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Oracle® Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus User's Guide
10
g
Release 2 (10.1.2.1)
B13915-04
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Contents
Title and Copyright Information
Preface
Intended Audience
Documentation Accessibility
Related Documents
Conventions
JGoodies License Agreement
Part I Getting started
1
Introducing Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer
What is OracleBI Discoverer?
Why should I use OracleBI Discoverer?
How do I access information using OracleBI Discoverer?
What is a typical workflow with OracleBI Discoverer?
Stage 1: Getting the data you want
Stage 2: Analyzing data
Stage 3: Sharing data with other people
What are the different components of OracleBI Discoverer?
Who is the Discoverer manager and what do they do?
2
Using Discoverer Plus with a relational data source
What is Discoverer Plus Relational?
What is a relational data source?
What are business areas?
What are folders?
What are items?
What is the Discoverer Plus Relational sample database?
What are the new features in Discoverer Plus 10.1.2.
Where can I find out more about Discoverer Plus Relational?
3
Using Discoverer Plus with a multidimensional data source
How can I tell when I am using Discoverer Plus with a multidimensional data source?
What is Discoverer Plus OLAP?
What is online analytic processing (OLAP)?
What are multidimensional data sources?
What are multidimensional cubes?
What are measures?
What are dimensions and dimension members?
What are dimension hierarchies?
What are dimension attributes?
About aggregating and filtering multidimensional data
About applying filters after aggregating multidimensional data
About filters and dimensions
What is the Discoverer Catalog?
About the Discoverer Plus OLAP Tutorial
Where can I find out more about Discoverer Plus OLAP?
4
Starting Discoverer
What is a Discoverer connection?
About starting Discoverer
How to display the Discoverer Plus connections page
How to start Discoverer using an existing connection
How to start Discoverer by connecting directly
How to exit Discoverer Plus
Frequently asked questions
What is the End User Layer (EUL)?
What are database accounts?
How do I create and save login information in a Discoverer connection?
How do I edit a Discoverer connection?
How do I delete a Discoverer connection?
What are public connections?
What are user-defined connections?
When and why do I need to change my password?
How do I change the password for a connection?
How do I change the End User Layer for a Discoverer connection?
What is Single Sign-on?
What is the difference between Single Sign-on and Discoverer passwords?
How do I know what Single Sign-on ID is being used in Discoverer Plus?
5
About the Discoverer Plus Relational work area
About the work area
About Discoverer's drag and drop features
About dragging and dropping items in the Discoverer work area
About repositioning items in the Discoverer work area
About Discoverer menus
About the Standard Discoverer menu
About Discoverer's right-click menus
About Discoverer toolbars
About the Standard toolbar
About the Formatting toolbar
About the Graph toolbar
About the Available Items toolbar
About the Selected Items toolbar
About tool tips
About icons used in the Discoverer item navigator
What are axis items?
About data points
What is the Discoverer Worksheet Wizard?
6
Using workbooks and worksheets
What are workbooks?
What are worksheets?
About Discoverer worksheet types
About table worksheets
About crosstab worksheets
About designing workbooks for maximum performance
How to open workbooks
About opening workbooks in a non-Oracle database
How to edit workbooks
About saving a workbook to the database
How to save workbooks
How to copy workbooks
How to delete workbooks from the database
About worksheet titles and text
How to create or edit worksheet titles or text
How to display or hide worksheet titles or text
How to rename worksheets and workbooks
How to re-order worksheets within a workbook
How to refresh worksheets
How to delete worksheets
How to find data in a worksheet
About creating new workbooks
How to create new workbooks
How to add worksheets to a workbook
How to view and update a workbook's properties
About worksheet properties
How to view and edit worksheet properties
7
Editing worksheets and worksheet items
About editing worksheets
How to edit worksheets using the Edit Worksheet wizard
How to add items to worksheets
How to create new worksheet items
How to remove items from worksheets
How to duplicate a worksheet
How to change the format of worksheet items
How to set the currency symbol for numeric items
How to change the format of worksheet item headings
How to change the text in item headings
8
Creating graphs in Discoverer
What is a Discoverer graph?
About using graphs in Discoverer
About components of a Discoverer graph
About graph types and sub-types
About graph types available in Discoverer
Notes about creating bubble graphs
Notes about creating high-low-close stock graphs
Notes about creating dual-Y graphs
Notes about creating pie graphs
How to edit a graph
How to hide and display a graph
How to change the position of a graph
Part II Analyzing data
9
Pivoting data
About pivoting worksheet items
About pivoting data on a crosstab worksheet
How to pivot worksheet items in the Discoverer work area
How to pivot worksheet items using the Edit Worksheet dialog
About unexpected results with pivoting
10
Drilling to analyze data
About drilling in Discoverer worksheets
What are drill hierarchies?
How to drill up and down
How to drill up and down using a drill icon in worksheet data
How to drill up and down using a graph label in graph data
How to drill up and down using the Drill dialog
About drilling to related items
How to drill to a related item
How to drill to a related item using a drill icon
How to drill to a related item using the Drill dialog
About drilling to detail
How to drill to detail
About drill links
About user defined drill links
About drill links defined by the Discoverer manager
About using drill links
How to create drill links
How to create drill links to Discoverer worksheets
How to create drill links to Internet URLs
How to use drill links
How to drill out to a worksheet or Internet URL using a drill link icon
How to drill out to a worksheet or Internet URL using the Drill dialog
11
Using parameters
What are parameters?
What are the benefits of using parameters?
About using parameters
About creating parameters
About using parameters to collect dynamic user input
About filtering lists of parameter values based on selected conditions (cascading parameters)
How to set parameters
How to activate parameters
How to deactivate parameters
How to create parameters
How to delete parameters
Examples of parameters
Example 1: Using a parameter to filter a worksheet
Example 2: Using a parameter that enables multiple values to filter a worksheet
Example 3: Using a parameter to collect dynamic user input
12
Using conditional formatting
What is conditional formatting?
What is a conditional format?
What is a stoplight format?
About managing conditional formatting
Notes on using conditional formats and stoplight formats
How to activate and deactivate conditional formats and stoplight formats
How to create conditional formats
How to create stoplight formats
How to edit conditional formats and stoplight formats
How to delete conditional formats and stoplight formats
How to change the color of stoplight formats
Examples of conditional formatting
Example 1: Conditional format to highlight Profit SUM values greater than 30000
Example 2: Stoplight format to categorize Profit SUM values on a table worksheet
Example 3: Stoplight format to categorize hidden Profit SUM values on a crosstab worksheet
13
Using conditions
What are conditions?
What are multiple conditions?
What are nested conditions?
About using conditions
About applying more than one condition
How to activate and deactivate existing conditions
How to create single conditions
How to create multiple conditions
How to create nested conditions
How to edit conditions
How to delete conditions
Notes on how Discoverer applies conditions to roll-ups
Example of how Discoverer applies conditions to roll-ups
Examples of conditions
14
Using totals
What are totals?
About totals on worksheets
About SUM and Cell SUM
When to use SUM instead of Cell SUM
Example - using SUM to calculate the average sales per employee
When to use Cell SUM instead of SUM
Example - using Cell SUM to calculate an increase in sales
About migrating workbook totals to OracleBI Discoverer
What are aggregated values in Discoverer
What are linear and non-linear totals
How to display or hide totals
How to create totals
How to edit totals
How to delete totals
Examples of totals
Examples of worksheet aggregation in Discoverer
Example 1: Example of a Rank calculation using an Oracle9i database
Example 2: Example showing how Discoverer does not aggregate repeated values using an Oracle9i database
15
Using percentages
What are percentages?
How to display or hide percentages
How to create percentages
How to edit percentages
How to delete percentages
Example of percentages
16
Sorting data
What is sorting?
About sorting on table worksheets
About sorting on crosstab worksheets
What is group sorting?
How to sort data on a table worksheet
How to sort data on a crosstab worksheet
How to change how worksheet data is sorted
How to remove sorting from a worksheet
Examples of sorting
17
Using calculations
What are calculations?
About using calculations
What are analytic functions?
What analytic function templates are available in Discoverer?
How to display or hide worksheet calculations
How to create calculations
How to create a new calculation using an analytic function template
How to edit calculations
How to delete calculations
Examples of calculations
Part III Sharing results with others
18
Printing worksheets and graphs
About printing in Discoverer Plus Relational
About elements of a printed worksheet in Discoverer Plus Relational
What are Page Setup options
About Page Setup options for graphs
How to change Page Setup options for a worksheet
How to print Discoverer workbooks
How to print Discoverer worksheets
How to print Discoverer workbooks and worksheets to PDF files
19
Exporting data to other applications
About exporting Discoverer data to other applications
About exporting worksheets to Oracle Reports
About exporting worksheets to Microsoft Excel
About using Internet Explorer v6.0 when exporting to Microsoft Excel format
About exporting worksheets to Microsoft Excel Web Query format
About Discoverer support for Microsoft Excel Web Query format
About Microsoft Excel Web Query format and Discoverer security
About how worksheets and graphs are exported
About exporting worksheets that contain page items
About accessing exported files
How to export Discoverer data
20
Sharing workbooks
About sharing workbooks
About sharing workbooks and security
How to share workbooks
How to share the currently open workbook with other Discoverer users
How to share multiple workbooks with a single Discoverer user
21
Publishing worksheets in OracleAS Portal
What is OracleAS Portal?
What is Discoverer Portlet Provider?
What are the different types of Discoverer portlet?
About the Discoverer List of Worksheets portlet
About the Discoverer Worksheet portlet
About the Discoverer Gauges portlet
What you need to publish Discoverer content in OracleAS
Portal
About creating Discoverer portlets
About publishing Discoverer content in portlets
About choosing database connections for Discoverer portlets
About choosing refresh options for Discoverer portlets
About using worksheet parameters in Discoverer portlets
About using OracleAS Portal as a personalization framework for Discoverer
How to connect to OracleAS Portal and display the Add Portlets page
How to add a Discoverer List of Worksheets portlet to an Oracle Portal page
How to add a Discoverer Worksheet portlet to an Oracle Portal page
How to add a Discoverer Gauges portlet to an Oracle Portal page
How to edit a Discoverer portlet
How to customize a Discoverer portlet
How to customize the Discoverer worksheet in a portlet
How to map worksheet parameters to Page Parameters in Oracle Portal
How to map worksheet parameters to Generic Page Parameters
How to create a Page Parameter
How to map a Generic Page Parameter to a Page Parameter
Part IV Advanced Discoverer Plus Relational features
22
Advanced Discoverer Plus Relational Features
Using scheduled workbooks
What are scheduled workbooks?
When to use scheduled workbooks
An example of using a scheduled workbook
About accessing scheduled workbook results sets
About how scheduled workbooks are processed
How to schedule workbooks
How to edit scheduled workbooks
How to copy a scheduled workbook
How to unschedule a scheduled workbook
How to delete scheduled workbooks and scheduled workbook results sets
Using lists of values (LOVs)
What is a list of values (LOV)?
LOV examples
A LOV used to specify worksheet parameters
A LOV used in a condition
A LOV used in the Discoverer item navigator
About using long LOVs
How to select single values from long LOVs
How to select multiple values from long LOVs
Changing default settings
About default Discoverer settings
How to change default Discoverer settings
How to revert to the default format settings
How to change default worksheet formats
Notes on setting Advanced options
About automatic querying
About fan traps
About multiple join paths
Using SQL
What is SQL
Why should I be interested in SQL?
What are summaries?
What are summary folders
What is an execution plan?
About the Discoverer execution plan
How to view SQL
How to view a SQL execution plan
Part V Discoverer Plus Relational Reference
23
Dialog reference
Available Items pane
Available Items pane: Calculations tab
Available Items pane: Conditions area
Available Items pane: Items tab
Band by Rank dialog
Band by Value dialog
Calendar dialog
Choose a responsibility dialog
Color Chooser dialog
Color Palette Editor dialog
Choose Worksheet dialog
Column Width dialog
Conditional Formats dialog
Confirm Threshold dialog
Data Format dialog (Default Options)
Data/graph pane
Delete Scheduled Workbook Results dialog
Delete Workbooks from Database dialog
Difference dialog
Drill dialog
Edit Calculation dialog
Edit Condition dialog
Edit Graph dialog: Font dialog tab
Edit Graph dialog: Legend tab
Edit Graph dialog: Pie Chart Options tab (column)
Edit Graph dialog: Pie Chart Options tab (row)
Edit Graph dialog: Plot Area tab
Edit Graph dialog: Style tab
Edit Graph dialog: Titles, Totals, and Series tab
Edit Graph dialog: Type tab
Edit Graph dialog: X-Axis tab
Edit Graph dialog: Y-Axis tab
Edit Heading dialog
Edit Parameter dialog
Edit Parameter Values dialog
Edit Percentage dialog
Edit Text Area dialog
Edit Title dialog
Edit Total dialog
Edit Worksheet dialog
Edit Worksheet dialog: Crosstab Layout tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Parameters tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Select Items tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Select Items tab: Items tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Select Items tab: Conditions tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Select Items tab: Calculations tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Sort tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Table Layout tab
Edit Worksheet dialog: Worksheet Layout tab
Export Log dialog
Export Wizard dialog: Format and Name page
Export Wizard dialog: Graph page
Export Wizard dialog: Page Item Prompts page
Export Wizard dialog: Parameter Prompts page
Export Wizard dialog: Select page
Export Wizard dialog: Supervise page
Find dialog (in Item Navigator)
Find dialog (in Worksheet)
Following Value dialog
Format dialog
Format Data dialog
Format Data dialog: Breaks tab
Format Data dialog: Date tab
Format Data dialog: Format tab
Format Data dialog: Number tab
Format Data dialog: Text tab
Format heading dialog
Group Total dialog
Header/Footer Font dialog
Heading Format dialog (Default Options)
Join folders dialog
Manage Links dialog
Manage Workbooks dialog
Move Worksheets dialog
Moving Total dialog
New Calculation dialog
New Condition dialog
New Conditional Format dialog
New Link dialog
New Parameter dialog
New Percentage dialog
New Scheduled Workbook Results dialog
New Stoplight Format dialog
New Total dialog
Open Workbook from Database dialog
Options dialog: Advanced tab
Options dialog: EUL tab
Options dialog: Formats tab
Options dialog: General tab
Options dialog: Query Governor tab
Options dialog: Sheet tab
Page Setup dialog
Page Setup dialog: Graph tab
Page Setup dialog: Header/Footer tab
Page Setup dialog: Margins tab
Page Setup dialog: Table/Crosstab tab
Page Setup dialog: Worksheet tab
Parameters dialog
Percent Contribution dialog
Percent Difference dialog
Percent Rank dialog
Percent Running Contribution dialog
Preceding Value dialog
Print dialog
Print Preview dialog
Rank dialog
Reference Lines dialog
Running Total dialog
Save Workbook to Database dialog
Schedule Wizard dialog
Schedule Wizard dialog: General tab
Schedule Wizard dialog: Schedule tab
Scheduling Manager dialog
Select Condition dialog
Select Item dialog
Select item to drill dialog
Selected items pane
Select Parameter dialog
Select User dialog
Select Value dialog
Select Values dialog
Select Workbook from Database dialog
Share Workbooks dialog: User -> Workbook tab
Share Workbooks dialog: Workbook -> User tab
Show Condition dialog
Sort Crosstab dialog
Stoplight colors dialog
Text area
Title area
Total Format dialog (Default Options)
Workbook Properties dialog
Workbook Wizard: Create/Open Workbook dialog
Worksheet Properties dialog: Aggregation tab
Worksheet Properties dialog: General tab
Worksheet Properties dialog: Sheet/Crosstab Format tab
A
Discoverer calculation examples
How to find more information about Oracle analytic functions
About the examples in this chapter
How do I create calculations?
About using parameters to provide dynamic input to calculations
Simple calculation examples
Oracle analytic function examples
About analytic function categories
About analytic functions and drilling into and out of data
About creating analytic functions
Ranking function examples
About ranking
Example: Assign ranks to sales figures
Example: Assign ranks to sales figures within region
Example: Show the top three selling cities per region
Example: Show the top three and bottom three selling cities per region
Banding function examples
About banding
Example: Banding by value (1)
Example: Banding by value (2)
Example: Banding by rank
Windowing function examples
About windowing
Example: Calculate a three month moving sales average
Example: Show the cumulative values of sales
Example: Compare sales figures across time using windowing
Reporting function examples
About reporting functions
Example: Calculate annual sales
Example: Calculate annual sales by region
Example: Calculate percentage of annual sales by region
Example: Calculate city sales as a percentage of total sales
LAG/LEAD function examples
About LAG/LEAD functions
Example: Compare sales figures across time using LAG/LEAD
Example: Calculate sales growth across time
Example: Rank sales growth
Statistical function examples
About statistics functions
Example: Calculate linear regression
More about analytic functions expressions
About analytic functions and sequencing
Examples of sequencing
Example of applying single conditions on analytic function items
Example of applying multiple conditions on analytic function items
About inverse percentile examples
About differences between PERCENTILE_CONT and PERCENTILE_DISC
Example: Compute the median profit using the PERCENTILE_DISC function
Example: Compute the median profit using the PERCENTILE_CONT function
Hypothetical rank and distribution examples
Example: Calculate hypothetical rank
Banding example
Example: Producing equi-width bands using WIDTH_BUCKET
FIRST/LAST aggregate examples
Example: Find the largest sales transactions in area with most sales trans'
Example: Find the average sales transaction in area with least sales trans'
Examples of using row-based and time-based intervals
Example: Creating a Difference calculation using a row-based interval
Example: Creating a Difference calculation using a time-based interval
Example: Creating a Preceding value calculation using a time-based interval
B
Discoverer support for Oracle Applications
What are Oracle Applications?
What features does Discoverer support for Oracle Applications users?
What are the prerequisites to run Discoverer with Oracle Applications?
About using indexes and values in parameters
How to start Discoverer in Oracle Applications mode using an existing connection
Glossary
Index
