with an updated version of the file or add the new file to the front of your CLASSPATH.

If you plan to use a third-party JDBC driver that is not installed with WebLogic Server, then you must update the WebLogic Server classpath to include the location of the JDBC driver classes. Edit the commEnv.cmd/sh script in WL_HOME/common/bin and prefix your classes as described in "Modifying the Classpath" in Command Reference for Oracle WebLogic Server.

For more information, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuring and Managing JDBC for Oracle WebLogic Server 11g.

To set up a JDBC connection to a data source:

From the Administration page click JDBC Connection to display the list of existing JDBC connections.

Click Add Data Source.

Enter the following fields for the new connection:

Data Source Name — Enter a display name for the data source. This name is displayed in the Data Source selection list in the Data Model Editor.

Driver Type — Select the database type from the list. When you select a driver type, BI Publisher automatically displays the appropriate Database Driver Class and provides the appropriate Connection String format for your selected database.

Database Driver Class — This is automatically entered based on your selection for Driver Type. You can update this field if desired.

For example: oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver or

hyperion.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver

Connection String — Enter the database connection string.

When you select the driver type, this field automatically displays the appropriate connection string format for your database type.

For an Oracle database the connect string must have the following format:

jdbc:oracle:thin:@[host]:[port]:[sid]

For example: jdbc:oracle:thin:@myhost.us.example.com:1521:prod

For a Microsoft SQL Server, the connect string must have the following format:

jdbc:hyperion:sqlserver://[hostname]:[port];DatabaseName=[Databasename]

For example:

jdbc:hyperion:sqlserver://myhost.us.example.com:7777;DatabaseName=mydatabase

Use System User — This is reserved for connections to the Oracle BI Server.

See Section C.4, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Oracle BI Server."

For more information, see "Integration Reference for Oracle BI Enterprise Edition" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

User Name — Enter the user name required to access the data source on the database.

Password — Enter the password associated with the user name for access to the data source on the database.

Pre Process Function and Post Process Function — (Optional) Enter a PL/SQL function to execute when a connection is created (Pre Process) or closed (Post Process). For more information see Section 9.1.6, "About Pre Process Functions and Post Process Functions."

Use Proxy Authentication — Select this box to enable Proxy Authentication. See Section 9.1.3, "About Proxy Authentication" for more information.

Click Test Connection. A confirmation is displayed.

Figure 9-3 shows the general settings of the JDBC connection page.

Figure 9-3 JDBC Connection Page

(Optional) Enable a backup database for this connection by entering the following:

Use Backup Data Source — Select this box.

Connection String — Enter the connection string for the backup database.

Username / Password — Enter the username and password for this database.

Click Test Connection. A confirmation is displayed.

Figure 9-4 shows the Backup Data Source region of the page.

Figure 9-4 Backup Data Source Region

Define security for this data source. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Allowed Roles list. Only users assigned the roles on the Allowed Roles list can create or view reports from this data source.

The settings defined here are passed down to the backup data source, if one is defined.

9.3 Setting Up a Database Connection Using a JNDI Connection Pool

BI Publisher supports connecting to the JDBC data source through a connection pool. Using a connection pool increases efficiency by maintaining a cache of physical connections that can be reused. When a client closes a connection, the connection gets placed back into the pool so that another client can use it. A connection pool improves performance and scalability by allowing multiple clients to share a small number of physical connections. You set up the connection pool in your application server and access it through Java Naming and Directory Interface (JNDI).

After you set up the connection pool in your application server, enter the required fields in this page so that BI Publisher can use the pool to establish connections. For information on setting up a connection pool in WebLogic Server, see the chapter "Configuring JDBC Data Sources" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Configuring and Managing JDBC for Oracle WebLogic Server 11g.

To set up a database connection using a JNDI connection pool:

From the Administration page click JNDI Connection to display the list of existing JNDI connections.

Click Add Data Source.

Enter the following fields for the new connection:

Data Source Name — Enter a display name for the data source. This name is displayed in the Data Source selection list in the Data Model Editor.

JNDI Name — Enter the JNDI location for the pool. For example, jdbc/BIP10gSource.

Use Proxy Authentication — Select this box to enable Proxy Authentication. See Section 9.1.3, "About Proxy Authentication" for more information.

Click Test Connection. A confirmation message is displayed.

Define security for this data source. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Allowed Roles list. Only users assigned the roles on the Allowed Roles list can create or view reports from this the data source.

9.4 Setting Up a Connection to an LDAP Server Data Source

To set up a connection to an LDAP data source:

From the Administration page select LDAP Connection to display the list of existing LDAP connections.

Click Add Data Source.

Enter the following fields for the new connection:

Enter the Data Source Name — This is the display name that is displayed in the Data Source selection list in the Data Model Editor.

Enter the LDAP Connection URL for the LDAP server in the format: ldap://hostname:port.

Enter the Username (for example: cn=admin,cn=users,dc=us,dc=company,dc=com).

Password — Enter the password if required.

Enter the JNDI Context Factor Class (for example: com.sun.jndi.ldap.LdapCtxFactory).

Click Test Connection.

Define security for this data source. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Allowed Roles list. Only users assigned the roles on the Allowed Roles list can create data models from this the data source or view reports that run against this data source.

9.5 Setting Up a Connection to an OLAP Data Source

BI Publisher supports connecting to several types of OLAP databases. Note that to connect to Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services, BI Publisher must be installed on a supported Windows operating system.

To set up a connection to an OLAP data source:

From the Administration page click OLAP Connection to display the list of existing OLAP connections.

Click Add Data Source.

Enter the following fields for the new connection:

Data Source Name — Enter a display name for the data source. This name is displayed in the Data Source selection list in the Data Model Editor.

OLAP Type — Select from the list of supported OLAP databases. When you select the type, the OLAP Connection String field is updated with the appropriate connection string format for your selection.

OLAP Connection String — Enter the connection string for the OLAP database. Following are examples for each of the supported OLAP types:

Oracle's Hyperion Essbase

Format: [server]

Example: myServer.us.example.com

Microsoft SQL Server 2000 Analysis Services

Format: Data Source=[server];Provider=msolap;Initial Catalog=[catalog]

Example: Data Source=myServer;Provider=msolap;Initial Catalog=VideoStore

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services

Format: Data Source=[server];Provider=msolap.3;Initial Catalog=[catalog]

Example: Data Source=myServer;Provider=msolap.3;Initial Catalog=VideoStore

SAP BW

Format: ASHOST=[server] SYSNR=[system number] CLIENT=[client] LANG=[language]

Example: ASHOST=172.16.57.44 SYSNR=01 CLIENT=800 LANG=EN

Username and Password for the OLAP database.

Click Test Connection. A confirmation message is displayed.

Define security for this data source. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Allowed Roles list. Only users assigned the roles on the Allowed Roles list can create or view reports from this the data source.

9.6 Setting Up a Connection to a File Data Source

BI Publisher enables you to use existing XML or Microsoft Excel files created from other sources as input to your BI Publisher reports. To use a file as a data source, it must reside in a directory that BI Publisher can connect to. Set up the connection details to the file data source directory using this page.

To set up a connection to a file data source:

From the Administration page click File to display the list of existing file sources.

Click Add Data Source.

Enter the following fields for the new data source:

Data Source Name — Enter a display name for the data source. This name is displayed in the Data Source selection list in the Data Model Editor.

Path — Enter the full path to the top-level directory on your server. Users can access files in this directory and any subdirectories.

Define security for this data source. Use the shuttle buttons to move roles from the Available Roles list to the Allowed Roles list. Only users assigned the roles on the Allowed Roles list can create or view reports from this data source.

9.7 Viewing or Updating a Data Source

To view or update a data source:

From the Administration page, select the Data Source type to update.

Select the name of the connection to view or update. All fields are updatable. See the appropriate section for setting up the data source type for information on the required fields.

Select Apply to apply any changes or Cancel to exit the update page.

10 Setting Up Integrations

This chapter describes how to set up integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services. This integration enables you to use Oracle BI analyses as data sources for your reports. When you have successfully set up the integration, Oracle BI Analysis is enabled as a data set type selection in the Data Model Editor.

10.1 Configuring Integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services

The integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services enables the access to Oracle BI analyses as data sources for reports.

When you install BI Publisher with Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, this integration is automatically configured.

For prerequisites and steps for manually integrating BI Publisher with Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, see Appendix C, "Integration Reference for Oracle BI Enterprise Edition."

11 Setting Up Delivery Destinations

This chapter describes how to use the Delivery Options page to set up the delivery channels to use with the BI Publisher application. It covers the following topics:

Section 11.1, "Configuring Delivery Options"

Section 11.2, "Adding a Printer or Fax Server"

Section 11.3, "Adding an E-Mail Server"

Section 11.4, "Adding a WebDAV Server"

Section 11.5, "Adding an HTTP Server"

Section 11.6, "Adding an FTP Server"

Section 11.7, "Adding a Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) Server"

11.1 Configuring Delivery Options

Use the Delivery Configuration Options page to set general properties for e-mail deliveries and notifications from BI Publisher and for defining the SSL certificate file.

To configure delivery options:

From the Admin page, select Delivery Configuration, as shown in Figure 11-1.

Figure 11-1 Delivery Configuration Page

Enter the following properties:

SSL Certificate File — If SSL is enabled for your installation, then you can leave this field empty if you want to use the default certificates built-in with BI Publisher. SSL works with the default certificate if the server uses the certificate signed by a trusted certificate authority such as Verisign. This field is mandatory only if the user uses the SSL with a self-signed certificate. The self-signed certificate means the certificate is signed by a non-trusted certificate authority (usually the user).

E-mail From Address — Enter the From address to appear on e-mail report deliveries from the BI Publisher server. The default value is bipublisher-report@oracle.com.

Delivery Notification E-mail From Address — Enter the From address to appear on notifications delivered from the BI Publisher server. The default value is bipublisher-notification@oracle.com.

Success Notification Subject — Enter the subject line to display for e-mail notification recipients when the report status is Success.

Warning Notification Subject — Enter the subject line to display for e-mail notification recipients when the report status is Warning.

Failure Notification Subject — Enter the subject line to display for e-mail notification recipients when the report status is Failed.

Skipped Notification Subject — Enter the subject line to display for e-mail notification recipients when the report status is Skipped.

11.2 Adding a Printer or Fax Server

Printing is only supported through Internet Printing Protocol (IPP). If BI Publisher is operating in a Linux environment, then you must set up the Common UNIX Printing Service (CUPS). If BI Publisher is operating in a Windows environment, then you must set up Windows Print Server for IPP.

For information on setting up CUPS and Windows IPP, see Appendix A, "Setting Up Print Servers."

About Printing PDF

PDF is a popular output format for business reports and is printable from viewer software such as Adobe Reader. However, some reports require printing directly from the report server. For example, paychecks and invoices are usually printed as scheduled batch jobs. Some newer printers with Postscript Level 3 compliant Raster Image Processing can natively support PDF documents, but there are still many printers in business use that only support Postscript Level 2 that cannot print PDF documents directly.

To print PDF documents directly from the BI Publisher server you have the following options:

Select BI Publisher's PDF to Postscript filter. This can be enabled for UNIX or Windows print servers.

Configure a custom, or third-party filter.

After completing all other required fields for the print server, you can schedule reports to print directly from the BI Publisher server to any printer in your system that supports PostScript Level 2.

To set up a printer or fax:

From the Admin page select Printer or Fax. Select Add Server.

Enter the following required fields:

Server Name — Enter a unique name. Example: Localprinter

Note:

You must enter a unique name for each server regardless of the type (such as printer, fax, e-mail, WebDAV, or FTP).

URI — Enter the Uniform Resource Identifier for the printer. Example: ipp://myhost:631/printers/myprinter

Enter a Filter (optional).

A filter enables you to call a conversion utility to convert PDF to Postscript or PDF to TIFF (for fax) for Windows-based print servers.

BI Publisher includes a PDF to Postscript filter. This filter converts PDF to Postscript Level 2. Choose PDF to Postscript from the list to use BI Publisher's predefined filter.

About Custom Filters

To specify a custom filter, pass the native OS command string with the 2 placeholders for the input and output filename, {infile} and {outfile}.

This is useful especially if you are trying to call IPP printers directly or IPP printers on Microsoft Internet Information Service (IIS). Unlike CUPS, those print servers do not translate the print file to a format the printer can understand, therefore only limited document formats are supported. With the filter functionality, you can call any of the native OS commands to transform the document to the format that the target printer can understand.

For example, to transform a PDF document to a Postscript format, enter the following PDF to PS command in the Filter field:

pdftops {infile} {outfile}

To call an HP LaserJet printer setup on a Microsoft IIS from Linux, you can set Ghostscript as a filter to transform the PDF document into the format that the HP LaserJet can understand. To do this, enter the following Ghostscript command in the Filter field:

gs -q -dNOPAUSE -dBATCH -sDEVICE=laserjet -sOutputFile={outfile} {infile}

For fax servers, you can use the filter to transform the file to Tag Image File Format (TIFF).

Optionally enter the following fields if appropriate:

Security fields — Username and Password, Authentication Type (None, Basic, Digest) and Encryption Type (None, SSL).

Proxy Server fields — Host, Port, User Name, Password, Authentication Type (None, Basic, Digest)

11.3 Adding an E-Mail Server

To add an e-mail server:

From the Admin page select Email. This displays the list of servers that have been added. Select Add Server.

Enter the Server Name, Host, and Port for the e-mail server.

Note:

You must enter a unique name for each server regardless of the type (printer, fax, e-mail, WebDAV, or FTP).

Select a Secure Connection method to use for connections with the e-mail server. The options are:

None

SSL — Use Secure Socket Layer.

TLS (Transport Layer Security) — Use TLS when the server supports the protocol; SSL is accepted in the response.

TLS Required — If the server does not support TLS, then the connection is not made.

Optionally enter the following fields if appropriate:

General fields — Port

Security fields — Username and Password.

11.4 Adding a WebDAV Server

To add a WebDAV server:

From the Admin page select WebDAV to display the list of servers that have been added. Select Add Server.

Enter the Name and Host for the new server.

Note:

You must enter a unique name for each server regardless of the type (printer, fax, e-mail, WebDAV, or FTP).

Optionally enter the following fields if appropriate:

General fields — Port

Security fields — Authentication Type (None, Basic, Digest) and Encryption Type (None, SSL).

Proxy Server fields — Host, Port, User Name, Password, Authentication Type (None, Basic, Digest)

11.5 Adding an HTTP Server

You can register an application URL or postprocess HTTP URL as an HTTP server to send a notification request to after the report has completed. The HTTP notification sent by BI Publisher posts a form data for Job ID, report URL and Job Status to the HTTP Server URL page.

For more information about setting up an HTTP notification to integrate with a third-party application, see Setting Up an After Report Trigger, Oracle Fusion Middleware Developer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher. For information on enabling an HTTP notification for a scheduled report, see Configuring Notifications, Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

To add an HTTP server:

From the Admin page select HTTP to display the list of servers that have been added. Select Add Server.

Enter a name for the server, and enter the URL. When the report finishes processing, BI Publisher posts form data for Job ID, report URL and Job Status.

Enter the Security information, if required. If your server is password protected, enter the Username and Password. Select the Authentication Type: None, Basic, or Digest; and Encryption Type: None or SSL.

If the notification is to be sent through a proxy server, enter the fully qualified Host name, the Port, the Username and Password, and Authentication type of the proxy server.

11.6 Adding an FTP Server

Important:

If the destination file name supplied to the BI Publisher scheduler contains non-ascii characters, BI Publisher will use UTF-8 encoding to specify the file name to the destination FTP server. Your FTP server must support UTF-8 encoding or the job delivery will fail with "Delivery Failed" error message.

To add an FTP server:

From the Administration page, under Delivery, click FTP to display the list of servers that have been added. Click Add Server.

Enter the following fields for the FTP server:

Server Name - example: myFTPserver

Host - example: myhost.company.com

Port - example: 21

Note:

You must enter a unique name for each server regardless of the type (such as printer, fax, e-mail, WebDAV, or FTP).

Select the Use Secure FTP box to enable Secure FTP (SFTP)

Enter a username and Password for the server if required.

11.7 Adding a Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) Server

To add a CUPS server:

From the Admin page, select CUPS to display the list of servers that have been added. Select Add Server.

Enter the Server Name and Host and Port for the CUPS server.

For information, see Section A.1, "Setting Up CUPS on Linux."

12 Defining Run-Time Configurations

This chapter describes how to define run-time configurations for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 12.1, "Setting Run-Time Properties"

Section 12.2, "PDF Output Properties"

Section 12.3, "PDF Security Properties"

Section 12.4, "PDF Digital Signature Properties"

Section 12.5, "RTF Output Properties"

Section 12.6, "HTML Output Properties"

Section 12.7, "FO Processing Properties"

Section 12.8, "RTF Template Properties"

Section 12.9, "PDF Template Properties"

Section 12.10, "Flash Template Properties"

Section 12.11, "CSV Output Properties"

Section 12.12, "Excel 2007 Output Properties"

Section 12.13, "All Outputs Property"

Section 12.14, "Defining Font Mappings"

Section 12.15, "Defining Currency Formats"

12.1 Setting Run-Time Properties

The Runtime Configuration page enables you to set run-time properties at the server level. These same properties can also be set at the report level, from the report editor's Properties dialog. (See the "Defining Report Properties" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.) If different values are set for a property at each level, then report level takes precedence.

12.2 PDF Output Properties

Table 12-1 describes the properties that are available for PDF output.

Table 12-1 PDF Output Properties

Property Name
Description

Compress PDF output

Default: true

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

Internal Name: pdf-compression

Hide PDF viewer's menu bars

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-hide-menubar

Hide PDF viewer's tool bars

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-hide-toolbar

Replace smart quotes

Default: true

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

Internal Name: pdf-replace-smartquotes

Use only one shared resources object for all pages

Default: true

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

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

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

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

Internal Name: pdf-use-one-resources

PDF Navigation Panel Initial View

Default: Bookmarks Open

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

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

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

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

Internal Name: pdf-pagemode

12.3 PDF Security Properties

Table 12-2 describes the properties that control the security settings for the output PDF documents.

Table 12-2 PDF Security Properties

Property Name
Description

Enable PDF Security

Default: false

Description: If you specify "true," then the output PDF file is encrypted. You can then also specify the following properties:

Open document password

Modify permissions password

Encryption Level

Internal Name: pdf-security

Open document password

Default: N/A

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

Internal Name: pdf-open-password

Modify permissions password

Default: N/A

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

Internal Name: pdf-permissions-password

Encryption level

Default: 2 - high

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

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

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

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

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

Disable printing

Disable document modification

Disable context copying, extraction, and accessibility

Disable adding or changing comments and form fields

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

Enable text access for screen readers

Enable copying of text, images, and other content

Allowed change level

Allowed printing level

Internal Name: pdf-encryption-level

Disable document modification

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-no-changing-the-document

Disable printing

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-no-printing

Disable adding or changing comments and form fields

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-no-accff

Disable context copying, extraction, and accessibility

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-no-cceda

Enable text access for screen readers

Default: true

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

Internal Name: pdf-enable-accessibility

Enable copying of text, images, and other content

Default: false

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

Internal Name: pdf-enable-copying

Allowed change level

Default: 0

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

0: none

1: Allows inserting, deleting, and rotating pages

2: Allows filling in form fields and signing

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

4: Allows all changes except extracting pages

Internal Name: pdf-changes-allowed

Allowed printing level

Default: 0

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

0: None

1: Low resolution (150 dpi)

2: High resolution

Internal Name: pdf-printing-allowed

12.4 PDF Digital Signature Properties

Table 12-3 describes the properties that should only be set at the report level to enable digital signature for a report and to define the placement of the signature in the output PDF document. For more information on how to enable digital signature for your output PDF documents, see Chapter 6, "Implementing a Digital Signature."

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

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

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

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

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

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

If you enable digital signature, but do not set any location properties, then the digital signature placement defaults to the top left of the document.

Table 12-3 PDF Digital Signature Properties

Property Name
Description

Enable Digital Signature

Default: false

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

Internal Name: signature-enable

Existing signature field name

Default: N/A

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

For more information about defining a field for the signature in a PDF template, see "Adding or Designating a Field for a Digital Signature" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Internal Name: signature-field-name

Signature field location

Default: top-left

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

Internal Name: signature-field-location

Signature field X coordinate

Default: 0

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

Internal Name: signature-field-pos-x

Signature field Y coordinate

Default: 0

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

Internal Name: signature-field-pos-y

Signature field width

Default: 0

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

Internal Name: signature-field-width

Signature field height

Default: 0

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

Internal Name: signature-field-height

12.5 RTF Output Properties

Table 12-4 describes the properties that control RTF output files.

Table 12-4 RTF Output Properties

Property Name
Description

Enable change tracking

Default: false

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

Internal Name: rtf-track-changes

Protect document for tracked changes

Default: false

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

Internal Name: rtf-protect-document-for-tracked-changes

Default font

Default: Arial:12

Description: Use this property to define the font style and size in RTF output when no other font has been defined. This is particularly useful to control the sizing of empty table cells in generated reports. Enter the font name and size in the following format <FontName>:<size> for example: Arial:12. Note that the font you choose must be available to the BI Publisher processing engine at runtime. See Section 12.14, "Defining Font Mappings" for information about installing fonts for the BI Publisher server and also for the list of fonts predefined for BI Publisher.

Internal Name: rtf-output-default-font

12.6 HTML Output Properties

Table 12-5 describes the properties that control HTML output files.

Table 12-5 HTML Output Properties

Property Name
Description

Show header

Default: true

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

Internal Name: html-show-header

Show footer

Default: true

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

Internal Name: html-show-footer

Replace smart quotes

Default: true

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

Internal Name: html-replace-smartquotes

Character set

Default: UTF-8

Description: Specifies the output HTML character set.

Internal Name: html-output-charset

Make HTML output accessible

Default: false

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

Internal Name: make-accessible

Use percentage width for table columns

Default: true

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

Internal Name: html-output-width-in-percentage

View Paginated

Default: false

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

Generated table of contents

Navigation links at the top and bottom of the page

Ability to skip to a specific page within the HTML document

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

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

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

12.7 FO Processing Properties

Table 12-6 describes the properties that control FO processing.

Table 12-6 FO Processing Properties

Property Name
Description

Use BI Publisher's XSLT processor

Default: true

Description: Controls BI Publisher's parser usage. If set to false, then XSLT is not parsed.

Internal Name: xslt-xdoparser

Enable scalable feature of XSLT processor

Default: false

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

Internal Name: xslt-scalable

Enable XSLT runtime optimization

Default: true

Description: When set to "true", the overall performance of the FO processor is increased and the size of the temporary FO files generated in the temp directory is significantly decreased. Note that for small reports (for example 1-2 pages) the increase in performance is not as marked. To further enhance performance when you set this property to true, it is recommended that you set the property Extract attribute sets to "false". See Section 12.8, "RTF Template Properties."

Internal Name: xslt-runtime-optimization

Enable XPath Optimization

Default: false

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

Internal Name: xslt-xpath-optimization

Pages cached during processing

Default: 50

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

Internal Name: system-cache-page-size

Bidi language digit substitution type

Default: None

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

Internal Name: digit-substitution

Disable variable header support

Default: false

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

Internal Name: fo-prevent-variable-header

Add prefix to IDs when merging FO

Default: false

Description: When merging multiple XSL-FO inputs, the FO Processor automatically adds random prefixes to resolve conflicting IDs. Setting this property to "true" disables this feature.

Internal Name: fo-merge-conflict-resolution

Enable multithreading

Default: false

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

Internal Name: fo-multi-threads

Disable external references

Default: true

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

Internal Name: xdk-secure-io-mode

FO Parsing Buffer Size

Default: 1000000

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

Internal Name: fo-chunk-size

Enable XSLT runtime optimization for sub-template

Default: true

Note: The default is true on the BI Publisher server. If you call the FOProcessor directly, the default is false.

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

Internal Name: xslt-do-import

Enable PPTX native chart support

Default: true

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

Internal Name: pptx-native-chart

12.8 RTF Template Properties

Table 12-7 describes the properties that control RTF templates.

Table 12-7 RTF Template Properties

Property Name
Description

Extract attribute sets

Default: Auto

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

Enable - extract attribute sets for all templates and subtemplates

Auto - extract attribute sets for templates, but not subtemplates

Disable - do not extract attribute sets

Internal Name: rtf-extract-attribute-sets

Enable XPath rewriting

Default: true

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

Internal Name: rtf-rewrite-path

Characters used for checkbox

Default: Albany WT J;9746;9747/A

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

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

Internal Name: rtf-checkbox-glyph

12.9 PDF Template Properties

Table 12-8 describes the properties that control PDF templates.

Table 12-8 PDF Template Properties

Property Name
Description

Remove PDF fields from output

Default: false

Description: Specify "true" to remove PDF fields from the output. When PDF fields are removed, data entered in the fields cannot be extracted. For more information, see Setting Fields as Updatable or Read Only, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Internal Name: remove-pdf-fields

Set all fields as read only in output

Default: true

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

For more information, see "Creating PDF Templates" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Internal Name: all-field-readonly

Maintain each field's read only setting

Default: false

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

For more information, see "Creating PDF Templates" in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Internal Name: all-fields-readonly-asis

12.10 Flash Template Properties

Table 12-9 describes the properties that control Flash templates.

Table 12-9 Flash Template Properties

Property Name
Description

Page width of wrapper document

Default: 792

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

Internal Name: flash-page-width

Page height of wrapper document

Default: 612

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

Internal Name: flash-page-height

Start x position of Flash area in PDF

Default: 18

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

Internal Name: flash-startx

Start y position of Flash area in PDF

Default: 18

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

Internal Name: flash-starty

Width of Flash area

Default: Same as flash width in points in swf

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

Internal Name: flash-width

Height of Flash area

Default: Same as flash height in points in swf

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

Internal Name: flash-height

12.11 CSV Output Properties

Table 12-10 describes the properties that control comma-delimited value output.

Table 12-10 CSV Output Properties

Property Name
Description

CSV delimiter

Default: ,

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

Remove leading and trailing white space

Default: false

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

12.12 Excel 2007 Output Properties

Table 12-11 describes the properties that control Excel 2007 output.

Table 12-11 Excel 2007 Output Properties

Property Name
Description

Show grid lines

Default: false

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

Page break as a new sheet

Default: true

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

Minimum column width

Default: 3 (in points, 0.04 inch)

Description: When the column width is less than the specified minimum and it contains no data, the column is merged with the preceding column.

Minimum row height

Default: 1 (in points, 0.01 inch)

Description: When the row height is less than the specified minimum and it contains no data, the row is removed.

12.13 All Outputs Property

The "Hide version number in output" property affects all outputs. Its default is true.

Some report output documents display Oracle BI Publisher in the document properties. For example, PDF documents identify Oracle BI Publisher as the PDF Producer in the properties for the document. To include the version of BI Publisher (for example, Oracle BI Publisher 11.1.1.6.0) that generated the document, set this property to false.

12.14 Defining Font Mappings

BI Publisher's Font Mapping feature enables you to map base fonts in RTF or PDF templates to target fonts to be used in the published document. Font Mappings can be specified at the site or report level. Font mapping is performed only for PDF output and PowerPoint output.

There are two types of font mappings:

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

PDF Templates - for mapping fonts from PDF templates to different PDF output fonts.

12.14.1 Making Fonts Available to BI Publisher

BI Publisher provides a set of Type1 fonts and a set of TrueType fonts. You can select any of the fonts in these sets as a target font with no additional setup required. For a list of the predefined fonts see Section 12.14.4, "BI Publisher's Predefined Fonts."

The predefined fonts are located in $JAVA_HOME/jre/lib/fonts. To map to another font, place the font in this directory to make it available to BI Publisher at run time. If the environment is clustered, then you must place the font on every server.

12.14.2 Setting Font Mapping at the Site Level or Report Level

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

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

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

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

12.14.3 Creating a Font Mapping

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

To create a Font Mapping:

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

Enter the following on the Add Font Mapping page:

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

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

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

Select the Target Font Type: Type 1 or TrueType

Enter the Target Font

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

For a list of the predefined fonts see Section 12.14.4, "BI Publisher's Predefined Fonts."

12.14.4 BI Publisher's Predefined Fonts

The following Type1 fonts are built-in to Adobe Acrobat and BI Publisher provides a mapping for these fonts by default. You can select any of these fonts as a target font with no additional setup required.

The Type1 fonts are listed in Table 12-12.

Table 12-12 Type 1 Fonts

Number
Font Family
Style
Weight
Font Name

1

serif

normal

normal

Time-Roman

1

serif

normal

bold

Times-Bold

1

serif

italic

normal

Times-Italic

1

serif

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

2

sans-serif

normal

normal

Helvetica

2

sans-serif

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

2

sans-serif

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

2

sans-serif

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

3

monospace

normal

normal

Courier

3

monospace

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

3

monospace

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

3

monospace

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

4

Courier

normal

normal

Courier

4

Courier

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

4

Courier

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

4

Courier

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

5

Helvetica

normal

normal

Helvetica

5

Helvetica

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

5

Helvetica

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

5

Helvetica

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

6

Times

normal

normal

Times

6

Times

normal

bold

Times-Bold

6

Times

italic

normal

Times-Italic

6

Times

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

7

Symbol

normal

normal

Symbol

8

ZapfDingbats

normal

normal

ZapfDingbats

The TrueType fonts are listed in Table 12-13. All TrueType fonts are subset and embedded into PDF.

Table 12-13 TrueType Fonts

Number
Font Family Name
Style
Weight
Actual Font
Actual Font Type

1

Albany WT

normal

normal

ALBANYWT.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only)

2

Albany WT J

normal

normal

ALBANWTJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor)

3

Albany WT K

normal

normal

ALBANWTK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor)

4

Albany WT SC

normal

normal

ALBANWTS.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor)

5

Albany WT TC

normal

normal

ALBANWTT.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor)

6

Andale Duospace WT

normal

normal

ADUO.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

6

Andale Duospace WT

bold

bold

ADUOB.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

normal

normal

ADUOJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

bold

bold

ADUOJB.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

normal

normal

ADUOK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

bold

bold

ADUOKB.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

normal

normal

ADUOSC.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

bold

bold

ADUOSCB.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

normal

normal

ADUOTC.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

bold

bold

ADUOTCB.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

12.15 Defining Currency Formats

Currency formats defined in the Administration Runtime Configuration page are applied at the system level. Currency formats can also be applied at the report level. The report-level settings take precedence over the system-level settings here. For information on setting a report-level currency format, see About Currency Formats, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

12.15.1 Understanding Currency Formats

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

To apply these currency formats in the RTF template, use the format-currency function. See Currency Formatting, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for detailed procedures.

To add a currency format:

Click the Add icon.

Enter the ISO currency code, for example: USD, JPY, EUR, GBP, INR.

Enter the format mask to apply for this currency.

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

where

9 represents a displayed number only if present in data

G represents the group separator

D represents the decimal separator

0 represents an explicitly displayed number regardless of incoming data

See Using the Oracle Format Mask, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for more information about these format mask components.

Figure 12-1 shows sample currency formats.

Figure 12-1 Sample Currency Formats

13 Diagnostics and Performance Monitoring in Oracle BI Publisher

This chapter describes diagnostics and performance monitoring for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section 13.1, "Diagnosing and Resolving Issues in Oracle BI Publisher"

Section 13.2, "About Diagnostic Log Files"

Section 13.3, "Configuring Log Files"

Section 13.4, "Viewing Log Messages"

Section 13.5, "About Performance Monitoring and User Auditing"

Section 13.6, "Enabling Monitoring and Auditing"

Section 13.7, "Viewing the Audit Log"

Section 13.8, "Configuring an Audit Repository"

Section 13.9, "Using BI Publisher to Create Audit Reports"

Section 13.10, "Viewing Performance Statistics in the MBean Browser"

13.1 Diagnosing and Resolving Issues in Oracle BI Publisher

System administrators are typically responsible for supporting end users when they experience issues with the use of Oracle BI Publisher and for interacting with Oracle Support to understand the cause of issues and apply fixes.

Issues might be reported in response to end users receiving error messages, experiencing poor performance, or lack of availability.

The principal activities administrators perform to support issue resolution include:

Examination of error and diagnostic log information. For more information, see:

Section 13.2, "About Diagnostic Log Files"

Section 13.3, "Configuring Log Files"

Section 13.4, "Viewing Log Messages"

Examination of system and process metrics to understand availability and performance issues. For more information, see:

Section 13.5, "About Performance Monitoring and User Auditing"

Section 13.6, "Enabling Monitoring and Auditing"

Section 13.7, "Viewing the Audit Log"

Section 13.8, "Configuring an Audit Repository"

Section 13.9, "Using BI Publisher to Create Audit Reports"

Section 13.10, "Viewing Performance Statistics in the MBean Browser"

13.2 About Diagnostic Log Files

BI Publisher writes diagnostic log files in the Oracle Diagnostic Logging (ODL) format. Log file naming and the format of the contents of log files conforms to an Oracle standard. You can view log files by using the WLST displayLogs command, or you can download log files to your local client and view them using another tool (for example a text editor, or another file viewing utility).

Log files are created and edited using Oracle Fusion Middleware Control. By default, after installation, the bipublisher-handler log is created. You can configure this log file or create a new logger.

13.2.1 About Log File Message Categories and Levels

Each log file message category is set to a specific default value between 1-32, and only messages with a level less or equal to the log level are logged. Various log file message categories exist, as described in Table 13-1.

Table 13-1 Log File Message Category Levels

Level
Description

IncidentError:1

A serious problem caused by unknown reasons. You can only fix the problem by contacting Oracle support. Examples are errors from which you cannot recover or serious problems.

Error:1

A problem requiring attention from the system administrator has occurred, and is not caused by a bug in the product. No performance impact.

Warning:1

A potential problem that should be reviewed by the administrator. Examples are invalid parameter values or a specified file does not exist.

Notification:1

A major lifecycle event such as the activation or deactivation of a primary sub-component or feature. This is the default level for NOTIFICATION.

NOTIFICATION:16

A finer level of granularity for reporting normal events.

TRACE:1

Trace or debug information for events that are meaningful to administrators, such as public API entry or exit points.

TRACE:16

Detailed trace or debug information that can help Oracle Support diagnose problems with a particular subsystem.

TRACE:32

Very detailed trace or debug information that can help Oracle Support diagnose problems with a particular subsystem.

13.2.2 About Log File Formats

A log file must contain a consistent format. However, since there can be multiple formats, you can change the format used in a log file. When you change the format used in a log file, and the new format differs from the current log file's format, a new log file is created. For example, a log file that contains ODL-XML, always contains XML, and is never mixed with text.

Configure the log file format in the Edit Log File dialog. See Section 13.3, "Configuring Log Files." The format can by Text or XML.

13.2.3 About Log File Rotation

Log file rotation can be file size based or time based. Whenever a log file exceeds the rotation criterion, the existing log file is renamed, and a new log file is created.

The file naming looks like this:

log.xml

log.xml.1 (oldest log file)

log.xml.n

13.3 Configuring Log Files

To configure log files in Oracle Fusion Middleware Control:

In Oracle Fusion Middleware Control, locate the BI Publisher server. For example:

Under Application Deployments, expand bipublisher (11.1.1.) (bi_cluster), and then right-click bipublisher (11.1.1)(bi_server1)

From the menu, click Logs and then Log Configuration as shown in Figure 13-1:

Figure 13-1 Navigating to Log Configuration

By default, the bipublisher-handler log is created. Select bipublisher-handler in the table and click Edit Configuration, as shown in Figure 13-2.

Figure 13-2 Edit Log Configuration Files

In the Edit Log File dialog, set the Log Level and configure other options as shown in Figure 13-3.

Figure 13-3 Edit Log File Dialog

13.4 Viewing Log Messages

You can view log messages using Oracle Fusion Middleware Control or you can view the log files directly.

To view log messages in Oracle Fusion Middleware Control:

In Oracle Fusion Middleware Control, locate the BI Publisher server. For example:

Under Application Deployments, expand bipublisher (11.1.1) (bi_cluster), and then right-click bipublisher (11.1.1)(bi_server1)

From the menu, click Logs and View Log Messages as shown in Figure 13-4

Figure 13-4 Navigating to View Log Messages

To view a specific log file, click Target Log Files, as shown in Figure 13-5.

Figure 13-5 Target Log Files

From the Log Files page, select a specific log to view messages or download the log file.

Click View Log File to view the messages, as shown in Figure 13-6.

Figure 13-6 Viewing Log Files

13.4.1 Viewing Messages by Reading the Log File

The log file is located in the directory that is specified in the Log Path in the Edit Log File dialog. Navigate to the directory on the server to view the log file.

The following example shows an ODL format error message:

<msg time="2009-07-30T16:00:03.150-07:00" comp_id="xdo" type="ERROR" level="1" host_id="MyBIPHost" host_addr="122.22.222.22" module="oracle.xdo" tid="11" user="Administrator">
<txt>Variable 'G_dept' is missing...</txt>
</msg>

Table 13-2 describes the message attributes displayed in the log file:

Table 13-2 Log File Message Attributes

Attribute Name
Description

time

The date and time when the message was generated. This reflects the local time zone.

comp_id

The ID of the component that originated the message.

type

The type of message. Possible values are: INCIDENT_ERROR, ERROR, WARNING, NOTIFICATION, TRACE, and UNKNOWN. See the following table for information about the message types.

level

The message level, represented by an integer value that qualifies the message type. Possible values are from 1 (highest severity) through 32 (lowest severity).

host_id

The name of the host where the message originated.

host_addr

The network address of the host where the message originated.

module

The ID of the module that originated the message. If the component is a single module, the component ID is listed for this attribute.

tid

The ID of the thread that generated the message.

user

The name of the user whose execution context generated the message.

13.5 About Performance Monitoring and User Auditing

Performance monitoring enables you to monitor the performance of queries, reports and document generation and to analyze the provided details.

BI Publisher collects performance statistics through JMX Management Beans or Mbeans. Each MBean reveals attributes, operations, and relevant statistics gathered by the Oracle Dynamic Monitoring Service (DMS). Table 13-3 summarizes the beans that are provided.

Table 13-3 Management Beans

Management Bean
Description

ReportEventMonitor

Creates an Mbean per report and displays detailed monitoring data for the report.

ServerEventMonitor

Exists per server and displays user and server activity summaries.

UserEventMonitor

Creates an Mbean per user and displays detailed monitoring data for the user.

13.6 Enabling Monitoring and Auditing

To enable monitoring, complete the following tasks:

Enable Monitor and Audit on the Administration Server Configuration page. See Section 13.6.1, "Enable Monitor and Audit on the Server Configuration Page."

Configure the Audit Policy Settings with Fusion Middleware Control (Enterprise Manager). See Section 13.6.2, "Configure the Audit Policy Settings."

Restart WebLogic Server.

13.6.1 Enable Monitor and Audit on the Server Configuration Page

To turn on monitoring and auditing for the BI Publisher application:

Click the Administration link.

Under System Maintenance, click Server Configuration.

Under the Monitor and Audit region, select the Enable and Monitor check box.

13.6.2 Configure the Audit Policy Settings

To configure the audit policy settings:

In Oracle Fusion Middleware Control, under WebLogic Domain, right-click bifoundation_domain. From the menu, click Security and click Audit Policy, as shown in Figure 13-7.

Figure 13-7 Navigating to the Audit Policy Settings

The Audit Policy table displays all the audited applications under the bifoundation_domain. Set the Audit Level to enable auditing for BI Publisher, as shown in Figure 13-8.

Figure 13-8 Audit Policy Table

You will most likely set the Audit Level to Medium. To customize the audit level for each event, select Custom from the Audit Level list. This enables you to set the audit level for each event and apply filters.

The events that are audited for the BI Publisher server are:

User Logins

User Logouts

Report Request

Scheduled Request

Report Republish

Report Data Download

Report Download

Report Data Process

Report Rendering

Report Delivery

13.6.3 Restart the WebLogic Server

Restart the WebLogic Serve instance. You can do this using Oracle Fusion Middleware Control, or if you are running Windows, you can select "Stop BI Servers" and then "Start BI Servers" from the Start menu.

13.7 Viewing the Audit Log

If you set the property AUDIT_JPS_INTEGRATION to true, then the audit log can be viewed under the xmlpserver folder under the WebLogic Server AdminServer directory: /AdminServer/logs/auditlogs/xmlpserver/audit.log

Alternatively, you can configure an audit repository in the database to store audit data in database tables instead of the log file (the file is not generated in this case). The collected data can be analyzed using reports provided by Audit Framework, or you can create your own reports using BI Publisher.

For more information on the reports provided by Audit Framework, see "Using Audit Analysis and Reporting" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

The following section describes how to set up the audit repository in your database to store the auditing data.

13.8 Configuring an Audit Repository

Perform this procedure to configure an audit repository to store your auditing data collected by the Fusion Middleware Auditing Framework in database tables rather than a log file.

To set up the audit database in WebLogic Server:

Create the audit schema using RCU.

Create a data source in your WebLogic server.

Register the audit database to your domain.

13.8.1 Creating the Audit Schema Using RCU

To create the audit schema:

Go to $RCU_HOME/bin and execute the rcu command.

Choose Create at the starting screen and click Next.

Enter your database details and click Next.

Choose the option to create a prefix, and enter a prefix; for example: BIP

Select Audit Services from the list of schemas (shown in Figure 13-9).

Figure 13-9 List of Schemas

Click Next and accept the tablespace creation.

Click Finish to start the process.

When the Repository Creation Utility process finishes, the following audit-related schemas are created in your database:

<prefix>_IAU (for example:. BIP_IAU)

<prefix>_IAU_APPEND (for example: BIP_IAU_APPEND)

<prefix>_IAU_VIEWER (for example:. BIP_IAU_VIEWER)

13.8.2 Creating the Data Source in WebLogic Server

After you create a database schema for your auditing data, next create a JDBC connection on your WebLogic Server so the Audit Framework can access the database schema that was created with the RCU in the previous step.

To create the JDBC connection:

Connect to the Oracle WebLogic Server administration console: http://hostname:port/console (e.g. http://report.oracle.com:7001/console)

Under Services, click the Data Sources link, as shown in Figure 13-10:

Figure 13-10 Navigating to the Data Sources Link

Click Lock and Edit.

On the Summary of JDBC Data Sources page, click New and then click Generic Data Source.

Enter the following details for the new data source:

Name

Example: Audit Data Source-0

JNDI Name

Example: jdbc/AuditDB

Database Type

Example: Oracle

Figure 13-11 shows the example entries:

Figure 13-11 Create JDBC Data Source

Click Next and select the database driver. Choose "Oracle's Driver (Thin XA) Versions: 9.0.1 or later" if you are using Oracle database, and click Next.

In the Connections Properties page, enter the following:

Database Name: Enter the name of the database (SID) to which to connect.

Host Name: Enter the hostname of the database.

Port: Enter the database port.

Database User Name: Enter the name of the audit schema that you created in RCU. The suffix is always _IAU for the audit schema. For example, if you supplied the prefix as "BIP"', then the schema name would be "BIP_IAU".

Password: Enter the password for the audit schema that you created in RCU.

Figure 13-12 shows the Connection Properties page:

Figure 13-12 Connection Properties Page

Click Next. Accept the defaults, and click Test Configuration to verify the connection.

Click Next. Select the listed servers where you want to make this JDBC connection available.

Click Finish and then click Activate Changes in the Change Center.

13.8.3 Registering the Audit Storage Database to Your Domain

To register the JNDI/JDBC data source as your auditing data storage with Fusion Middleware Control (Enterprise Manager):

Log in to Fusion Middleware Control.

Navigate to the WebLogic Domain, right click bifoundation_domain, then select Security, then Audit Store. The navigation path is shown in Figure 13-13.

Figure 13-13 Navigating to the Audit Store

Click Search Data Sources. From the Select Data Source dialog, select the data source you created and click OK.

Click Apply to continue

Restart WebLogic Server.

When the WebLogic Server is restarted, BI Publisher stores all auditing data in the database table called "IAU_BASE". To verify this procedure, try logging in to BI Publisher and opening a few reports. You should see the activity audited in the "IAU_BASE" table. If not, check the log file for possible errors. The log file is located under the Oracle BI Domain Home, for example:

MIDDLEWARE_HOME/user_projects/domains/bifoundation_domain/servers/AdminServer/logs/AdminServer-diagnostic.log

Once the data is successfully loading to the database tables, you can design your own auditing reports using BI Publisher.

13.9 Using BI Publisher to Create Audit Reports

Once you have the auditing repository set up, you can use BI Publisher to create your own reports to visualize your auditing data. To create a report on your auditing data in BI Publisher:

Register the data source in BI Publisher.

Create a data model.

Create the report.

13.9.1 Registering the Data Source in BI Publisher

Register the audit data source (JNDI/JDBC connection) that you created in the previous procedure as a JNDI data source in BI Publisher. Because you created a JDBC connection registered as JNDI, you do not need to create a new JDBC connection by typing the connection URL, username/password, and so on. You can just register it using the JNDI name (for example: jdbc/AuditDB).

Log in to BI Publisher with administrator privileges and click the Administration link.

Under Data Sources, click JNDI Connection, then click Add Data Source.

Enter the Data Source Name and JNDI Name. The JNDI Name is the name you provided in the WebLogic Console as the auditing data source (for example: jdbc/AuditDB).

Click Test Connection to ensure that the data source connection works.

Add the appropriate roles to the data source so that the report developers and consumers can view the reports built on this data source.

Click Apply to save.

13.9.2 Creating a Data Model

To create a data model from your auditing data source:

Note:

Note: For the complete guidelines for developing data models in BI Publisher, see the Oracle Fusion Middleware Data Modeling Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

On the global header, click New and then click Data Model.

Set the Default Data Source to the audit JNDI data source.

Click Data Sets and from the Create New menu select new SQL Query data set.

Use the Query Builder to build a query or just type a SQL query against the IAU_BASE table. The IAU_BASE table contains all the auditing data for other products running on the WebLogic Server such as JPS, OID, and so on. To create a data model that contains only the BI Publisher data, then you can filter the data based on the value of the IAU_COMPONENTTYPE column that contains the product name. For BI Publisher, the value is "xmlpserver".

The following sample SQL query returns only BI Publisher data:

select     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_COMPONENTTYPE" as "IAU_COMPONENTTYPE",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_EVENTTYPE" as "IAU_EVENTTYPE",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_EVENTCATEGORY" as "IAU_EVENTCATEGORY",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_TSTZORIGINATING" as "IAU_TSTZORIGINATING",
   to_char("IAU_TSTZORIGINATING", 'YYYY-MM-DD') IAU_DATE,
   to_char("IAU_TSTZORIGINATING", 'DAY') as IAU_DAY,
   to_char("IAU_TSTZORIGINATING", 'HH24') as IAU_HH24,
   to_char("IAU_TSTZORIGINATING", 'WW') as IAU_WEEK_OF_YEAR,
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_INITIATOR" as "IAU_INITIATOR",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_RESOURCE" as "IAU_RESOURCE",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_TARGET" as "IAU_TARGET",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_MESSAGETEXT" as "IAU_MESSAGETEXT",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_FAILURECODE" as "IAU_FAILURECODE",
     "IAU_BASE"."IAU_REMOTEIP" as "IAU_REMOTEIP"
from    "BIP_IAU"."IAU_BASE" "IAU_BASE"
where "IAU_BASE"."IAU_COMPONENTTYPE" = 'xmlpserver'

To test your data model, click Get XML Output. Select a sample size, and run your data model. Save the sample XML to your data model.

Save your data model.

13.9.3 Creating the Report

Now you can use one of the BI Publisher's layout options to design the report layout and visualize the auditing data. To create a report using the BI Publisher layout editor:

On the global header, click New and then click Report.

Select the data model you created in the previous procedure.

To use the layout editor, click Add New Layout, and then click one of the Basic Templates to get started.

For complete instructions on using the layout editor, see the topic: "Creating a BI Publisher Layout Template" in the Help or in the Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Figure 13-14 shows using the layout editor to design a report based on the auditing data:

Figure 13-14 Using the Layout Editor to Create an Auditing Report

Figure 13-15 shows a sample completed auditing report displayed in the report viewer:

Figure 13-15 Sample Auditing Report

13.10 Viewing Performance Statistics in the MBean Browser

To view the performance statistics collected by the Report Event Monitor, Service Event Monitor, and User Event Monitor, you use the System MBean browser.

To view performance statistics:

In Oracle Fusion Middleware Control, locate the BI Publisher server. For example:

Under Application Deployments, expand bipublisher (11.1.1) (bi_cluster), and then right-click bipublisher (11.1.1)(bi_server1)

From the menu, click System MBean Browser.

In the System MBean Browser, under the Application Defined MBeans, expand the oracle.xdo folder to view the BI Publisher MBeans. Expand the list and select the bean to view the details, as shown in Figure 13-16.

Figure 13-16 Viewing Performance Statistics

14 Adding Translations for the BI Publisher Catalog and Reports

This chapter describes adding translations for the BI Publisher Catalog and reports. It covers the following topics:

Section 14.1, "Introduction"

Section 14.2, "Exporting and Importing a Catalog Translation File"

Section 14.3, "Template Translation"

Section 14.4, "Using the Localized Template Option"

14.1 Introduction

BI Publisher supports two types of translation:

Catalog Translation

Template (or layout) Translation

Catalog translation enables the extraction of translatable strings from all objects contained in a selected catalog folder into a single translation file; this file can then be translated and uploaded back to BI Publisher and assigned the appropriate language code.

Catalog translation extracts not only translatable strings from the report layouts, but also the user interface strings that are displayed to users, such as catalog object descriptions, report parameter names, and data display names.

Users viewing the catalog see the item translations appropriate for the UI Language they selected in their My Account preferences. Users see report translations appropriate for the Report Locale that they selected in their My Account preferences.

Template translation enables the extraction of the translatable strings from a single RTF-based template (including sub templates and style templates) or a single BI Publisher layout template (.xpt file). Use this option when you only need the final report documents translated. For example, your enterprise requires translated invoices to send to German and Japanese customers.

This chapter describes the process of downloading and uploading translation files. For more information on the concepts and processes of translating the files see the part "Translating Reports and Catalog Objects" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

14.1.1 Limitations of Catalog Translation

If you have existing XLIFF file translations for specific reports and then you import a catalog translation file for the folder in which the existing translations reside, the existing XLIFF files are overwritten.

14.2 Exporting and Importing a Catalog Translation File

This procedure describes the process of exporting an XLIFF file from the catalog, importing the translated file back to the catalog, and testing the translation. Importing and exporting XLIFF files can only be performed by an Administrator.

To import and export an XLIFF file:

Select the folder in the catalog, click the Translation toolbar button, and then click Export XLIFF.

Save the XLIFF file to a local directory.

Open the Translation file (catalog.xlf) and apply translations to the Boilerplate text, as shown in Figure 14-1.

See the "What Is an XLIFF?" section in Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for details on how to translate an XLIFF file.

Figure 14-1 Applying Translations

After the file is translated, upload the XLIFF file to the BI Publisher server: Click the Translation toolbar button, then click Import XLIFF. Upload the translated XLIFF to the server.

To test the translation, select My Account from Signed In As in the global header.

On the General tab of the My Account dialog, change the Report Locale and the UI Language preferences to the appropriate language and click OK.

View the objects in the translated folder.

14.3 Template Translation

Template translation includes:

RTF templates

RTF sub templates

Style templates

BI Publisher templates (.xpt)

RTF and BI Publisher (.xpt) templates can be translated from the Properties page. To access the Properties page, click the Properties link for the layout in the Report Editor, as shown in Figure 14-2.

Figure 14-2 Accessing the Properties Page

From the Properties page you can generate an XLIFF file for a single template. Click Extract Translation to generate the XLIFF file.

14.3.1 Generating the XLIFF File from the Layout Properties Page

To generate the XLIFF file for report layout templates:

Navigate to the report in the catalog and click Edit to open it for editing.

From the thumbnail view of the report layouts, click the Properties link of the layout (RTF or XPT) to open the Layout Properties page.

In the Translations region, click Extract Translation.

BI Publisher extracts the translatable strings from the template and exports them to an XLIFF (.xlf file).

Save the XLIFF to a local directory.

To generate the XLIFF file for style templates and sub templates:

Navigate to the style template or sub template in the catalog and click Edit to open the Template Manager.

In the Translations region, click Extract Translation.

BI Publisher extracts the translatable strings from the template and exports them to an XLIFF (.xlf file).

Save the XLIFF to a local directory.

14.3.2 Translating the XLIFF File

When you have downloaded the XLIFF file, it can be sent to a translation provider, or using a text editor, you can enter the translation for each string. See Structure of the XLIFF File, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher for instructions on how to edit the XLIFF file.

A "translatable string" is any text in the template that is intended for display in the published report, such as table headers and field labels. Text supplied at runtime from the data is not translatable, nor is any text that you supply in the Microsoft Word form fields.

You can translate the template XLIFF file into as many languages as desired and then associate these translations to the original template.

14.3.3 Uploading the Translated XLIFF File to BI Publisher

To upload the translated XLIFF file:

Navigate to the report, sub template, or style template in the catalog and click Edit to open it for editing.

For reports only:

From the thumbnail view of the report layouts, click the Properties link of the layout to open the Template Manager.

In the Translations region, click the Upload toolbar button.

In the Upload Translation File dialog, locate the file in the local directory and select the Locale for this translation.

Click OK to upload the file and view it in the Translations table.

14.4 Using the Localized Template Option

If you need to design a different layout for the reports that you present for different localizations, then you can create new RTF file that is designed and translated for the locale and upload this file to the Template Manager.

Note:

The localized template option is not supported for XPT templates.

The process overview for using the localized template option is described in the following sections:

Section 14.4.1, "Designing the Localized Template File"

Section 14.4.2, "Uploading the Localized Template to BI Publisher"

14.4.1 Designing the Localized Template File

Use the same tools that you used to create the base template file, translating the strings and customizing the layout as desired for the locale.

14.4.2 Uploading the Localized Template to BI Publisher

To upload the localized template:

Navigate to the report, subtemplate, or style template in the catalog and click Edit to open it for editing.

For reports only:

From the thumbnail view of the report layouts, click the Properties link of the layout to open the Template Manager.

In the Templates region, click the Upload toolbar button.

In the Upload Template File dialog, locate the file in the local directory, select rtf as the Template Type and select the Locale for this template file.

Click OK to upload the file and view it in the Templates table.

15 Moving Catalog Objects Between Environments

This chapter describes moving objects in the BI Publisher Catalog between environments. It covers the following topics:

Section 15.1, "Overview"

Section 15.2, "Preparing to Use the BI Publisher Catalog Utility"

Section 15.3, "Exporting BI Publisher Reporting Objects"

Section 15.4, "Importing BI Publisher Reporting Objects"

Section 15.5, "Generating Translation Files and Checking for Translatability"

15.1 Overview

The BI Publisher catalog utility enables administrators and report developers to export the reporting object-related files from the catalog where all BI Publisher reports are stored, and to import them to a different catalog. Use this tool to manage BI Publisher reports using a third party tool as a source control or to move a specific set of reports from a development environment to a quality assurance or production environment. The catalog utility can also be used to help manage translations of reporting objects.

Use the BI Publisher catalog utility to perform the following tasks:

Export BI Publisher reports from the catalog

Import BI Publisher reports into the catalog

Extract translatable strings and generate a translation file (XLIFF)

Generate a security.xml file that contains the reporting object-level permission settings

15.1.1 When to Use the Catalog Utility

Use the catalog utility to move BI Publisher report artifacts from one environment to another. For example, use the catalog utility to move reports from a development environment to a quality assurance environment. This process is illustrated in the Figure 15-1.

Figure 15-1 Using the Catalog Utility

15.1.2 Other Options for Moving Catalog Objects

To download or upload a small number of objects, the download feature of the BI Publisher catalog enables you to bundle and download multicomponent objects (such as reports) in an archive file. You can then use the upload feature to unarchive the data to another location in the catalog. For more information about this feature, see Downloading and Uploading Catalog Objects in Oracle Fusion Middleware User's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Note:

Do not manually edit the BI Publisher files in the file system. BI Publisher uses metadata files to maintain information about catalog objects. Manually editing objects in the file system can result in the corruption of the metadata files. If the metadata file becomes corrupt, then you can restore it by deleting the corrupt file and restarting BI Publisher.

15.1.3 What Files Are Moved

Table 15-1 lists the files that are included when you export an object from the catalog.

Table 15-1 Files Included In Catalog Export

Object
Files

Report Example: Balance+Letter.xdo

_report.xdo — The report definition file

xdo.cfg  — The configuration file that contains the report property settings

~metadata.meta — The metadata file that contains the catalog path information. This file is used by the utility to import objects back to their original locations.

security.xml file — Specifies the object level permissions defined for the report

template files — All template files loaded to the report definition. The file names include the language suffix, for example: My_RTF_template_en_us.rtf, My_BIP_layout_en_us.xpt

translation files — All translation files (.xlf), for example: My_RTF_template_jp_jp.xlf

Data Model Example: myDataModel.xdm

_datamodel.xdm — The report definition file

~metadata.meta — The metadata file that contains the catalog path information. This file is used by the utility to import objects back to their original locations.

security.xml file — Specifies the object level permissions defined for the data model

Subtemplate Example: mysubtempate.xsb

_template_en_us.rtf — The subtemplate file with locale designation

~metadata.meta — The metadata file that contains the catalog path information. This file is used by the utility to import objects back to their original locations.

security.xml file — Specifies the object level permissions defined for the subtemplate

translation files — Any translations, when present; for example: _template_jp_jp.rtf

Style Template Example: myStyleTemplate.xss

_template_en_us.rtf — The style template file with locale designation

~metadata.meta — The metadata file that contains the catalog path information. This file is used by the utility to import objects back to their original locations.

security.xml file — Specifies the object level permissions defined for the style template

translation files — Any translations, when present; for example: _template_jp_jp.rtf

15.2 Preparing to Use the BI Publisher Catalog Utility

The BI Publisher catalog utility is installed in the following location:

ORACLE_HOME/clients/bipublisher

15.2.1 Configuring the Environment

You must configure each environment in which you run the catalog utility.

To configure the environment for the catalog utility:

Set the environment variables to the values in the following list:

path = ($HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/bin $path)

BIP_LIB_DIR = $HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/lib

BIP_CLIENT_CONFIG = $HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/config

JAVA_HOME = $HOME/java/jdk1.6.0_18

The following example shows setting the environment variables for C-shell:

% set path = ($HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/bin $path)
% setenv BIP_LIB_DIR $HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/lib
% setenv BIP_CLIENT_CONFIG $HOME/BIPCatalogUtil/config
% setenv JAVA_HOME $HOME/java/jdk1.6.0_18

Edit xmlp-client-config.xml. This configuration file is located under the BIPCatalogUtil/config directory.

Specify the BI Publisher instance URL ("bipurl") and the user name and password of the BI Publisher instance from which you must export or to which you must import.

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>
<!DOCTYPE properties SYSTEM "http://java.sun.com/dtd/properties.dtd">
<properties>
        <comment>BIP Server Information</comment>
    <entry key="bipurl">http://sta00XXX.us.oracle.com:14001/xmlpserver/</entry>
        <entry key="username">OPERATIONS</entry>
    <entry key="password">welcome</entry>
</properties>

If you do not want to store this information in the configuration file, then at the time of import/export you can also set the bipurl, username, and password as parameters in the command line to overwrite values defined in xmlp-client-config.xml.

15.3 Exporting BI Publisher Reporting Objects

Use the export command to export either a single reporting object or a set of BI Publisher reporting objects under a specified folder. There are two export commands:

-export — Use this command to export a single report object

-exportfolder — Use this command to export a folder and its contents

Table 15-2 describes the supported parameters for the -export and -exportfolder commands.

Table 15-2 Parameters for Export Commands

Parameter
Used With
Sample
Description

catalogpath

-export -exportfolder

/Samples/Financials/Balance+Letter.xdo

The path to the object in the catalog. If there are spaces in any of the names, use the '+' sign to substitute.

target

-export

/tmp/Financials/BalanceLetter

The destination directory in which to place the extracted reporting objects.

basedir

-exportfolder

/home/bipub/samples

The base directory into which to place subfolders of extracted reporting objects. When present, data models are saved to {basedir}/datamodels; reports are saved to {basedir}/reports; style and subtemplates are saved to {basedir}/templates.

extract

-export -exportfolder

true/false

The default is false, which means that the utility exports the reporting object in a zip format that contains all the related files such as '.xdo', '.rtf', '.cfg', and so on. If the value is set to 'true', then the utility exports the reporting object-related files under the specified target folder.

subfolders

-exportfolder

true/false

When you specify a folder as the "catalogpath" parameter you can use this "subfolders"' parameter to control whether to download all subfolder content. If you specify true, then all reporting objects in all subfolders are downloaded. If you specify false, then subfolder contents are not downloaded.

overwrite

-export -exportfolder

true/false

Specify true to overwrite existing objects in the target area.

15.3.1 Example Export Command Lines

The following examples show how to use the utility to export the reporting objects:

Section 15.3.1.1, "Exporting a Single Report in Archive Format"

Section 15.3.1.2, "Exporting a Single Report with Files Extracted"

Section 15.3.1.3, "Exporting a Set of Reports to a Specified Folder"

15.3.1.1 Exporting a Single Report in Archive Format

The following example exports the reporting object in a zip format. The zip file contains all the reporting object related files such as .xdo, .rtf, .cfg, and so on. To extract a report in archived format use the ".xdoz" extension for the target. To extract a data model, use the ".xdmz" extension.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -export catalogpath=/Samples/Financials/Balance+Letter.xdo target=/home/bipub/reports/BalanceLetter.xdoz extract=false

15.3.1.2 Exporting a Single Report with Files Extracted

The following example extracts the reporting object-related files to a directory named "/home/bipub/reports/BalanceLetter". Existing files are overwritten.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -export catalogpath=/Samples/Financials/Balance+Letter.xdo target=/home/bipub/reports/BalanceLetter extract=true overwrite=true

15.3.1.3 Exporting a Set of Reports to a Specified Folder

The following example extracts all the reporting objects under the "/Samples" folder and its subfolders in the catalog. Data models are saved under {basedir}/datamodels. Reports are saved into {basedir}/reports. Style and subtemplates are saved into {basedir}/templates.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -exportfolder catalogpath=/Samples basedir=/home/bipub/samples subfolders=true extract=true overwrite=true

15.4 Importing BI Publisher Reporting Objects

Use the import command to import either a single BI Publisher reporting object or a set of BI Publisher reporting objects under a specified folder. Table 15-3 describes the supported parameters for the import command.

Table 15-3 Parameters for Import Command

Parameter
Sample
Description

catalogpath

/Samples/Financials/Balance+Letter.xdo

Specify the catalog path to where you want to import the reporting object only when you want to override the default information. If you do not specify this parameter, then the reporting object is imported to the same location where it was originally exported from.

source

/tmp/Financials/BalanceLetter

The directory where the reporting object is located. Use this parameter when you are importing a single report.

basedir

/home/bipub/samples

The directory that contains multiple reports or data models to be imported. Specify this parameter when importing a set of reports or data models.

overwrite

true/false

Specify 'true' to overwrite existing objects in the target area.

Typically, you import the reporting object to where it was originally exported from. When you export the reporting object with the utility, it generates a metafile (.meta) that contains the catalog path information. The utility uses this information to import the reporting object to the original location. To import the objects into a different location, you can override the original catalog path location by specifying the catalogpath parameter.

15.4.1 Example Import Command Lines

The following examples show how to use the utility to import reports:

Section 15.4.1.1, "Importing a Report to an Original Location"

Section 15.4.1.2, "Importing a Report to a New Location"

Section 15.4.1.3, "Importing a Zipped Report"

Section 15.4.1.4, "Importing a set of BI Publisher Reporting Objects Under a Specified Folder"

15.4.1.1 Importing a Report to an Original Location

The following example imports a report to a catalog path saved in its metafile (.meta). Existing reports are overwritten.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -import source=/tmp/Financials/BalanceLetter overwrite=true

15.4.1.2 Importing a Report to a New Location

The following example imports a report into a new location in the catalog.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -import source=/home/bipub/reports/BalanceLetter catalogpath=/Production/Financials/Balance+Letter+Report.xdo

15.4.1.3 Importing a Zipped Report

The following example imports a zipped reporting object to an original location in the catalog.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -import source=/home/bipub/reports/BalanceLetter.xdoz overwrite=true

15.4.1.4 Importing a set of BI Publisher Reporting Objects Under a Specified Folder

The following example imports all the reports under the base directory (basedir) into the original locations in the catalog.

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -import basedir=/Users/bipub subfolders=true overwrite=true

15.5 Generating Translation Files and Checking for Translatability

The catalog utility supports the -xliff command to generate a translatable XLIFF file for a specific file. Table 15-4 describes the supported parameters for generating XLIFF files.

The source file can be the report definition (.xdo) file, an RTF template file (.rtf), or a BI Publisher layout template file (.xpt). When the source is the .xdo file, the generated XLIFF file includes all user-entered strings from the report definition interface, for example: description, layout names, parameter names.

Table 15-4 Parameters for Generating XLIFF Files

Parameter
Sample
Description

source

/Samples/Financials/Balance+Letter.xdo

The path to the report or template file (RTF or XPT) for which to generate the XLIFF file.

target

/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/Balance+Letter.xlf

The location to save the generated .xlf document.

basedir

/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/

The directory to place the generated .xlf files into.

The following examples show how to generate translation files:

Section 15.5.1, "Generating a Translation File for a Report Definition File (.xdo)"

Section 15.5.2, "Generating a Translation File for an RTF Template"

15.5.1 Generating a Translation File for a Report Definition File (.xdo)

The following example generates an XLIFF file for a single report definition file:

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -xliff source=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/Balance+Letter.xdo target=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/Balance+Letter.xlf

To save the XLIFF to a base directory:

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -xliff source=/home/bipub/reports/Balance/Balance+Letter.xdo basedir=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/

15.5.2 Generating a Translation File for an RTF Template

The following example generates an XLIFF file for a single RTF template file:

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -xliff source=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/Balance+Letter+Template.rtf target=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/Balance+Letter+Template.xlf

To save the XLIFF to a base directory:

$ BIPCatalogUtil.sh -xliff source=/home/bipub/reports/Balance/Balance+Letter+Template.rtf basedir=/home/bipub/reports/Balance+Letter/

A Setting Up Print Servers

This appendix describes the print server options that BI Publisher offers. It covers the following topics:

Section A.1, "Setting Up CUPS on Linux"

Section A.2, "Setting Up Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) on Windows"

A.1 Setting Up CUPS on Linux

The delivery manager requires Common UNIX Printing System (CUPS) to print and fax documents. This section describes how to set up CUPS for printing and faxing on RedHat Linux.

Figure A-1 shows the integration between BI Publisher and CUPS.

Figure A-1 Integration of BI Publisher and CUPS

The following procedures describe how to add a printer or fax to CUPS and how to test your setup. For more information, see CUPS Software Administrators Manual (http://www.cups.org/doc-1.1/sam.html) and the Redhat Advanced Server online help.

A.1.1 Prerequisites

RedHat Advanced Server 3.0 or later

Fax Modem connected to the Linux box

Development Tools for the RedHat Advanced Server installed

CUPS (Installed by default when installing RedHat AS 3.0 or later)

A.1.2 Setting Up a Printer on CUPS

The RedHat Advanced Server provides a configuration wizard to help you set up your printers.

To use the RedHat Printer Configuration Wizard to set up a printer:

Run "redhat-config-printer"

While logged on as the root user, open a terminal and execute "redhat-config-printer". This invokes the Printer configuration window.

Select the New tab to launch the Add a new print queue wizard.

Follow the wizard prompts to:

Enter a queue name.

Select the queue type.

Select "Networked_JetDirect" to set up a network printer. For this selection, you must also enter the following:

Printer — Enter a hostname or IP address.

Port — Enter a port.

If the printer driver is installed in Microsoft Windows, then the Printer and Port information is available from the Properties dialog for the printer (Settings > Printers and Faxes > (select printer) > File > Properties).

Select the printer model.

If the printer supports PostScript, then select the following:

Manufacturer: "Generic"

Model: "PostScript Printer"

Review your selections and select "Apply" to create your new print queue.

The new queue is displayed in the Printer configuration window.

To test the printer on CUPS:

Launch a browser on RedHat and enter the following URL:

http://localhost:631

Select the Printers tab. The printer you just created is listed.

To use the Windows browser to access this page, see Section A.1.4, "Making CUPS Accessible from Other Machines."

Select Print Test Page to test your printer setup. If the test page does not print, repeat the configuration steps. Ensure that your printer type and model selections are correct.

A.1.3 Installing and Setting Up Fax for CUPS

This section describes how to install efax-0.9 software and configure it for CUPS.

To install the fax software:

Download efax-0.9 from one of the following locations:

http://www.cce.com/efax/download/

ftp://ftp.metalab.unc.edu/pub/Linux/apps/serialcomm/fax/efax-0.9.tar.gz

Extract the files to a working directory using the following commands:

gunzip efax-0.9.tar.gz

tar xvf efax-0.9.tar

Compile and install using the following commands (see the Readme for more information):

make

make install

Note:

You must have make and gcc installed in your RedHat AS.

Test the fax.

Enter the following command:

fax send <fax_number><tiff file>

For example:

fax send 1234567 test.tiff

The fax is successful if you get the return code:

done, returning 0 (success)

Download fax4CUPs. It is available from the following site:

http://www.gnu.org/directory/productivity/special/fax4CUPS.html

Install fax4CUPS as follows:

Extract the tar file to a temporary directory

Change the directory: cd fax4CUPS-1.23

Open the INSTALL file and follow all steps.

Restart CUPS using the following command:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/cups restart

To set up a fax on CUPS:

Launch a browser and go to the following URL:

http://localhost:631/admin

Enter the admin user name and password in the dialog that launches.

From the Admin page, select Add Printer.

Add a Fax queue as follows:

In the Add New Printer region, enter the following fields:

Name — Enter a meaningful name for the item, such as "efaxserver". This item is referred to as "ipp://serverName:631/printers/efaxserver".

Location — Optional.

Description — Optional.

Select a device for the fax queue.

Select "Faxmodem (efax on /dev/modem)". In some cases, "/dev/ttySxx" is shown instead.

Select a model for the fax queue.

Select "efax". You can also select either "HylaFAX" or "mgetty-fax" if these have been installed.

Select the driver for the fax queue.

Select "efax (en)".

Verify that the new fax queue appears on the CUPS Admin Web page.

Text the fax on CUPS.

Enter the following command to test the fax:

/usr/bin/lp -d <printer name> -t <phone#> test.pdf

Example:

/usr/bin/lp -d efax1 -t 5556231 myfax.pdf

A.1.4 Making CUPS Accessible from Other Machines

By default, CUPS does not allow access from other network machines. However, it can be configured to allow access.

To make CUPS accessible from other machines:

Open a CUPS configuration file using the following command:

Open /etc/cups/cupsd.conf

Add a "Listen" instruction.

Scroll to the bottom of the configuration file where the other Listen instructions are declared.

Copy "Listen 127.0.0.1:631" and paste it above or below the original.

Replace "127.0.0.1" with the Linux server's IP address.

Configure each printer.

In the configuration file, locate:

<Location /printers/your_printer_queue>

Comment the instruction "Deny From All".

Example:

# Deny From All

Change "Allow from 127.0.0.1" to "Allow from All"

Repeat for all printer or fax queues that you wan to make accessible.

Save the configuration file and restart CUPS.

Use the following command to stop CUPS:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/cups stop

Use the following command to start CUPS:

/etc/rc.d/init.d/cups start

Test the accessibility from other machines.

Launch a browser from another machine and enter one of the following URLs to ensure that the CUPS web page can be accessed:

http://linux_server_name:631

http://linux_ip_address:631

A.2 Setting Up Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) on Windows

This section describes how to set up Internet Printing Protocol (IPP) on a Windows XP server.

A.2.1 Setting Up IPP Printers on Windows XP Professional

To set up IPP printers:

Install Internet Information Services (IIS).

Open the Control Panel. Select Add or Remove Programs, then Add/Remove Windows Components.

Select the option for Internet Information Services (IIS) from the list of available Windows Components.

With IIS highlighted, select Details. Ensure that World Wide Web Service is selected in the Internet Information Services (IIS) dialog.

With World Wide Web Service highlighted, select Details. Ensure that Printers virtual directory is selected in the World Wide Web Service dialog.

Restart Windows XP.

Share the printers:

From the Start menu, select Settings, then Printers and Faxes.

Right-click the printer icon and select Sharing.

In the printer Properties dialog, select Share this printer and assign a Share name (for example: myprinter1).

Note:

The Share name must not contain spaces.

Configure the Windows Firewall to open a port to the XMLP Server:

From the Start menu, select Settings, then Control Panel.

From the Control Panel, select Windows Firewall.

From the Windows Firewall dialog, select the Exceptions tab.

Create an entry in the list of Programs and Services as follows:

Select Add Port.

Enter the Name: for example, Web

Enter the Port number: for example, 80

Select TCP.

Figure A-2 shows the Edit a Port dialog.

Figure A-2 Edit a Port Dialog

To allow access from a specific IP address only:

Select your entry, then select Edit.

From the Edit a Program dialog, select Change Scope.

Choose Custom list, and enter the IP address of the XMLP Server.

Note that if you use the HTTP proxy server in BI Publisher Server, then you must enter the IP address of the proxy server.

Change the virtual directory security setting.

From the Control Panel, select Administrative Tools, then Internet Information Service.

Navigate the Internet Information Service directory hierarchy as follows: Internet Information Services > [your server name] > Web Sites > Default Web Site > Printers. Right-click Printers and choose Properties.

From the Printers Properties dialog, select the Directory Security tab.

In the Anonymous access and authentication control region, select Edit.

In the Authentication Methods dialog, select the Anonymous access check box.

Open a browser in a remote machine and enter the following URL: http://<your server name>/printers

You see the list of shared printers.

B Scheduler Configuration Reference

This appendix contains reference information for scheduler configuration. It covers the following topics:

Section B.1, "Introduction"

Section B.2, "Configuring BI Publisher for ActiveMQ"

Section B.3, "Manually Configuring the Quartz Scheduler"

B.1 Introduction

The Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Installer configures the connection to the scheduler and installs the scheduler schema to your selected scheduler database. The WebLogic JMS queues are set up and the scheduler is up and running after installation is complete and the servers have been started.

This information in this appendix is provided for reference for manually configuring the scheduler and for setting up ActiveMQ as an alternative JMS provider.

For conceptual information about the scheduler, information for installing and configuring additional managed servers, and a description of the scheduler diagnostics page, see Chapter 7, "Configuring the Scheduler."

B.2 Configuring BI Publisher for ActiveMQ

The scheduler is configured by default to use WebLogic JMS. The scheduler also supports ActiveMQ as an alternative JMS provider. Use these guidelines with the ActiveMQ documentation to configure BI Publisher if you choose to use ActiveMQ as the JMS provider.

B.2.1 Install ActiveMQ

It is recommended that you install ActiveMQ version 5.2.0 or later. This can be installed in Windows, UNIX or Linux. Follow the installation steps documented at the following location:

http://activemq.apache.org

B.2.2 Register ActiveMQ as a JNDI Service

When you start ActiveMQ, the queues can be accessed using JNDI service.

The default URL to access this service is:

failover://tcp://localhost:61616

To change this configuration, update the activemq.xml configuration file found in apache-activemq-x.x.x\conf for example: apache-activemq-5.2.0\conf.

B.2.3 Update the BI Publisher Scheduler Configuration Page

To update the Scheduler Configuration page:

On the BI Publisher Administration page, under System Maintenance, click Scheduler Configuration.

Under the JMS Configuration region, select ActiveMQ.

Enter the ActiveMQ JNDI URL. For example: failover://tcp://localhost:61616

Enter the threads per processor (for example: 5).

Enter the path to a shared temporary directory.

Click Test JMS to test the connection.

Click Apply to apply the changes to this page.

The ActiveMQ URL is dynamically applied. The queues and topics are automatically created in ActiveMQ and are ready for scheduling. You can confirm the queues by checking them in the Scheduler Diagnostics page. Alternatively, you can check the status in the ActiveMQ Web console: http://localhost:8161/admin.

B.3 Manually Configuring the Quartz Scheduler

BI Publisher includes the Hyperion-branded DataDirect Connect for JDBC drivers to setup a connection to install and use the scheduler tables in your database. These drivers can be used as an alternative to the native JDBC drivers provided by your database vendor. When you choose a database for which a DataDirect driver is available, BI Publisher automatically enters the database driver class information in the setup screen for you. There is no additional setup required for the driver files.

If you choose to use a data direct driver not provided by the BI Platform Installer, then you must download, install, and configure the driver manually.

B.3.1 Recommendations for Using DataDirect Connect or Native Database Drivers

DataDirect Connect for JDBC drivers are provided for the following databases:

IBM DB2 v8.1, v9.1

Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005

Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise

Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g,

Note:

Some database options listed here and in the Scheduler page might not be supported in this release. See "System Requirements and Certification" for the most up-to-date information on supported hardware and software.

Table B-1 displays the driver recommendations for the supported scheduler databases.

Table B-1 Driver Recommendations

Database
Native JDBC Driver
DataDirect JDBC Driver

Oracle 10g, Oracle 11g

Recommended

Supported

IBM DB2 v8.1, v9.1

Supported

Recommended

Microsoft SQL Server 2000, 2005

Supported

Recommended

Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise

Supported

Recommended

MySQL 4.1.10a-NT, 5.0

Supported

Not Supplied

B.3.2 Set Up a User on Your Scheduler Database

To set up the connection to the scheduler database, you must ensure that you have created a user on the selected database. BI Publisher uses this user to connect to the database. Depending on the database type, this user might require specific privileges. These are detailed in the database-specific sections later in this appendix.

B.3.3 Connecting to Your Scheduler Database and Installing the Schema

Following are the general steps for setting up the Scheduler database. Also refer to the subsequent section that is specific to your database.

To set up the Scheduler database:

Log in to BI Publisher with Administrator credentials and select the Administration tab.

Under System Maintenance, click Scheduler Configuration.

In the Scheduler Selection region, select Quartz.

Note:

The option "Enterprise Scheduler Services" is reserved for a future release.

Enter the following fields for the Database Connection:

Database Type — Select the database from the list. After you make a selection, the Database Driver Class field automatically updates with the recommended driver class.

Connection String — Enter the connection string for your selected database. Sample strings are provided in the database-specific sections that follow.

Username and Password — Enter the scheduler user you set up for your database. The user must have permissions to connect to the database and create tables. Other permissions might be required depending on the database type. See the appropriate database-specific section later in this chapter.

Database Driver Class — When you select the database type this field is automatically updated with the recommended driver. If you want to use another driver, then specify it in this field.

Note:

Note: The Oracle database drivers and the DataDirect drivers are installed with BI Publisher and no further setup is required. Note that for other databases, even though the recommended native drivers are automatically populated in this field, additional setup is required to make the drivers available to BI Publisher.

Click Test Connection to ensure that BI Publisher can connect to the database. If the connection fails, ensure that you have entered the fields as shown and set up your database appropriately.

Click Install Schema to install the BI Publisher scheduler schema to your database.

B.3.4 Connecting to Oracle Database

Prerequisite: Ensure that the database user you enter has "connect" or "create session" and "create table" privileges and that the user has been assigned a quota (otherwise the quota is 0).

For example, the following sample creates the user "bipuser":

SQL> CREATE USER bipuser
   2  IDENTIFIED BY welcome
   3  DEFAULT TABLESPACE USERS
   4  TEMPORARY TABLESPACE TEMP
   5  QUOTA 20G ON USERS
   6  QUOTA 1M ON TEMP;

User created.

 SQL> GRANT CREATE SESSION TO bipuser; -- or "GRANT CONNECT TO bipuser;"

 Grant succeeded.

 SQL> grant create table to bipuser;

 Grant succeeded.

Table B-2 describes the fields for the Oracle native driver to connect to the Oracle Database.

Table B-2 Oracle Native Driver Fields

Field
Description

Database Type:

Select Oracle 11g or Oracle 10g from the list.

Connection String:

Enter the following connection string parameters: jdbc:oracle:thin:@<hostname>:<port>:<oracle SID> For example: jdbc:oracle:thin:@mydatabaseserver.com:1521:bipscheduler

Database Driver Class:

oracle.jdbc.driver.OracleDriver

B.3.5 Connecting to IBM DB2

Prerequisite: Ensure that the user that you enter to configure the scheduler has been set up with a 32 K page size tablespace. If not, create the table and assign it to the user. The user must also have "Connect to database" and "Create tables" privileges.

Table B-3 describes the fields for the DataDirect driver to connect to an IBM DB2 v8 or IBM DB2 v9 database.

Table B-3 DataDirect Driver Fields for IBM Databases

Field
Entry

Database Type:

Select IBM DB2 v9 or IBM DB2 v8 from the list.

Connection String:

Enter the following connection string parameters:jdbc:hyperion:db2://<hostname>:<port>;DatabaseName=<DATABASENAME> For example: jdbc:hyperion:db2:// mydatabaseserver.com:1433;DatabaseName=bipscheduler

Database Driver Class:

hyperion.jdbc.db2.DB2Driver

B.3.6 Connecting to Microsoft SQL Server

Prerequisite: Ensure that the Microsoft SQL Server is set up with mixed mode authentication. Also ensure that the user that you enter to configure the scheduler has the "db_owner" role.

Table B-4 describes the fields for the DataDirect driver to connect to a Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or 2005 database.

Table B-4 DataDirect Driver Fields for SQL Server Databases

Field
Entry

Database Type:

Select Microsoft SQL Server 2000 or Microsoft SQL Server 2005 from the list.

Connection String:

Enter the following connection string parameters: jdbc:hyperion:sqlserver://<hostname>:<port>;DatabaseName=<DATABASENAME> For example: jdbc:hyperion:sqlserver:// mydatabaseserver.com:1433;DatabaseName=bipscheduler

Database Driver Class:

hyperion.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver

B.3.7 Connecting to Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise Database

Prerequisite: Ensure that you set the "ddl in tran" mode to true in the database. Consult the Sybase documentation or contact your database administrator for instruction how to enable this option.

Table B-5 describes the fields for the DataDirect driver to connect to a Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise database.

Table B-5 DataDirect Driver Fields for Sybase Database

Field
Entry

Database Type:

Select Sybase Adaptive Server Enterprise from the list.

Connection String:

Enter the following connection string parameters: jdbc:hyperion:sybase://<hostname>:<port>;DatabaseName=<DATABASENAME> For example: jdbc:hyperion:sybase://mydatabaseserver.com:4100;DatabaseName=bipscheduler

Database Driver Class:

hyperion.jdbc.sybase.SybaseDriver

C Integration Reference for Oracle BI Enterprise Edition

This appendix contains reference information for scheduler configuration. It covers the following topics:

Section C.1, "About Integration"

Section C.2, "Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog"

Section C.3, "Configuring Integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services"

Section C.4, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Oracle BI Server"

C.1 About Integration

The information in this chapter is for reference to highlight the integration points between BI Publisher and the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition.

You might need to reference this information in the following scenarios:

You are upgrading from a 10g release to the 11g release

You run a separate installation of BI Publisher and want to integrate it

You need to modify the installed configuration

The points of integration discussed in this chapter are:

Connecting to Oracle BI Server as a data source

Configuring BI Publisher to use the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog

Configuring integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services

C.1.1 Prerequisites

Oracle BI Publisher must be installed on the same server with the other components of Oracle BI Enterprise Edition.

The security configuration must be either Oracle Fusion Middleware security or Oracle BI Server security.

C.2 Configuring BI Publisher to Use the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog

To manually configure BI Publisher to use the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog:

On the Server Configuration page in the Catalog region, select Catalog Type: Oracle BI EE Catalog

Enter the following:

Server Version - v7

System Username

Enter BISystemUser

BISystemUser is a fixed user created during installation for trusted communication between components.

System Password

Enter the password for BISystemUser.

Connection Protocol — TCP

Click Test Connection to ensure BI Publisher can connect to Oracle BI Presentation Services.

Enter the path of the current BI Publisher repository.

Click Upload to BI Presentation Catalog. This action uploads the contents of the BI Publisher catalog to the BI Presentation catalog.

Restart the BI Publisher application.

C.3 Configuring Integration with Oracle BI Presentation Services

When you install Oracle BI Enterprise Edition the integration with BI Publisher is automatically configured. This means that the Oracle BI Platform installer sets the Presentation Services host name, port, and URL suffix values. Furthermore, the username and password fields are hidden, because both products are configured to use Oracle Fusion Middleware security.

To configure integration with Presentation Services:

From the Administration page, under Integration, click Oracle BI Presentation Services.

Enter the following information about your BI Presentation Services server:

Server Protocol — Select http or https

Server Version — Select v6

Server — Enter the server host name. For example: BIEEServer

Port for the server where the BI Presentation Services plug-in is running. For example: 9704

Administrator Username and Password — These fields are hidden when using Oracle Fusion Middleware Security. If you are manually configuring the integration, enter the BISystemUser username and password.

URL Suffix — Default value is: analytics/saw.dll

Note:

If your deployment is configured for SSO, then the suffix must be entered as "analytics-ws/saw.dll" to allow the Web services between BI Publisher and BI Presentation Services. For more information on configuring SSO for Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

Session time out in minutes

C.4 Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Oracle BI Server

Note:

If you installed BI Publisher with the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition, then this data source is automatically configured.

To add the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition server as a JDBC data source, follow the guidelines in Section 9.2, "Setting Up a JDBC Connection to the Data Source" with these specific guidelines.

Note that if your Oracle BI Server is SSL-enabled, then you must copy the keystore to the BI Publisher server and provide it in the connection string.

The entries for Database Driver Class and Connection String must be as follows:

Database Driver Class — oracle.bi.jdbc.AnaJdbcDriver

Connection String — The appropriate connection string depends on your specific deployment. Clustered and SSL-enabled deployments require specific parameters to construct the URL. For example, if the Oracle BI Server is SSL-enabled, then you must copy the keystore to the BI Publisher server and provide it in the connection string. For more information on SSL, see Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.

The URL for the connection string requires the following format:

<URL>:= <Prefix>: [//<Host>:<Port>/][<Property Name>=<Property Value>;]*

where

<Prefix> — The string jdbc:oraclebi

<Host> — The hostname of the analytics server. It can be an IP Address or hostname. The default is localhost.

<Port> — The port number that the server is listening on. The default is 9703.

<Property Name>:= <Catalog>|<User>|<Password>|<SSL>|<SSLKeyStoreFileName> |<SSLKeyStorePassword>|<TrustAnyServer>|<TrustStoreFileName >|<TrustStorePassword>|<LogLevel>|<LogFilePath>|<PrimaryCCS>|<PrimaryCCSPort>| <SecondaryCCS>|<SecondaryCCSPort>

Valid property values are:

<Catalog>  — Any catalog name that is available on the server. If the catalog is not specified, then it defaults to the default catalog specified by the server. If the catalog name is not found in the server, then it still uses the default catalog and issues a warning during connect.

<User> — Specifies the user name for the BI Server. The default is "Administrator".

<Password> — Specifies the password for the BI Server for the user name. The password is encrypted using 3DES.

<SSL> True|False — Default is False. Specifies if the JDBC driver uses SSL or not. If true, then driver checks whether SSLKeyStoreFileName is readable; if not, it issues an error message.

<SSLKeyStoreFileName> — Specifies the name of the file that store the SSL Keys. This file must exist in the local file system and be readable by the driver.

<SSLKeyStorePassword> — Specifies the password to open the file pointed to by SSLKeyStoreFileName.

<TrustAnyServer> - True | False — The default is False. If SSL is set to "True" the property specifies whether to check the trust store for the server. If TrustAnyServer is set to "False", the driver verifies that TrustStoreFileName is readable.

<TrustStoreFileName> — If TrustAnyServer is set to false, this property is required to specify the trust store file name.

<TrustStorePassword> — If TrustAnyServer and TrustStoreFileName are specified, this property specifies the password to open up the file specified by TrustStoreFileName.

<LogLevel> — Specifies the log level. Valid values are

SEVERE | WARNING | INFO | CONFIG | FINE | FINER | FINEST

<LogFilePath> — Specifies the file path of the desired logging destination. Default is %TEMP% on windows, $TMP on UNIX. Driver needs to have write permission on the file. It creates a new entry marked as _0, _1 if the same file name exists.

<PrimaryCCS> — (For clustered configurations) specifies the primary CCS machine name instead of using the "host" to connect. If this property is specified, the "host" property value is ignored. The jdbc driver tries to connect to the CCS to obtain the load-balanced machine. Default is localhost.

<PrimaryCCSPort> — Specifies the primary CCS port number running on the PrimaryCCS machine. Default is 9706.

<SecondaryCCS> — Specifies the secondary CCS machine name instead of using the "host" to connect. If this property is specified, then the jdbc driver trues to connect to the CCS to obtain the load-balanced machine. Default is localhost.

<SecondaryCCSPort> — Specifies the secondary CCS port number running on the secondary machine. Default is 9706.

Following is an example connection string for a clustered deployment with SSL enabled:

jdbc:oraclebi://machine01.domain:9706/PrimaryCCS=machine01;PrimaryCCSPort=9706;SecondaryCCS=machine02;SecondaryCCSPort=9706;user=admin;password=welcome;ssl=true;sslKeystorefilename=c:\mycompany\OracleBI\sslc\javahost.keystore;sslKeystorepassword=welcome;trustanyserver=true;

Use System User - you must select this box to use the BISystem User. When you select this box, BI Publisher will use the BISystem Username and password to connect to the BI Server. The Username and Password fields are no longer editable.

Username - leave blank

Password- leave blank

Use Proxy Authentication — (Required) select this box. Proxy authentication is required.

D Configuration File Reference

This appendix contains reference information for configuration files for BI Publisher. It covers the following topics:

Section D.1, "BI Publisher Configuration Files"

Section D.2, "Setting Properties in the Runtime Configuration File"

Section D.3, "Structure of the Root Element"

Section D.4, "Properties and Property Elements"

Section D.5, "Font Definitions"

Section D.6, "Predefined Fonts"

D.1 BI Publisher Configuration Files

This appendix contains reference information about the following BI Publisher configuration file:

Runtime Configuration Properties File

The properties in the Runtime Configuration file are set through the Runtime Configuration Properties, Currency Formats, and Font Mappings pages. (For information, see Section 12.1, "Setting Run-Time Properties.")

D.2 Setting Properties in the Runtime Configuration File

The runtime properties and font mappings are set through the Runtime Configuration Properties page and the Font Mappings page in the Administration interface.

If you do not use the Administration page to set the properties, then BI Publisher falls back to the properties set in this file.

It is important to note that the Administration interface does not update this file. Any settings in the Administration pages take precedence over the settings in the xdo.cfg file.

D.2.1 File Name and Location

The configuration file is named xdo.cfg.

The file is located under the <BI Publisher Repository>/Admin/Configuration.

D.2.2 Namespace

The namespace for this configuration file is:

http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/

D.2.3 Configuration File Example

Following is a sample configuration file:

<config version="1.0.0"
  xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/">

   <!-- Properties -->
   <properties>
      <!-- System level properties -->
      <property name="system-temp-dir">/tmp</property>

      <!--  PDF compression -->
      <property name="pdf-compression">true</property>

     <!--  PDF Security -->
     <property name="pdf-security">true</property>
     <property name="pdf-open-password">user</property>
     <property name="pdf-permissions-password">owner</property>
     <property name="pdf-no-printing">true</property>
     <property name="pdf-no-changing-the-document">true</property>
    </properties>

   <!-- Font setting -->
   <fonts>
      <!-- Font setting (for FO to PDF etc...) -->
      <font family="Arial" style="normal" weight="normal">
         <truetype path="/fonts/Arial.ttf" />
      </font>
      <font family="Default" style="normal" weight="normal">
         <truetype path="/fonts/ALBANWTJ.ttf" />
      </font>

      <!--Font substitute setting (for PDFForm filling etc...) -->
      <font-substitute name="MSGothic">
         <truetype path="/fonts/msgothic.ttc" ttcno="0" />
      </font-substitute>
   </fonts>
</config>

D.2.4 Understanding the Element Specifications

The following is an example of an element specification:

<Element Name Attribute1="value"
              Attribute2="value"
                                         AttributeN="value"
   <Subelement Name1/>[occurrence-spec]
   <Subelement Name2>...</Subelement Name2>
   <Subelement NameN>...</Subelement NameN>
</Element Name>

The [occurrence-spec] describes the cardinality of the element, and corresponds to the following set of patterns:

[0..1] — Indicates the element is optional, and might occur only once.

[0..n] — Indicates the element is optional, and might occur multiple times.

D.3 Structure of the Root Element

The <config> element is the root element. It has the following structure:

<config version="cdata" xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/">
   <fonts> ... </fonts> [0..n]
   <properties> ... </properties> [0..n]
</config>

D.3.1 Attributes of Root Element

The <config> element has the attributes described in Table D-1.

Table D-1 config Element Attributes

Attribute
Description

version

The version number of the configuration file format. Specify 1.0.0.

xmlns

The namespace for BI Publisher's configuration file. Must be http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/

D.3.2 Description of Root Element

The root element of the configuration file. The configuration file consists of two parts:

Properties (<properties> elements)

Font definitions (<fonts> elements)

The <fonts> and <properties> elements can appear multiple times. If conflicting definitions are set up, the last occurrence prevails.

D.4 Properties and Property Elements

This section describes the <properties> element and the <property> element.

D.4.1 <properties> Element

The <properties> element is structured as follows:

<properties locales="cdata">
   <property>...
   </property> [0..n]
</properties>

D.4.1.1 Description of <properties> Element

The <properties> element defines a set of properties. You can specify the locales attribute to define locale-specific properties. Following is an example:

<!-- Properties for all locales -->
<properties>
 ...Property definitions here...
</properties>

<!--Korean specific properties-->
<properties locales="ko-KR">
 ...Korean-specific property definitions here...
</properties>

D.4.2 <property> Element

The <property> element has the following structure:

<property name="cdata">
  ...pcdata...
</property>

D.4.2.1 Attribute of <property> Element

The <property> element has a single attribute, name, which specifies the property name.

D.4.2.2 Description of <property> Element

Property is a name-value pair. Specify the internal property name (key) to the name attribute and the value to the element value. The internal property names used in the configuration file are listed in the property descriptions in Chapter 12, "Defining Run-Time Configurations."

<properties>
  <property name="system-temp-dir">d:\tmp</property>
  <property name="system-cache-page-size">50</property>
  <property name="pdf-replace-smart-quotes">false</property>
</properties>

D.5 Font Definitions

Font definitions include the following elements:

<fonts>

<font>

<font-substitute>

<truetype>

<type1>

For the list of Truetype and Type1 fonts, see Section D.6, "Predefined Fonts."

D.5.1 <fonts> Element

The <fonts> element is structured as follows:

<fonts locales="cdata">
   <font> ... </font> [0..n]
   <font-substitute> ... </font-substitute> [0..n]
</fonts>

D.5.1.1 Attribute of <fonts> Element

The <fonts> element has a single optional attribute, locales, which specifies the locales for this font definition.

D.5.1.2 Description of <fonts> Element

The <fonts> element defines a set of fonts. Specify the locales attribute to define locale-specific fonts.

<!-- Font definitions for all locales -->
<fonts>
  ..Font definitions here...
</fonts>

<!-- Korean-specific font definitions -->
<fonts locales="ko-KR">
... Korean Font definitions here...
</fonts>

D.5.2 <font> Element

Following is the structure of the <font> element:

<font family="cdata" style="normalitalic"
weight="normalbold">
   <truetype>...</truetype>
or <type1> ... <type1>
</font>

D.5.2.1 Attributes of <font> Element

The <font> element has the attributes described in Table D-2.

Table D-2 font Element Attributes

Attribute
Description

family

Specify any family name for the font. If you specify "Default" for this attribute, then you can define a default fallback font. The family attribute is case-insensitive.

style

Specify "normal" or "italic" for the font style.

weight

Specify "normal" or "bold" for the font weight.

D.5.2.2 Description of <font> Element

Defines a BI Publisher font. This element is primarily used to define fonts for FO-to-PDF processing (RTF to PDF). The PDF Form Processor (used for PDF templates) does not refer to this element.

<!-- Define "Arial" font -->
<font family="Arial" style="normal" weight="normal">
  <truetype path="/fonts/Arial.ttf"/>
</font>

D.5.3 <font-substitute> Element

Following is the structure of the <font-substitute> element:

<font-substitute name="cdata">
   <truetype>...</truetype>
or <type1>...</type1>
</font-substitute>

D.5.3.1 Attributes of <font-substitute> Element

The <font-substitute> element has a single attribute, name, which specifies the name of the font to be substituted.

D.5.3.2 Description of <font-substitute> Element

Defines a font substitution. This element is used to define fonts for the PDF Form Processor.

<font-substitute name="MSGothic">
   <truetype path="/fonts/msgothic.ttc" ttccno=0"/>
</font-substitute>

D.5.4 <type1> element

Following is the structure of the <type1> element:

<type1 name="cdata"/>

D.5.4.1 Attribute of <type1> Element

The <type1> element has a single attribute, name, which specifies one of the Adobe standard Latin1 fonts, such as "Courier".

D.5.4.2 Description of <type1> Element

The <type1> element defines an Adobe Type1 font.

<!--Define "Helvetica" font as "Serif" -->
<font family="serif" style="normal" weight="normal">
  <type1 name="Helvetica"/>
</font>

D.6 Predefined Fonts

The following Type1 fonts are built-in to Adobe Acrobat and BI Publisher provides a mapping for these fonts by default. You can select any of these fonts as a target font with no additional setup required.

The Type1 fonts are listed in Table D-3.

Table D-3 Type 1 Fonts

Number
Font Family
Style
Weight
Font Name

1

serif

normal

normal

Time-Roman

1

serif

normal

bold

Times-Bold

1

serif

italic

normal

Times-Italic

1

serif

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

2

sans-serif

normal

normal

Helvetica

2

sans-serif

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

2

sans-serif

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

2

sans-serif

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

3

monospace

normal

normal

Courier

3

monospace

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

3

monospace

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

3

monospace

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

4

Courier

normal

normal

Courier

4

Courier

normal

bold

Courier-Bold

4

Courier

italic

normal

Courier-Oblique

4

Courier

italic

bold

Courier-BoldOblique

5

Helvetica

normal

normal

Helvetica

5

Helvetica

normal

bold

Helvetica-Bold

5

Helvetica

italic

normal

Helvetica-Oblique

5

Helvetica

italic

bold

Helvetica-BoldOblique

6

Times

normal

normal

Times

6

Times

normal

bold

Times-Bold

6

Times

italic

normal

Times-Italic

6

Times

italic

bold

Times-BoldItalic

7

Symbol

normal

normal

Symbol

8

ZapfDingbats

normal

normal

ZapfDingbats

The TrueType fonts are listed in Table D-4. All TrueType fonts are subsetted and embedded into PDF.

Table D-4 TrueType Fonts

Number
Font Family Name
Style
Weight
Actual Font
Actual Font Type

1

Albany WT

normal

normal

ALBANYWT.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only)

2

Albany WT J

normal

normal

ALBANWTJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor)

3

Albany WT K

normal

normal

ALBANWTK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor)

4

Albany WT SC

normal

normal

ALBANWTS.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor)

5

Albany WT TC

normal

normal

ALBANWTT.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor)

6

Andale Duospace WT

normal

normal

ADUO.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

6

Andale Duospace WT

bold

bold

ADUOB.ttf

TrueType (Latin1 only, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

normal

normal

ADUOJ.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

7

Andale Duospace WT J

bold

bold

ADUOJB.ttf

TrueType (Japanese flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

normal

normal

ADUOK.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

8

Andale Duospace WT K

bold

bold

ADUOKB.ttf

TrueType (Korean flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

normal

normal

ADUOSC.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

9

Andale Duospace WT SC

bold

bold

ADUOSCB.ttf

TrueType (Simplified Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

normal

normal

ADUOTC.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

10

Andale Duospace WT TC

bold

bold

ADUOTCB.ttf

TrueType (Traditional Chinese flavor, Fixed width)

D.6.1 Included Barcode Fonts

BI Publisher also includes the barcode fonts that are described in Table D-5.

Table D-5 Barcode Fonts

Font File
Supported Algorithm

128R00.TTF

code128a, code128b, and code128c

B39R00.TTF

code39, code39mod43

UPCR00.TTF

upca, upce

For information on using barcode fonts in an RTF template, see Using the Barcodes Shipped with BI Publisher, Oracle Fusion Middleware Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher.

Index

A  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  R  S  T  U  W  X 

A

Active Directory, 3.10

ActiveMQ

for scheduler, B.2

Answers

setting up integration with, 10.1

audit log

viewing, 13.7

auditing

setting audit policies, 13.6.2

user, 13.5

C

cache

server settings, 8.4

system

expiration, 8.4

maximum cached report definitions, 8.4

size limit, 8.4

catalog

configuring, 8.2

exporting objects, 15.3

importing objects, 15.4

Oracle BI Publisher, 8.2

translation, 14.2

catalog permissions, 3.4

catalog utility, 15.1

using, 15.2

clustering support

scheduler, 7.1.2

configuration, D.3

manual, D.1

setting runtime properties, 12.1

configuration file, D.4.1

structure, D.3

Configuration folder

setting path to, 8.1

configuration properties

precedence of levels, 12.1

CUPS setup, A.1

currency formats

defining at system level, 12.15

D

data access, 3.6

data source

access, 3.6

data sources

setting up, 9.1

supported, 9.1

viewing and updating, 9.7

database

backup data source, 9.1.5

Database Fetch Size, 8.3.3

DataDirect drivers

for scheduler, B.3.1

diagnostic logging, 13.2

diagnostics

scheduler, 7.6

digital signature

setting properties, 12.4

support for, 6.1

E

E-Business Suite

security integration, 5.3

email default settings, 11.1

e-mail server

configuring, 11.3

export objects from catalog, 15.3

F

failover

scheduler jobs, 7.1.3

setting retry properties, 8.5

fax server

configuring, 11.2

font definitions

configuration file, D.5

fonts

mapping, 12.14

FTP server

configuring, 11.6

G

Ghostscript

setting print filters, 11.2

guest user

enabling, 4.2

H

HTML output

controlling table widths, 12.6

HTTP server

configuring, 11.5

I

import objects to catalog, 15.4

Internet Printing Protocol, A.2

IPP, A.2

J

JDBC

database connection, 9.2

JDBC drivers

for data sources, 9.2

JMS

in scheduler architecture, 7.1.1

JMS providers

supported, 7.2.2

JNDI

choosing, 9.1.4

setting up connection, 9.3

K

keystore

pointing BI Publisher to, 4.3.1

L

LDAP

data source connection, 9.4

general configuration, 3.9

LDAP providers

Microsoft Active Directory, 3.10

local superuser, 4.1

log files

configuring, 13.3

viewing, 13.4

logging, 13.2

message levels, 13.2.1

supported formats, 13.2.2

logs, 13.2

log file rotation, 13.2.3

M

mBeans

in performance monitoring, 13.5

Microsoft Active Directory, 3.10

monitoring

enabling, 13.6

performance, 13.5

users, 13.5

N

notification subjects

setting, 11.1

O

ODL, 13.2

OLAP

data source connection, 9.5

Oracle BI EE Catalog, 8.2

Oracle BI Presentation Catalog, 8.2

Oracle BI Server

security, 5.2

setting as data source connection, C.4

Oracle database

security integration, 5.4

Oracle Diagnostic Logging, 13.2

Oracle Siebel CRM

security integration, 5.5

Oracle SSO, 3.13

P

PDF output properties, 12.2

PDF security properties, 12.3

performance monitoring, 13.5

enabling, 13.6

permissions

catalog, about, 3.4

postprocess function

for JDBC data source, 9.1.6

predefined fonts, D.6

preprocess function

for JDBC data source, 9.1.6

Presentation Services catalog

setting up integration with, 10.1

print server

configuring, 11.2

printers

setup

Unix/Linux, A.1

Windows, A.2

printing

defining custom filters, 11.2

PDF to Postscript filter, 11.2

properties element

configuration file, D.4

proxy

configuring settings, 4.4

proxy authentication, 9.1.3

R

report scalable threshold, 8.3.2

roles

BI Publisher functional, 3.3

S

scheduler

Active MQ support, B.2

adding managed servers, 7.5.1

architecture, 7.1.1

configuring processors, 7.4

diagnostics, 7.6

manual setup reference, B.3

preconfiguration, 7.3

security

PDF properties, 12.3

roles and permissions concepts, 3.2

Siebel CRM

security integration, 5.5

single sign-on

Oracle Access Manager, 3.12

Oracle SSO, 3.13

SSL

configuring, 4.3

SSL certificate file

defining for delivery manager, 11.1

superuser, 4.1

system temporary file directory, 8.3.1

T

tables

controlling table widths in HTML output, 12.6

temp file locations, 8.3.1

temporary file directory, 8.3.1

translation

exporting and importing XLIFF files, 14.2

template-based, 14.3

translation files

generating with catalog utility, 15.5

U

user auditing, 13.5, 13.6

users and roles

options for configuring, 3.2.1

W

WebDAV server

configuring, 11.4

X

XLIFF files

exporting and importing, 14.2

generating with catalog utility, 15.5

Add Roles dialog

viewing performance statistics

Security submenu

Edit a port dialog

Default application roles

Report Properties dialog for digital signature

Users tab

Example configuration

Quartz section

Settings page

Setting the log level

Accessing the Properties page

More menu

Search icon

Role based on BIAuthor

Permissions dialog

Sample auditing report viewed in the interactive viewer

Users and Groups tab

Clustering for BI Publisher, as described in surrounding text

Database section

Viewing log files

Using the layout editor to create a sample auditing report

Superuser credentials

Applying translations

LOGTAB table

Administration Console

Administration console

Edit log configuration files

Servers table

Security submenu

Principal and Permissions of the policy

BIAuthor Principal (Grantee)

Sample BI Publisher Security Configuration page

Add Group dialog

MyNewRole based on default BIAuthor role

Enabling local superuser

Create a New User page

JMS Runtime Section

Process of using the Catalog Utility

Add Application Role dialog

Fusion Middleware Control login page

Hierarchy structure of User, Role, and Folder

Permissions dialog

Navigating to the Data Sources link

Audit Policy Table

Security Region

Path for configuration folder

Accessing the Log Configuration

Connection Properties page

Relationships between default groups and application roles

Backup Data Source region

Scheduler architecture, as described in surrounding text

Create JDBC sample entries

BIAuthor application role

Navigation path to the Audit Store

JDBC Connection page

Navigation path to the Audit Policy settings in Oracle Fusion Middleware Control

Delivery Configuration page

RCU list of schemas

Cluster Instances region

Public access folder

Administration Console Login Page

Available list and Chosen list

Integration of BI Publisher and CUPS

Navigating to Log Messages

Create Application Grant Like page

Sample of the LDAP security model entry fields

Processors in BI Publisher

Administration page

Target Log Files

Cluster Section

Sample currency formats

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