Contents

Title and Copyright Information

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Preface

Documentation Accessibility

Intended Audience

Related Documents

Prerequisites to run Discoverer Desktop

Part I Getting Started

1 Discoverer Desktop Overview

1.1 What is Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer?

1.2 New Discoverer Desktop Features

1.3 How Discoverer Desktop Works

1.3.1 What is a Business Area?

1.3.2 Understanding Workbooks and Worksheets

1.3.3 About Worksheets and Queries

1.4 Opening a Workbook

1.4.1 Opening Another Workbook

1.4.2 Opening Workbooks in a Non-Oracle Database

1.4.3 Looking at a Workbook's Properties

1.4.4 Switching to Another Worksheet

1.5 Saving a Workbook

1.5.1 Deleting a Workbook

1.5.1.1 Deleting a Workbook from Your Computer

2 What You See on the Screen

2.1 The Workbook Window

2.2 The Four Types of Display

2.2.1 Table Layout

2.2.1.1 Table Layout with Page Details

2.2.2 Crosstab Layout

2.2.2.1 Page Detail Crosstab Layout

2.2.2.2 A Note About Crosstabs

2.3 Selecting Sections of a Worksheet

2.3.1 About the Axis Item Markers

2.3.2 Selecting Axis Item Markers

2.4 Seeing the Next Page of Data

2.5 Formatting a Worksheet

2.5.1 Rearranging the Columns on Tables

2.5.2 Resizing Columns

2.5.3 Formatting Headings, Data, and Titles

2.5.3.1 Editing Column Header Text

2.5.3.2 Reformatting a Column Heading on a Table

2.5.3.3 Reformatting a Column Heading on a Crosstab

2.5.3.4 Reformatting Data

2.5.3.5 Adding Bars to Numeric Data

2.5.4 Formatting a Worksheet Title

2.5.4.1 Adding Text Variables to Titles

2.5.4.2 Adding Bitmaps to Titles

2.5.5 Renaming a Worksheet

2.6 Some Helpful Shortcuts

2.6.1 Right Mouse Support

2.6.2 Resizing Windows

3 Presenting Data on a Graph

3.1 The Features of a Graph

3.1.1 The Graph Tool Bar

3.2 Creating a Graph

3.2.1 Updating the Data on a Graph

3.3 Modifying a Graph

3.3.1 Selecting a New Graph Type

3.3.2 Displaying the Graph Legend and X Labels

3.3.3 Resizing the Window and Graph

3.3.4 Reference Lines and Pull-outs on a Graph

3.3.5 Rotating Graphs

3.3.6 Changing the Graph's Colors and Patterns

3.3.6.1 Creating Custom Patterns

3.3.6.2 Creating Custom Colors

Part II Working with Discoverer Desktop

4 Pivoting, Drilling, and Sorting Data

4.1 Pivoting Data

4.1.1 Pivoting for Comparison and Analysis

4.1.2 Pivoting Data on a Table

4.1.3 Pivoting Data on a Crosstab

4.1.3.1 Producing erroneous results when pivoting

4.1.4 Duplicating Tables and Crosstabs

4.2 Drilling Into and Out of Data

4.2.1 Drilling down using the Drill icon

4.2.2 Drilling out using the Drill icon

4.2.3 Drill examples

4.2.4 Quick Drilling by Double-Clicking

4.2.5 Drilling with the Drill Dialog Box

4.3 Sorting Data

4.3.1 Sorting Data on Tables

4.3.1.1 Sorting Data Within Data

4.3.1.2 Group Sorting

4.3.1.3 Sorting from the Tool Bar

4.3.2 Sorting Data on Crosstabs

4.3.2.1 Sorting Crosstabs Data from the Tool Bar

4.3.2.2 Sorting Across an Axis

4.3.2.3 Sorting Crosstabs Data from the Sort Crosstab Dialog Box

5 Working with Discoverer Desktop

5.1 Using Discoverer Desktop Tools to Analyze Your Data

5.1.1 Viewing Tool Definitions for Specific Items

5.1.2 Creating New Tool Definitions

5.1.3 Editing Existing Tool Definitions

5.1.4 Deleting Tool Definitions

5.2 Finding Exceptions to Data

5.2.1 Creating a New Exception

5.2.2 Editing an Exception

5.3 Totaling Numeric Data

5.3.1 Creating a New Totals Definition

5.3.2 Totals and Calculations

5.3.3 Editing a Totals Definition

5.4 Using Percentages

5.4.1 Using the Percentages Tool

5.4.2 Creating a New Percentages Definition

5.4.3 Editing a Percentage Definition

5.5 Finding Data that Meets Conditions

5.5.1 Creating Conditions

5.5.2 Editing and Removing Condition Expressions

6 Reporting Results

6.1 Preparing Reports for Printing

6.1.1 Selecting Print Options

6.1.2 Previewing a Report

6.2 Sending Reports with E-Mail Messages

6.3 Exporting to Other Applications

6.3.1 Exporting to Oracle Reports

6.3.2 Exporting to Microsoft Excel

6.4 Producing Scheduled Reports

6.4.1 Seeing the Results of a Scheduled Report

6.4.1.1 Viewing Scheduled Workbooks when connected as an Oracle Applications User

6.4.2 Working with the Scheduling Manager

6.4.2.1 Viewing Errors

6.5 Sharing Workbooks

7 Building Worksheets and Workbooks

7.1 Building a New Workbook or Worksheet

7.1.1 Selecting Display Type

7.1.2 Selecting the Data

7.1.3 Arranging the Layout

7.1.4 Selecting Conditions for the Data

7.1.5 Sorting the Data in a New Worksheet or Workbook

7.1.6 Selecting Calculations for the Data

7.2 Editing a Worksheet

7.2.1 Adding and Deleting Items on a Worksheet

7.2.2 Editing the Layout

7.2.3 Editing the Conditions

7.2.4 Editing the Sorting

7.2.5 Editing Calculations

Part III Advanced Concepts

8 Advanced Discoverer Desktop Features

8.1 Retrieving All Rows and Counting the Number of Rows

8.1.1 Refreshing the Worksheet

8.2 Creating Parameters

8.2.1 Loading Multiple Values

8.3 Creating Calculations

8.4 Creating Advanced Conditions

8.4.1 Creating Subqueries

8.4.1.1 Using Correlated Items

8.4.2 Editing a Subquery

8.5 Setting Options

8.6 Using Command-Line Options

8.7.1 Looking at the SQL Statements for Worksheets

8.7.2 Importing SQL

8.7.3 Using the Discoverer Execution Plan

8.7.3.1 About Summaries

8.7.3.2 Types of Summary

8.7.4 Looking at an SQL Execution Plan

8.7.5 Viewing the SQL and Execution Plan with an Oracle Enterprise Edition database

8.7.6 Configuring the SQL type used

8.7.7 Exporting SQL without running a Workbook

A Calculation Examples

A.1 Getting More Information

A.2 About the examples in this chapter

A.3 Additional formatting

A.4 Simple Calculation Examples

A.4.1 Calculate the number of rows returned by a query

A.4.2 Calculate a 25% increase in sales

A.4.3 Convert text to upper-case

A.5 Analytic Function Examples

A.5.1 Analytic Function Categories

A.5.2 Calculations and Drilling Into and out of data

A.5.3 About The Analytic Function Template

A.5.4 Ranking Function Examples

A.5.4.1 About Ranking

A.5.4.2 Assign Ranks to sales figures

A.5.4.3 Assign Ranks to sales figures within Region

A.5.4.4 Show the top three selling Cities per Region

A.5.4.5 Show the top three and bottom three selling Cities per Region

A.5.5 Banding Function Examples

A.5.5.1 About Banding

A.5.5.2 Producing equi-width Bands (1)

A.5.5.3 Producing equi-width Bands (2)

A.5.5.4 Producing equi-height Bands

A.5.6 Windowing Function Examples

A.5.6.1 About Windowing

A.5.6.2 Calculate a three month moving sales average

A.5.6.3 Show the cumulative values of sales

A.5.7 Reporting Function Examples

A.5.7.1 About Reporting Functions

A.5.7.2 Calculate annual sales by Year

A.5.7.3 Calculate annual sales by region

A.5.7.4 Calculate percentage of annual sales by Region

A.5.7.5 Calculate sales as a percentage of total Sales

A.5.8 Lag/Lead Function Examples

A.5.8.1 About Lag/Lead Functions

A.5.8.2 Compare sales figures across time

A.5.8.3 Calculate sales growth across time

A.5.8.4 Rank sales growth

A.5.9 Statistical Function Examples

A.5.9.1 About Statistics Functions

A.5.9.2 Calculate linear regression

A.6 More about the Analytic Function Template

A.7 Analytic Functions and Sequencing

B Oracle Applications Support

B.1 Supported Features

B.2 Prerequisites

B.3 Connect dialog settings for Oracle Applications Users

B.3.1 Before you start

B.3.2 Connecting to Discoverer Desktop as an Oracle Applications User

B.3.3 Configuring the Oracle Applications user Connect dialog

B.3.3.1 Entering details into the fields GWYUID/Password and FNDNAM

B.3.4 Configuring Discoverer Desktop to use standard EULs

B.3.5 Connection Configuration

B.3.5.1 Editing your Discoverer Desktop shortcut icon

B.3.5.2 Specify a basic Connect

B.3.5.3 Specify a Connect with an automatic Responsibility

B.3.5.4 Bypass the Connect dialog with an automatic Connect

C Discoverer Desktop OLE Support

C.1 Discoverer OLE Support

Glossary

Index