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Oracle® Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus User's Guide
10g Release 2 (10.1.2.1)
B13915-04
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18 Printing worksheets and graphs

This chapter explains how to print worksheets and graphs in Discoverer Plus Relational, and contains the following topics:

About printing in Discoverer Plus Relational

Discoverer enables you to print worksheet data and graphs. For example, you might want to mail a printed copy of a Discoverer worksheet to a colleague. Or, if you have Adobe Acrobat installed, you might want to create an Adobe Acrobat Portable Document Format (PDF) file that you can send to colleagues using e-mail.

When you print a worksheet that contains page items, you can either print the current page item values (i.e. exactly what you see on the screen), or all page item values. For example, if you display Month in the page item area and you are currently displaying January data, you can print the January data or data for all months.

If you print worksheets that contain active parameters, Discoverer prompts you to enter parameter values to refine the data that you print.

When you print a worksheet with a graph in Discoverer Plus Relational, the worksheet and graph print on separate pages. To print a worksheet with a graph on the same printed page, you can do one of the following:

About elements of a printed worksheet in Discoverer Plus Relational

The figure below shows the elements of a printed worksheet in Discoverer.

Figure 18-1 Elements of a printed worksheet

Description of Figure 18-1  follows
Description of "Figure 18-1 Elements of a printed worksheet"


Key to figure:
a. Header margin
b. Top margin
c. Worksheet title area
d. Worksheet data area
e. Worksheet text area
f. Bottom margin
g. Footer margin
h. Right margin
i. Left margin

Note: To set print margins, display the "Page Setup dialog: Margins tab" (e.g. click Page Setup on the Print dialog).

What are Page Setup options

Page Setup options are worksheet settings that affect how a worksheet prints out. For example:

You can specify Page Setup options for each worksheet using the Page Setup dialog (for more information, see "How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet").

Figure 18-4 Discoverer Page Setup dialog

Description of Figure 18-4  follows
Description of "Figure 18-4 Discoverer Page Setup dialog"

Note: The Graph tab is displayed when a worksheet has a graph currently displayed or the Graph check box is selected on the "Print dialog".

To display the Page Setup dialog, choose Page Setup from either the File menu, Print dialog, or Print Preview dialog. When you save a workbook, you save the Page Setup options that you have specified for each worksheet in that workbook.

Once you have selected Page Setup options, you click Print do display the operating system print dialog, which enables you set additional print settings. The example below shows the Windows print dialog.

Figure 18-5 Operating system print dialog

Description of Figure 18-5  follows
Description of "Figure 18-5 Operating system print dialog"

For example, for a multi-page worksheet, you might want to print the first page only to check the layout.

About Page Setup options for graphs

Page Setup options for graphs enable you to print a Discoverer graph in exactly the size you want. You set Page Setup options for a graph using the "Page Setup dialog: Graph tab".

Figure 18-6 Page Setup options dialog: Graph tab

Description of Figure 18-6  follows
Description of "Figure 18-6 Page Setup options dialog: Graph tab"

For example, you might have a large graph displayed on screen (see screenshot below).

Figure 18-7 Discoverer worksheet containing a large graph

Description of Figure 18-7  follows
Description of "Figure 18-7 Discoverer worksheet containing a large graph"

If you select the Actual size check box on the "Page Setup dialog: Graph tab" and print the graph, Discoverer crops the graph. In the screenshot below you can see that Discoverer crops the graph legend from the right hand side.

Figure 18-8 Discoverer printed worksheet with a cropped graph

Description of Figure 18-8  follows
Description of "Figure 18-8 Discoverer printed worksheet with a cropped graph"

If you select the Fit to page check box on the "Page Setup dialog: Graph tab" and print the graph, Discoverer prints the whole graph (see screenshot below).

Figure 18-9 Discoverer printed worksheet with a correctly printed graph

Description of Figure 18-9  follows
Description of "Figure 18-9 Discoverer printed worksheet with a correctly printed graph"

If you select the Fit to page check box with Preserve the Ratio of Height and Width selected on the "Page Setup dialog: Graph tab" and print the graph, Discoverer maintains the graph proportions (see screenshot below).

Figure 18-10 Discoverer graph with maintained proportions

Description of Figure 18-10  follows
Description of "Figure 18-10 Discoverer graph with maintained proportions"

If you select the Fit to page check box with Preserve the Ratio of Height and Width selected and Preserve the Actual Font Size selected on the "Page Setup dialog: Graph tab" and print the graph, Discoverer maintains the graph proportions and original font size (see screenshot below).

Figure 18-11 Discoverer graph with maintained proportions and font size

Description of Figure 18-11  follows
Description of "Figure 18-11 Discoverer graph with maintained proportions and font size"

How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet

You change Page Setup options for a worksheet to specify print layout options (e.g. scaling, headers and footers). For example, you might want to add a header or footer to a printed worksheet.

To change Page Setup options for a worksheet:

  1. Display the worksheet that you want to edit.

  2. Choose File | Page Setup to display the "Page Setup dialog".

    Description of prn_nt.gif follows
    Description of the illustration prn_nt.gif

    Hint: You can also display the Page Setup dialog by clicking the Page Setup button on the Print dialog or Print Preview dialog.

  3. Use the "Page Setup dialog" to select Page Setup options for the current worksheet.

    For example:

  4. Click OK to apply the Page Setup options.

    Discoverer applies the Page Setup options for the current session. To save the Page Setup options permanently for the selected worksheet, you must save the workbook (for more information, see "How to save workbooks").

How to print Discoverer workbooks

You print a Discoverer workbook when you want to print all worksheets in a workbook. When you print a workbook, you print all worksheet data and graphs based on Page Setup options selected for the individual worksheets (for more information, see "What are Page Setup options").

Note: If you want different print settings for individual worksheets, change the Page Setup options for each worksheet before you print the workbook (for more information, see "How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet").

If worksheets contain active parameters, Discoverer prompts you to enter parameter values to refine the data that you print.

To print a Discoverer workbook:

  1. Open the workbook that you want to print.

  2. Choose File | Print to display the "Print dialog".

    Description of prnall.gif follows
    Description of the illustration prnall.gif

  3. Select the Entire Workbook radio button.

    Note: The Page Setup and Preview buttons and other options are grayed out when you print a workbook.

  4. Click OK.

  5. If any of the worksheets have active parameters, use the "Print Wizard dialog: Parameters page" to enter parameter values for each worksheet that has active parameters.

    Description of printop4.gif follows
    Description of the illustration printop4.gif

    Discoverer then displays the operating system print dialog. For example, if you are using Windows, Discoverer displays the Windows Print dialog.

    Description of opprint.gif follows
    Description of the illustration opprint.gif

  6. Use the operating system print dialog to set additional print options if required, and start the print job.

    Discoverer prints the workbook on the printer selected.

How to print Discoverer worksheets

You print a Discoverer worksheet to print the currently displayed worksheet. You can print the worksheet data or graph, and select the page items you want to print. If the worksheet contains active parameters, Discoverer prompts you to enter parameter values to refine the data that you print.

You can specify Page Setup options for each worksheet before you print it (for more information, see "How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet").

To print a Discoverer worksheet:

  1. Open the workbook that contains the worksheet you want to print.

  2. Display the worksheet you want to print.

  3. (optional) Change the Page Setup options for the worksheet (for more information, see "How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet").

  4. Choose File | Print to display the "Print dialog".

    Description of prnone.gif follows
    Description of the illustration prnone.gif

  5. Use the Print dialog as follows:

    1. Select the Current Worksheet check box.

    2. Use the Table/Crosstab and Graph check boxes to specify the worksheet components you want to print.

    3. (optional) Use the Page Items radio buttons to select the page item combinations you want to print.

    4. (optional) If you want to change the Page Setup options for the current worksheet, click Page Setup to display the "Page Setup dialog".

      For example, you might want to create a worksheet header or footer, or change the margin size.

    5. (optional) If you want to check the printed worksheet layout before printing, click Preview to display the "Print Preview dialog".

    6. (optional) If you want to skip Discoverer alert messages that are displayed during printing, select the Automatically Resolve Issues That Occur During Printing check box.

    7. Click OK.

  6. If the worksheet has active parameters, use the "Print Wizard dialog: Parameters page" to enter parameter values for each active parameter.

    Description of printop5.gif follows
    Description of the illustration printop5.gif

    Discoverer displays the operating system print dialog. For example, if you are using Windows, Discoverer displays the Windows Print dialog.

    Description of opprint.gif follows
    Description of the illustration opprint.gif

  7. Use the operating system print dialog to set additional print options if required, and start the print job.

    Discoverer prints the worksheet on the printer selected.

    When you print a worksheet with a graph in Discoverer Plus Relational, the worksheet and graph print on separate pages. To print a worksheet with a graph on the same printed page, you can do one of the following:

    • print the worksheet in Discoverer Viewer

    • use Discoverer Portlet Provider to display multiple worksheets and graphs as portlets on a single portal page, and print the portal page (for more information, see "Publishing worksheets in OracleAS Portal")

    • export the worksheet and graph to an external application (e.g. HTML) and print the page

How to print Discoverer workbooks and worksheets to PDF files

Discoverer enables you to print Discoverer workbooks and worksheets to a Portable Document Format (PDF) file. For example, you might want to send an e-mail containing a worksheet to a colleague who uses PDF files to share information.

Note: You must have Adobe Acrobat installed to print to a PDF file.

To print a Discoverer workbook or worksheet to a PDF file:

  1. Follow the instructions in "How to print Discoverer workbooks" or "How to print Discoverer worksheets" until the operating system print dialog is displayed.

    For example, when you click OK on the Discoverer Print dialog, if you are using Windows, Discoverer displays the Windows Print dialog.

    Description of opprint.gif follows
    Description of the illustration opprint.gif

  2. In the operating system print dialog, select a PDF format (e.g. Adobe Acrobat, Acrobat Distiller) from the printer list.

  3. Follow the on-screen instructions to create the PDF file.

You can now open the Discoverer workbook or worksheet in an Adobe Acrobat reader.

Notes