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Oracle® Application Server Release Notes
10g (9.0.4) for Solaris Operating System (SPARC)
Part No. B10629-15
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17 Oracle Application Server Discoverer

This chapter describes issues associated with Oracle Application Server Discoverer (OracleAS Discoverer). It includes the following topics:

17.1 General Issues and Workarounds

This section describes general issues and their workarounds for OracleAS Discoverer. It includes the following topics:

17.1.1 Certification Information

For the latest certification information, which supersedes that in the Oracle Application Server Discoverer documentation, please refer to:

http://metalink.oracle.com

17.1.2 Internal Error on Exiting Discoverer Plus

If workbook scheduling is not enabled on your system, you might see the following error message when you exit Discoverer Plus:

An internal error has occurred. If this persists, please contact your Discoverer manager

This error occurs because Discoverer is attempting to get the status of a user's scheduled workbooks by querying V$PARAMETER. Use one of the following workarounds to resolve this issue:

  • Set up workbook scheduling functionality, as described in the Oracle Discoverer Administrator Administration Guide and Oracle Developer Suite Release Notes.

  • Set the default value of the ShowExpiredRunsOnExit preference to 0.

  • In Discoverer Plus, choose Tools | Options | General and select the Don't show expired results on exit, delete results automatically checkbox.

17.1.3 OracleAS Discoverer Plus and Internet Browsers with Pop-Ups Disabled

OracleAS Discoverer Plus appears as a pop-up window from the main Discoverer Connections page. However, some Internet browsers provide an option to disallow pop-up windows. If your browser has such an option and Discoverer Plus is not appearing when you select a connection, make sure the browser's option to disallow pop-up windows is turned off.

17.1.4 Launching OracleAS Discoverer Plus from a Netscape v7.0 Browser

To successfully launch Discoverer Plus from a Netscape v7.0 browser, follow the instructions below to change your Netscape preferences:

  1. Select Edit | Preferences | Helper Applications from the Netscape menu bar.

  2. Clear the Always use the Netscape Plug-in Finder Service check box.

17.1.5 Problems Launching Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0 when Exporting to Excel

If you are exporting from Discoverer Plus to Microsoft Excel using Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0, a separate browser window might not launch as expected. This problem is due to a change in behavior in Microsoft Internet Explorer v6.0.

Follow the instructions below to work around the problem by specifying the Discoverer middle tier as a trusted site in Microsoft Internet Explorer (the menu options mentioned below are correct at the time of writing):

  1. Select Tools | Internet Options from the Microsoft Internet Explorer menu bar to display the Internet Options dialog.

  2. Display the Security tab.

  3. Select the Trusted Sites icon and click the Sites button to display the Trusted sites dialog.

  4. Enter the URL of the Discoverer middle tier in the format:

    http://<host.domain>:<port>

    where:

    • <host.domain> is the server name and domain on which the Oracle HTTP Server is installed

    • <port> is the port number (typically 7777 or 7778) on which Discoverer is installed

17.1.6 Issue Running OracleAS Discoverer Plus on NT with Sun Java Plug-In 1.4.1

If you want to use Discoverer Plus on an NT client, use JInitiator 1.3.1.9 or the Sun Java Plug-In 1.4.2. This is due to issues with the Sun Java Plug-In 1.4.1.

17.1.7 Problem With Microsoft Internet Explorer, HTTP 1.1 Protocol and Compressed Data

There is a known issue (user fails to see a page) with Microsoft Internet Explorer where the first 2048 bytes of data sent by a web server using HTTP compression are lost. To find out more information about this problem, go to the following link:

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;Q313712

Follow the instructions below to work around the problem by specifying HTTP 1.0 on the client to disable HTTP compression:

  1. Select Tools | Internet Options from the Microsoft Internet Explorer menu bar to display the Internet Options dialog.

  2. Display the Advanced tab.

  3. Clear both of the following check boxes (in the HTTP 1.1 settings category):

    • the Use HTTP 1.1 check box

    • the Use HTTP 1.1 through proxy connections check box

17.1.8 Effective Font Sizes in OracleAS Discoverer Viewer using Netscape 4.7 Browser

There is a known issue with the rendering of fonts in Discoverer Viewer with the Netscape 4.7 browser. This is due to limited support for Cascading Style Sheets (CSS) in Netscape 4.7, which causes the font size specified in the CSS to be ignored.

To correct this problem, upgrade to a newer version of a supported browser.

17.1.9 Known Issues when using OracleAS Discoverer with Netscape 4.x

The following are known issues when using Discoverer with Netscape 4.x:

  • it is not possible to filter the workbook list using non-ASCII characters when using Discoverer Viewer with Netscape 4.x

  • it is not possible to use non-ASCII parameters when using Discoverer Viewer with Netscape 4.x

  • it is not possible to create private connections using non-ASCII characters when using Discoverer with Netscape 4.x

  • browser window re-sizing is disabled when using Discoverer Plus with Netscape 4.x

The workaround is to use a later version of Netscape.

17.1.10 Error: Could Not Open Web Cache Connection (WWC-40019)

This error message might appear if you perform a new Oracle Application Server Business Intelligence and Forms type installation with an existing OracleAS Infrastructure 10g, and you subsequently edit and try to publish a Discoverer portlet.

The workaround is to make sure that OracleAS Web Cache is disabled for OracleAS Portal content.

  1. Log in to OracleAS Portal as the Portal administrator (e.g. with the username Portal).

  2. Display the Administer tab.

  3. Display the Portal sub-tab.

  4. Select the Global Settings link in the Services area.

  5. Display the Cache tab.

  6. Clear the Enable Web Cache for Caching Portal Content check box.

  7. Make sure that the Host Name field is set correctly.

    Note: If more than one Oracle Application Server middle tier has been installed, the Host Name is updated with the most recent Oracle Application Server installation. You might need to change the Host Name to that of a previous Oracle Application Server installation.

  8. Save the changes you have made by clicking Apply or OK.

17.1.11 Unable to launch OracleAS Discoverer Java Plus with Turkish Locale with Jinitiator 1.3

If your locale is set to Turkish, you cannot launch OracleAS Discoverer Plus using JInitiator 1.3.1.8.

The workaround is to use the Sun Java Plug-In 1.4.1. Note that this issue is fixed in later versions of JInitiator (1.3.1.16).

17.1.12 Microsoft Excel May Hang or Errors When Re-opening a File Exported From OracleAS Discoverer in a Non-English Locale

If you are using OracleAS Discoverer in a non-English locale and you export to an Excel pivot table, Excel might hang or error when re-opening the file.

The workaround is to disable macros when re-opening the file.

17.1.13 Buttons Not Displayed, or Text Only in English

Following installation of Oracle Application Server, you may not see complete translation in OracleAS Discoverer Viewer and OracleAS Discoverer Connection page. Some buttons, text or links may be displayed only in English.

To correct this problem, re-start all of your OPMN services after installation of Oracle Application Server.

17.1.14 English Text Appearing in Non-English Locale

If you are using OracleAS Discoverer Viewer in a non-English locale, English language text might appear instead of the expected language (for example, in buttons, prompts, and links).

The workaround is to restart the OC4J_BI_Forms service using Oracle Enterprise Manager Application Server Control.

17.2 Configuration Issues and Workarounds

This section describes configuration issues and their workarounds for OracleAS Discoverer. It includes the following topic:

17.2.1 Always Use HTTPS URL When Plus Transport Is HTTPS

Chapter 12, "Maintaining security with OracleAS Discoverer" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide describes how Discoverer middle tier administrators can specify HTTPS as the Discoverer Plus transport protocol (used for communicating between the applet and the middle tier). Having specified the HTTPS protocol, the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide also instructs administrators to give end users a HTTPS URL to start Discoverer Plus. However, if end users attempt to use the default HTTP URL to start Discoverer Plus, the following error message will be displayed:

Unable to connect to Oracle Discoverer Appplication Server. Attempt 1. RMI protocol over HTTPS transport: no response from web server at <url>.

To correct this problem, end users must use the HTTPS URL to start Discoverer Plus.

17.2.2 Error when configuring OracleAS Discoverer after installation

When you install Oracle Application Server, you can specify that OracleAS Discoverer is configured for you during installation.

You can also configure OracleAS Discoverer after installation, using Oracle Application Server Control. If you do configure OracleAS Discoverer after installation, you might see the following error message when you display Discoverer configuration pages:

An error occurred:oracle.disco.oem.configuration. DiscoConfigurationException:

Cannot find element: configuration Entity Path [system/configuration] not valid. Check log to see if the PlugIn was loaded

If you see the above error message, restart Oracle Application Server Control from the command line as follows:

  1. Stop Oracle Application Server Control by typing the following at the command prompt:

    $ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl stop iasconsole
    
    
  2. Start Oracle Application Server Control by typing the following at the command prompt:

    $ORACLE_HOME/bin/emctl start iasconsole
    
    

17.3 Useful Information

This section describes useful information for OracleAS Discoverer. It includes the following topics:

17.3.1 Upgrading from Oracle Discoverer 3.1

If you are upgrading from Oracle Discoverer 3.1, the Oracle Discoverer Administrator Administration Guide documents the requirement to upgrade the EUL to Discoverer 4.1 as an intermediate step.

For the purposes of this upgrade, if you are not already in possession of Oracle Discoverer Administration Edition 4.1, it will be made available on the Oracle Technology Network:

http://otn.oracle.com

17.3.2 Manually Editing the End User Layer Tables

Do NOT manually edit the End User Layer (EUL) tables or their contents (e.g. by using SQL*Plus), unless specifically directed to do so by Oracle Support or Development. Manual editing of the EUL tables is not supported and any manual changes can result in a corrupt EUL.

17.3.3 Refresh Query For End Users Only Able to Run Scheduled Workbooks

For end users who are only able to run scheduled workbooks, note that the Refresh button on the Scheduling Manager dialog will not re-run the query from the base tables, but from the table that stores the scheduled workbook results. This is also the case for the 'Run query automatically' option on the General tab of the Options dialog.

17.3.4 Availability of HWOnline files

Previous versions of Oracle Discoverer shipped with the files HWOnline.htm and Memo.doc, which were used to demonstrate 'drill out' functionality. To reduce disk space requirements and installation time, these files and instructions for their use will be made available from the Oracle Technology Network:

http://otn.oracle.com

17.3.5 Formatting – Font Size of Axis Labels

In previous versions of Discoverer, the font size of an axis item was automatically set to be slightly larger than the data. From the 9.0.4 release onwards, the default font size of the axis label will be the same size as the data.

17.3.6 Scheduling and aggregation

Note the following if you intend to schedule workbooks that contain:

  • DISTINCT aggregates (e.g. COUNT DISTINCT, SUM DISTINCT)

  • calculations that include the CASE expression

  • calculations that include analytic functions

  • calculations that include PL/SQL functions

Regardless of the option actually selected on the Aggregation tab of the Options dialog for the workbook, Discoverer will process the scheduled workbook as if you had selected the Show <Non-aggregable label>, the "values that cannot be aggregated" option, set on the Sheet Format tab option.

In addition, note that the Show the aggregated value calculated by the database. The database uses the same aggregation method as Discoverer option on the Aggregation tab of the Options dialog is not available for scheduled workbooks.

17.3.7 Additional OracleAS Discoverer Portlet Provider Configuration Parameters to Improve Performance

Table 17-1 shows additional settings in the configuration.xml file that enable you to improve the performance of the OracleAS Discoverer session pool when using OracleAS Discoverer Portlet Provider.

Table 17-1 OracleAS Discoverer Portlet Provider Configuration Parameters

Setting Description

/disco:configuration/portlet/@maxSessionAgeHour

Specifies the maximum amount of time (in hours) that a Discoverer session is allowed to be in the session pool. When this time has passed, the Portlet Provider removes this session from the pool.

The default value for this setting is 1 hour. In most situations, the default value will be satisfactory.

Specify a lower value if sessions are consuming too much memory. If you lower this value, memory consumption is reduced because sessions are recycled faster and memory used by the recycled sessions is returned to the operating system. However, note that there will be a slight increase in refresh times because sessions will have to be restarted.

Note that maxSessionAgeHour is an absolute timeout. Even if a session in the pool is being used frequently (i.e. is never inactive for more than the maxSessionInactivityPeriodMinute), the session will be removed when the maxSessionAgeHour value is reached.

/disco:configuration/portlet/@maxSessionInactivityPeriodMinute

Specifies the maximum amount of time (in minutes) that a Discoverer session is allowed to be inactive in the session pool. When this time has passed, the Portlet Provider removes this session from the pool.

The default value for this setting is 10 minutes. In most situations, the default value will be satisfactory.

Specify a lower value if sessions are consuming too much memory. If you lower this value, memory consumption is reduced because sessions are recycled faster and memory used by the recycled sessions is returned to the operating system. However, note that there will be a slight increase in refresh times because sessions will have to be restarted.

Note that maxSessionInactivityPeriodMinute only applies to session inactivity and a running query is not considered inactivity. In other words, a session will not be terminated because it is running a query that takes longer than the time specified by maxSessionInactivityPeriodMinute.


17.3.8 Setting Oracle Discoverer Registry Variables for Use by Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java commands

When using some of the commands provided by the Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java, you might want to explicitly set certain Discoverer registry variables, as shown in Table 17-2:

Table 17-2 OracleAS Discoverer Registry Variables

Command Discoverer Registry Variable

-export

ArchiveCacheFlushInterval

FormatXML

ExportJoinFromMaster

-refresh_<object>

DefaultPreserveDisplayPropertyForRefresh

EnableTriggers

-import

FormatXML

-connect -apps_user

AppsFNDNAM

AppsGWYUID

-load

SetNULLItemHeadingOnBulkLoad

MaxNumberJoinPredicates

all commands

SqlTrace


On Windows platforms, Discoverer registry variables are stored in the Windows Registry. On UNIX platforms, Discoverer registry variables are stored in the .reg_key.dc file.

To set these Discoverer registry variables, do one of the following:

  • (on Windows only) specify values for registry variables as required by editing the Windows Registry using regedit or regedt32

  • (on Windows and UNIX) specify values for registry variables as required by entering the following at the command prompt:

    dis51pr -setadminpref <registry variable name> <value>
    
    

For more information about Discoverer registry variables (including descriptions, default values and allowable values), see:

  • Oracle Discoverer Administrator Administration Guide

  • Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide

17.3.9 Additional Oracle Discoverer Registry Variables

Table 17-3 shows additional Discoverer registry variables are available, in addition to those documented in the Oracle Discoverer Administrator Administration Guide and the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide.

Table 17-3 Additional DIscoverer Registry Variables

Category Discoverer registry variable Description Default Valid Values

Database

DefaultPreserve DisplayProperty ForRefresh

When refreshing, specifies whether an updated item description is discarded and replaced with the original description, or whether the updated description is retained.

0

0 = Use updated description

1 = Use original description

Database

EnableTriggers

Specifies whether database triggers are disabled.

For example, Discoverer attempts to make a database call for every new column found during a refresh. If this value is set to 0, Discoverer will not make the database call.

0

0 = Disable database triggers

1 = Enable database triggers

Database

ExportJoinFrom Master

When exporting a business area, specifies whether joins from the master folder are also exported.

0

0 = Do export joins from Master Folder

Any value other  than 0 = Do not export joins from the Master Folder

Database

SetNULLItem HeadingOnBulk Load

When performing a bulk load, specifies whether item headings are set to the same value as item display names, or set to null.

0

0 = Set item headings to item display names

1 = Set item headings to null


17.3.10 Migrating OracleAS Discoverer Viewer Customizations

If you are upgrading from earlier versions of Discoverer and you have customized Discoverer Viewer, you might have to manually edit files and reapply your customizations. For more information:

If you do customize Discoverer Viewer, you are responsible for migrating customizations across Discoverer versions. Depending on the changes you have made, it is possible that you will be unable to simply replace files delivered in a new version of Discoverer with your customized files. You might have to manually edit the new files to include your customizations.

17.3.11 Running the Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java (UNIX only)

To run the Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java on UNIX, a number of environment variables must be set correctly. You can either set the environment variables explicitly using the discwb.sh script or implicitly using the eulapi script, as described below:

  • to explicitly set the environment variables before issuing Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java commands, type the following at the command line prompt from which you will be issuing those commands:

    <ORACLE_HOME>/discoverer/discwb.sh
    
    

    Subsequently, you can enter Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java commands by typing:

    java -jar <ORACLE_HOME>/discoverer/lib/eulbuilder.jar -<command list>
    
    

    For example, to refresh a folder called Sales1, you might type the following:

    java -jar <ORACLE_HOME>/discoverer/lib/eulbuilder.jar -connect jchan/12345@my_database -refresh_folder Sales1
    
    
  • to implicitly set the environment variables when you run Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java commands, use the eulapi script in the <ORACLE_HOME>/bin directory to run commands. For example, to refresh a folder called Sales1, you might type the following:

    <ORACLE_HOME>/bin/eulapi -connect jchan/12345@my_database -refresh_folder Sales1
    
    

    Hint: To avoid entering <ORACLE_HOME>/bin each time you run the eulapi script, run discwb.sh first.

17.3.12 OracleAS Discoverer and Real Application Clusters (RAC)/Transparent Application Failover (TAF)

OracleAS Discoverer's support for Transparent Application Failover (TAF) on a Real Application Cluster (RAC) system requires a failover mode of 'select', as shown in the example tnsnames.ora entry below:

NAME =
(DESCRIPTION=
(ADDRESS=
(PROTOCOL=tcp)  
(HOST=servername)  
(PORT=1521)) 
(CONNECT_DATA=
(SERVICE_NAME= NAME)
(FAILOVER_MODE=
        (TYPE=select)
        (METHOD=basic)
        (RETRIES=4)
        (DELAY=15))))

Oracle Corporation recommends initially setting RETRIES and DELAY to the values given in the example above (i.e. 4 and 15 respectively). However, you might need to increase these values for your own system.

In certain rare scenarios, end users might see an error message if failover occurs. When they acknowledge the error message, their sessions will continue as normal. A fix for these scenarios is planned for release as a patch to the 9.0.4 release.

17.3.13 XWindow Display No Longer Required

Section 2.12, "How to run Discoverer Viewer over HTTP" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide states:

If you install OracleAS in a UNIX environment, an XWindow display must be available to the Discoverer servlet to support Discoverer Viewer's graphing and charting functionality. For more information about setting the DISPLAY environment variable to refer to the X Server, see the Oracle Application Server 10g Installation Guide.

An XWindow display is no longer required.

17.4 Documentation Errata

This section describes known errors in the documentation. It includes the following topics:

17.4.1 Extra Step Required When Registering Discoverer Portlet Provider with OracleAS Portal

Section 9.4, "How to register Discoverer Portlet Provider with OracleAS Portal" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide should contain an extra step as shown below:

  • 9. d. Change the User Login Frequency to Once per User Session.

17.4.2 Corrections to Configuration Settings in 'configuration.xml' File

Section A.4, "List of configuration settings in configuration.xml"of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide: includes a table that contains a number of minor errors, as shown below:

Table 17-4 Corrections Table

Setting Correction

/disco:configuration/portlet /@maximumSessions

Should read:

/disco:configuration/portlet/@maxSessions

/disco:configuration/servlet /xsl_translator/stylesheet _pool

Should read:

/disco:configuration/servlet/xsl_translator/@stylesheet_pool

query_progress_delay

This parameter can no longer be set globally in the configuration.xml file.

This parameter can still be set on a per user basis as described in section 11.8, "Discoverer Viewer URL Parameters" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide.


17.4.3 Missing '-jar' in Example Syntax given for Running Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java commands

The examples in sections 1.7 and 1.9 of the Oracle Discoverer EUL Command Line for Java User's Guide are missing the '-jar' part of the command line syntax. When running the command line for Java, use the following syntax:

java –jar eulbuilder.jar -<command list>

17.4.4 Required EUL Version Incorrectly Stated as 5.1, Should be 5.0.2

The Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide contains the following paragraph on page xii and on page 1-17:

Before users can use Discoverer to analyze data, the database must contain a Discoverer EUL Version 5.1. The Discoverer manager must have created or updated the End User Layer (EUL) Version 5.1 with Oracle Discoverer Administrator Version 9.0.4 or later (shipped as part of Oracle Developer Suite 10g (9.0.4)).

The EUL version given in the above paragraph is incorrect. The paragraph should read:

Before users can use Discoverer to analyze data, the database must contain a Discoverer EUL Version 5.0.2. The Discoverer manager must have created or updated the End User Layer (EUL) Version 5.0.2 with Oracle Discoverer Administrator Version 9.0.4 or later (shipped as part of Oracle Developer Suite 10g (9.0.4)).

Similarly, the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide contains the following paragraph on page D-5:

If you have an existing Discoverer Release 4.1 EUL, you must upgrade the EUL from Release 4.1 to Version 5.1 using Discoverer Administrator Version 9.0.4.

The above paragraph should read:

If you have an existing Discoverer Release 4.1 EUL, you must upgrade the EUL from Release 4.1 to Version 5.0.2 using Discoverer Administrator Version 9.0.4.

17.4.5 Incorrect default setting shown for the ShowExpiredRunsOnExit preference

Section 8.8, "List of Discoverer User Preferences" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide incorrectly shows the default setting of the ShowExpiredRunsOnExit preference as 0. The default setting of the preference is actually 1.

17.4.6 Incorrect Commands to Upgrade User Level Preferences from 1.0.2.2 to 9.0.4

Section D3.1.2, "How to upgrade user level preferences from Discoverer Release 4.1 to Discoverer Version 9.0.4 on UNIX" of the Oracle Application Server Discoverer Configuration Guide contains two instances where you are instructed to enter the following command:

prompt> <ORACLE_HOME_2>/discoverer/bin/dis51pr -migrate

In both instances, the command to enter should be:

prompt> <ORACLE_HOME_2>/discoverer/util/migrateprefs.sh -from 102