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Oracle® Business Intelligence Discoverer Configuration Guide
10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.0) Part No. B13918-02 |
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Oracle® Business Intelligence Discoverer Configuration Guide
10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.0) Part No. B13918-02 |
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Note: This chapter only applies if the Discoverer installation is associated with an OracleAS Infrastructure. For more information, see Section 2.1, "About installing OracleBI Discoverer from the Oracle Business Intelligence CD".
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 Section 2.2, "How to associate and reassociate an OracleBI installation with an OracleAS infrastructure".
This chapter explains how to create and manage OracleBI Discoverer connections, and includes the following topics:
Section 4.2, "What are the different types of Discoverer connection?"
Section 4.8, "How to specify whether Discoverer end users can create private connections"
An OracleBI Discoverer connection is a stored set of database login details, comprising:
a database user name - to identify the Discoverer end user
a database password - to authenticate the Discoverer end user
a database name - to specify the database containing the information that the Discoverer end user wants to analyze
(optional) an Oracle Applications Responsibility - to specify a Discoverer end user's responsibility when using Discoverer with Oracle Applications
(relational data source only) an EUL - to specify the End User Layer to be used
a language - to specify the language that should be used in Discoverer
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/Plus OLAP
Notes
A connection is visible to both Discoverer Plus/Plus OLAP and Discoverer Viewer end users.
If end users do not want to store login details in a connection, they can start Discoverer by entering login details directly using the Connect Directly area of the Discoverer connections page.
If OracleAS Single Sign-On is enabled, Discoverer connections work as follows:
the first time that a Discoverer connection is selected, the Discoverer end user is prompted to enter their OracleAS Single Sign-On details (if they have not already been authenticated)
when an OracleAS Single Sign-On user is authenticated, a Discoverer connection can be selected without confirming the Discoverer password
Note: For more information about OracleAS Single Sign-On, see Section 14.7.1, "Using Discoverer with OracleAS Single Sign-On").
There are two types of Discoverer connection:
a private connection - see Section 4.2.1, "About private connections"
a public connection - see Section 4.2.2, "About public connections"
Private connections are created and maintained by Discoverer end users.
Private connections have the following characteristics:
A private connection is private to the Discoverer end user that created it.
Discoverer end users create and maintain their own private connections.
For more information about controlling what types of connection Discoverer end users can use, see Section 4.5, "About specifying whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections".
If single sign-on is enabled, Discoverer end users can use their private connections from any client machine. If single sign-on is not enabled, private connections are stored as cookies, and are accessible only on the machine and browser on which they were created. For more information about single sign-on, see Section 4.1.1, "About Discoverer connections and OracleAS Single Sign-On".
For more information about how to create private connections, see Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer Plus User's Guide.
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".
As a middle tier manager, you use Application Server Control to manage Discoverer connections, as follows:
to provide public connections to enable Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users to start Discoverer (for more information, see Section 4.6, "How to create public connections")
to enable Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users to create their own (i.e. private) connections to start Discoverer (for more information, see Section 4.5, "About specifying whether Discoverer end users can create their own private connections")
There are two Discoverer connections pages:
Connect to Discoverer Viewer, which is used to start Discoverer Viewer using a set of stored login details or by connecting directly.
Connect to Discoverer Plus, which is used to start Discoverer Plus/Plus OLAP using a set of stored login details or by connecting directly.
The figure below shows the Connect to Discoverer Plus page.
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:
end users will be able to specify any login details (e.g. user name, password, database, EUL) for the new connections that they create
end users will be able to open any workbooks in any EULs that they successfully connect to (providing that they have sufficient database privileges)
Notes
When end users create private connections, note the following:
if they specify a database using an alias, they can connect to databases that have an entry in the tnsnames.ora file
if they specify a database using the full tnsnames entry for the database (e.g. SID, address, port), they can connect databases that do not have an entry in the tnsnames.ora file on the Discoverer middle tier
For more information about the location of the tnsnames.ora file, see Section A.1, "List of Discoverer file locations".
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:
Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").
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").
Display the Administration tab.
Select the Public Connections link to display the Discoverer Public Connections area.
Click Create Connection to display the Create Public Connection page.
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
For information about how to find out the unique ID of a connection, see Section 13.4.3, "How to find out the connection ID of a connection").
If you specify a database using the full tnsnames entry for the database (e.g. SID, address, port), you can connect databases that do not have an entry in the tnsnames.ora file. For example, you might enter the following string in the Database field:
(DESCRIPTION=(ADDRESS_LIST=(ADDRESS = (PROTOCOL=TCP)(HOST=machine_a.company.com)(PORT=1521)))(CONNECT_DATA=(SERVICE_NAME=database1)))
Hint: Make sure that you remove spaces from the TNS string.
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 public connections:
Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").
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").
Select the Administration tab to display the Discoverer Administration page.
Select the Public Connections link to display the Discoverer Public Connections area.
Click one or more of the Select check boxes for each public connection that you want to delete and click the Delete button.
Enter the connection details, then click OK to save the details.
The connections that you selected are deleted and the remaining public connections are displayed in the Discoverer Public Connections list.
To specify whether Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer users can create private connections:
Display Application Server Control (for more information, see Section 5.1.2, "How to start Application Server Control and display the System Components page").
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").
Select the Administration tab to display the Discoverer Administration page.
Select the Private Connections link to display the Discoverer Private Connections area.
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 using public connections that you specify.
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.
If you clear the Allow users to create their own connections in Discoverer Plus and Discoverer Viewer check box:
Discoverer end users cannot start Discoverer using URL parameters, unless they specify the connection ID for a public connection using the cn= URL parameter (for more information, see Section 13.7, "Discoverer Plus and Viewer URL parameters".
The Details column on the Discoverer connections page is only visible in Internet Explorer.
