Discoverer &

XML Publisher
Full Throttle Reporting

Tim Sharpe
Solution Beacon, LLC
NCOAUG
August 11, 2006
Chicago, IL

www.solutionbeacon.com
© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.
 Introduction

„Solution Beacon, LLC

‹ Tim Sharpe, Director of Services
ƒBusiness Intelligence
ƒApplications Development

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Agenda
„ Typical Reporting Needs
•Static

•Dynamic

„ Overview

‹ Discoverer
‹ XML Publisher
„ Compare/Contrast

„ Summary, Additional Resources

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Static Reporting
z Richly Formatted Reports
z Partner Reports
z Financial Statements
z Government Forms
z Marketing Materials
z Contracts
z Checks
z Labels
z EDI Files

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Dynamic Reporting
z Ad Hoc Queries (on the fly)
z Layout Flexibility
z Analytics
z Dimensionality
z Time Series Analysis
z Data Slicing
z Hierarchical Drilling
z Business Intelligence
z Data Mining
z Spreadsheet Functionality

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Component Puzzle
z Administrator
z EUL & Catalog
z End User Tools - Desktop,
Plus & Viewer
z Portlets & Portlet Provider
ƒ Oracle Application Server

¾ Oracle Database at center

ƒ internal data
ƒ external data via links, gateways

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Administrator
Provides Management of
Infrastructure
z EULs - container
z Business Areas - access
control structures
z Individual Components -
Folders, Conditions, Joins, etc.
z Security & Privileges - Users
and Responsibilities

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Administrator (cont.)
Business Area Components
z Folders - represent tables,
views, queries
z Items – fields
z Conditions – where clause
z Hierarchies - drilling
z Item Lists – LOVs
z Calculations – custom
fields
z Joins – between folders
z Summaries – pre-
aggregations

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
End User Tools
z Desktop
ƒ Self contained
ƒ Client/Server design
ƒ OS Dependent
ƒ Full Functionality
z Plus
ƒ Java Powered
ƒ Web Based, OS Independent
ƒ Most Functionality
z Viewer
ƒ Web Based, OS Independent
z Minimal Functionality
z View Only

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Desktop, Plus
z Create/Save Workbooks,
Multiple Worksheets
• Tabular, Crosstab
z Select Items from Folders
• Top, Side or Page
z Apply Conditions, Parameters
z Create Calculations
z Colors, Formats, Graphs
z Share Workbooks
z Schedule Runtimes
z Export Results to Excel,
HTML, Text, CSV, XML, PDF

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Viewer
z View Existing Workbooks
z Re-arrange Fields
z Change Parameter Values
z Minimal Functionality

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer Overview
Portlet & Portlet Provider
z Components of iAS
z Fully Web Enabled
z Multiple Reports in Single
View
z Personalizable
z Dashboards
z Combine Multiple Sources

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Components
z XML Publisher Engine
z Report Templates
z EDI Templates
z Template Builder
z XML Data from Anywhere Report XSL

z Formatted Output in HTML, Templates

RTF, Excel, PDF, EDI, etc.
z Deliver via Email, Fax,
Printer, Web Portal, etc.

XML EFT

XML Data
Report Output

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
XML Publisher Engine
z Merges XML Data with
Report Template
z Provides Java-based
Delivery Mechanism
z Stand-Alone
z 11i Version
ƒ Concurrent Process
ƒ Template Manager
ƒ Reports
ƒ Data

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Report Templates
Create with MS Word or
Adobe Acrobat

z MS Word
ƒ Field Codes
ƒ Template Markup Syntax

z Acrobat
z Typically Modify Existing
Doc
z Template Markup Syntax

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
EDI Templates
z MS Word
z Special RTF Tables
z Produces Flat Files for
EDI

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Template Builder
z MS Word Plug-in
z Wizards, Drag-and-Drop
z Report Preview
z Simplifies Template
Creation

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
XML Data
z Any Valid Source
z Produced from
ƒ Oracle Reports
ƒ Discoverer
ƒ PL/SQL
ƒ Scripting
ƒ Etc.
z Multiple Uses
ƒ More than one template
ƒ Data subsets
ƒ Variable outputs

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output
z Rich Text Formatting
z Precision & Control
z Interactivity
ƒ Conditions & Parameters
ƒ Sort
ƒ Hide Columns
z Conditional Formatting
z Formulas, Functions
z Advanced Charting

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices
9 Purchase Orders

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices
9 Purchase Orders
9 Government Forms

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices
9 Purchase Orders
9 Government Forms
9 Tax Documents

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices
9 Purchase Orders
9 Government Forms
9 Tax Documents
9 Financial Reports

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Formatted Output - Examples

9 Checks
9 Invoices
9 Purchase Orders
9 Government Forms
9 Tax Documents
9 Financial Reports
9 Dashboards

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 XML Publisher Overview
Report Delivery
Oracle, PDF
Email
SQL Server
RTF

HTML Printer
Oracle 11i,
PeopleSoft,
SAP, Siebel Excel
XML Publisher Fax

XSL XML

Oracle Reports, WebDAV

Templates EDI
PL/SQL, Java,
Perl, etc
EFT

WWW

Web Services
Data Source Layout Output Delivery

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

Discoverer vs XML Publisher
Compare/Contrast
Discoverer XML Publisher
Web Enabled D D
Data Security D D
11i Integration D D
Scheduling D D
Advanced Analytics D
User Driven D
Advanced Formatting D
Report Delivery D

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer & XML Publisher
Summary & Additional Resources
Discoverer XML Publisher
z Dynamic z Static
z Analytics z Formatting
z User Driven z Delivery

Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Administration Guide

Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Desktop User's Guide
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/discoverer.html
Introduction to XML Publisher
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/xml-publisher/index.html
XML Publisher Users Guide incl Developers Guide
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/xml-publisher/xmlpdocs.html

© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.

 Discoverer &
XML Publisher
Full Throttle Reporting
Tim Sharpe
tsharpe@solutionbeacon.com

Solution Beacon, LLC

www.solutionbeacon.com

Thank You !
© 2006 Solution Beacon, LLC. All Rights Reserved.