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Oracle® Business Intelligence New Features Guide
Release 10.1.3.3.3
Part No. E10416-04
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12 Flash Templates for Oracle BI Publisher

This new feature enables report authors to develop Adobe FLEX templates that can be applied to BI Publisher reports to generate highly interactive Flash output documents.In this release, Oracle BI Publisher offers support for Adobe Corporation's new document format for building interactive forms and reports, called Flex. You can build Flex templates, test them on your desktop, and deploy them to the BI Publisher server to generate Flash output. Users are then able to run the reports from the BI Publisher user interface or schedule them for delivery to report consumers.

This chapter will cover how to set up a Flex template with a BI Publisher "flat" data source (that is, there is no hierarchy in the XML data) and will cover some of the simpler objects such as tables and charts. For more information about interactivity, connectivity between components and more advanced topics, refer to the Adobe's Flex documentation.

12.1 Changes to the BI Publisher User Interface

To support Flash templates, you will notice the following changes in the BI Publisher user interface:

12.2 Prerequisites

The prerequisites are as follows:

12.3 Building Templates

This section includes the following topics:

12.3.1 Adding the Data Source

  1. Generate a sample data file from your report data model. From the BI Publisher Report Editor or from the Reports page, select View. If no layouts are defined for your report, then the output type will default to xml. Otherwise, choose Data for the output type. Select Export and save the results as an XML file to a local directory. This example is based on the following data:

    <ROWSET>
    <ROW>
    <NAME>Neena Kochhar</NAME>
    <FIRST_NAME>Neena</FIRST_NAME>
    <LAST_NAME>Kochhar</LAST_NAME>
    <SALARY>17000</SALARY>
    <ANNUAL_SALARY>204000</ANNUAL_SALARY>
    <FED_WITHHELD>57120</FED_WITHHELD>
    <JOB_TITLE>Administration Vice President</JOB_TITLE>
    <DEPARTMENT_NAME>Executive</DEPARTMENT_NAME>
    <MANAGER>Steven King</MANAGER>
    </ROW>
    <ROW>
    ...
    </ROWSET>
    

    This data is generated from the following simple query-based report:

    select
            e.first_name || ' ' || e.last_name name,
            e.first_name,
            e.last_name,
            e.salary,
            e.salary*12 ANNUAL_SALARY,
            e.salary*12*0.28 FED_WITHHELD,
            j.job_title,
            d.department_name,
            m.first_name || ' ' || m.last_name manager
    from employees e,
          employees m,
          departments d,
          jobs j
    where e.department_id = d.department_id
      and j.job_id = e.job_id
      and e.manager_id = m.employee_id
    
  2. Open the Flex IDE and create a new Flex Project, select the "Basic" data access method.

    This image is an example of the New Flex Project dialog.

    On the next screen give the project a name. The name you use here will be assigned to the template file name you are going to create.

    This image is described in the surrounding text.

    Click Finish.

    The IDE creates an MXML file; this is the Flex template definition file. It is in an XML format as follows:

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
    </mx:Application>
    

    You can now update it manually or by using the visual builder.

  3. Connect the XML you downloaded from your report data model. We will use the XML data services that Flex supports. We will embed the sample data into the MXML file.

    <?xml version="1.0" encoding="utf-8"?>
    <mx:Application xmlns:mx="http://www.adobe.com/2006/mxml" layout="absolute">
     <mx:Script>
       <![CDATA[
          [Bindable]
          public var dataXML:XML = 
    <ROWSET>
    <ROW>
    <NAME>Neena Kochhar</NAME>
    <FIRST_NAME>Neena</FIRST_NAME>
    <LAST_NAME>Kochhar</LAST_NAME>
    <SALARY>17000</SALARY>
    <ANNUAL_SALARY>204000</ANNUAL_SALARY>
    <FED_WITHHELD>57120</FED_WITHHELD>
    <JOB_TITLE>Administration Vice President</JOB_TITLE>
    <DEPARTMENT_NAME>Executive</DEPARTMENT_NAME>
    <MANAGER>Steven King</MANAGER>
    </ROW>
    <ROW>
    ...
    </ROWSET>;
            ]]>
     </mx:Script>
    </mx:Application>
    

    The XML portion should look familiar as the data you downloaded. The important components to note are:

    • <mx:Script> — This denotes the start of the template scripting code. There is also a closing </mx:Script> statement.

    • [Bindable] — This denotes that the following variable is bindable to a layout component.

    • public var dataXML:XML — This is the data variable declaration:

      • public — The value of the variable is available to the whole template.

      • var — Declares there is a variable in the report.

      • dataXML — The name of the variable. Note this is a compulsory name. You must use this name to use the template with BI Publisher.

      • :XML — Declares that the variable is an XML type.

    • ; — Notice the semicolon after the end of XML data you provided.

    At runtime the BI Publisher server will generate the runtime data from the report and inject it into the Flex template replacing the sample data held within the dataXML variable. This feature allows the Flex report to be distributed to users without needing to connect to the server.

12.3.2 Creating the Layout

Now we can start adding report objects to the layout palette. This example uses the Flex Design tab to add the objects to the layout. Click the Design tab to see the available objects in the Component Navigator pane.

The following figure shows an example of the available objects in the Component Navigator pane:

This image is described in the surrounding text.

These objects can be dragged and dropped to the design palette.

  1. The Flex IDE creates a default canvas for you to drop objects onto. You can modify the canvas as required.

    IMPORTANT: If you intend to embed the Flash output in a PDF document, you must set the Width and Height of the template in the Size region of the Layout properties. Even if you wish to accept the default size, you must explicitly enter values in these fields.

  2. Start by dragging a Panel object from under the Layout node to the design palette. Notice as you drag the panel around the edge of the palette, you will see guidelines displayed in blue. Use these guides to aid you in aligning objects.

  3. Drop the panel onto the top left hand corner of the palette.

  4. Now drag the bottom right edge of the panel across to the right hand side of the palette.

  5. Then drag it down to about half the height of the palette. Alternatively, use the property palette on the right hand side to set the size of the panel.

  6. Now pick up a Datagrid object. This is the object to render the data in a tabular format. Drop it onto the panel you created in Step 2. The Datagrid is now a child of the panel; you can resize it as needed. The end result is shown in the following figure:

    This image is described in the surrounding text.

    By default three columns are generated. In the next section you will override the default in the MXML code.

12.3.2.1 Adding a Chart

If you have purchased the charting option you can add charts to your layout.

  1. First make some room for the chart in your layout. Highlight the Datagrid object and pull the top edge down to about half the height of the hosting panel.

  2. For the purposes of this guide we will demonstrate a Column Chart. Select and drag a Column Chart from the design palette and drop it onto the hosting panel. Use the guidelines to get it aligned.

  3. Once you drop it you will notice the default size will overlap the Datagrid and the chart legend is in the top left-hand corner. Resize the chart and move the legend to the left to look similar to the following figure:

    This image is described in the surrounding text.

    This is a sample chart. You will bind it to the data in the next section.

12.3.3 Data Binding

Now that our layout is complete, we can bind the layout objects to the data source. Flex does offer some help through the property palette of the objects to define the binding, but not enough to complete the task. Therefore we are going to update the MXML directly using the "Source" editor.

12.3.3.1 Binding the DataGrid

To bind the DataGrid:

  1. Start by highlighting the Datagrid in the design palette, and then click the Source tab to bring up the MXML source. You will see that the first line of the Datagrid code has been highlighted for you. This is a useful feature if you have built complex Flex templates and need to locate the code easily.

    The Datagrid code is as follows:

    <mx:DataGrid x="10" y="160" width="476" height="152">
       <mx:columns>
          <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 1" dataField="col1"/>
          <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 2" dataField="col2"/>
          <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Column 3" dataField="col3"/>
       </mx:columns>
    </mx:DataGrid>
    

    Notice that it defines the relative x,y position of the grid within its parent container and its width and height. The next element defines the columns with attributes for the header label and the data fields.

    The goal is to achieve a table that looks like the following figure:

    This image is described in the surrounding text.
  2. Make the Datagrid aware of the datasource. To do that, add an attribute to the <mx:DataGrid> element as follows:

    dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"
    

    This attribute defines the data object to be used at runtime to populate the grid. Remember that we initially defined the XML data variable as "dataXML"; we now use that followed by "ROW". ROW is the repeating group in the data set. Don't forget the curly braces to let the Flex engine know we are defining a datasource.

  3. Bind the columns. We already have the basic structure, so it is just a case of replacing values thus:

    <mx:columns>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Employee" dataField="NAME" />
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Title" dataField="JOB_TITLE"/>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Monthly Salary" dataField="SALARY"/>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Annual Salary" dataField="ANNUAL_SALARY"/>
    </mx:columns>
    
  4. With this update we now have the following definition for the datagrid:

    <mx:DataGrid x="10" y="160" width="476" height="152" dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"> 
      <mx:columns>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Employee" dataField="NAME" />
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Title" dataField="JOB_TITLE"/>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Monthly Salary" dataField="SALARY"/>
        <mx:DataGridColumn headerText="Annual Salary" dataField="ANNUAL_SALARY"/>
      </mx:columns>
    </mx:DataGrid>
    
  5. You can now try the template with your sample data. Use the Run > Run EmployeeReport. This will open a new browser window and render the table with your sample data as seen in Step 1.

12.3.3.2 Binding the Chart

To bind the chart:

  1. Start by bringing up the Design tab and highlight the Chart, then flip back to the Source view to find the chart code:

    <mx:ColumnChart x="10" y="10" id="columnchart1" width="476" height="142">
      <mx:series>
        <mx:ColumnSeries displayName="Series 1" yField=""/>
      </mx:series>
    </mx:ColumnChart>
    <mx:Legend dataProvider="{columnchart1}" x="383" y="10"/>
    
  2. To bind the data source to the chart object, add the dataProvider attribute to the <mx:ColumnChart> as follows:

    dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"
    
  3. Next add in the binding for the horizontal axis and the column series. This requires a little more effort. Check the Flex help files for more details. We want to create a chart showing salaries by employees, similar to the following:

    This image is described in the surrounding text.

    To achieve this format, modify the <series> group and add a <horizontalAxis> element thus:

    <mx:ColumnChart x="10" y="10" id="columnchart1" width="476" height="142" dataProvider="{dataXML.ROW}"> 
       <mx:horizontalAxis>
         <mx:CategoryAxis  categoryField="NAME" />
       </mx:horizontalAxis>
       <mx:series >
         <mx:ColumnSeries xField="NAME"  yField="SALARY" displayName="Salary"/>
       </mx:series>
    </mx:ColumnChart>
    <mx:Legend dataProvider="{columnchart1}" x="383" y="10"/>
    

    The <mx:horizontalAxis> element has been added and the categoryField attribute has the NAME data element assigned. This element is required to render the chart.

    The <mx:series> element has been updated binding the SALARY value to each of the employee NAMEs to create a bar for each employee.

    The legend code does not need updating. Notice the "id" attribute on the ColumnChart matches the dataProvider attribute value on the <mx:Legend> element.

  4. You can now run the template using your sample data. You should get an output showing the chart above the tabulated data as shown in the following figure:

    This image is described in the surrounding text.

12.4 Loading Templates

Now that the Flex template has been tested on the desktop it can be loaded to the BI Publisher server.

  1. Using the Admin or Developer role, navigate to the Edit Report page.

  2. Highlight the Layouts node and use the Upload Template field to upload the Flex template to the server. To locate the correct file, use the Browse button and navigate to the Flex project directory. Under this directory open the bin directory and select the EmployeeReport.swf file. Use the Upload button to load the template.

  3. With the Layouts node still highlighted click New at the top of the report structure tree. Enter the name, template and template type fields as below.

    This image is described in the surrounding text.
  4. Save your report. The template will now be available for users to select to either run in real time or to schedule.

12.5 Setting Properties for PDF Output

A new set of Flash properties have been added to the Runtime Configuration page to enable you to specify the size and placement of the Flash object when you select PDF as the output type.

IMPORTANT: To produce PDF output you must specify the height and width of the template in the Flex Builder. See Creating the Layout.

To configure the PDF output:

  1. Using the Administrator or Developer role, navigate to the report that will use the Flash template and click Configure.

    On the Runtime Configuration page you will see a new set of properties under the Flash heading. These properties control the placement and sizing of the Flash object in your output PDF document. The properties are shown in the following screenshot:

    This screenshot is described in surrounding text.
  2. Enter values for the properties. Note that no properties are required. If you do not enter any values, the default values assume an 11 inch by 8.5 inch document (standard landscape), with a quarter inch inset from the upper left corner of the page as the insertion point of the Flash object. The default area in the document will be the size of the SWF object.

    • Page width of wrapper document – specify in points the width of the output PDF document. The default is 792, or 11 inches.

    • Page height of wrapper document – specify in points the height of the output PDF document. The default is 612, or 8.5 inches.

    • Start x position of Flash area in PDF – using the left edge of the document as the 0 axis point, specify in points the beginning horizontal position of the Flash object in the PDF document. The default is 18, or .25 inch.

    • Start y position of Flash area in PDF – using the upper left corner of the document as the 0 axis point, specify in points the beginning vertical position of the Flash object in the PDF document. The default is 18, or .25 inch.

    • Width of Flash area – enter in points the width of the area in the document for the Flash object to occupy. The default is the width of the SWF object.

    • Height of Flash area – enter in points the height of the area in the document for the Flash object to occupy. The default is the height of the SWF object.

12.6 Summary

This section has covered the basics of adding and organizing layout objects, binding the objects to BI Publisher data sources to create Flex templates, and then loading the templates to the BI Publisher server to make them available to report users.

This has been a basic introduction to Flex templates but Adobe Flex allows you to build far more complex interactive reports for your users. The animation, "wiring" together and formatting of layout objects can be achieved with Flex. You can also summarize and create calculated fields on the incoming data. Please reference the Flex documentation for these more advanced features.