Oracle BI Publisher
Encyclopedia
Oracle XML Publisher is Oracle Corporation
's new reporting technology. It was originally developed to solve the reporting problems faced by Oracle Applications
. It was first released with Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 in 2003. Since then it has been integrated into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application 8.12 and Peoplesoft
Enterprise 9, and as a standalone version, XML Publisher Enterprise with no dependency on Oracle Applications. When XML Publisher became part of the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Suite it was re-branded as Oracle BI Publisher.
BI Publisher separates the creation of data (XML) from the process of formatting it for different uses.
The engine can format any well-formed XML
data, allowing integration with any system that can generate XML, including Web Services or any data source available through JDBC
. BI Publisher can merge multiple data sources into a single output document.
, Adobe Acrobat
, Microsoft Excel
(standalone only) and Adobe Flash (standalone only). Templates created using these tools contain embedded fields with properties that determine how the XML data will be merged into the template, using Extensible Stylesheet Language
syntax to precisely match the server's engine.
that simplifies the development of Rich Text Format
templates. Templates created using Template Builder are transformed into XSL Stylesheets that can be used to generate
PDF, RTF
, Microsoft Excel
and HTML
outputs.
reports and simple production reports in a WYSIWIG layout editor. The layout editor is written in pure DHTML.
As with Rich Text Format
templates Reports created in the web based layout editor are transformed into XSL stylesheets
and can be viewed in the same output formats. In addition, the layout editor templates (.xpt) can also be viewed in an interactive viewer which allows re-sorting and interactive filtering of existing reports.
LDAP queries, MDX queries (starting 10.1.3.4.1), Oracle ADF view objects (11g) and Microsoft EXCEL files (11g).
While previous version allowed the simple addition through a UI, linking of queries required the creation of an XML
configuration file. In 11g the data model can be created using a web based visual data model builder.
, which can be transformed into most popular output formats:
The following protocols are supported:
The Delivery Manager provides an open architecture that allows custom delivery channels to be implemented.
Oracle Corporation
Oracle Corporation is an American multinational computer technology corporation that specializes in developing and marketing hardware systems and enterprise software products – particularly database management systems...
's new reporting technology. It was originally developed to solve the reporting problems faced by Oracle Applications
Oracle Applications
Oracle Applications comprise the applications software or business software of Oracle Corporation. The term refers to the non-database parts of Oracle's software portfolio....
. It was first released with Oracle E-Business Suite 11.5.10 in 2003. Since then it has been integrated into JD Edwards EnterpriseOne application 8.12 and Peoplesoft
PeopleSoft
PeopleSoft, Inc. was a company that provided Human Resource Management Systems , Financial Management Solutions , Supply Chain and customer relationship management software, as well as software solutions for manufacturing, enterprise performance management, and student administration to large...
Enterprise 9, and as a standalone version, XML Publisher Enterprise with no dependency on Oracle Applications. When XML Publisher became part of the Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Suite it was re-branded as Oracle BI Publisher.
BI Publisher separates the creation of data (XML) from the process of formatting it for different uses.
The engine can format any well-formed XML
XML
Extensible Markup Language is a set of rules for encoding documents in machine-readable form. It is defined in the XML 1.0 Specification produced by the W3C, and several other related specifications, all gratis open standards....
data, allowing integration with any system that can generate XML, including Web Services or any data source available through JDBC
Java Database Connectivity
Java DataBase Connectivity, commonly referred to as JDBC, is an API for the Java programming language that defines how a client may access a database. It provides methods for querying and updating data in a database. JDBC is oriented towards relational databases...
. BI Publisher can merge multiple data sources into a single output document.
Template design
BI Publisher report templates can be designed using the Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
, Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat
Adobe Acrobat is a family of application software developed by Adobe Systems to view, create, manipulate, print and manage files in Portable Document Format . All members of the family, except Adobe Reader , are commercial software, while the latter is available as freeware and can be downloaded...
, Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
(standalone only) and Adobe Flash (standalone only). Templates created using these tools contain embedded fields with properties that determine how the XML data will be merged into the template, using Extensible Stylesheet Language
Extensible Stylesheet Language
In computing, the term Extensible Stylesheet Language is used to refer to a family oflanguages used to transform and render XML documents....
syntax to precisely match the server's engine.
Template Builder for Word
Template Builder is an extension to Microsoft WordMicrosoft Word
Microsoft Word is a word processor designed by Microsoft. It was first released in 1983 under the name Multi-Tool Word for Xenix systems. Subsequent versions were later written for several other platforms including IBM PCs running DOS , the Apple Macintosh , the AT&T Unix PC , Atari ST , SCO UNIX,...
that simplifies the development of Rich Text Format
Rich Text Format
The Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
templates. Templates created using Template Builder are transformed into XSL Stylesheets that can be used to generate
PDF, RTF
Rich Text Format
The Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
, Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel
Microsoft Excel is a proprietary commercial spreadsheet application written and distributed by Microsoft for Microsoft Windows and Mac OS X. It features calculation, graphing tools, pivot tables, and a macro programming language called Visual Basic for Applications...
and HTML
HTML
HyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
outputs.
Layout Editor
Starting with the 11g release, BI Publisher also offers a pure web based layout editor that allows users to create managementreports and simple production reports in a WYSIWIG layout editor. The layout editor is written in pure DHTML.
As with Rich Text Format
Rich Text Format
The Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
templates Reports created in the web based layout editor are transformed into XSL stylesheets
and can be viewed in the same output formats. In addition, the layout editor templates (.xpt) can also be viewed in an interactive viewer which allows re-sorting and interactive filtering of existing reports.
Adobe Acrobat
XML Publisher templates can be designed in Adobe Acrobat 5.00 and above, using the native form field capabilities.Adobe Flash
The 10.1.3.3 release of 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.XSL Stylesheet
In addition, to using the tools mentioned above users can also upload existing XSL stylesheets to run with BI Publisher.Data Template/Model design
BI Publisher supports the generation of XML data from SQL queries, web services, XML files and XML HTTP servers,LDAP queries, MDX queries (starting 10.1.3.4.1), Oracle ADF view objects (11g) and Microsoft EXCEL files (11g).
While previous version allowed the simple addition through a UI, linking of queries required the creation of an XML
configuration file. In 11g the data model can be created using a web based visual data model builder.
Server
The server is a Java EE application that can be deployed to any Java EE container. The XML data is fed through the templates to produce XSL Formatting ObjectsXSL Formatting Objects
XSL Formatting Objects, or XSL-FO, is a markup language for XML document formatting which is most often used to generate PDFs. XSL-FO is part of XSL , a set of W3C technologies designed for the transformation and formatting of XML data. The other parts of XSL are XSLT and XPath...
, which can be transformed into most popular output formats:
- Portable Document FormatPortable Document FormatPortable Document Format is an open standard for document exchange. This file format, created by Adobe Systems in 1993, is used for representing documents in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems....
- Rich Text FormatRich Text FormatThe Rich Text Format is a proprietary document file format with published specification developed by Microsoft Corporation since 1987 for Microsoft products and for cross-platform document interchange....
- HTMLHTMLHyperText Markup Language is the predominant markup language for web pages. HTML elements are the basic building-blocks of webpages....
- PPT
- FlashAdobe FlashAdobe Flash is a multimedia platform used to add animation, video, and interactivity to web pages. Flash is frequently used for advertisements, games and flash animations for broadcast...
- Plain Text (e.g. EFTElectronic funds transferElectronic funds transfer is the electronic exchange or transfer of money from one account to another, either within a single financial institution or across multiple institutions, through computer-based systems....
/EDIElectronic Data InterchangeElectronic data interchange is the structured transmission of data between organizations by electronic means. It is used to transfer electronic documents or business data from one computer system to another computer system, i.e...
)
Delivery Manager
The Delivery Manager is responsible to deliver the output to different destinations, such as fax and email, with the flexibility of delivering the same output to different destinations; e.g. HTML format can be sent to email while a PDF format sent to the printer.The following protocols are supported:
- SMTPSimple Mail Transfer ProtocolSimple Mail Transfer Protocol is an Internet standard for electronic mail transmission across Internet Protocol networks. SMTP was first defined by RFC 821 , and last updated by RFC 5321 which includes the extended SMTP additions, and is the protocol in widespread use today...
- Internet Printing ProtocolInternet Printing ProtocolIn computing, the Internet Printing Protocol provides a standard network protocol for remote printing as well as for managing print jobs, media size, resolution, and so forth....
(IPP) - WebDAVWebDAVWeb-based Distributed Authoring and Versioning is a set of methods based on the Hypertext Transfer Protocol that facilitates collaboration between users in editing and managing documents and files stored on World Wide Web servers...
- FTPFile Transfer ProtocolFile Transfer Protocol is a standard network protocol used to transfer files from one host to another host over a TCP-based network, such as the Internet. FTP is built on a client-server architecture and utilizes separate control and data connections between the client and server...
- SFTPSSH file transfer protocolIn computing, the SSH File Transfer Protocol is a network protocol that provides file access, file transfer, and file management functionality over any reliable data stream...
- AS2AS2AS2 is a specification about how to transport data securely and reliably over the Internet. Security is achieved by using digital certificates and encryption.- AS2 Technical Overview :The AS2 protocol is based on HTTP and S/MIME...
The Delivery Manager provides an open architecture that allows custom delivery channels to be implemented.