LearningtouseDiscoverer

Tobeabletocreatereportsyouneedto:
knowwheretofindthedata
understandhowtousethetool

OracleLearningandDevelopmenthasrecentlyrevampedtheDiscovererPlusclasstoaddress
Customizing&AnalyzingDatainyourreports.

DISCOVEREREUL
TheDiscovererEndUserLayer(EUL)isametadatastructurethatprovides:
o Readonlyaccesstotheunderlyingdata
o Theinterfacebetweenreportwritersandthedatabase
o OutoftheboxsupportforOracleApplicationsecurity
o Abilitytodefinefolders(orviews)toaccessdataelementsforreportingand
organizethefoldersintobusinessareas
o Abilitytodefinelinks/joinsbetweenrelatedfolders
o AbilitytodefineLOVs

BusinessAreas:
BusinessAreasarelogicalgroupingoffoldersorviewsbyrelatedsubjectmatter.
School/DepartmentUse
AP_Payables

AccountsPayable
AR_Receivables

AccountsReceivable

FA_Fixed_Assets

FixedAssets

GL_Ledger

GeneralLedger

HR_Limited_Access

HR(selectinformationonly)

LD_Labor_Distribution LaborDistribution
OE_Order_Entry

OrderEntry

PAY_Payroll

Payroll

PBPA_Project_Billing

ProjectBilling(containsallGAViews)

PCPA_Project_Costing ProjectCosting
PO_Purchasing

Purchasing

*MusthaveUVAODSSpecialistLimitedresponsibility.

Folders
Afolder(a.k.a.view)isadynamic,virtualtable(thatexistsonlyinmemory)createdorformed
fromcolumnsinoneormoretablesinthedatabase.(Atableisaphysicalstructurethat
containsdataorganizedinrowsandcolumns.)
Folders/Viewsprovide:
AsubsetthedatacontainedintheunderlyingOLTPdatabasetablesTheycanmerge
datafrommultiplebasetablesintoasinglevirtualtable
Viewsdonotincuranyextrastorageoverhead
Changingthedatainatablealtersthedatashownintheview.
Limittheexposuretowhichatableortablesareexposedtoouterworld
TheUniversityusesacombinationofpurchasedviewsfromNoetixandcustomUVAviews.
Noetixviewsallstartwithamoduleprefix(i.e.,GL,AP,PO,etc)
UVAcustomviewsallstartwithUVA
Bothsetsoffolders/viewsaredefinedintheHelpFileavailablefromtheIntegratedSystems
Reportswebsite.
Items
Anitemisacolumnofdatainafolder/view.
Joins
Ajoinrelatesrowsfromtwoseparatetablesorviewssotheirdataelementscanbecombined
inaquery.
Indexes
Adatabaseindexisadatastructurethatimprovesthespeedofoperationsinatable.Indexes
canbecreatedusingoneormorecolumns,providingthebasisforbothrapidrandomlookups
andefficientorderingofaccesstorecords.

Link to Noetix Views Help File

http://www.virginia.edu/integratedsystem/reports/htmlhelp/help/noetix.htm

Grants Accounting Data

PBPA_Project_Billing

ProjectBilling(GAViews)

NoetixdoesnotasyetprovideanyGrantsAccountingviews.Theydoprovideanumberof
ProjectmoduleviewsandsincetheGrantsAccountingmoduleisbuiltontopoftheProjects
moduleanumberoftheseviewsareapplicable.
ThefollowingNoetixviewismosthelpful:
PA_Projects

Projectattributes

ISDShascreatedanumberofcustomtablestofacilitatereporting.Eachofthecustomtables
hasanassociatedfolder/viewinthePBPAProjectBillingBusinessArea.
ThefollowingarethekeyUVAfoldersmostoftenusedincreatingGAreports.
UVA_Award_Lookup

Awardattributes
UVA_Extra_Project_Attributes
AdditionalProjectAttributes
UVA_GL_Budget_Exec_And_Dept
Budgetofficeorganizationhierarchy
UVA_PA_Expense_Detail*Expenditureonlysummary
UVA_PA_Exp_Com_Bud_Detail*
Budget,expenditure,&commitmentdetail
UVA_PA_Expense_Summary*
Expenditureonlysummary
UVA_PA_Exp_Com_Bud_Summary* Budget,expenditure,&commitmentsummary

*indexedby:
o PeriodandProjectCarryingOutOrg
o PeriodandAwardCarryingOutOrg
o ProjectNumber

GeneralLedgerData
NoetixsuppliesanumberofverygoodGLviews.

ThefollowingarethekeyfoldersmostoftenusedincreatingGLreports.

GL_Chart_Of_Accounts
Chartofaccountsegmentsandsegmentdescriptions.
UVA_GL_Object_Codes
GLObjectCodeattributes
GL_Journal_Entry_Lines
Detailjournalentrylines
GL_Balances

SummaryChartofAccountbalancesbyperiod
GLrevenuenettedtoGAexpensesbyrevenueproject
UVA_GL_Cash_Balance

Plusviewsalsocontainedinotherbusinessareas:
PA_Projects

Projectattributes
UVA_Award_Lookup

Awardattributes
UVA_Extra_Project_Attributes
AdditionalProjectAttributes
UVA_GL_Budget_Exec_And_MBU
Budgetofficeorganizationhierarchy

CreatingReports
Beforeyoubegin,haveafirmideaofwhatyouaretryingtoaccomplish.Areyoulookingfor
detailorsummarydata?Whatkindoffilters/conditionswillyouneed?
Beginbystartingwithapredefinedreport(ifoneexists)thatpartiallymeetsyourneeds.
Thenreverseengineerthereporttoseewhichfolders,conditions,calculations,sorts,&totals
aredefined.Thinkaboutwhatisworkingandwhatisnot.Itsbesttomakeonlyminor
changesatonetime,rerunthereportandcontinuetorefine.

HINT:Changingonethingatatimeandrerunningthereporttochecktheresultsmaybetime
consuming,butaffordsyoutheedit/undocapabilitywhichcanproveinvaluable.Saveyour
changesoften.

Resources
Yourpeerswithsimilarneedsand/ordeansoffice
CustomerSupportCenter(HelpDesk):4Help
UsabilityGroupContact(SeeISDSwebpageforlink)
OracleDiscoverer10gHandbook

Conditions
Conditions:

Restraintstofilterdatainaworksheet
Eliminatesdatayoudontwanttosee
Whencreatingareportforthefirsttime,goodideatoincludeatleastone
Canbesimpleorcomplex
Canincludeparameters
Canincludecalculatedcolumns
Norestrictionsastonumberyoucancreate
o However,thereisatradeoffinperformance
o Applytoindexedcolumnsforbestperformance

Examples:
SimpleCondition:
Pa_Period_Name=Jun10
ComplexCondition:
((Commitments_To_DateISNOTNULL)OR(Burdened_Cost_Pa_PeriodISNOTNULL))

FunctionsUsedinCalculations
Youcanusecalculationstocreateacolumnofdatathatwillexistonlywithinyourworksheet.
Youcanthenapplysorts,totals,conditionsorevenbaseothercalculationsonthenewly
createdcolumn.

Forexample,youwanttosortexpendituresbasedonexpenditurecategoriesbutinaset
orderthatdoesnotcorrespondtothewayexpenditurecategoriessortalphabetically.

Firstdeterminethesequenceinwhichyouwanttosortexpenditurecategories.Example:

Expenditurecategory
ClassifiedSalaries
ContinuousCharges
ContractualServices
Equipment
FacultySalaries
GTA/GRA
HealthCareServices
OTPS
Other
PlantandImprovement
PropertyandImprovement
Recoveries
Revenue
Scholarships&Fellowships
Supplies&Materials
Travel
UVa,F&ACosts
UVa,FringeBenefits,Employer
UniversityStaff
Wages

Desiredsortorder
Revenue
Recoveries
FacultySalaries
ClassifiedSalaries
UniversityStaff
Wages
GTA/GRA
UVa,FringeBenefits,Employer
OTPS
Travel
HealthCareServices
ContractualServices
Supplies&Materials
Equipment
PlantandImprovement
PropertyandImprovement
ContinuousCharges
Scholarships&Fellowships
Other
UVa,F&ACosts

Nextyouwouldcreateanewcalculationusingoneofthefollowingfunctions:
DECODE
CASE

Desired
sequence
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20

DECODEFunction
ThesyntaxfortheDECODEstatementis:
DECODE(expr,search1,result1[,searchN[,resultN[,default]]])

Expr(orexpression)isthenameofacolumn(dataitem)againstwhichyouwanttotesta
possiblevalue.
Search1=apossiblevaluecontainedinthatcolumn
Result1=analternatevaluetoassigntothecalculatedcolumnwhenexprescolumn
=Search1value
SearchN=anotherpossiblevaluecontainedinthatcolumn(separatedbyacomma)
ResultN=analternatevaluetoassigntothecolumnwhenitcontainsthatsearchNvalue
Default=thealternatevaluetoassignwhenthereisnomatchingvalueinthecolumnyouare
testingthatmatchesonealreadyidentifiedinthesearch1searchNvalues.

Note:EachofthevariablesintheDECODEfunctionareseparatedbycommas.

TheDECODEexampleforthedesiredalternatedsortsequenceofexpenditurecategories
definedabove:

CalculationName=ExpCatSortSeq
Calculation=
DECODE(
Expenditure_Category,
'Revenue',1,
'Recoveries',2,
'FacultySalaries',3,
'ClassifiedSalaries',4,
'UniversityStaff',5,
'Wages',6,
'GTA/GRA',7,
'UVa,FringeBenefits,Employer',8,
'OTPS',9,
'Travel',10,
'HealthCareServices',11,
'ContractualServices',12,
'Supplies&Materials',13,
'Equipment',14,
'PlantandImprovement',15,
'PropertyandImprovement',16,

'ContinuousCharges',17,
'Scholarships&Fellowships',18,
'Other',19,
'UVa,F&ACosts',20
)

TosortexpendituresbasedonthenewExpCatSortSequence,TOOLS,SORT

AddExpCatSortSeq

HINT:CreateinNOTEPAD,thencopyintoDiscoverer.Besuretoprefixeachcolumnname
prefixedwiththefoldername(followedbya.(period))
Example:UVA_PA_Expnese_Summary.Expenditure_Category.

CASEFunction

ThesyntaxfortheCASEstatementis:
CASEWHENXTHENYELSEZEND
TheCASEexampleforthedesiredalternatedsortsequenceofexpenditurecategoriesdefined
above:

CalculationName=ExpCatSortSeq
Calculation=

CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Revenue
THEN1
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Recoveries'
THEN2
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='FacultySalaries'
THEN3
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='ClassifiedSalaries'
THEN4
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='UniversityStaff'
THEN5
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Wages'
THEN6
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='GTA/GRA'
THEN7
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='UVa,FringeBenefits,Employer'
THEN8
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='OTPS'
THEN9
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Travel'

THEN10
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='HealthCareServices'
THEN11
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='ContractualServices'
THEN12
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Supplies&Materials'
THEN13
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Equipment'
THEN14
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='PlantandImprovement'
THEN15
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='PropertyandImprovement'
THEN16
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='ContinuousCharges'
THEN17
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Scholarships&Fellowships'
THEN18
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='Other'
THEN19
ELSE
CASEWHENExpenditure_Category='UVa,F&ACosts'
THEN20
ENDENDENDENDEND
Note: musthaveandequalnumberof
ENDENDENDENDEND
ENDandCASEstatements
ENDENDENDENDEND
ENDENDENDENDEND

HINT:CreateinNOTEPAD,thencopyintoDiscoverer.Besuretoprefixeachcolumnname
prefixedwiththefoldername(followedbya.(period))
Example:UVA_PA_Expnese_Summary.Expenditure_Category

SUBSTRFunction
SUBSTRsyntax:
SUBSTR(column,startposition,[count])
Thisfunctiontakesthevalueinacolumnofdataandreturnsasubstring(oraportion)ofthe
valuestartingatthecharacterinthestartpositionandgoingonforthe[count]numberof
characters.

Example:
SUBSTR(Award_Number,1,2)
SUBSTR(Award_Number,
1,2)
DR
DR
ER
ER
GA
GA
GS
GS
IP
IP
LS
LS
SG
SG
ZA
ZC

Award_Number
DR01241
DR01431
ER01201
ER01447
GA10200
GA10243
GS10498
GS10512
IP00048
IP00051
LS00145
LS00148
SG00058
SG00097
ZA10015
ZC10008

NVL(NullValue)Function
NVLsyntax:
NVL(column,replacementvalue)
Thisfunctionreplacesanynullvalueinthecolumnspecifiedwiththereplacementvalue.Ifthe
columnspecifieddoesnotcontainanullvalue,theitretainsthevalueinthecolumn.

Examples:
NVL(posted_flag,'N')
NVL(Burdened_Cost_YTD,0)

CurrentDate
ThecurrentsystemdatecanbeaccessedbythereferencingSYSDATE.
Example:
SYSDATEbetweenProject_Start_DateandProject_End_Date

NOTE:SYSDATEcontainsbothDateandTimeDD_Mon_YYYYHH:MM:SS
Whencomparingtocolumnsthatonlystorethedate,usetheTRUNCFunctiontostripoffthe
time.

TruncFunction
TruncSyntax:

TRUNC(datecolumnorSYSDATE)

Example:TRUNC(sysdate)betweenProject_Start_DateandProject_End_Date

CombiningFunctions
Youcancombinefunctionstoachievemorecomplexcalculations.

Example:
CASEWHENSUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)=GorSUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)=Z
THENSUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)
ELSESUBSTR(Award_Number,1,2)
END

Award_Number
DR01241
DR01431
ER01201
ER01447
GA10200
GA10243
GS10498
GS10512
IP00048
IP00051
LS00145
LS00148
SG00058
SG00097
ZA10015
ZC10008

CASEWHENSUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)=G
orSUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)=ZTHEN
SUBSTR(Award_Number,1,1)ELSE
SUBSTR(Award_Number,1,2)END
DR
DR
ER
ER
G
G
G
G
IP
IP
LS
LS
SG
SG
Z
Z