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Oracle® Business Intelligence Discoverer Configuration Guide
10g Release 2 (10.1.2.1) for Microsoft Windows and Solaris Operating System (SPARC)
B13918-03
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4 Managing OracleBI Discoverer connections

Note: This chapter only applies if the Discoverer installation is associated with an OracleAS Infrastructure. For more information, see Section 2.1, "About installing Oracle Business Intelligence".

If Discoverer is not associated with an OracleAS Infrastructure, Discoverer connections are not available to end users. For more information about associating Discoverer with an Oracle Infrastructure install, see Chapter 2, "About Oracle Business Intelligence installations and OracleAS Infrastructures".

This chapter explains how to create and manage OracleBI Discoverer connections, and includes the following topics:

4.1 What is an OracleBI Discoverer connection?

An OracleBI Discoverer connection is a stored set of database login details, comprising:

Discoverer connections enable Discoverer end users to start Discoverer without having to re-enter database login details each time they start Discoverer.

In the example below, a connection called Customer Reports has been created that contains login information to connect to the database containing the reports, without having to enter login details.

Figure 4-1 Connections page in OracleBI Discoverer Plus

Description of Figure 4-1  follows
Description of "Figure 4-1 Connections page in OracleBI Discoverer Plus"

Notes

4.1.1 About Discoverer private connections and OracleAS Single Sign-On

If OracleAS Single Sign-On is enabled, Discoverer private connections work as follows:

  • when Discoverer end users select a Discoverer private connection for the first time, they are prompted to enter their OracleAS Single Sign-On details (if they have not already been authenticated)

  • once Discoverer end users have been authenticated by OracleAS Single Sign-On, they can select a Discoverer private connection without confirming the Discoverer password

For more information about OracleAS Single Sign-On, see Section 14.7.1, "Using Discoverer with OracleAS Single Sign-On".

4.2 What are the different types of Discoverer connection?

There are two types of Discoverer connection:

4.2.1 About private connections

Private connections are created and maintained by Discoverer end users.

Private connections have the following characteristics:

4.2.2 About public connections

Public connections are created and maintained by Discoverer middle tier managers.

Note: Public connections are not available to Discoverer Plus OLAP users.

For example, if you want to provide Discoverer end users with access to the Discoverer sample workbooks, you might create a public connection called 'Sample workbooks'.

Public connections have the following characteristics:

  • A public connection is available to Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer end users.

    Note: When you create a public (OLAP) connection (i.e. a public connection to a multidimensional data source) the public connection will only be available to Discoverer Viewer and Discoverer Portlet Provider users. Public OLAP connections are not available to Discoverer Plus OLAP users.

  • Public connections enable Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer end users to access data to which the PUBLIC role has access.

  • Discoverer Plus and Viewer users cannot add, edit, or delete public connections.

    For more information about how to create public connections, see Section 4.6, "How to create public connections".

4.3 About managing Discoverer connections?

As a middle tier manager, you use Application Server Control to manage Discoverer connections, as follows:

Notes

4.4 About the Discoverer connections page

There are two Discoverer connections pages:

The figure below shows the Connect to Discoverer Plus page.

Figure 4-2 Connect to OracleBI Discoverer page

Description of Figure 4-2  follows
Description of "Figure 4-2 Connect to OracleBI Discoverer page"

4.5 About specifying whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections

You can specify whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections (for more information, see Section 4.8, "How to specify whether Discoverer end users can create private connections").

Note: Public connections are not available to Discoverer Plus OLAP users. If you disallow private connections, Discoverer Plus OLAP users will always have to connect to Discoverer directly.

If you enable Discoverer end users to create their own private connections:

Notes

4.6 How to create public connections

You create a public connection when you want to provide pre-defined login details to Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users. For example, you might create a public connection called Start tutorial, which connects to the tutorial database as a tutorial user. You delete public connections when you no longer require them.

Note: When you create a public Discoverer Plus OLAP connection (i.e. a public connection to a multidimensional data source) the public connection will only be available to Discoverer Viewer and Discoverer Portlet Provider users. Public OLAP connections are not available to Discoverer Plus OLAP users.

Hint: In a secure Discoverer environment you might want to use only public connections, so that you can restrict database access to login details that you specify. In other words, you might also disallow Discoverer end users from creating private connections (for more information, see Section 4.5, "About specifying whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections").

To create a public connection:

  1. Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").

  2. Display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page (for more information, see Section 5.1.3, "How to display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page"). Description of em_main.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_main.gif

  3. Display the Administration tab.

    Description of em_admin.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_admin.gif

  4. Select the Public Connections link to display the Discoverer Public Connections area.

    Description of oem3.gif follows
    Description of the illustration oem3.gif

    Note: If the Public Connections link is not displayed, the Oracle Business Intelligence installation is not associated with an OracleAS Infrastructure. For information about how to associate an Oracle Business Intelligence installation with an OracleAS Infrastructure, see Section 2.2, "How to associate an OracleBI installation with an OracleAS Infrastructure".

  5. Click Create Connection to display the Create Public Connection page.

    Description of oem5.gif follows
    Description of the illustration oem5.gif

  6. Enter the connection details, then click OK to save the details.

    The new connection that you created is displayed in the Discoverer Public Connections list.

    When Discoverer end users connect to Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer, they will be able to select the connection that you have just created.

Notes

4.7 How to delete public connections

You delete a public connection when you no longer want to provide pre-defined login details to Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users.

To delete a public connection:

  1. Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").

  2. Display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page (for more information, see Section 5.1.3, "How to display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page"). Description of em_main.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_main.gif

  3. Display the Administration tab.

    Description of em_admin.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_admin.gif

  4. Select the Public Connections link to display the Discoverer Public Connections area.

    Description of oem3.gif follows
    Description of the illustration oem3.gif

  5. Click the trash can icon in the Delete column next to the name of the connection that you want to delete to display the Confirmation dialog.

  6. Click Yes at the confirmation page to permanently delete the connection

    The connection that you deleted is removed from the Discoverer Public Connections list and will no longer be displayed on the Discoverer Connections page in Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer.

    When Discoverer end users connect to Discoverer Plus or Discoverer Viewer, they will no longer be able to select the public connection that you have just deleted.

4.8 How to specify whether Discoverer end users can create private connections

To specify whether Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users can create private connections:

  1. Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").

  2. Display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page (for more information, see Section 5.1.3, "How to display the Application Server Control Discoverer Home page"). Description of em_main.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_main.gif

  3. Display the Administration tab.

    Description of em_admin.gif follows
    Description of the illustration em_admin.gif

  4. Select the Private Connections link to display the Discoverer Private Connections area.

  5. Specify whether users can create private connections, as follows:

    • Select the Allow users to define and use their own private connections in Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer check box if you want Discoverer end users to be able to create their own private connections.

    • Clear the Allow users to define and use their own private connections in Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer check box if you want to restrict Discoverer end users to only using public connections that you specify.

  6. Click OK to save the details.

    If you enable Discoverer end users to create private connections, they will see a Create Connection button on the Discoverer Connections page. For example, in the figure below the Create Connection button is available.

    Figure 4-3 Connections page in OracleBI Discoverer Plus

    Description of Figure 4-3  follows
    Description of "Figure 4-3 Connections page in OracleBI Discoverer Plus"

Notes