Siebel Reports Guide

Siebel Reports Guide

Version 8.1, Rev. EAugust 2011

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Siebel Reports Guide Version 8.1, Rev. E 3

Contents

Siebel Reports Guide 1

Chapter 1: What’s New in This Release

Chapter 2: Overview of Siebel ReportsAbout Siebel Reports 21

About Using Siebel Reports 22

Siebel Reports Output File Types 22

Who Can Use Siebel Reports? 23

About Controlling Access to Reports 23

About Oracle BI Publisher 24

About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports 24

Chapter 3: Siebel Reports Development EnvironmentAbout the Siebel Reports Architecture 27

Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode 28

Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode 29

Siebel Reports Directory Structure 31

Siebel Reports File Types 32

About the Oracle BI Publisher Server in Siebel Business Applications 32

How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact 33

Chapter 4: Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications

About Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications 37

About Upgrading Siebel Reports 38

Where to Find Documentation for Previous Versions of Siebel Reports 38

Requirements for Using Siebel Reports 38

Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications 40

Siebel Reports Guide Version 8.1, Rev. E

Contents ■

4

Preparing for Integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications 43

Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications 44

Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications 44Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word 46Copying JAR Files to the Oracle BI Publisher Server 47Disabling External File References on the Oracle BI Publisher Server 48Starting and Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher 49

Upgrading to the Latest Oracle BI Publisher Patch 50

Configuring an Outbound Web Service for the Siebel Application 50

Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel Reports 52

About Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports 53

Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports 54Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports 54Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports Using LDAP 59Configuring Siebel Reports in a Web Single Sign-On Environment 59

Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server 59

Uploading Preconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server 61

Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling 62Setting Up the Database Schema for the Oracle BI Publisher Server 62Configuring the Data Service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher Server 63Verifying Symbolic URL Arguments That Embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel Application 64

Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration Configurations 65

Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports 66Upgrading to Oracle BI Publisher Version 10.1.3.4.1 from Version 10.1.3.4.0 67

Chapter 5: Administering Siebel ReportsDeploying Report Layout Templates to the Siebel Web Client from a Disconnected Client 69

Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments 70

Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File System 71

Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server 72

Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports 73

Contents ■


Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Creating a Custom XML File 73

Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Replacing a JVM Property Name 74Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Changing the Absolute Path to the Repository 75

Copying Fonts for Report Generation 75

About Working with Multilingual Reports 75

Designing Multilingual Reports 77

Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel Application 78

Adding and Deleting Languages from Report Templates 79

About Report Translation 80

Roadmap for Optimizing the Performance of Siebel Reports 80

Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports 81

Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports 82

Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel Reports 82

Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes 84

Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports 84Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports

86Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel Reports 87

Chapter 6: Generating ReportsAbout Generating Reports 89

Scenario for Generating Reports 90

Generating Reports 92

Example of Generating an Opportunity Report 94

Monitoring the Status of Currently Generating Reports 94

Viewing Generated Reports 96

Deleting Reports 97

Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports 97

Chapter 7: Creating ReportsScenario for Creating Reports 99


Contents ■

6

About Integration Objects in Siebel Reports 100

About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business Objects 101

Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application 102

About Registering and Sharing Report Layout Templates 104

About Multiorganizational Report Templates 104

Scenario for Report Template Visibility Across Organizations 105

Should You Clone an Existing Report or Create Custom Reports? 105

Process of Creating Custom Reports 106Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports 109Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports 110Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports 112Creating Report Layout Templates Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word 113Registering Report Layout Templates 114Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a Report 117Sharing Report Layout Templates 118Defining Report Layout Templates for Selected Records 119Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application Views 120Changing the Report Sequence Order in the Reports Menu 120

Chapter 8: Scheduling ReportsAbout Scheduled Reports 123

Scheduling Reports 124

Example of Scheduling an Opportunity Report 126

Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports 127

Suspending and Resuming Scheduled Reports 128

Deleting Scheduled Reports 129

Chapter 9: Using Master-Detail ReportsAbout Master-Detail Reports 131

Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template 132

Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft Word 136

Chapter 10: Migrating ReportsRequirements for Migrating Reports 139

Contents ■


Process of Packaging and Migrating Reports 140Packaging the Report Files in the Source Environment 140Migrating the Report Files to the Target Environment 141Packaging Report Database Records in the Source Environment 142Migrating Report Database Records to the Target Environment 143

Process of Migrating an Integration Object for a Report 144

Process of Migrating New Reports after Creating New Integration Objects 145

Chapter 11: Parameterized ReportsAbout Parameterized Reports 147

About Report Parameter Types and Attributes 148

About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout Template 149

About Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application 150

About Report Parameter Validation 152

Process of Creating Parameterized Reports 152

Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application 153

Example of Generating a Parameterized Report 155

Chapter 12: Troubleshooting Siebel ReportsEnabling Logging for Siebel Reports in the Siebel Application 157

About Enabling Logging for the Oracle BI Publisher Server 159

Enabling and Disabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected Mode 159

Guidelines for Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word 160

Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word 161

Troubleshooting Error Messages for Siebel Reports 162

Chapter 13: Report Business ServiceAbout the Report Business Service 171

Configuring the Report Business Service 172

Index


Contents ■

8


1 What’s New in This Release

What’s New in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. ETable 1 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support this release of the software.

Table 2 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support this release of the software.

Table 1. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. E

Topic Description

“Configuring an Outbound Web Service for the Siebel Application” on page 50

Modified topic. Added steps for defining a WSDL for the outbound Web service.

Table 2. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. D

Topic Description

Chapter 4, “Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications”

New chapter. It provides updated content and reorganized topics to reflect the latest integration and configuration tasks.

Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports”

Chapter 11, “Parameterized Reports”

Modified chapters. They reflect the latest report features and topics have been reorganized accordingly.

“About Controlling Access to Reports” on page 23

New topic. Reports access is based on standard Siebel responsibility-based visibility as well as access granted by others.

“About Oracle BI Publisher” on page 24

New topic. It describes the Oracle BI Publisher, OC4J (Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition), and Oracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop).

“Siebel Reports Directory Structure” on page 31

Modified topic. The naming convention for XLIFF files requires that all languages have the same file name as the report layout template, only the extension differs.

“About Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 38

New topic. Provides an overview of Siebel Reports upgrades.

“Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40

New topic. It provides a high-level roadmap for integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications.


What’s New in This Release ■

10

“Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports” on page 54

Modified topic. You replace the existing address of the Service Ports subview with the URL used to access the EAI Object Manager.

“About Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 53

New topic. Describes the various security models available for Siebel Reports.

“Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66

New topic. It provides instructions for upgrading to the latest Siebel Reports features.

“Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel Application” on page 78

New topic. It describes how to upload multilingual reports to a Siebel application.

“About Report Translation” on page 80

Modified topic. Added a caution that each translated report must have a unique name, otherwise errors can occur.

“Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports” on page 97

New topic. It describes how to set the default report language and locale by setting user preferences.

“About Multiorganizational Report Templates” on page 104

New topic. It describes the logic for how an organization-specific report template appears in the Reports menu.

“Scenario for Report Template Visibility Across Organizations” on page 105

New topic. It provides an example of how you might use report template visibility across organizations.

“Suspending and Resuming Scheduled Reports” on page 128

New topic. It describes how to suspend and resume scheduled reports.

“Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132

New topic. It provides an example of using a master-detail report.

“Syntax and Description of the Fields for an Example Template” on page 134

New topic. It provides additional information for the example of using a master-detail report.

“About Parameterized Reports” on page 147

Modified topic. It describes how parameterized reports are generated.

“About Report Parameter Types and Attributes” on page 148

New topic. It provides a description of the report parameter types and attributes.

“About Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 150

New topic. It provides information about parameter definitions and how to use them.

“About Report Parameter Validation” on page 152

New topic. It provides an overview for checking for report parameter inconsistencies between the report layout template and definitions for the template in the Siebel application.


Topic Description



Additional ChangesThis version of Siebel Reports Guide includes:

■ The following screen names and other user interface (UI) elements have changed:

■ The Administration - BIP Reports screen is now the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen.

■ The BIP Reports Server is now BI Publisher Reports.

■ The Purge Administration view is no longer available in the UI.

■ The My Jobs view is now the Scheduled Reports view.

■ The Report Template Registration view is replaced with two new template views:

❏ Reports - Customer Templates

❏ Reports - Standard Templates

■ The Generate Sample Data File button in the Integration Objects list of the template views is now Generate Sample XML.

■ Start Date and End Date replace Active Start Date and End Date, respectively.

■ The following view names have changed:

■ All Template View is now All Report Template View

■ Manager’s Template View is now Manager’s Report Template View

■ Several topics in Chapter 4, “Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” were relocated to either other chapters or 880452.1 (Article ID) Siebel Maintenance Release Guide on My Oracle Support.

■ The procedures in Chapter 4, “Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” now indicate which steps are applicable to a first-time installation or upgrades (or both).

■ The following topics were relocated to Chapter 5, “Administering Siebel Reports”:

■ “Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments” on page 70

■ “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports” on page 73

■ “Copying Fonts for Report Generation” on page 75

■ Updated diagram and steps in “Generating Reports” on page 92.

“Process of Creating Parameterized Reports” on page 152

New topic. It provides instructions for defining report parameters.

“Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 153

New topic. It describes how to define report parameters in the Siebel application. The parameters govern how the reports appear so that users have options when generating reports.


Topic Description



12

■ You can generate reports in MHTML (MIME HTML) format in connected mode only.

■ A diagram was added to “Process of Creating Custom Reports” on page 106.

■ Mentions of upgrading to Siebel CRM version 8.1.1.1 from Siebel CRM version 8.1.1 were removed because they are no longer applicable.

What’s New in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. CTable 3 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support this release of the software.

Table 3. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. C

Topic Description

Chapter 6, “Generating Reports”Chapter 7, “Creating Reports”Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports”

Modified chapters. Topics in these chapters were modified to reflect the new user interface that allows for sharing of reports and includes other new features.

“About Using Siebel Reports” on page 12

Modified topic. Access control to generated reports is based on standard Siebel responsibility-based visibility.

“Copying JAR Files to the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 37

Modified topic. Two additional JAR files must be copied.

“Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 56

Modified topic as follows:

■ Added a note advising that the path of the JVM DLL Name parameter is automatically read from the Windows registry.

■ Corrected the JVL DLL Name setting for UNIX.

■ Corrected the path for the LIBPATH environment variable for UNIX.

■ Corrected the JVM classpaths for UNIX and Windows.

“Configuring Security and Authentication Using the Siebel Security Model” on page 67

Modified topic. You replace the existing address of the

Service Ports subview with the URL used to access the EAI Object Manager.

“Configuring Security and Authentication Using the LDAP Security Model” on page 70

Modified topic. Replaced procedure with a cross reference to 974509.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

“Configuring Siebel Reports in a Web Single Sign-On Environment” on page 71

New topic. It describes how to configure Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher in a Web Single Sign-On (SSO) environment.

“Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments” on page 78

New topic. It describes how to register new or modified report definitions for multiple Siebel Server environments.




■ The following screen names and other user interface (UI) elements have changed:

■ The Administration - BIP Reports screen is now the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen.

■ The BIP Reports Server is now BI Publisher Reports.

■ The Purge Administration view is no longer available in the UI.

■ The My Jobs view is now the Scheduled Reports view.

■ The Report Template Registration view is replaced with two new template views:

❏ Reports - Customer Templates

“Purging Reports from the Siebel File System” on page 66

Removed topic. This feature is no longer applicable.

“Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File System” on page 59

New topic. It provides instructions for administrators to set up an automated process for purging reports from the Siebel File System.

“About Working with Multilingual Reports” on page 63

New topic. It describes how Siebel Reports determines the report language at run time.

“About Report Translation” on page 65 New topic. It describes report translation.

“Designing Multilingual Reports” on page 65

Modified topic. Added an optional step to the procedure.

Chapter 6, “Generating Reports” Modified topic. Added a note advising this chapter is not applicable to scheduled reports.

“About Generating Reports” on page 75 Modified topic. Access to reports is based on standard Siebel responsibility-based visibility.

“Workflow for Generating Reports” on page 77

Modified topic. You can choose a different language and locale rather than accept the default choices when generating a report.

“Generating Reports” on page 80 Modified topic. You can:

■ Grant others access to your reports.

■ Select multiple records when generating reports.

■ Override the default report language and locale settings.


New topic. It describes how to override the default report language and locale by setting user preferences.

Table 3. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. C

Topic Description



14


■ The Generate Sample Data File button in the Integration Objects list of the template views is now Generate Sample XML.

■ You can generate reports in MHTML format in connected mode only.

What’s New in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. B Table 4 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support this release of the software.

Table 4. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. B

Topic Description

“Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode” on page 18

Added a caution about not modifying parameters for the XMLP Report Server component.

“Where to Find Documentation for Previous Versions of Siebel Reports” on page 28

New topic. It provides pointers to integration instructions for other releases of Siebel Reports.

“Requirements for Using Siebel Reports” on page 28

New topic. It provides prerequisites before deploying Siebel Reports.

“Preparing for Integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 33

New title for topic. Modified topic to reflect high-level integration tasks.

“Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 34

New topic. It consolidates several of the Oracle BI Publisher installation and configuration tasks previously located elsewhere in this guide.

“Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 34

Modified topic:

■ Added a note to make it clear that the instructions are for a first-time installation rather than an upgrade from a previous version.

■ Removed the optional step of downloading the Business Intelligence Suite Enterprise Edition Documentation Media Library.

■ Added a step to have users download Oracle BI Publisher Desktop.

“Upgrading to Oracle BI Publisher Ver-sion 10.1.3.4.1 from Version 10.1.3.4.0” on page 42

New topic. It describes how to upgrade Oracle BI Publisher to version 10.13.4.1 from 10.1.3.4.0. The content was relocated from Appendix C and rewritten to correct inaccuracies and to differentiate from a first-time installation.

“Copying JAR Files to the Oracle Publisher Server”

Modified topic to remove steps for enabling external file references because those steps belong to another task.



“Disabling External File References on the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 38

New topic. It describes how to enable external file references on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

“Process of Configuring the Siebel Application for Integration with Oracle BI Publisher” on page 53

Modified topic:

■ The tasks in this process were added, removed, and reorganized, as needed.

■ Step 3 of the process was rewritten to make sure the XMLP Report Server component is enabled and a caution was added about not changing this component’s parameters.

“Process of Authenticating User Access to the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 66

Tasks were added, removed, and reorganized as needed. Subtopics were also rewritten.

“Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration Configurations”

New topic. It provides instructions for testing your configurations.

“Deploying Report Layout Templates to the Siebel Web Client from a Disconnected Client” on page 57

New topic. It provides instructions for moving reports from a disconnected client to a Siebel Web Client so that reports are available for generation in connected mode with the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

“Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 60

Modified topic to make it clear that the purging instructions are for scheduled reports.

“Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports” on page 67

Modified topic to reflect that this task is applicable to performance optimization of reports with more than 100 records rather than 2000 records.

“Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports” on page 70

Corrected directory path in Step 1 of the procedure.

“Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports” on page 72

Corrected directory path in Step 1 of the procedure.

“Monitoring the Status of Currently Generating Reports” on page 82

Added a tip about the timestamp of a report.

“Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 97

New topic. It describes how to extend an integration object to add a new field to a report.

“Scheduling Reports” on page 112 Added a note at the end of the procedure advising that the My Jobs view is an embedded Web page from the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application.


Topic Description



16

Additional Changes■ Replaced references to Oracle application servers with ORACLE_HOME.

■ Replaced references to the Oracle BI Publisher installation directory with ORACLE_HOME/oc4j_bi.

■ Replaced references to OracleMetaLink 3 with My Oracle Support.

■ Retitled Chapter 4, “Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” to clarify that tasks are integration tasks rather than installation and configuration tasks. Also made structural changes to the content, including:

■ Topic additions, deletions, renaming, and reorganization

■ Revisions to procedures

■ New and revised index entries

■ Added new requirements for implementing Siebel Reports.

■ Modified steps in roadmap for integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications.

■ Provided a better example for the “Configuring the Outbound Web Service for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” topic.

■ Reworded note at the end of the “Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports” topic for clarity.


Removed the last paragraph in the topic. No preconfigured parameterized reports ship with Siebel Business Applications.

“Enabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected Mode” on page 145

Corrected the procedure.

“Troubleshooting the CLASSPATH Settings Using Siebel Server Manager” on page 155

Modified topic to correct the command syntax.


Topic Description



What's New in Siebel Reports, Version 8.1, Rev. ATable 5 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support this release of the software.

Table 5. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Guide, Version 8.1, Rev. A

Topic Description

Chapter 4, “Installing and Configuring Siebel Reports”

Modified chapter. It describes how to install and configure Siebel Reports version 8.1.1.1.

“Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Siebel Business Applications” on page 31

Modified topic. It describes how to install Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Publisher version 10.1.3.4.1.

“Purging Reports in the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 51

New topic. It describes how to purge reports permanently in the Oracle BI Publisher repository.

“Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes” on page 57

Modified topic. Added a note about not executing reports with large data volumes as an immediate report request.

“Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports” on page 58

Modified topic. Added a note advising when not to enable scalable mode.

“Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports” on page 60

New topic. It describes how to configure a temporary directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for use with complex reports.

“Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel Reports” on page 60

New topic. It describes how to increase the default sleep time to improve performance when generating complex reports or against large data sets.

Chapter 7, “Scheduling Reports” New chapter. It describes how to schedule reports to run at a later date and with recurring frequency.

Chapter 9, “Using Master-Detail Reports”

New chapter. Content in this chapter was relocated from Chapter 5, “Administering Siebel Reports.”

Chapter 10, “Parameterized Reports” New chapter. It provides the additional tasks you must perform when creating parameterized reports.

“Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word” on page 118

New topic. It describes how to resolve errors encountered when previewing reports in Microsoft Word.

Appendix B, “Report Business Service”

New appendix. It describes the Report Business Service and how it is used.

Appendix C, “Upgrading to Siebel Reports Version 8.1.1.1”

New appendix. It describes how to upgrade to Siebel Reports version 8.1.1.1.



18


■ Several new preconfigured reports are available in this release. For a comprehensive list of the preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications, see 876284.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

■ Changes made throughout the guide to reflect the new features and functionality for the current release of Siebel Reports.

■ Structural changes to the content, such as topic organization and heading arrangement, revisions to procedures, and an expanded index.

What's New in Siebel Reports, Version 8.1Table 6 lists the changes described in this version of the documentation to support release 8.1 of the software.

Table 6. New Product Features in Siebel Reports Administration Guide, Version 8.1

Topic Description

Chapter 2, “Overview of Siebel Reports” New chapter. It describes Siebel Reports.

Chapter 3, “Siebel Reports Development Environment”

New chapter. It describes the Siebel Reports architecture and report generation, the Oracle BI Publisher Server, and how Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) interacts with Siebel Business Applications.

Chapter 4, “Installing Siebel Reports” New chapter. It describes the preinstallation, installation, and postinstallation tasks for Siebel Reports.

Chapter 6, “Administering Siebel Reports” New chapter. It describes how to purge reports and create multilingual reports.

Chapter 8, “Running Reports” New chapter. It describes how to run Siebel Reports from a user perspective.

Chapter 9, “Creating Reports” New chapter. It describes the report layout templates, integration objects, and master-detail reports.

Chapter 12, “Migrating Reports” New chapter. It describes how to migrate reports from one environment to another (applicable only to disconnected clients).

Appendix A, “Troubleshooting Siebel Reports” New appendix. It describes how to enable logging for the various components of Siebel Reports, and how to respond to error messages.



Additional Changes■ Removed all Actuate-related chapters and content.

For information about integrating Siebel reports with Actuate, see Siebel Reports Administration Guide version 8.0 on the Siebel Bookshelf.

NOTE: The Siebel Bookshelf is available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN), Oracle E-Delivery, or it might be installed locally on your intranet, or on a network location.

■ Reports and the Reports Menu are no longer available in Siebel Tools. Siebel Reports are now accessed using the application views in the Siebel clients.

■ Several reports are no longer available. Of particular note, the following reports are no longer available:

■ Application Upgrade Object List. Provided object differences between repository versions.

■ Application Upgrade Attributes List. Provided attribute differences between repository versions.

NOTE: The data provided in these reports is still accessible using the Screens menu. For more information about using the Screens menu, see Using Siebel Tools.

■ The following reports have been relocated to the application administration views in the Siebel clients instead of Siebel Tools:

■ Tables. Provides selected properties and lists the columns for each table.

For more information about the Tables report, see Siebel Data Model Reference.

■ EIM Interface Tables. Provides various properties for each EIM interface table.

For more information about the EIM Interface Tables report, see Siebel Enterprise Integration Manager Administration Guide.

■ The location for the follow documentation has changed:

■ Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

■ Siebel Business Applications Third-Party Bookshelf is available on Oracle E-Delivery.

■ Other Siebel CRM documentation (Release Notes, Maintenance Release Guides, Alerts, Technical Notes, Troubleshooting Steps, FAQs, Error Messages) is located on My Oracle Support.



20


2 Overview of Siebel Reports

The reporting module for Siebel Business Applications is Oracle® Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher). This chapter provides a brief introduction to Siebel Reports and the reporting tools used to create reports. It includes the following topics:

■ About Siebel Reports on page 21

■ About Using Siebel Reports on page 22

■ Siebel Reports Output File Types on page 22

■ Who Can Use Siebel Reports? on page 23

■ About Controlling Access to Reports on page 23

■ About Oracle BI Publisher on page 24

■ About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports on page 24

About Siebel ReportsOracle’s Siebel Business Applications ship with preconfigured reports and layout templates. You can choose to use these reports, modify these reports, or create your own custom reports. For a comprehensive list of the preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications, see 876284.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

You work with Siebel Reports in the following locations:

■ In the Siebel application to generate, schedule, and view reports. The views are also used for Siebel application administrative tasks.

For more information about generating reports, see Chapter 6, “Generating Reports.” For information about scheduling reports, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”

■ In Microsoft Word by using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word to create and customize layout templates.

For more information about using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, see “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24.

■ In Oracle BI Publisher to manage report scheduling, report users, and other Oracle BI Publisher administration tasks.

Information about these administrative tasks is documented throughout this guide.


Overview of Siebel Reports ■ About Using Siebel Reports

22

About Using Siebel ReportsIn the Siebel clients (Siebel Web Client, Siebel Mobile Web Client, and Siebel Developer Web Client) you use views to generate reports. While in a view, you typically perform a query, and then select the report that you want to generate from the application-level Reports menu. From the Reports menu, you can choose to either generate a report immediately or schedule a report to generate at a later time. You can monitor your long-running and scheduled reports, view previously generated reports, or delete reports from the Reports and the Scheduled Jobs views.

TIP: The reports that are available to you while in a Siebel view are based on standard Siebel position-based visibility.

For more information about using Siebel reports from a user perspective, see Chapter 6, “Generating Reports.” For more information scheduling reports from a user perspective, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.” For information about positions and visibility, see Siebel Security Guide.

NOTE: The new report features (report scheduling, parameterized reports, and the new security protocol) are available only in connected mode.

Siebel Reports Output File TypesSiebel Reports supports the following output file types:

■ PDF (Portable Document Format)

■ HTML (Hypertext Markup Language)

■ RTF (Rich Text Format)

■ XLS (Microsoft Excel format)

■ PPT (Microsoft PowerPoint format)

■ MHTML (MIME HTML)

NOTE: The PPT and MHTML report output file types are available only in connected mode. For more information about the connection modes in relation to Siebel Reports, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

The report output file types that are available to you for a specific report are determined by the report developer when registering a report in the Siebel application. For more information about registering reports, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

Overview of Siebel Reports ■ Who Can Use Siebel Reports?


Who Can Use Siebel Reports?This topic describes the users and the tasks they are allowed to perform.

Siebel Reports users include the following:

■ Report user. Users can generate, view, monitor, and schedule reports that they are granted access to in a Siebel application. Users can also delete reports that they have personally generated. Additionally, users who have Microsoft Word and Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word installed on their computers can also modify existing templates or create custom layout templates. For more information about Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, see “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24. In a sales organization, typical report users might be sales representatives, sales managers, and sales executives.

NOTE: Report scheduling is available only in connected mode. For more information about the connection modes in relation to Siebel Reports, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

■ Report developer (or business user). Developers are responsible for determining how best to extract data from various sources and are granted permission to perform administrative tasks. These administrative tasks include generating translatable XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format) files, uploading and registering templates in the Siebel clients, associating reports with Siebel application views, and so on. In a sales organization, report developers might be sales managers, business analysts, and so on.

NOTE: A sales manager might be a report user or a report developer depending on the responsibility assigned. Your business requirements determine which views are made available to certain users for reports development and administration. Restrictions are implemented using the standard Siebel access controls. For more information about access control in general, see Siebel Security Guide.

■ Report administrator. The report administrator might perform tasks typically performed by report developers, but the administrator is also responsible for installation and configuration tasks, purging reports, and managing the translation of reports from one language to another.

About Controlling Access to ReportsStandard Siebel Business Applications access controls apply to Siebel Reports, that is, position-based visibility. However, visibility to reports might also be based on access granted by others. For more information about user access in relation to Siebel Reports, see “About Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 53. For more information about access granted by others, see “Sharing Report Layout Templates” on page 118. For general information about access controls, see Siebel Security Guide.


Overview of Siebel Reports ■ About Oracle BI Publisher

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About Oracle BI PublisherOracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) is the reporting module for Siebel Reports. Siebel Business Applications integrate with Oracle BI Publisher for report generation and management. For more information about Oracle BI Publisher, see the documentation suite available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN). For more information about Oracle BI Publisher and Siebel Business Applications integration, “How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact” on page 33.

Oracle BI Publisher Server and OC4JWhen you install Oracle BI Publisher, OC4J (Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition) and the Oracle BI Publisher Server are installed as part of this installation. During report generation, which is triggered from the Siebel application, data is pushed from the Siebel Database to the Oracle BI Publisher Server to generate reports. When handling a report request, the Oracle BI Publisher Server merges the data with the report layout template from the Oracle BI Publisher repository, and then sends the report to the Siebel application. For more information about OC4J, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide, Release 10.1.3 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN). For more information about the Oracle BI Publisher Server, see “About the Oracle BI Publisher Server in Siebel Business Applications” on page 32.

Oracle BI Publisher Add-In for Microsoft WordOracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop) is the report authoring tool for Siebel Reports, which allows you to author and preview layout templates using Microsoft Word. For more information about using this tool, see “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24.

About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel ReportsOracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop) is an authoring tool that allows you to use native formatting features of Microsoft Word to design layout templates for reports. The application includes documentation, demos, and samples.

NOTE: Siebel Reports allows you to use a subset of the functionality and features the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop provides. Only the features documented in this guide are supported.

Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word provides separate layout, query, and language capability in one interface. Because data logic is separate from the layout, and the layout is not dependent on the needs of a particular language, this feature allows for flexibility in deployment and reduced maintenance costs.

Overview of Siebel Reports ■ About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-infor Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports


When you open Microsoft Word after installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, the Oracle BI Publisher menu toolbar appears, as shown in Figure 1.

For information about installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, see “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44.

NOTE: It is recommended that you not use Oracle BI Publisher Desktop version 10.1.3.4.1 with Oracle BI Publisher version 10.1.3.4.0.

Advantages of Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word as a Report Authoring ToolAdvantages of using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word for creating layout templates and customizing reports include:

■ Users can build the layout and rules for reports themselves or reuse their existing company documents. Even if your users do not have the skills to create their own layout templates, they can begin creating the template in Microsoft Word. Then the report developer can use that same document to finalize the template and report.

■ Deployment is more efficient, because users can build the report that they want without having to depend on an engineer to interpret their requirements.

■ Testing cycles are reduced because users can implement changes to the report rather than tying up valuable development resources.

■ Report developers can concentrate on extracting only data.

■ Report developers can extract data from diverse sources.

■ Both report developers and report administrators can build and maintain reports.

■ Interoperability with other standards-based reporting engines, such as Oracle’s enterprise reporting tool that is used in Oracle E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, BI EE (Business Intelligence Suite, Enterprise Edition Plus), and so on.

Figure 1. Example of Oracle BI Publisher Menu and Toolbar in Microsoft Word

Oracle BI Publisher Toolbar

Oracle BI Publisher Menu


Overview of Siebel Reports ■ About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports

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Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word FeaturesSome of the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word features that are especially helpful in Siebel Reports template creation and customization include:

■ Template Builder. Facilitates the development of RTF (Rich Text Format) layout templates for reports.

Using Template Builder, users create how they want their report to look, and then a report developer can use this same document to determine how to extract data from the database in the most efficient manner. Because both report users and report developers use the same report authoring tool, there is much less chance for misinterpretation of the requirements.

■ Template Viewer. Allows you to preview report layouts with sample data in multiple output formats at any stage of development. Template Viewer is a feature of Template Builder.

■ Excel Analyzer. Oracle BI Publisher Analyzer for Excel facilitates the development of Excel templates that export data to an Excel spreadsheet. It allows you to:

■ Export the results of a report query to an Excel spreadsheet

■ Log in to Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word from Excel to refresh your data, apply new parameters, and apply a template to the report data

■ Create templates in Excel, upload them to the Oracle BI Publisher repository, and then access and generate reports from an Excel session

NOTE: The Analyzer for Excel feature is available only in connected mode. For more information about the connection modes in relation to Siebel Reports, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

For more information about using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

NOTE: Not all features mentioned in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher documentation are currently integrated in the Siebel Reports solution; only the features documented in this guide.


3 Siebel Reports Development Environment

This chapter describes the Siebel Reports development environment and how Siebel Reports interacts with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) to generate reports in Siebel Business Applications. It includes the following topics:

■ About the Siebel Reports Architecture on page 27

■ Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode on page 28

■ Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode on page 29

■ Siebel Reports Directory Structure on page 31

■ Siebel Reports File Types on page 32

■ About the Oracle BI Publisher Server in Siebel Business Applications on page 32

■ How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact on page 33

About the Siebel Reports ArchitectureFor Siebel CRM version 8.1 and later, Siebel Reports supports two architectures: one for connected mode, and one for disconnected mode. From the perspective of the user when requesting reports in the various Siebel clients, there is no apparent difference. However, executing report requests using the Siebel clients differs depending on the connection mode:

■ Disconnected mode. Requesting reports in disconnected mode runs Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) through the XMLP Report Business Service using the embedded Oracle BI Publisher libraries. For more information about the architecture for disconnected mode, see “Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode” on page 29.

■ Connected mode. Requesting reports in connected mode to a server or through the Siebel Web Client integrates directly with the Siebel XMLP Report Server component and the Oracle BI Publisher Server. For more information about the architecture for connected mode, the XMLP Report Server component, and the Oracle BI Publisher Server, see “Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode” on page 28.

TIP: For some Siebel Business Applications, the Siebel Web Client is not required. It is possible to generate Oracle BI Publisher reports with the embedded Oracle BI Publisher libraries, such as is the case with Siebel Loyalty. Another instance of when a Siebel Web Client is not required is when report generation is requested using a workflow by way of the business services in the XMLP Report Server Component. These two instances, however, are not documented in this guide. The instances are mentioned so that you know there are other reporting capabilities available for Siebel Reports.


Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode

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Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected ModeThe Siebel Web Client and other connected clients allow you to generate reports in connected mode. When you select a report from the Reports menu in a Siebel application view, the XMLP Report Server component processes the request and extracts the relevant data from the Siebel Database. The XMLP Report Server component converts the data to XML, then issues an outbound Web service call to a standalone Oracle BI Publisher Server. The Oracle BI Publisher Server accepts the XML data file, generates the layout template, and merges the layout template with the XML data. The Oracle BI Publisher Server then sends the report output file back to the XMLP Report Server component using an outbound Web service call. The report is stored in the Siebel File System and then displayed in the Siebel application.

Figure 2 illustrates both the architecture and workflow for generating reports in connected mode.

NOTE: Oracle BI Publisher was recently renamed; previously Oracle BI Publisher was called XML Publisher or XMLP. For this reason, some software elements retain the XMLP naming convention.

The following text provides a high-level description of Figure 2:

1 A report generation event is triggered from a Siebel application view.

2 The Siebel Application Object Manager (AOM) routes the event to the Siebel Database.

3 The Server Request Broker (SRBroker) and the Server Request Processor (SRProc) monitor the request and pass it to the XMLP Report Server component through the XMLP Driver Service.

Figure 2. Siebel Reports Architecture and Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode

Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ Workflow for Generating Reports inDisconnected Mode


4 The XMLP Driver Service makes a call to the XMLP Data Service.

5 The XMLP Data Service fetches data from the Siebel Database through the EAI Siebel Adapter, and then returns the control back to the XMLP Data Service.

6 The XMLP Data Service passes control back to the XMLP Driver Service.

7 The XMLP Driver Service makes a call to the XMLP Adapter Service.

8 The XMLP Adapter Service makes a call to the proxy PublicReportService business service.

9 The proxy PublicReportService business service makes a Web service call to the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

10 The Oracle BI Publisher Server executes report generation and returns the generated report binary data by way of a Web service call back to the proxy PublicReportService business service.

11 The proxy PublicReportService business service returns control to the XMLP Adapter Service.

12 The XMLP Adapter Service then downloads the report, and creates the file in the Siebel File System, which is displayed in the Siebel application.

Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected ModeThe mobile clients (Siebel Mobile Web Client and Siebel Developer Web Client) allow you to generate reports interactively in disconnected mode.

In disconnected mode, the Oracle BI Publisher Server is a logical component that uses the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine to manage generating reports. The XMLP Report Business Service is the interface to this logical component that instantiates the EAI Java Business Service to load the JAR files to the JVM (Java Virtual Machine). The Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine then processes the XML data, XSL template, and XLIFF files to generate the report. For more information about the EAI Java Business Service and JVM, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

The XMLP Report Business Service and the Oracle BI Publisher core libraries (XDO JAR files) are available as part of a Siebel mobile client installation. These core libraries are located in the SIEBEL_CLIENT_ROOT\CLASSES directory. For information about client installation, see Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.


Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode

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Figure 3 illustrates both the architecture and workflow for generating reports in disconnected mode.

NOTE: Oracle BI Publisher was previously known as XML Publisher or XMLP. For this reason, some software elements retain the XMLP naming convention.

Figure 3 illustrates the following:

1 A report generation event is triggered from a view in the Siebel application.

2 Data is retrieved from the Siebel Database using the EAI Siebel Adapter and stored as XML in the XMLP\DATA folder in the Siebel client installation (SIEBEL_CLIENT_ROOT\CLASSES) directory.

3 A call is routed to the XMLP Report Java Business Service.

4 The XMLP Report Business Service instantiates the EAI Java Business Service, and loads the JAR files to the JVM (Java Virtual Machine).

5 The Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine loads the XDO classes from the JAR files, and then the XML, XLIFF, and XSL template are given as input to the XDO classes for generating the report. The report is temporarily stored in XMLP\REPORTS, and then sent to the Siebel File System.

6 The control then goes back to the Siebel user interface where the generated report appears.

Figure 3. Siebel Reports Architecture and Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode

Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ Siebel Reports Directory Structure


Siebel Reports Directory StructureSiebel Reports files reside in the Siebel Server installation XMLP directory (SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP).

Table 7 provides descriptions of these directories.

Table 7. Siebel Reports XMLP Directory Structure

XMLP Path Description

\DATA Contains the generated XML files from the integration object definition.

\FONTS Contains the prepackaged .ttf (TrueType format) font files.

NOTE: The administrator must copy the font files from the C:\WINDOWS\Fonts directory to the $JRE_HOME\fonts directory to make sure that reports are displayed and print properly. For more information about copying font files, see “Copying Fonts for Report Generation” on page 75.

\REPORTS Contains the temporary files for generating reports.

\TEMPLATES Contains the RTF (Rich Text Format) layout templates. Users can download these report files to a local drive.

This directory also contains the XSL files necessary for disconnected mode. For information about how these files are used for generating reports, see “How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact” on page 33.

\xliff\lang Contains the XLIFF files for localization. XLIFF is the XML format for exchanging localization data. If multiple languages are supported, a separate xliff subdirectory is provided for each language and is identified by its language code. For example, XLIFF files for German reside in xliff\deu and XLIFF files for French reside in xliff\fra.

The naming convention for XLIFF files requires that all languages have the same file name as the corresponding report layout template, only the extension differs. For example, if the template name is aclist.rtf, then the XLIFF file must be named aclist.xlf.

NOTE: After a report template is registered, the XLIFF file (or files) is stored in the relevant xliff\lang directory (or directories) on the Siebel Server. When you upload the report template, all the XLIFF files from each language folder and the RTF file are placed on the Oracle BI Publisher Server in their appropriate locations. For more information, see “About the Oracle BI Publisher Server in Siebel Business Applications” on page 32.

TIP: Siebel Language Packs are installed as part of the Siebel installation process. For more information about installing languages, see Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.


Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ Siebel Reports File Types

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Siebel Reports File TypesSiebel Reports uses or generates files of the following types:

■ XML (Extensible Markup Language). XML is a metalanguage that is a simplified version of SGML (Standard Generalized Markup Language) used for describing markup languages. A markup language is a mechanism to identify structures in a document. XML allows you to define a standard way to add markup to documents and provides a facility to define tags and the structural relationships between them.

■ XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language). A language for expressing style sheets. An XSL style sheet is a file that describes how to display an XML document of a given type. Used in disconnected mode only. For more information about the connection modes for Siebel Reports, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

■ XLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File Format). A format to store extracted text and carry the data from one step to another in the localization process.

Siebel Reports uses the following languages for generating reports:

■ XSL-FO (Extensible Stylesheet Language-Formatting Objects). An XML vocabulary for specifying formatting semantics.

■ XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language Transformation). A language for transforming XML documents.

■ XPath (XML Path Language). An expression language used by XSLT to access or refer to parts of an XML document.

Siebel Reports also supports various report output file types. For more information about these report output types, see “Siebel Reports Output File Types” on page 22.

About the Oracle BI Publisher Server in Siebel Business ApplicationsThis topic provides a high-level overview of the how the Oracle BI Publisher Server interacts with Siebel Business Applications to generate and schedule reports in connected mode. For more information about generating reports in connected mode, see “Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode” on page 28.

About the Oracle BI Publisher ServerThe Oracle BI Publisher Server is installed as part of the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) installation. For information about installing Oracle BI Publisher, see “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44.

Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ How Siebel Business Applications andOracle BI Publisher Interact


The Oracle BI Publisher Server uses a push-pull mechanism to transfer XML data between the Siebel application and the Oracle BI Publisher Server. During report generation, which is triggered from the Siebel application, data is pushed from the Siebel Database to the Oracle BI Publisher Server to generate reports. When handling a report request, the Oracle BI Publisher Server merges the data with the report layout template from the Oracle BI Publisher repository, and then sends the report to the Siebel application.

The following subtopics describe the Oracle BI Publisher Server functionality in relation to Siebel Reports in greater detail.

About the PublicReportService Web ServiceThe PublicReportService Web service is a Web service that is exposed by Oracle BI Publisher. This service is the mechanism that Siebel Reports uses in connected mode to upload and pass reports to the Siebel application.

The PublicReportService Web service supports the following operations:

■ Validates privileges

■ Gets information about reports and the Oracle BI Publisher repository

■ Generates reports

■ Creates and manages reports

■ Gets information about the Oracle BI Publisher Server

About the Oracle BI Publisher RepositoryThe Oracle BI Publisher repository resides on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. The Oracle BI Publisher repository is a collection of reports that is installed as part of the Oracle BI Publisher Server installation. The repository stores the preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications and new reports you create.

In the SharedFolder directory in the Oracle BI Publisher repository, the SIEBELCRMREPORTS directory stores all reports. Each report stored in the SIEBELCRMREPORTS directory has its own folder. The layout template (RTF) and XLIFF files necessary for generating that report are in that folder.

You upload the layout template files (RTF and XLIFF) to the Oracle BI Publisher Server by registering the template in the Siebel application. The Oracle BI Publisher Server then requests report generation using a Web service to generate the report. For more information about uploading layout templates to the Oracle BI Publisher repository and registering layout templates, see “Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application” on page 102.

How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher InteractSiebel Business Applications integrate with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) for report execution. However, depending on your connection mode, layout templates are merged with XML data differently to render reports in the Siebel user interface.


Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact

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Figure 4 compares report execution in connected mode with disconnected mode.


1 A report generation request is initiated from a Siebel application view, and then routed to one of the following to generate the report:

■ Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine in disconnected mode

■ Oracle BI Publisher Server in connected mode

2 The RTF Processor converts the RTF layout templates to XSL for input to the BI Publisher-FO Processor.

3 The BI Publisher-FO Processor merges the XSL and the XML data files to produce the following output formats:

■ XML and XSL formats are converted to HTML.

Figure 4. Comparison of Report Execution in Connected and Disconnected Mode

Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ How Siebel Business Applications andOracle BI Publisher Interact


■ XML, XSL-FO, are XLIFF formats are converted to: PDF, HTML, RTF, EXCEL, PPT, and MHTML.

NOTE: The PPT and MHTML output file types are available only in connected mode.

Template Builder, a feature of Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, is used to modify and customize layout templates. Template Builder uses form fields to encapsulate XSL instructions for parsing XML data. Form fields are a feature of Microsoft Word and are the building blocks for layout templates in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word. You use form fields in template design wherever data is required. Template Builder generates these form fields using the Siebel application and the information specified in the layout template.

Report Execution in Disconnected ModeThe XMLP Report Business Service provides XML files to the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine to merge the layout templates with XML data. One of the required inputs for the XDO Engine is an XML file. XML files are generated by way of the EAI Siebel Adapter, using the EAI Java Business Service for connecting a Siebel application to the XDO Engine. The EAI Java Business Service is the JVM (Java Virtual Machine) interface between the XDO Engine and the Siebel application. The XML data file is merged with the layout template, then Oracle BI Publisher exposes the completed report document to the user in the Siebel application after storing the file in the Siebel File System.

Oracle BI Publisher provides the XML file to the engine using the EAI Java Business Service. The XML contains the data that populates the resulting document. The data comes from the results of the internal queries run against various data sources.

Oracle BI Publisher uses XSLT and XPath to extract data from the XML data and incorporates that data into an RTF-formatted layout template during run time. XSL comprises three standards (XSLT, XPath, and XSL- FO) for manipulating XML data. The XMLP Report Server component uses the XDO Engine to convert the RTF templates into XSL format, and then using the BI Publisher-FO Processor, converts the files to the published report formats.

Report Execution in Connected ModeOracle BI Publisher uses XSLT and XPath to extract data from the XML data and incorporates that data into an RTF-formatted layout template during run time. The XMLP Adapter Service invokes the PublicReportService Web service to generate reports. The PublicReportService Web service is the interface between the Siebel application and the Oracle BI Publisher Server.


Siebel Reports Development Environment ■ How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact

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4 Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications

This chapter provides instructions for administrators on how to integrate Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) with Siebel Business Applications for report generation. It includes the following topics:

■ About Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications on page 37

■ About Upgrading Siebel Reports on page 38

■ Where to Find Documentation for Previous Versions of Siebel Reports on page 38

■ Requirements for Using Siebel Reports on page 38

■ Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications on page 40

■ Preparing for Integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications on page 43

■ Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications on page 44

■ Upgrading to the Latest Oracle BI Publisher Patch on page 50

■ Configuring an Outbound Web Service for the Siebel Application on page 50

■ Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel Reports on page 52

■ About Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports on page 53

■ Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports on page 54

■ Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server on page 59

■ Uploading Preconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server on page 61

■ Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling on page 62

■ Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration Configurations on page 65

■ Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports on page 66

About Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business ApplicationsSiebel Business Applications integrate with Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) for report execution. Each new Siebel CRM release typically introduces new report features and functionality. However, before you can use these latest features, you must perform several installation and configuration or upgrade tasks. The tasks you perform are contingent on whether you are deploying Siebel Reports for the first time or you are already using Siebel Reports. If you are deploying Siebel Reports for the first time, see “Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40. You might also want to review “How Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher Interact” on page 33. If you already have a Siebel Reports environment and want to upgrade, see “About Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 38.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ About Upgrading Siebel Reports

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About Upgrading Siebel ReportsIf you have an existing Siebel Reports environment and you want to use the latest report features, you must upgrade to the latest Siebel CRM Fix Pack 8.1.1.x and perform additional configuration tasks for both the Siebel application and Oracle BI Publisher. For instructions for upgrading, see “Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66.

Where to Find Documentation for Previous Versions of Siebel ReportsEach Siebel CRM release has specific Siebel Reports setup instructions and features for that particular release that may not be applicable to earlier or later releases. To find the documentation for your deployment, see 1172844.1 (Article ID) on my Oracle Support.

Requirements for Using Siebel ReportsThe reporting module for Siebel Business Applications is Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher). This topic provides the requirements you must meet before you can use Siebel Reports. These requirements are applicable whether you are deploying Siebel Reports for the first time or you are upgrading from a previous Siebel CRM release.

The following requirements must be met before using Siebel Reports:

■ The latest Siebel CRM version. If not, follow the guidelines provided in “About Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 37.

For information about supported Siebel CRM versions, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

Some of the requirements include:

■ A Siebel Server (or servers)

■ A Siebel Web Client for connected mode

■ A Siebel mobile client (MWC or DWC) for disconnected mode

■ Siebel Tools

■ (Optional) ADM

You might want to use ADM to migrate reports from one Siebel environment to another (for example, migrating reports from the development to the production environment). For more information about ADM, see Siebel Application Deployment Manager Guide.

■ Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.6 or later and JAVA_HOME system environment variable points to JDK

■ Siebel Server components enabled:

■ Siebel Application Object Manager (AOM), for example, SCCObjMgr_enu for Siebel Call Center

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Requirements forUsing Siebel Reports


■ EAI Object Manager

■ XMLP Report Server

■ (Optional) Workflow

NOTE: Enable this component if you plan to use workflow, the Reports Business Service, or the XMLP Purge Records workflow.

■ Oracle BI Publisher software

■ Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

■ Oracle BI Publisher Add-In for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop)

For information about which version to use, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network. For information about Oracle BI Publisher, see “About Oracle BI Publisher” on page 24. For information about installing Oracle BI Publisher as a first-time installation, see “Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44. If you are upgrading Oracle BI Publisher, see “Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications

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Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business ApplicationsFigure 5 on page 41 provides a roadmap for integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications. This integration is a requirement for deploying Siebel Reports. It is recommended that you print this roadmap to use as a checklist as you work your way through the integration.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Roadmap forIntegrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications


Figure 5. Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications

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Figure 5 illustrates the high-level tasks you perform to integrate Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications.

1 “Preparing for Integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 43

2 (First-time installation only) “Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44

3 “Upgrading to the Latest Oracle BI Publisher Patch” on page 50

4 Apply repository, schema, and seed data changes for ACR 633.

For instructions, see 880452.1 (Article ID) Siebel Maintenance Release Guide on My Oracle Support.

5 (First-time installation only) “Configuring an Outbound Web Service for the Siebel Application” on page 50

6 “Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel Reports” on page 52

7 “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 54

■ “Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports” on page 54

■ “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports Using LDAP” on page 59

■ “Configuring Siebel Reports in a Web Single Sign-On Environment” on page 59

8 “Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 59

9 “Uploading Preconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 61

10 “Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling” on page 62

a (First-time installation only) “Setting Up the Database Schema for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 62

b “Configuring the Data Service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 63

c “Verifying Symbolic URL Arguments That Embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel Application” on page 64

11 “Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration Configurations” on page 65

Click the links to navigate to detailed instructions for that topic. Tasks are applicable to both Siebel Reports first-time installations and upgrades unless otherwise indicated.

NOTE: If you are upgrading from previous versions of Siebel Reports, see the instructions in “Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Preparing forIntegration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications


Preparing for Integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business ApplicationsThe reporting module for Siebel Reports is Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher). To deploy Siebel Reports, you must install and configure both Siebel Business Applications and Oracle BI Publisher. This topic provides the necessary preparation tasks for a new deployment and supports the latest reports enhancements.

NOTE: If you are upgrading from a previous Siebel Reports deployment, do not perform the steps described in this topic. Instead, see “Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66.

This task is a step in “Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40.

To prepare for integration of Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications

1 Make sure you have met the requirements for Siebel Reports.

For the requirements, see “Requirements for Using Siebel Reports” on page 38.

2 Review Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network. Also check for applicable alerts, bulletins, or other documents on My Oracle Support.

3 Install the appropriate Java Development Kit (JDK) version and point the JAVA_HOME system environment variable to the JDK, if you have not already done so.

To find the JDK version applicable to your deployment, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

4 (First-time installation only) Install the following Oracle BI Publisher software:


For installation instructions, see “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44.

■ Oracle BI Publisher Add-In for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop)

For installation instructions, see “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word” on page 46.

For the applicable version for your deployment, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network. For more information about Oracle BI Publisher, see “About Oracle BI Publisher” on page 24 and “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24.

5 Before using Siebel Reports, make sure that the Siebel Server is running and the Siebel clients and Siebel Tools can connect to the server data source.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications

44

Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business ApplicationsThis topic describes how to install Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) as a first-time installation for integration with Siebel Business Applications.

NOTE: Do not use this process if you are upgrading from a previous deployment of Siebel Reports. Instead, follow the instructions provided in “Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel Reports” on page 66.

This process is a step in “Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40.

To install Oracle BI Publisher for integration with Siebel Business Applications, perform the following tasks:

1 “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44

For information about which versions of this software to use for your specific deployment, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

2 “Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word” on page 46

For information about which versions of this software to use for your specific deployment, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

3 “Copying JAR Files to the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 47

4 “Disabling External File References on the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 48

5 (Optional) “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports” on page 73


NOTE: This task is applicable to both first-time Siebel Reports deployments as well as upgrades.

Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise for Integration with Siebel Business ApplicationsUse the following procedure to install Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise for integration with Siebel Business Applications and Siebel Reports.

This task is a step in “Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44.

NOTE: Perform the following procedure only if this is a first-time Siebel Reports deployment. This task is not applicable if you are upgrading.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Process ofInstalling Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications


To install Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise

1 Log in to Oracle E-Delivery available at:

http://edelivery.oracle.com

2 Choose a language, or click Continue to download with English (US) as the default language.

3 Enter the export validation information, accept the license terms and export restrictions, and then click Continue.

4 Select Oracle Business Intelligence as the product pack, and an operating system (for example, Microsoft Windows [32-bit]). Then click Go.

NOTE: You must select an operating system compatible with the computer on which the Oracle BI Publisher Server is installed. For information about which platforms are supported for Siebel Reports, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

5 Select the Oracle Business Intelligence 10.1.3 Media Pack for your operating system, and then click Continue.

For example, you might select Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit).

6 Download the appropriate Oracle BI Publisher 10.1.3.4.1 installer for your deployment.

For example, if you chose Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) in Step 5, you download the following:

Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Enterprise 10.1.3.4.1 for Microsoft Windows

NOTE: Typically administrators download and install Oracle Business Intelligence Desktop (also known as Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word) during the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise installation, however, you can install it any time.

7 Install Oracle BI Publisher by doing the following:

a Decompress the installer into a directory of your choice.

If you chose Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) in Step 5, you decompress the V16384-01.zip file.

CAUTION: You must extract the .zip file to a directory whose name does not contain spaces. If the directory name contains spaces, the installation fails.

b Follow the instructions about installing Oracle BI Publisher on Oracle Application Server for OC4J 10.1.3.1 in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide, Release 10.1.3 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

NOTE: OC4J is installed and the Oracle BI Publisher Server starts automatically as part of this installation.

c Verify the installation by making sure you have an Oracle - BIPHomeX entry in the Start Programs menu, where X is an incremental number depending on the number of Oracle installations you have.

8 Create a local Superuser for the Oracle BI Publisher Server by doing the following:



46

a Start Oracle BI Publisher (for example, http://BIPServerHostName:9704/xmlpserver), and then log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server with administrator credentials.

NOTE: The URL for launching Oracle BI Publisher resides in the BI_Publisher_readme.txt file located in the Oracle BI Publisher installation folder. Administrator credentials are case sensitive.

b Click the Admin tab, and then select Security Configuration (in the Security Center section).

c Check the Enable Local Superuser checkbox, enter a Superuser name and password of your choice, and then click Apply.

After creating a local superuser, administrators can log in directly to the Oracle BI Publisher Server when the Siebel Server is not running.

Installing Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft WordUse the following procedure to install Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop) for integration with Siebel Business Applications and Siebel Reports. For more information about this software, see “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24.


NOTE: Perform the following procedure only if this is a first-time Siebel Reports deployment. It is not applicable if you are upgrading.

To install Oracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word

1 Log in to Oracle E-Delivery available at:

http://edelivery.oracle.com

NOTE: This software is listed on Oracle E-Delivery as Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Desktop.

2 Choose a language, or click Continue to download with English (US) as the default language.

3 Enter the export validation information, accept the license terms and export restrictions, and then click Continue.

4 Select Oracle Business Intelligence as the product pack, and an operating system (for example, Microsoft Windows [32-bit]). Then click Go.

NOTE: You must select an operating system compatible with the computer on which the Oracle BI Publisher Server is installed. For information about which platforms are supported for Siebel Reports, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.



5 Select the Oracle Business Intelligence 10.1.3 Media Pack for your operating system, and then click Continue.

For example, you might select Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit).

6 Download the appropriate Oracle BI Publisher 10.1.3.4.1 installer for your deployment.

For example, if you chose Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) in Step 5, you download the following:

Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Desktop 10.1.3.4.1 for Microsoft Windows

NOTE: Typically administrators download and install Oracle Business Intelligence Desktop (also known as Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word) during the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise installation, however, you can install it any time.

7 Install Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word by doing the following:

a Decompress the appropriate .zip file according to the Media Pack you chose in Step 4.

For example, if you chose Oracle Business Intelligence (10.1.3) Media Pack for Microsoft Windows (32-bit) in Step 5, you decompress the V16380-01.zip file.

CAUTION: You must extract the .zip file to a directory whose name does not contain spaces. If the directory name contains spaces, the installation fails.

b Run the installer.

c Verify the installation by making sure you have an Oracle BI Publisher Desktop application in the Start Programs menu.

For more information about installing this software, see the post-installation topics in Oracle BI Publisher on Oracle Application Server for OC4J 10.1.3.1 in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide, Release 10.1.3 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

8 Make sure that applicable users install Oracle BI Publisher Desktop on a computer where Microsoft Word for Windows is installed.

Copying JAR Files to the Oracle BI Publisher ServerTo successfully generate reports, you must copy the custom Siebel Java classes associated with individual reports to the corresponding directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. By default, these Java functions are not available on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. This topic describes how to add custom Siebel Java archive (JAR) files to the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) Server.





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To copy JAR files to the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Copy the following files from the SIEBSRVR_ROOT\CLASSES directory to the ORACLE_APPSRVR_HOME/oc4j_bi/j2ee/home/applications/xmlpserver/xmlpserver/WEB-INF/lib directory where ORACLE_APPSRVR_HOME is an Oracle application server:

■ XSLFunctions.JAR

■ SiebelCustomXMLP.JAR

■ SiebelCustomXMLP_SIA.JAR

■ Siebel.JAR

■ SiebelXMLP.JAR

■ (Optional) InkToolsLib.jar

■ (Optional) iSignBmp.jar

NOTE: Typically, ORACLE_APPSRVR_HOME is the C:\OraHome_X\oc4j_bi directory where oc4j_bi is the Oracle BI Publisher installation directory for Windows. The InkToolsLib.jar and iSignBmp.jar files are required whenever signatures must appear in a Siebel report that are captured by way of the Siebel signature capture feature.

2 If there are additional custom Java extensions, you must copy those JAR files as well.

Disabling External File References on the Oracle BI Publisher ServerThis topic describes how to disable external file references on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.



To disable external file references on the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Start Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (OC4J) and the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

For instructions, see “Starting and Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher” on page 49.

2 Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server with administrator privileges by doing the following:

a Click Start, Programs, Oracle - BIPHomeX, and then BI Publisher Server.

b Enter your administrator credentials (such as Administrator for the login and Administrator for the password).

NOTE: Administrator credentials for the Oracle BI Publisher Server are established during installation and are case sensitive.

3 Click the Admin tab, and then select Properties under Runtime Configuration.



4 Change the default value for the Disable External Reference attribute to FALSE, and then click Apply.

5 Restart OC4J to make the changes take effect.

For instructions, see “Starting and Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher” on page 49.

Starting and Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI PublisherThere are many instances where you must start, stop, or restart Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (OC4J) and Oracle BI Publisher.

Starting OC4J and Oracle BI PublisherUse the following procedure to start OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher.

To start OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher

1 Click Start, Programs, Oracle - BIPHomeX (where X is a number automatically assigned when you install Oracle BI Publisher), and then Start BI Publisher.

A command window appears.

NOTE: You must leave this command window open while the Oracle BI Publisher Server is running.

2 Confirm the Oracle BI Publisher Server is started.

When the server is started, a statement appears in the command window indicating the Oracle Containers are initialized.

Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI PublisherUse the following procedure to stop OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher.

To stop OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher

1 Click Start, Programs, Oracle - BIPHomeX (where X is a number automatically assigned when you install Oracle BI Publisher).

2 Click Stop BI Publisher.

Restarting OC4J and Oracle BI PublisherUse the following procedure to restart OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Upgrading to the Latest Oracle BI Publisher Patch

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To restart OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher

1 Click Start, Programs, Oracle - BIPHomeX (where X is a number automatically assigned when you install Oracle BI Publisher).

2 Click Stop BI Publisher.

3 Click Start BI Publisher.

Upgrading to the Latest Oracle BI Publisher PatchTo use the latest reporting features, you must upgrade to the latest Oracle Business Intelligence

Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher). For instructions, see 797057.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

Configuring an Outbound Web Service for the Siebel ApplicationThe PublicReportServiceService outbound Web service is the interface through which the Siebel enterprise communicates with Oracle BI Publisher to upload and run reports. For this functionality to work, the address field on the outbound Web service stored in the Siebel application must refer to the machine on which the Oracle BI Publisher Server is installed and the port on which it can be reached.



To configure an outbound Web service for the Siebel application

1 Get the latest Oracle BI Publisher WSDL by doing the following:

a Start the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

b Type the following in the browser address bar to retrieve the Web service definition:

http://host:port/xmlpserver/services/PublicReportService_v11?wsdl

c Save the output as PublicReportService_v11.WSDL to a temporary location on your machine.

2 Using Siebel Tools, remove the existing outbound Web service and related integration objects by doing the following:

a Log in to Siebel Tools.

b In the Object Explorer, select Business Service.

c In the Business Services list, query for PublicReportService, and then delete it.

d In the Object Explorer, select Integration Object.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Configuring anOutbound Web Service for the Siebel Application


e In the Integration Objects list, query for XMLP Integration project, and then select and delete all the objects.

NOTE: There are 104 objects.

3 Import the WSDL you saved in Step 1 (to replace the one you just removed) by doing the following:

a From the Tools menu, choose File, New Object, EAI, and then the Web Service icon, and click OK.

b In the WSDL Import Wizard dialog box:

❏ Select XMLP Integration project.

❏ Browse to the select PublicReportService_v11.WSDL, and then click Next.

c Check the Deploy Integration Object(s) and Proxy Business Service(s) option, and then click Finish.

4 Verify the results by doing the following:

a In the Object Explorer, select Business Service.

b In the Business Services list, perform a query where:

❏ Project is XMLP Integration

❏ Name is PublicReportService

c Check the Business Service user properties to confirm the following:

❏ siebel_port_name is PublicReportService_v11

❏ siebel_web_service_name is PublicReportServiceService

❏ siebel_web_service_namespace is http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/service/v11/PublicReportService

d In the Object Explorer, select Integration Object, and query for the XMLP Integration project.

Verify there are 128 objects.

e Compile the SRF.

f Restart the Siebel Server.

5 In the Siebel application, remove the old version of the PublicReportService outbound Web service by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - Web Service screen, then the Outbound Web Service view.

b In the name field, query for PublicReportServiceService, and then delete the service that does not show PublicReportService_v11 as the server port name.

NOTE: Two Web services appear; make sure you delete the correct one.

6 Make sure the service port address corresponds to the Oracle BI Publisher Server by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Outbound Web Service view.

b In the Name field, query for PublicReportServiceService.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel Reports

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c Make sure that the service port address corresponds to the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

The format is:

http://host.domain:port/xmlpserver/services/PublicReportServiceService

where:

❏ host.domain is the full path for the Oracle BI Publisher Server

❏ port is the port that the Oracle BI Publisher Server uses

For example, the address might be:

http://BIPServerHostName:9704/xmlpserver/services/PublicReportServiceService

TIP: Other than in this specific procedure, there is typically no need to change this address because it is automatically populated when you configure the business service and the Web service in Siebel Tools using the Web service wizard.

7 Click Clear Cache to make sure that the changes are propagated to run-time memory.

Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel ReportsBefore you can work with Siebel Reports, you must make sure several Siebel Server components are enabled. This task is applicable to first-time installations and upgrades, unless otherwise indicated.


To enable server components for Siebel Reports

1 Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Enterprises, then the Component Definitions view.

2 (First-time installation only) Enable the following server components:

NOTE: If you are upgrading, you only need confirm these components are active. Additionally, the XMLP Report Server component might already be enabled depending on how you configured your original Siebel Server installation.

3 (Optional) Enable the Workflow server component.

NOTE: Enable this component if you plan to use workflow, the Reports Business Service, or the XMLP Purge Records workflow.

For information about enabling Siebel Server components, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Component Name Component Alias Component Group

XMLP Report Server XMLPReportServer XMLP Report

EAI Object Manager (ENU) EAIObjMgr_enu Enterprise Application Integration

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ About Securityand Authentication for Siebel Reports


About Security and Authentication for Siebel ReportsWhen the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) Server receives a request from a Siebel user to perform report functionality on the server, the Oracle BI Publisher Server queries the Siebel application to retrieve the user privileges associated with that particular user from the Siebel application. This retrieval is accomplished by invoking a Web service that is exposed by the Siebel application.

There are several options to choose from for configuring security and authentication for Siebel Reports. This topic provides a high-level description of each option and provides links to the instructions for implementing each option.

Siebel Security ModelThe Siebel Security model retrieves authentication information through the Siebel EAI Object Manager (EAIObjMgr) and authenticates logins for report users against the Siebel Database one time only, then a session token is provided for the Oracle BI Publisher Server authentication. Because every user executing reports has their own credentials and roles, users have private visibility on the Oracle BI Publisher Server when scheduling reports.

The reporting responsibilities in the Siebel application correspond to roles and permissions on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. The names of these responsibilities must exactly match the corresponding set of roles on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

NOTE: It is recommended that you use this model because it was designed specifically for use with Siebel Reports.

LDAP In an implementation using LDAP authentication, an LDAP security adapter provided with Siebel Business Applications authenticates users against an LDAP-compliant directory. The directory stores information that is required to allow users to connect to the database and the Oracle BI Publisher Server and this information is retrieved by the security adapter when users try to run a report. When users log into a Siebel application that uses LDAP authentication, they are already authenticated for the current session.

Web Single Sign-On AuthenticationThis model allows you to use a non-standard security model, such as Siteminder or some other type of custom single sign-on.


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports

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Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel ReportsThis task is a step in “Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40. For more information about security and authentication for Siebel Reports, see “About Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 53.


To configure security and authentication for Siebel Reports■ Perform one of the following:

■ “Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports” on page 54

■ “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports Using LDAP” on page 59

■ “Configuring Siebel Reports in a Web Single Sign-On Environment” on page 59

Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel ReportsTo set up the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports, the address field on the service port of the Siebel Server must reflect the name of the computer hosting the Oracle BI Publisher Server. You must also make sure certain responsibilities are assigned users and associated to the correct views. If this is a first-time Siebel Reports installation, you must also enable the Siebel Security Model.

NOTE: It is recommended that you use this security model. It is designed specifically for use with Siebel Reports.

This task is a step in “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 54.

To set up and enable the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports

1 (First-time install only) Create the inbound Web service for the Siebel application by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Inbound Web Services view.

b Import the BIPSiebelSecurityWS.XML file from the SIEBEL_TOOLS_ROOT\REPPATCH directory (where Siebel Tools is installed) to create a new inbound Web service.

c In the Name field, query for BIPSiebelSecurityWS.

d Change the host and port number of the server port’s address to that of the Siebel Server.

For example, you might replace the existing address with:

http:/computer.domain.com/eai_enu/start.swe?SWEExtSource=WebService&SWEExtCmd=Execute

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ ConfiguringSecurity and Authentication for Siebel Reports


e Clear the cache and restart the Siebel Server.

2 (Upgrade only) Change view names in the Siebel application to reflect repository changes:

a Navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the Views view.

b In the View Name field, query for the following views and rename them:

c Clear the cache, log out of the Siebel application, and then log back in.

3 (First-time installation only) Create four new responsibilities and add appropriate users to each by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the Responsibilities view to create the responsibilities described in the following table.

NOTE: The reporting responsibilities in the Siebel application correspond to roles and permissions on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. The names of these responsibilities must exactly match the corresponding set of roles on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

b Add appropriate users to each of the new responsibilities.

4 (Upgrade only) Verify the following responsibilities exist and confirm each are assigned the appropriate users:

■ XMLP_ADMIN

■ XMLP_DEVELOPER

■ XMLP_SCHEDULER

■ XMLP_SIEBEL_GUEST

Existing View Name New View Name

All Template View All Template Report View

Manager’s Template View Manager’s Report Template View

Responsibility Description

XMLP_ADMIN Administrator role for the Oracle BI Publisher Server with no access limitations.

XMLP_DEVELOPER Assign this responsibility to allow for uploading reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server to the Siebel application.

XMLP_SCHEDULER Assign this responsibility to allow for scheduling of reports.

XMLP_SIEBEL_GUEST Assign this responsibility to limit access to reports. This responsibility only allows for generation, viewing, and deletion of user’s own reports.



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5 Make sure the scheduling views are associated with the appropriate responsibilities and users by doing the following:

a Associate the XMLP_ADMIN responsibility to all scheduling views, then assign that responsibility to just administrators.

b Associate the XMLP_SCHEDULER responsibility to the Report Job List View, and then assign that responsibility only to those users who run scheduled reports.

c Assign the XMLP_DEVELOPER responsibility to the following views, and then assign that responsibility only to users who register report templates (typically, report developers):

❏ My Template View

❏ All Template Report View

❏ Manager’s Report Template View

❏ Report Standard Template Registration Admin View

d Assign responsibility XMLP_GUEST responsibility to the following views, and then assign that responsibility to any user running reports:

❏ All Report Output List View

❏ Manager’s Report Output List View

The following table shows a matrix for which views to associate with each responsibility.

6 If changes are necessary, clear the cache, log out of the Siebel application, and then log back in.

7 (First-time installation only) Verify your configurations by doing the following:

a From the Reports drop-down list, select My BI Publisher Reports.

Responsibility

ViewXMLP_ADMIN

XMLP_SCHEDULER

XMLP_DEVELOPER

XMLP_SIEBEL_GUEST

Report Job List View Yes Yes No Yes

All Report Output List View Yes No No Yes

My Template View Yes No Yes No

All Template Report View Yes No Yes No

Manager’s Report Output List View Yes No No No

Manager’s Report Template View Yes No Yes No

Report Standard Template Registration Admin View

Yes No Yes No

All Report Template Across Organization View

Yes No No No

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ ConfiguringSecurity and Authentication for Siebel Reports


b Confirm a new Scheduled Reports link was added to the My BI Publisher Reports screen.

The Scheduled Reports link in the Siebel application is an embedded user interface to the Oracle BI Publisher Server that allows users to view their scheduled reports. Before you can use this link, you must perform further configuration to embed the Scheduled Reports view in the Siebel application.

c Confirm the views were added to the appropriate screens as shown in the following table.

8 (First-time installation only) Enable the Siebel Security Model by doing the following:

a Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application with administrator privilege.

b Click the Admin tab, and then select Security Configuration (under Security Center).

c In the Security Model section, perform the following, and then click Apply:

❏ Set the model to Siebel Security

❏ Enter the host name and port as the Web Service Endpoint

View Screen

All Report Output List View Reports Server

All Template Report View Report Administration

Manager's Report Output List View Reports-Custom Templates

Manager's Template View Report Administration

My Template View Report Administration

Report Standard Template Registration Admin View Reports-Standard Templates

All Report Template Across Organization View Reports-Standard Templates



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❏ Enter the Siebel administrator credentials

NOTE: The address of the Web Service Endpoint parameter in the Oracle BI Publisher Server is the same address as the inbound Web service used by the Siebel Server.

The following table provides sample parameter values for a Siebel Security model configuration.

NOTE: Siebel administrator credentials are necessary for the Oracle BI Publisher application to log into the Siebel EAI object manager. These credentials are case sensitive and must match the Siebel database specifications.

9 Restart the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

For information about restarting the Oracle BI Publisher Server, see “Restarting OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher” on page 49.

10 (First-time installation only) Verify that the Siebel Security Model has been implemented by doing the following:

a Start the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application (from the Start Menu, choose Start BI Publisher).

b Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application using the Siebel administrator credentials.

The Siebel Security Model was successfully implemented if you are able to login using the Siebel credentials.

11 Add an explicit classpath and add a new wlfullclient.jar file to the XMLPJvmSubsys profile for the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

For instructions, see “Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 59.

Parameter Value

Security Model Siebel Security

Siebel Web Service Endpoint

http:/host.domain.com/eai_enu/ start.swe?SWEExtSource=WebService&SWEExtCmd=Execute

Administrator Username

username

Administrator Password

password

NOTE: The password for an account cannot be the same as the user name for that account.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Adding an ExplicitReference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server


Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports Using LDAPThis topic describes how to implement LDAP security adapter authentication to manage user access to the Oracle BI Publisher Server in a Siebel Reports connected environment.

When implementing LDAP authentication for Siebel user access to the Oracle BI Publisher Server, you implement LDAP authentication for your Siebel application, and you must use the same LDAP directory for the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

This task is a step in “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 54.

To configure security and authentication for Siebel Reports using LDAP■ Follow the instructions in 1103065.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

For more information on implementing LDAP for Oracle BI Publisher, refer to the Oracle BI Publisher documentation. For more information on setting up an LDAP directory, see the topic on setting up the LDAP or ADS Directory in Siebel Security Guide.

Configuring Siebel Reports in a Web Single Sign-On EnvironmentThis task is a step in “Configuring Security and Authentication for Siebel Reports” on page 54.

To configure Siebel Reports in a Web single sign-on environment■ Follow the instructions in 1117126.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

For more information, see the topic about Web single sign-on authentication in Siebel Security Guide.

Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher ServerYou must add an explicit reference to the Siebel JAR files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server to upload templates and run immediate reports. This is because when a report is scheduled, a new .xdo file is sent to the Oracle BI Publisher Server that contains the schedule job information.

The task is a step in “Roadmap for Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications” on page 40.

NOTE: If you are upgrading, you only need add the new wlfullclient.jar file to the explicit classpath (see Step 3 on page 60), and then restart the Siebel Services.


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To add an explicit reference to JAR files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Enterprises, and then the Profile Configuration view.

2 Select the XMLPJvmSubsys profile.

3 In the Profile Parameters subview, provide a reference to each of the JAR files in the CLASSES directory in the Siebel application root directory and set the JVM DLL Name. Some of the values are provided in the following table. Make sure that the paths correctly locate the required files.

4 For UNIX, the following steps are required:

a Set the JVM DLL Name similar to the following:

/usr/jdk1.6.0_xx/jre/bin/j9vm/libjvm.so

Parameter Value

JVM Classpath

<SIEBSRVR_ROOT>/classes/Siebel.jar;<SIEBSRVR_ROOT>/classes/SiebelXMLP.jar;<SIEBSRVR_ROOT>/classes/wlfullclient.jar

where:

SIEBSRVR_ROOT is the actual path where the Siebel Server is installed.

NOTE: For UNIX, replace <SIEBSRVR_ROOT> with ${SIEBEL_HOME}.

Alternatively, you can set the CLASSPATH using the Siebel Server Manager (srvrmgr program). For information about using the srvrmgr program to set the CLASSPATH, see “Troubleshooting the CLASSPATH Settings Using Siebel Server Manager” on page 169.

CAUTION: An error might occur if the value of the CLASSPATH parameter is too long (must be less than 1024 characters). To avoid this, copy the CLASSPATH folder to the root directory, and then point CLASSPATH to this path.

JVM DLL Name

For AIX, Linux, and Oracle Solaris:<path to libjvm.so_file>

For HP-UX:<path to libjvm.sl_file>

For Windows: <path to jvm.dll >

For example, c:\Program Files\Java\jdk1.6.0_xx\jre\client\bin\jvm.dll

NOTE: For Windows, the path to the JVM DLL file is automatically read from the Windows registry setting of the JRE installed on the Siebel Server.

For more information on setting the values of the JVM DLL Name and JVM Options parameters, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ UploadingPreconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server


b Set the JAVA_HOME environment variable.

For example:

/usr/java

c Set the LIBPATH ${LIBPATH} environment variable.

For example:

/usr/jdk1.6.0_xx/jre/bin:/usr/jdk1.6.0_xx/jre/bin/j9vm

Uploading Preconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher ServerSiebel Business Applications ship with preconfigured report layout templates. To make these report layout templates accessible to users in connected mode, you must upload them to the Oracle BI Publisher Server. For a comprehensive list of the preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications, see 876284.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

NOTE: The instructions in this topic are not applicable for new reports you create or modify while in disconnected mode. Such reports require deployment to the Siebel Web Client. For instructions, see “Deploying Report Layout Templates to the Siebel Web Client from a Disconnected Client” on page 69. Additionally, if you have a multiple Siebel Server environment, see “Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments” on page 70.

CAUTION: If the report layout templates are not uploaded to the Oracle BI Publisher Server, when a user attempts to run a report, an error occurs and the report fails. For more information about this failure, see Error Message SBL-OMS-00203 in “Troubleshooting Error Messages for Siebel Reports” on page 162.


To upload preconfigured report layout templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Reports - Standard Templates view.

2 From the application-level menu, select Edit, and then Select All.

3 Click Upload Files.

4 Set the proper access permissions to the SiebelCRMReports folder by performing the following:


b Open a new browser window and navigate to the Oracle BI Publisher Server at

http://BIPServerHostName:port/xmlpserver


Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling

62

c Click the Admin tab, select Roles and Permissions, and then locate the XMLP roles (XMLP_*).

TIP: These roles begin with XMLP and are listed in alphabetical order.

d For each report responsibility, click Add Folders to grant permission to the shared SiebelCRMReports folder.

e Restart the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

Process of Enabling and Configuring Report SchedulingBefore you can use report scheduling, you must perform several configuration tasks for both the Siebel application and Oracle BI Publisher. For information about how to schedule reports, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”


To enable and configure report scheduling, perform the following tasks:

1 (First-time installation only) “Setting Up the Database Schema for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 62

2 “Configuring the Data Service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 63

3 “Verifying Symbolic URL Arguments That Embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel Application” on page 64

Setting Up the Database Schema for the Oracle BI Publisher ServerThe task is a step in “Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling” on page 62.

To set up the database schema for the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Create the scheduling database on the Oracle BI Publisher Server by following the instructions in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Administrator's and Developer's Guide, Release 10.1.3.4 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN) to:

■ Set up a new database instance.

■ Create a user with privileges to add tables.

■ Create the database connection.

■ Install the schema by doing the following:


b Click the Admin tab, and then select Scheduler Configuration.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Process ofEnabling and Configuring Report Scheduling


c Select the database type applicable to your deployment and provide information as shown in the following table.

d Click Test Connection to make sure that the connection works.

e Click Install Schema.

The tables are automatically created.

2 Restart both the Oracle BI Publisher Server and the Siebel Server (or servers).

Configuring the Data Service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher ServerThe Oracle BI Publisher Server uses a Web service to pull data from the Siebel application when a report is scheduled and executed. The WSDL (Web Service Definition Language) provides a definition of this Web service. The Oracle BI Publisher Server must know where this WSDL file is located.

The task is a step in “Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling” on page 62.

Database Enter

Oracle Connection String->jdbc:oracle:thin:@[host]:[port]:[SID]

dbtableowner is nothing but user name and password

host-is nothing but databaseserver

port-is nothing but LM_DB_port

[SID]-is nothing but dbinstance

Data base driver class: oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver

MSSQL connection string:jdbc:hyperion:sqlserver://databaseserver:LM_DB_port;DatabaseName=databasename

username:username

password:password

Data base driver class: hyperion.jdbc.sqlserver.SQLServerDriver

db2 Connection String:

jdbc:hyperion:db2://BIPServerHostName:port;DatabaseName=<DATABASENAME>

username:username

password:password


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To configure the data service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher Server

1 Log in to the Siebel application as a Siebel administrator.

2 Navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Inbound Web Services view.

3 Configure the address for the BIPDataService Web service with the host name and port number of the Siebel Server and modify the credentials to correspond to the username, login, and password used for logging in to the Siebel EAI object manager.

4 Select BIPDataService, and then click Generate WSDL.

5 Save the WSDL as a new data service file named dataservice.wsdl in a directory in the Oracle BI Publisher home directory (by default, this is the \OraHome_X\oc4j_bi\bin directory).

For example, you might save the file as:

D:\OraHome_1\oc4j_bi\bin\dataservice.wsdl

NOTE: You must use lower case to match existing references.

The WSDL is now available for importing.

Verifying Symbolic URL Arguments That Embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel ApplicationThe Scheduled Reports view in the Siebel application is for managing scheduled reports. This view is an embedded Web page from the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application. To configure this view, you implement a symbolic URL to display external contents in the Siebel user interface by specifying how to construct the external application and define arguments and values that are passed to the Siebel client. For more information about working with symbolic URLs, see Siebel Portal Framework Guide. For information about how to schedule reports, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”

The task is a step in “Process of Enabling and Configuring Report Scheduling” on page 62.

To verify symbolic URL arguments that embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel application

1 Navigate to the Administration - Integration screen, WI Symbolic URL List, and then the Host Administration view.

2 Query for BIPReportJobListPage.

3 In the Symbolic URL Arguments subview, verify the following arguments to the symbolic URL.

Argument NameRequiredArgument

ArgumentType Argument Value

PreloadUrl Yes Command http://biphost/xmlpserver/signout.jsp

PreloadUrlPerSession Yes Command True

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Testing YourSiebel Reports Integration Configurations


4 Log out of the Siebel application, and then log in again.

5 (Upgrade only) Confirm the new monthly scheduling List of Value (LOV) is available by doing the following:

a Log in to the Siebel application as a Siebel administrator.

b Navigate to the Administration - Data screen, then the List of Values Explorer view.

c In the List of Values view, make sure there is Monthly value for the XMLP_RPT_SCHEDULE_MODE type.

Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration ConfigurationsIt is recommended that you test your integration configurations by registering a preconfigured Oracle BI Publisher report layout template in the Siebel application, then generating a report for that template.


To test your Siebel Reports integration configurations

1 Log in to the Siebel application as an administrator.

2 Register a preconfigured Oracle BI Publisher report layout template.

a Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the relevant template view (Reports - Custom Templates or Reports - Standard Templates).

b Select the Account List report layout template, and then click Upload Files.

uid

NOTE: For upgrades only, you must rename this argument to uid from id.

Yes Field BIPUser

anyname Yes Command PostRequest

passwd Yes Field BIPPassword

_xuil

NOTE: This argument is applicable only for non-English deployments.

Yes Field BIPLanguage

pgheader Yes Constant hide

Argument NameRequiredArgument

ArgumentType Argument Value


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c Navigate to the View Association view to associate the Account List report to the Account List view.

The Account List report layout template is now available to the Siebel application for use in generating reports.

3 Generate an Oracle BI Publisher report (or reports) by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Accounts screen, then the Accounts List view.

b Perform a query that returns approximately 30 records, and then click Reports.

c In the BI Publisher section, choose Account List.

d Select the report output type, and then click Submit.

The report is generated after you choose to open the report.

e Generate the report in a different format or click Close to close the output type dialog box.

NOTE: When you create your own custom reports, you must upload the report template and associate it with a view before you can use that report.

For more information about generating reports, see Chapter 6, “Generating Reports.”

Roadmap for Upgrading Siebel ReportsIf you currently have an existing Siebel Reports environment and you want to use the latest reporting features, you must perform several upgrade tasks. It is recommended that you print out the following process to use as a checklist as you work your way through the upgrade.

To upgrade Siebel Reports, perform the following tasks:

1 Prepare for the upgrade by doing the following:

a Make sure you have a Siebel CRM version 8.1.1 or later environment and have applied the latest Siebel CRM Fix Pack 8.1.1.x.

b Upgrade to the appropriate Java Development Kit (JDK) version and make sure the JAVA_HOME system environment variable points to the JDK.

For the applicable versions for your deployment, see version 8.1.1.x Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

2 Make sure you have the appropriate Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher software installed:


■ Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop)

For the applicable version for your deployment, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

NOTE: If you are currently using Oracle BI Publisher Version 10.1.3.4.0, you must upgrade. For instructions, see “Upgrading to Oracle BI Publisher Version 10.1.3.4.1 from Version 10.1.3.4.0” on page 67.

Integrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel Business Applications ■ Roadmap forUpgrading Siebel Reports



4 Apply repository, schema, and seed data changes for ACR 633.

For instructions, see 880452.1 (Article ID) Siebel Maintenance Release Guide on My Oracle Support.

5 (Optional) Enable the Workflow server component.

For instructions, see “Enabling Siebel Server Components for Siebel Reports” on page 52.

6 Perform the following:

a Change view names in the Siebel application to reflect repository changes.

b Verify XMLP responsibilities, report views, and user assignments.

For instructions, see “Setting Up and Enabling the Siebel Security Model for Siebel Reports” on page 54.

NOTE: Many of the steps in this task are applicable only to first-time installations. Make sure to perform only steps indicated for upgrades.

7 Add a new wlfullclient.jar file to the XMLPJvmSubsys classpath for the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

For instructions, see “Adding an Explicit Reference to JAR Files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 59.

8 “Uploading Preconfigured Report Layout Templates to the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 61

9 Configure report scheduling by doing the following:

a “Configuring the Data Service WSDL for the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 63

b Change the id symbolic URL argument name to uid and create a new pgheader argument.

For instructions, see “Verifying Symbolic URL Arguments That Embed the Oracle BI Publisher Scheduling Views in the Siebel Application” on page 64.

10 “Testing Your Siebel Reports Integration Configurations” on page 65

Upgrading to Oracle BI Publisher Version 10.1.3.4.1 from Version 10.1.3.4.0You upgrade the Oracle BI Publisher Server by deploying a new Enterprise Archive (EAR) file. An EAR file represents a Java EE application that is deployed in an application server. EAR files are standard Java Archive (JAR) files. A JAR file aggregates many files into one, for example, JAR files are used to distribute Java classes and associated metadata. A Web Application Archive (WAR) file is a file used to distribute a collection of JavaServer Pages (JSP), servlets, Java classes, XML files, tag libraries, and static Web pages (HTML and related files) that together constitute a Web application. Java EE bundles applications into EAR files for distribution. The EAR files contain JAR files and WAR files but might also contain:

■ One or more Web modules

■ One or more Enterprise JavaBeans (EJB) modules


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■ One or more application client modules

■ Additional JAR files required by the application

■ Any combination of the above

NOTE: The instructions in this topic are not applicable if you are installing Oracle BI Publisher for the first time. To install Oracle BI Publisher as a first-time installation, see “Process of Installing Oracle BI Publisher for Integration with Siebel Business Applications” on page 44.

To upgrade to Oracle BI Publisher version 10.1.3.4.1 from version 10.1.3.4.0

1 Upgrade Oracle BI Publisher by doing the following:

a Follow the instructions as described in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide (Release 10.1.3.4.1) available on Oracle Technology Network.

NOTE: The steps are the same for upgrading to version 10.1.3.4.1 from version 10.1.3.4.0 with the exception that you do not need to test the login page or install the fonts.

b Follow the instructions in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Release Notes (Release 10.1.3.4.1) available on Oracle Technology Network.

2 Upgrade to Oracle BI Publisher Desktop version 10.1.3.4.1 For installation information, see the topic on installing BI Publisher Desktop tools in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide available on Oracle Technology Network.

The instructions contain information for uninstalling current installations.

NOTE: It is recommended that you do not use Oracle BI Publisher Desktop version 10.1.3.4.0 with Oracle BI Publisher version 10.1.3.4.1.

3 Make sure that your users upgrade to Oracle BI Publisher Desktop version 10.1.3.4.1.

For information about using Oracle BI Publisher Desktop with Siebel Reports, see “About Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word with Siebel Reports” on page 24.


5 Administering Siebel Reports

This chapter describes some of the administrative tasks for Siebel Reports. The tasks in this chapter are for administrators only and are applicable to both connected and disconnected modes unless otherwise indicated. This chapter includes the following topics:

■ Deploying Report Layout Templates to the Siebel Web Client from a Disconnected Client on page 69

■ Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments

■ Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File System on page 71

■ Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server on page 72

■ Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports on page 73

■ Copying Fonts for Report Generation on page 75

■ About Working with Multilingual Reports on page 75

■ Designing Multilingual Reports on page 77

■ Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel Application on page 78

■ Adding and Deleting Languages from Report Templates on page 79

■ About Report Translation on page 80

■ Roadmap for Optimizing the Performance of Siebel Reports on page 80

■ Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports on page 81

■ Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports on page 82

■ Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel Reports on page 82

■ Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes on page 84

Deploying Report Layout Templates to the Siebel Web Client from a Disconnected ClientSiebel reports are typically developed on a disconnected client, such as the Siebel Developer Web Client. After you test and verify a report layout template, you must move that report to the Siebel Server to deploy the report to the Siebel Web Client. The report is then available for generation in connected mode with the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) Server. This topic describes how to deploy reports to the Siebel Web Client from a disconnected client.


Administering Siebel Reports ■ Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments

70

To deploy a report to the Siebel Web Client from a disconnected client

1 Copy the following report files from the Siebel Developer Web Client (or other disconnected client) directory to the Siebel Server directory:

■ Report layout template file (.rtf)

■ XLIFF (.xlf) files

NOTE: It is recommended that you locate your report layout template files in the SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\Templates directory and the XLIFF files in the SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\xliff\language directory.

2 Register the report by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then one of the following template views:

❏ Reports - Custom Templates


b Create a new record and assign the template and integration object to the record.

c In the XLIFF field, assign the associated .xlf file to the report.

NOTE: The Generate XLIFF button is disabled in the Siebel Web Client and that is why you must explicitly select the .xlf file.

3 Assign the report to a Siebel view or views.

For information about assigning reports to Siebel views, see “Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application Views” on page 120.

4 Upload the report to the Oracle BI Publisher Server by doing the following:

a Navigate back to the applicable template view.

b Click Upload Files.

5 Verify the report was successfully uploaded by doing the following:

a Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server with administrator privilege.

b Click the Reports tab, expand Shared Folders, and then click SiebelCRMReports.

c Verify that the new report layout template and associated files were uploaded.

Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server EnvironmentsThis topic describes how to upload new or modified report layout templates in a multiple Siebel Server environment.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File System


To upload new or modified report layout templates for a multiple Siebel Server environment

1 For each of the Siebel Servers, copy the new or modified RTF file to the following directory:

SIEBSRVR_ROOT\TEMP\XMLP

NOTE: Overwrite any existing files.

2 For each of the Siebel Servers, copy the .XLF (XLIFF) file to the appropriate language folder in the following directory:

SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\XLIFF

For example, the language folder for English (U.S.) is as follows:

SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\XLIFF\ENU

3 Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server as administrator and manually delete the report layout template from the SiebelCRMReports folder.

4 Log in to the Siebel Web Client and upload the new or modified report layout template by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the relevant template view (Reports - Custom Templates or Reports - Standard Templates).

b Click Upload Files.

Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File SystemAdministrators must periodically purge reports from the Siebel File System. You purge reports by using filters or by running a workflow process. For more information about workflow processes, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide. This topic describes how to set up reports to automatically purge after the reports meet certain criteria.

NOTE: Administrators are also responsible for purging reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server. For information about this purging, see “Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 72.

You can set up Siebel Reports to automatically purge reports from the Siebel Database after a specified time interval. The BIP Delete After Days system preference allows you to specify a nonzero positive value that executes the Auto Purge workflow to purge the reports. The reports are purged from the database after the number of days specified.

CAUTION: It is recommended that only administrators perform this task, because you run the risk of inadvertently depleting or contaminating the report repository. Report developers and other users can delete reports, but they must not purge reports. For information about deleting reports, see “Deleting Reports” on page 97.

To automatically purge reports from the Siebel File System



Administering Siebel Reports ■ Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server

72

2 Navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the System Preferences view.

3 In the System Preferences list, select BIP Delete After Days, and change the value to a positive, nonzero value.

By default, the value is set to -1 (minus 1).

NOTE: It is recommended that you set this value in relation to your daily report volumes, especially for large-scale implementations where many reports are generated. The -1 setting prevents the Siebel File System from increasing to an unmanageable size.

4 Navigate to the Administration - Server Management screen, then the Jobs view.

5 Add a new job entitled Workflow Process Manager.

6 Add a parameter to the job as follows:

a Enter Workflow Process Name as the name.

b Give the parameter a value of XMLP Purge Records.

7 Click Submit.

You can also schedule this job to generate periodically using a workflow. For more information about scheduling workflows, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher ServerScheduled reports that users have generated are stored in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) scheduling database. Administrators can periodically purge scheduled reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server by removing Oracle Business Intelligence Scheduler job instances from the database.

TIP: You cannot purge scheduled reports from the Siebel application or by using the Oracle BI Publisher administration application.

This topic describes how to purge reports using either the Job Manager Instances List or the Job Manager Purge Instances Window.

To purge scheduled reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server■ Follow the instructions provided in the Purging Oracle BI Scheduler Job Instances topic in the

Oracle Business Intelligence Scheduler Guide on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

CAUTION: It is recommended that only administrators purge scheduled reports, because you run the risk of inadvertently depleting or contaminating the report repository. Report developers and other users can delete reports, but they cannot purge reports. For information about deleting reports, see “Deleting Scheduled Reports” on page 129.

NOTE: Administrators are also responsible for purging reports from the Siebel File System. For information about this purging, see “Automatically Purging Reports from the Siebel File System” on page 71.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Changing the Location of the Oracle BI PublisherRepository for Siebel Reports


Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel ReportsThis topic describes how to change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher repository for use with Siebel Reports.

By default, the location of the Oracle BI Publisher repository is stored in the Oracle home JVM property with a value of ${oracle.home}/xdo/repository. The Siebel application uses this JVM property to access the Oracle BI Publisher repository. If Oracle BI Publisher is running on an Oracle Application server or an Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition (OC4J) standalone, this oracle.home property value is automatically set by the OC4J container. For more information about OC4J, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Installation Guide, Release 10.1.3 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

If you do not want to use ${oracle.home}/xdo/repository as the location of your Oracle BI Publisher repository, there are three different ways you can change it:

■ Create a custom XML file

For instructions, see “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Creating a Custom XML File” on page 73.

■ Replace a JVM property name

For instructions, see “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Replacing a JVM Property Name” on page 74

■ Change the absolute path to the repository

For instructions, see “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Changing the Absolute Path to the Repository” on page 75.

Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Creating a Custom XML FileUse the following procedure to change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by creating a custom XML file.

This task is a step in “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports” on page 73.

To create a custom XML file to change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher repository

1 Copy the xmlp-server-config.xml file and paste it to a folder where Oracle BI Publisher can read it.

For example, in an Oracle AS/OC4J 10.1.3 deployment, you copy the configuration file from:

OC4J_HOME/j2ee/home/applications/xmlpserver/xmlpserver/WEB-INF/xmlp-server-config.xml


Administering Siebel Reports ■ Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports

74

2 Edit the newly created .xml file to reflect the new path.

The default configuration for the xmlp-server-config.xml file is:

<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8"?>

<xmlpConfig xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/xmlp">

<resource>

<file path="${oracle.home}/xdo/repository"/>

</resource>

</xmlpConfig>

3 Start the application server by adding the following JVM option:

-Dxdo.server.config.dir=/home/BIP

Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Replacing a JVM Property NameUse the following procedure to change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by replacing a JVM property name.

This task is a step in “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports” on page 73.

To change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher repository by replacing a JVM property name■ In the WEB-INF/xmlp-server-config.xml file, replace oracle.home with some other JVM property

name.

NOTE: You must set the value of the new JVM property to the correct repository path.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Copying Fonts for Report Generation


Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by Changing the Absolute Path to the RepositoryThis task is a step in “Changing the Location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository for Siebel Reports” on page 73.

Use the following procedure to change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher Repository by changing the absolute path to the repository.

To change the location of the Oracle BI Publisher repository by changing the absolute path to the repository■ In the WEB-INF/xmlp-server-config.xml file, change the absolute path to the repository that you

want.

Copying Fonts for Report GenerationFonts used in reports are obtained from the computer on which the report is generated. If a report is generated from a computer where the fonts in the report are not available, the output might not be as expected when trying to generate, view, preview, or schedule reports. This topic describes how to resolve this unexpected behavior.

NOTE: It is the responsibility of the report designer to make sure that fonts are selected that match the data that is likely to be included in a report. For more information about fonts in Siebel Business Applications, see Siebel Global Deployment Guide.

To copy fonts■ On the Siebel Server where the XMLP Report Server component is enabled, do one of the

following:

■ For Windows, copy the fonts in C:\WINDOWS\Fonts directory to the fonts directory in the Java installation directory for your deployment (typically this is JAVA_HOME\lib\fonts).

■ For UNIX, copy the fonts in the /Fonts directory to the fonts directory in the Java installation directory for your deployment.

NOTE: This task is typically performed as part of the Siebel application installation. However, administrators can perform this task at any time.

About Working with Multilingual ReportsThe Siebel Reports architecture supports generating reports in multiple languages from a single object manager for a variety of needs. Siebel Reports allows you to:

■ Configure reports that are generated for a specific language and locale.


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76

■ Make sure that a report is generated against a particular Siebel record with a preference for a specific document language and locale for that record. For example, you might have a preference for a document language for a specific Quote report.

■ Let users set a default language and locale preference for their own report generation.

■ Let users override the default language and locale values when generating reports.

■ Execute report generation using the default language and locale settings of the user’s session object manager.

Table 8 provides details of how this logic is implemented in Siebel Reports. The order defines the logic applied at run time to determine which default language preferences to use.

Related Topics“Designing Multilingual Reports” on page 77


“Adding and Deleting Languages from Report Templates” on page 79

Table 8. How Siebel Reports Determines the Report Language at Run Time

Default Preference Order Description

Template specific 1 If a default language and locale are specified in the report layout template, then these values appear as the default selection for the report output. However, users can override these settings at run time for an individual report (see Run-time Selection in this table).

Entity related(business service)

2 The Report Business Service is configurable for language and locale as optional inputs. If the language and locale are specified at the template level, then the template parameters are used rather than those specified for the input. If no parameters are passed to the Report Business Service, the default application object manager values are used.

NOTE: Only use language and locale values as business service inputs when these values are not set at the template level.

User preferences 3 If the report layout template does not have a default language and locale, and the user has set a language and locale property in their user preferences, the user preference values are used. Otherwise, the values in the report layout template prevail. For information about setting user preferences for report generation, see “Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports” on page 97.

Run-time selection 4 Users can override the default language and locale values when generating a report.

No language or locale specified

5 If no default language and locale are specified in the report layout template level or in the user preferences, then the current application object manager values for the session are used.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Designing Multilingual Reports



Designing Multilingual ReportsDesigning multilingual reports is the same as designing a standard report. The only difference is that you must externalize the user interface elements for localization in the languages that you want.

For more information about externalizing the user interface elements, see “About Report Translation” on page 80. For more information about designing reports, see Chapter 7, “Creating Reports.”

To design a multilingual report

1 Design a report in the default language, for example, ENU (English U.S.).

2 Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, redesign the layout template for the new language.

3 In the Siebel application, register the report.

For information about registering reports, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

NOTE: How translation files are uploaded from Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word to generate reports differs depending on the connection mode; that is, whether it uses connected or disconnected mode. For more information about uploading files, see “Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application” on page 102.

4 (Optional) Add a default language and locale to the report template.

Related Topics“About Working with Multilingual Reports” on page 75





Administering Siebel Reports ■ Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel Application

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Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel ApplicationThis topic gives one example of uploading multilingual reports to the Siebel application. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business model.

To upload multilingual reports to the Siebel application, perform the following:

1 In the TEMPLATES directory, make sure of the following:

■ The report layout template file (filename.rtf) is located in the TEMPLATES directory.

In this example, let us say the name of the template is opptylist.rtf.

■ There are subdirectories in the XLIFF directory for English and other supported languages.

NOTE: Typically, the TEMPLATES and XLIFF directories are located in the Siebel Server installation XMLP directory (SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP).

2 Create the XLIFF file for English with the same name as the report layout template file (opptylist.xlf) and put it in the ENU subdirectory (SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\ENU\opptylist.xlf).

3 Create a non-English XLIFF file by doing the following:

a Copy the opptylist.xlf file (from the ENU directory) to the target language directory.

For example, if the target language is French, you would copy opptylist.xlf to the SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\FRA directory.

b In the target directory, edit the opptylist.xlf file to modify the file target-language attribute from EN-US to the target language. For example,

file source-language="EN-US" target-language="FR-FR"

c Change the elements from source to the desired language.

For example, the source is English, the target element is French, therefore the element is translated to French:

<source>Name</source><target>Nom</target>

d Repeat Step a through Step c for each supported language.

For more information about XLIFF creation, see “About Report Translation” on page 80.

4 Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server to review the structure of the registration. Each XLIFF is registered using the format TemplateName_language code_TERRITORY CODE.xlf. For more information about translation naming conventions, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

5 After the report layout template is in the TEMPLATES subdirectory and the XLIFFS are in the language subfolders, then you can upload the report to the Siebel client.

6 Register the report, add the languages to the XLIFF translation applet, and then click Upload.

The report layout template and the associated XLIFF translation files are now registered.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Adding and Deleting Languages from Report Templates


7 Log in to the Oracle BI Publisher Server to review the structure of the registration. Each XLIFF is registered using the format TemplateName_<language code>_<TERRITORY CODE>.xlf.





Adding and Deleting Languages from Report TemplatesThis topic describes how to add and delete languages from report templates.

Adding a Language to a ReportUse the following procedure to add a language to a report template.

To add a language to a report

1 Log in to the Siebel application.

2 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then to one of the following template views:

■ Reports - Custom Templates

■ Reports - Standard Templates

3 In the appropriate Template list, select the report to which you want to add a language.

4 In the Translations subview, click New.

5 In the Language field, add a new language, and then click OK.

Deleting a Language from a ReportUse the following procedure to delete a language from a report template.

To delete a language from a report


2 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then to one of the following template views:




Administering Siebel Reports ■ About Report Translation

80

3 In the Report Template Registration list, select the report from which you want to delete a language.

4 In the Translations list, choose a language, and then click Delete.

NOTE: This step removes only the language from the report; it does not remove the report.





About Report TranslationTo translate reports, you must externalize the user interface elements for localization in the languages that you want. To externalize the user interface means to separate the localizable attributes from the nonlocalizable attributes of the user interface elements for each translation. In the case of reports, strings are externalized to an XLIFF file. The XLIFF format separates localizable text from formatting, allowing the translator to work only on the text to be translated. For more information about XLIFF files related to Siebel Reports, see “Siebel Reports Directory Structure” on page 31.

Typically, an administrator manages report translations; a third party usually performs the actual translation.

NOTE: For a list of the languages that Siebel Reports supports, see Siebel System Requirements and Supported Platforms on Oracle Technology Network.

CAUTION: Each translated report must have a unique translated display name. If there are duplicate names for translated reports, when those names pass from the browser to the Siebel Server, the server cannot differentiate which report to generate.





Roadmap for Optimizing the Performance of Siebel ReportsThere are several tasks you can perform to optimize the performance of Siebel Reports. It is recommended you perform these tasks as part of the Siebel Reports installation process. However, you can perform them later. These tasks are not implemented in a particular order.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports


■ “Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports” on page 81

■ “Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports” on page 82

■ “Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel Reports” on page 82

■ “Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes” on page 84

NOTE: Most of these tasks are applicable only when the client is in connected mode unless noted otherwise.

Setting the Report Execution Waiting Period for ReportsTo optimize the performance of reports with more than 100 records, it is recommended that you limit the wait time for report execution. The BIP Report Wait Time system preference allows you to set a threshold value in seconds.

When a low waiting period is specified, a message appears soon after report generation begins noting that the time taken to generate the report exceeds the waiting period. To monitor and view the report, go to the My Reports view. For information about the My Reports view, see “Generating Reports” on page 92.

This task is a step in “Roadmap for Optimizing the Performance of Siebel Reports” on page 80.

To set the report execution waiting period for reports

1 Navigate to the Administration - Application screen, then the System Preferences view.

2 In the System Preferences list, select BIP Report Wait Time, and then change the value to a number greater than 100.

Related TopicsSetting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports

Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel Reports

Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes


Administering Siebel Reports ■ Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports

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Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel ReportsTo optimize the performance of Siebel Reports, it is recommended you change the Database Polling Interval parameter for the Server Request Processor (SRProc) server component. This parameter defines how long to wait before SRProc polls the database again when the current polling does not get requests.

NOTE: This parameter is hidden by default and does not appear in either the Siebel Server Manager GUI or the Siebel Server Manager command-line interface program.


Use the following procedure to set the Database Polling Interval server component parameter.

To set the Server Request Processor database polling interval for Siebel Reports

1 Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Servers, and then the Components view.

2 In the Components list, select Server Request Processor (alias SRProc).

3 Scroll down, click the Parameters subview, and then click Hidden.

4 In the Parameter list, select Database Polling Interval, and change the value from 10 to 1.

The Value on Restart and Default Values are updated as well.

5 Restart the Siebel Server.

Alternatively, you can use the srvrmgr command-line interface to restart the SRProc component

For more information about setting the server component parameters and restarting the Siebel Server and server components, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Related TopicsSetting the Report Execution Waiting Period for Reports



Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel ReportsTo optimize the performance of Siebel Reports, it is recommended that you change the values of the Maximum Tasks (MaxTasks) and the Maximum MT Servers (MaxMTServers) parameters. Perform one of the following procedures on the computer where the XMLP Report Server component is enabled. You configure the concurrency parameters for Siebel Reports by using the Server Manager GUI or the Server Manager command-line interface program (srvrmgr program).

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Setting Concurrency Parameters for Siebel Reports



Setting Concurrency Parameters Using a Siebel ApplicationUse the following procedure to set the concurrency parameters using a Siebel application.

To set concurrency parameters using a Siebel application


2 Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Servers, and then the Components view.

3 In the Components list, select XMLP Report Server.

4 Click the Parameters view tab, and perform the following:

a For the Maximum Tasks parameter, change the Value on Restart to 100.

b For the Maximum MT Servers parameter, change the Value on Restart to 2.

Setting Concurrency Parameters Using the Server ManagerUse the following procedure to set the concurrency parameters using the Server Manager (srvrmgr).

To set concurrency parameters using Server Manager■ Execute the following Server Manager (srvrmgr) commands to increase the MaxTasks parameter

to 100 and the MaxMTServers parameter to 2:

change param maxtasks=100 for comp xmlpreportserver server XmlpServer

change param maxmtservers=2 for comp xmlpreportserver server XmlpServer

where:

XmlpServer is the name of the Siebel Server.


Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports



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84

Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data VolumesTo optimize Siebel Reports generation performance with large data volumes (greater than 10,000 records), it is recommended that you adjust the DSMaxFetchArraySize profile parameter.

This task is a step in “Roadmap for Optimizing the Performance of Siebel Reports” on page 80 and is applicable to connected mode.

CAUTION: It is recommended that you perform the following procedure on a separate named subsystem (for example, reportsdatascr) that is used only by the XMLP Report Server component. Otherwise, the Application Object Manager (AOM) on the client computer might fail when retrieving large amounts of data.

To optimize the generation performance of Siebel Reports for large data volumes, perform the following tasks:

1 Set the DSMaxFetchArraySize profile configuration parameter value to -1.

For instructions for setting this parameter, see 1064043.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

2 “Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports” on page 84.

3 “Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports” on page 86.

4 “Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel Reports” on page 87.

For more information about setting server profile parameters, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

NOTE: It is recommended that you not execute reports with large data volumes as an immediate report request. Instead, schedule these reports on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.


Setting the Server Request Processor Database Polling Interval for Siebel Reports


Enabling Scalable Mode for Siebel ReportsTo optimize Siebel Reports generation performance, you can enable the scalable mode parameter by configuring the Oracle BI Publisher xdo.cfg file in the jre\lib directory.

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance ofSiebel Reports for Large Data Volumes


This task is a step in “Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance of Siebel Reports for Large Data Volumes” on page 84 and is applicable to connected mode.

NOTE: It is recommended that you only enable scalable mode when viewing large reports online with a high concurrent report usage because this mode consumes more resources and might impact overall performance. If large reports are more common than not in your deployment, then set the scalable mode for all reports. Setting the scalable option prepares the FO processor to handle large data, longer processing times, time-outs, and so on. Although scalable mode is a relatively slower process, this mode makes sure there is no data loss even if the report is complex.

To enable scalable mode for Siebel Reports

1 Navigate to the ORACLE_HOME\xmlp\XMLP\Admin\Configuration directory.

2 Open the xdo.cfg file, and in the <Properties></Properties> tag, use the following syntax to set the Scalable Mode parameter to true (if it is not already set):

<property name="xslt-scalable">true</property>

NOTE: You can set scalable mode to either true or false.

3 Save the xdo.cfg file.

The following is a sample xdo.cfg file:

<config version="1.0.0" xmlns="http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/config/">



<properties>





<property name="system-temp-dir">D:\Temp</property>

<property name="xslt-scalable">true</property>

</properties>



<fonts>



<font family="Arial" style="normal" weight="normal">

<truetype path="/fonts/Arial.ttf" />

</font>

<font family="Default" style="normal" weight="normal">

<truetype path="/fonts/ALBANWTJ.ttf" />



86

</font>



<font-substitute name="MSGothic">

<truetype path="/fonts/msgothic.ttc" ttcno="0" />

</font-substitute>

</fonts>

<currency-formats>

<currency code="USD" mask="FM9G990D00"/>

<currency code="JPY" mask="FMFM9G990"/>

<currency code="ILS" mask="FM9G990D00"/>

<currency code="EUR" mask="FM9G990D00"/>

<currency code="TRK" mask="FM9G990D00"/>

</currency-formats>

</config>

Related TopicsConfiguring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports

Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel Reports

Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel ReportsTo benefit reports generation, configure a temporary directory for the Oracle BI Publisher Server. This temporary space allows you to build complex reports that you can clean up after the reports are generated.


To configure a temporary directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports

1 Navigate to the ORACLE_HOME\xmlp\XMLP\Admin\Configuration directory.

NOTE: The path for the Java installation folder varies depending on where you installed JRE.

2 Open the xdo.cfg file, and in the <Properties></Properties> tag, use the following syntax to set the temporary directory:

Administering Siebel Reports ■ Process of Optimizing the Generation Performance ofSiebel Reports for Large Data Volumes


<property name="system-temp-dir">d:\tmp</property>

NOTE: Make sure the location of the temporary directory has adequate space for the temporary files.

3 Save the xdo.cfg file.

Related TopicsEnabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports

Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel Reports

Increasing EAI HTTP Transport Sleep Time for Siebel ReportsYou can optimize report generation for complex reports by increasing the default sleep time for the EAI HTTP Transport business service. This is especially helpful when generating complex reports or against large data sets, that might take longer than a couple of minutes to generate.


To increase EAI HTTP transport sleep time for Siebel Reports, see 859193.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.

Related TopicsEnabling Scalable Mode for Siebel Reports

Configuring a Temporary Directory on the Oracle BI Publisher Server for Siebel Reports



88


6 Generating Reports

This chapter describes how to generate, view, monitor, and delete reports in Siebel Business Applications from a user perspective. It includes the following topics:

■ About Generating Reports on page 89

■ Scenario for Generating Reports on page 90

■ Generating Reports on page 92

■ Example of Generating an Opportunity Report on page 94

■ Monitoring the Status of Currently Generating Reports on page 94

■ Viewing Generated Reports on page 96

■ Deleting Reports on page 97

■ Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports on page 97

NOTE: This chapter is not applicable to scheduled reports.

About Generating ReportsYou use the Reports menu to generate reports. The Reports menu is a drop-down list that appears after clicking Reports on the Siebel application toolbar while you are in a Siebel view. The reports available to you for that view are based on standard Siebel responsibility-based visibility and access granted by others. For more information about visibility and data access control in Siebel Business Applications, see Siebel Security Guide. For information about granting access to reports, see “Sharing Report Layout Templates” on page 118. You also use the Reports menu to schedule reports in connected mode. For information about scheduling reports, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”

Figure 6 shows a sample Reports menu drop-down list, which displays the names of the reports available for the current view—such as Opportunity List and Pipeline Report By Rep—as well as a link to a user’s own previously generated reports (My BI Publisher Reports) and a link for scheduling reports.

Figure 6. Sample Reports Menu Drop-Down List


Generating Reports ■ Scenario for Generating Reports

90

Related Topics“Scenario for Generating Reports” on page 90

“Generating Reports” on page 92

“Example of Generating an Opportunity Report” on page 94


“Viewing Generated Reports” on page 96

“Deleting Reports” on page 97


Scenario for Generating ReportsThis topic gives a scenario of how you might use Siebel Reports in Siebel Business Applications. You might use Siebel Reports differently, depending on your business model.

This scenario describes one example of a sales representative generating reports. In this example, the representative chooses a report and the report output type, then the report generates and appears in the chosen format. While generating, the representative can monitor or view the status of the report and after successful completion, she can access the report immediately or a later time.

NOTE: The process for scheduling reports is similar, however, you choose Schedule Report from the Reports menu instead of selecting a report from the drop-down list. For information about scheduling reports, see Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”

Choosing a Report to GenerateA sales representative generates a series of account and opportunity reports periodically. These reports include: Account List, Pipeline Analysis, and Opportunity Marketing Events Summary. They provide a view of her current pipeline and other account-related activities. Today, the sales representative decides to generate the Account List report. She navigates to the Accounts view, and then clicks Reports. From the resulting Reports menu, she can choose a report. In this case, she chooses Account List in the BI Publisher (BIP) section of the Reports menu.

Choosing the Report Output Type and Monitoring StatusNext, the sales representative is prompted to choose a report output type. In this case, she chooses PDF, which automatically triggers the report to start generating data. After successful completion, the report appears in the chosen format, where she can either open or save the report. However, if the report takes a while to render, a message appears indicating that she must access the report from the My Reports view. From the My Reports view, she can monitor the status of the report and eventually access the report when the status shows Success.

Generating Reports ■ Scenario for Generating Reports


Accessing a Generated ReportAfter several weeks, the sales representative decides she wants to take another look at this Account List report. She accesses the report directly from the My Reports view by drilling down on the report that she wants to see. After she drills down on the Account List report, the File Download dialog box appears from which she can choose to open the report, save the report, or cancel the request. If she chooses to open the report, the report appears.

Related Topics“About Generating Reports” on page 89








Generating Reports ■ Generating Reports

92

Generating ReportsYou generate reports using the Siebel application views and the Reports menu. Figure 7 shows the tasks for generating Siebel Reports.


1 (Optional) Override the default report language and local by setting user preferences.

For information about overriding user preferences for report generation, see ““Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports” on page 97. For information about how languages and locale settings are implemented in Siebel Reports, see “About Working with Multilingual Reports” on page 75.

2 Navigate to the Siebel application view from which you want to generate a report, run a query to limit the number of returned records, and then click Reports.

TIP: It is strongly recommended that you perform a query before generating a report. Performing a query will limit the number of returned records for the report.

3 From the Reports menu, you choose to either generate a report or schedule a report.

Figure 7. Report Generation

Generating Reports ■ Generating Reports


4 If you choose to:

■ Generate a report from the BI Publisher listing, you designate a report output file type, and then click Submit. Additionally, if this is a parameterized report, you have the option to select more criteria before selecting the report output file type.

NOTE: Optionally, you can choose a different language and locale rather than accept the defaults.

■ Select My BI Publisher Reports, you can choose a report that you previously generated by drilling down on it from the My Reports view.

■ Schedule a report, you choose the report name, the output type, and other scheduling criteria from the Schedule a Report dialog box.

5 If you chose a report from the BI Publisher section or drilled down on a report from the My Reports view, from the File Download dialog box, you can choose to:

■ Open the report. The report downloads and appears in a browser window in the format you chose in Step 4.

The report output file types are: PDF, HTML, RTF, EXCEL, PPT, and MHTML. The PPT and MHTML output file types are available only in connected mode. For more information about the report output file types, see “Siebel Reports Output File Types” on page 22.

■ Save the report. You can save the report to a destination of your choosing, and then Open it for viewing immediately or at a later time.

If you chose to schedule a report, you can view or monitor the report job in the Scheduled Reports view.

NOTE: The actual report is stored in the Oracle BI Publisher repository.

6 You can continue to generate or schedule reports in other formats or click Close to end.

NOTE: If a report encounters errors while generating, a log file is created that the report developers or administrators can use to troubleshoot the problem. For more information about troubleshooting reports, see Chapter 12, “Troubleshooting Siebel Reports.”


“Scenario for Generating Reports” on page 90







“Scheduling Reports” on page 123


Generating Reports ■ Example of Generating an Opportunity Report

94

Example of Generating an Opportunity ReportThis topic gives one example of generating a Siebel report. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business needs.

In this example, assume you want to generate the By Sales Rep opportunity report in PDF format.

To generate the By Sales Rep Opportunity report

1 Navigate to the Opportunities screen, My Opportunities, and then the Opportunity List view.

TIP: The predefined query for this view shows only your current opportunities. If you want to see all of your opportunities, click Query, and then click Go.

2 Run a query to limit the number of records returned, and then click Reports.

3 From the BI Publisher section of the Reports menu, select the By Sales Rep report.

4 In the Select the Report Output Type dialog box, choose PDF, and then click Submit.

The By Sales Rep report Opportunity appears in a browser window, prompting you to open, save, or cancel the request.

5 Click Open.

The By Sales Rep Opportunity report appears in PDF format in a new browser window, from which you can choose to print, save, or cancel the report.








Monitoring the Status of Currently Generating ReportsThis topic describes how to monitor the status of currently generating reports.

NOTE: This topic is not applicable to scheduled reports. For information about monitoring scheduled reports, see “Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports” on page 127.

Generating Reports ■ Monitoring the Status of Currently Generating Reports


To monitor the status of a generated or currently generating report


2 Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then one of the following Reports views:

■ My Reports

■ My Team’s Reports

■ All Reports

3 In the appropriate reports list, look for the report that you want to monitor, and then review the Status field for that report.

The status indicators are: In Progress, Success, and Error as described in the following table.

TIP: The timestamp for a report is the submit time on the Siebel Server. If a user submits a report when the XMLP Report Server component is not enabled, the report appears with a blank status in the My Reports view. Then, when the XLMP Report Server component is enabled, the report immediately shows a status of In Progress. However, the status might not appear long enough for you to view it. This behavior is because typically the In Progress status disappears after only a few seconds and is replaced with a status of Success. The My Reports view allows you to monitor the progress of a currently generating report.

4 If the report shows a status of Success, you can drill down on the report to view it or save it.








Field Description

Owner User ID of the person who generated the report.

Status Indicates:

■ In Progress when a report is currently generating.

■ Success when a report generates successfully.

■ Error when a report encounters errors while generating. To troubleshoot, see Chapter 12, “Troubleshooting Siebel Reports.”


Generating Reports ■ Viewing Generated Reports

96

Viewing Generated ReportsAfter a report is generated, the report is saved in the Siebel File System. The report shows data as of the time the report was run. You can view reports that:

■ You have personally generated

■ Your team members have generated

■ All generated reports

Position-based visibility applies to generated reports, that is, a user’s position specifies which reports that user has access to.

For more information about positions and visibility in Siebel Business Applications, see Siebel Security Guide.

NOTE: This topic is not applicable to scheduled reports. For information about viewing scheduled reports, see “Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports” on page 127.

To view generated reports

1 Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then one of the following Reports views:

■ My Reports


■ All Reports

2 In the appropriate reports list, drill down on the report name that you want to view.

TIP: You can perform a query on any of the fields to find multiple reports.

3 In the File Download dialog box, do one of the following:

■ Click Open to view the file.

The report appears in a new browser window where you can print or save it.

■ Click Save to save the file.

The Save As dialog box appears where you can browse to find a location to save the file.

■ Click Cancel to cancel the request.








Generating Reports ■ Deleting Reports


Deleting ReportsThis topic describes how to delete unwanted reports. You can delete reports that you have personally generated or have been granted access to. After a report is deleted, it is no longer available in the Siebel File System.

NOTE: This topic is not applicable to scheduled reports. For information about deleting scheduled reports, see “Deleting Scheduled Reports” on page 129.

To delete a report

1 Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then to one of the following views:

■ My Reports


■ All Reports

2 In the appropriate reports list, select a report, and then click Delete.








Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for ReportsWhen generating a report, you can override the default report language and locale by setting user preferences. For example, assume the default language for your deployment is English U.S. (ENU), you can choose to generate the report in another language, such as Japanese (JPN) or German (DEU).

NOTE: If a default report language and locale are not specified in the report template, and a user has set the language and locale properties in their user preferences, the user preferences settings are used when the report is generated. For detailed information about how Siebel Reports determines the report language at run time, see “About Working with Multilingual Reports” on page 75.

To set language and locale user preferences for reports

1 Navigate to the User Preferences screen, then the Report Parameters view.


Generating Reports ■ Setting Language and Locale User Preferences for Reports

98

2 Change the Locale and Language properties to the language of your choice.

NOTE: Setting user preferences allows you to generate reports in the language and locale you specified as long as there is no default language or locale set in the report layout template.









7 Creating Reports

This chapter describes how to create reports. It is intended only for those who have report developer or administrator privileges.

NOTE: Most users do not typically have access to the administration views in the Siebel application, and as such, are not able to perform the tasks in this chapter. For information about reporting from the user perspective, see Chapter 6, “Generating Reports” and Chapter 8, “Scheduling Reports.”

This chapter includes the following topics:

■ Scenario for Creating Reports on page 99

■ About Integration Objects in Siebel Reports on page 100

■ About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business Objects on page 101

■ Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application on page 102

■ About Registering and Sharing Report Layout Templates on page 104

■ About Multiorganizational Report Templates on page 104

■ Scenario for Report Template Visibility Across Organizations on page 105

■ Should You Clone an Existing Report or Create Custom Reports? on page 105

■ Process of Creating Custom Reports on page 106

Scenario for Creating ReportsThis topic gives a scenario of how you might create reports in Siebel Business Applications. You might use reports differently, depending on your business model.

This scenario describes how a sales manager works with a report developer to create a custom opportunity report.

Sales Manager Generates Daily Sales ReportsA sales manager has a team of five sales representatives for the western region of a company. Every day he generates a series of reports, including Opportunity by Sales Rep, Account List, and Forecast Analysis Details to get the latest, current-account activities, and forecasted revenues for his sales representatives. These reports are view-based and available from the Reports menu in the Siebel application.


Creating Reports ■ About Integration Objects in Siebel Reports

100

Sales Manager Modifies an Existing Sales Report to Hand Off to the Report DeveloperThese reports give the sales manager a good understanding of the opportunities in the pipeline for each sales representative on his team, and allows him to monitor how they are progressing through the sales cycle. Towards the end of the quarter, he wants to know how much potential revenue his team might be able to close for the quarter. To learn that information, he wants to see a revenue breakdown for the team’s opportunities by probability and sales stage. He knows, however, that no such report is currently available, but realizes that the reports developer can create such a report for him. Because the sales manager wants the report to have a certain look, he starts creating a preliminary opportunity report himself using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word. When he is satisfied with the report layout template design, he hands off the template to the report developer.

Sales Manager Generates the New Sales ReportAfter the reports developer finalizes the custom report, the sales manager can choose the report from the Reports menu while in an Opportunity view. After choosing a report output type, the report appears in a browser window, from which the sales manager can open or save the report. However, if the report takes a while to render, a message appears indicating that he must access the report from the My Reports view. From this view, he can monitor the status of the report and eventually access the report when the status shows Success. For more information about report output file types, see “Siebel Reports Output File Types” on page 22. For more information about the My Reports view, see “About Using Siebel Reports” on page 22.

About Integration Objects in Siebel ReportsIntegration objects are metadata objects in Siebel Business Applications that provide the ability to obtain Siebel data in XML format. Typical Siebel integration involves transporting data from an external application to a Siebel deployment, using Siebel EAI and integration objects. In the context of Siebel EAI, data is transported in the form of an integration message. A message, in this context, typically consists of header data that identifies the message type and structure, and a body that contains one or more instances of data, for example, orders, accounts, or employee records.

Siebel integration objects are used to define which Siebel data is integrated. A typical business object contains several business components and fields. In most integrations, only a subset of this data is necessary for generating reports. Siebel integration object definitions specify the components and which fields to integrate, and facilitate the integration by exchanging integration data as XML files. For more information about:

■ Adding custom fields to existing integration objects for Siebel reports, see “Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 109.

■ Creating new integration objects for Siebel reports, see “Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports” on page 110.

NOTE: It is recommended that you request the assistance of a Siebel Tools developer to create new integration objects for Siebel Reports.

■ Viewing integration object definitions, see Using Siebel Tools.

Creating Reports ■ About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business Objects


■ Integration objects in general, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business ObjectsSiebel Reports provides the ability to generate reports across multiple, unrelated Siebel business objects without having to build the relationships into a single business object. To generate reports across multiple business objects, you create a report based on multiple integration objects.

NOTE: Siebel Business Applications ship with standard integration objects for creating reports. However, if there is no appropriate integration object available, you can either extend an existing integration object or create new integration objects. For information about extending integration objects, see “Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 109. For information about creating new integration objects, see “Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports” on page 110.

The following conditions and restrictions apply to reporting on multiple integration objects:

■ When specifying the integration objects in the report template in the Integration Objects list, nonprimary integration objects must have a valid search specification value. For more information about the report template in the Integration Objects list, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114. For more information about nonprimary integration objects, see “Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a Report” on page 117.

■ At run time, the query from the current view in the Siebel application is captured and passed to the primary integration object. However, for integration objects other than the primary (sometimes referred to as secondary integration objects) that are associated with a report, queries are not passed from the user interface. The secondary integration objects are passed according to the expression provided in the object’s search specification. For this reason, a valid search specification value is required to filter the data for nonprimary integration objects.

NOTE: Position-based visibility is automatically applied.

■ If no search specification value is entered for nonprimary integration objects, or the expression is incorrect, the integration object returns all data from the relevant business components. This omission returns potentially unwanted data, and also has a negative impact on performance.

NOTE: It is recommended that you test search specifications for multiple integration objects in a relevant application view to make sure the search specification is valid before applying the specification to a report in the applicable report template view. For information about adding multiple integration objects to reports, see “Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a Report” on page 117.


Creating Reports ■ Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application

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Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel ApplicationThis topic describes how Siebel Business Applications support Oracle BI Publisher report layout templates for report generation. After a report layout template is created using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, the report layout template and translation files must be uploaded to the Siebel application before you can generate reports. Figure 8 shows how the uploading of these files differs depending on the type of connection mode (connected or disconnected).

Figure 8. How the Layout Template and Translation Files Are Uploaded from Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word to Generate Reports

Creating Reports ■ Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application



1 From the report template views (My Templates and All Templates Across Organizations), the RTF report layout template and translation (XLIFF) files are uploaded using an upload business service to the Oracle BI Publisher repository as follows:

a In connected mode, the upload service occurs by way of the PublicReportServiceService Web service. For more information about connected mode, see “Siebel Reports Architecture and Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode” on page 28.

To upload the report to the Oracle BI Publisher repository, the following must occur:

❏ The report layout template must have been saved in RTF format using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word.

❏ You must click Upload Files in the report template views in the Siebel application. The RTF and XLIFF files are uploaded and an XDO report definition file is created when the reports are generating.

❏ The report layout template (RTF) and language (XLIFF) files are attached to the report during the registration of the report layout template.

NOTE: The Generate XLIFF button is disabled (grayed out) in connected mode.

❏ Before moving to the Oracle BI Publisher repository, the layout template (RTF) and XLIFF files are attached to the report during the registration of the layout template.

b In disconnected mode, the upload service is not applicable. All files (RTF, XLIFF, and XSL) are local to the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine when generating reports after. For more information about generating reports in disconnected mode, see “Siebel Reports Architecture and Workflow for Generating Reports in Disconnected Mode” on page 30.

For disconnected mode, you must click Generate XLIFF to create XSL. (Whereas in connected mode, XSL is generated at run time by the Oracle BI Publisher Server.)

NOTE: The Upload Files button is disabled (grayed out) in disconnected mode.

2 For connected mode, the RTF and XLIFF files are stored in the Oracle BI Publisher repository by way of the PublicReportServiceService Web service.

3 In disconnected mode, the report templates and XLIFF files are stored in the Siebel client installation folder (that is, SIEBEL_ROOT_CLIENT\xmlp\templates and SIEBEL_ROOT_CLIENT\xmlp\XLIFF, respectively).

For more information about uploading from Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.


Creating Reports ■ About Registering and Sharing Report Layout Templates

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About Registering and Sharing Report Layout Templates Siebel Business Applications allow users to register and share report layout templates with others. Access to report templates is controlled using position-based visibility.

NOTE: Standard Siebel responsibilities control which reports views users can access. If you want to prevent users from creating their own report templates and executing them from the Siebel application, then do not grant access to the relevant template views. For example, you might want to limit access to the Reports - Standard Templates view only to administrators.

The two views you use for report template registration are:

■ Reports - Standard Templates. This view contains the standard (preconfigured) report templates provided with the Siebel application and any custom templates that you want to be accessible enterprise-wide (that is, not based on position-based visibility). These templates are visible within the Siebel application. The templates are based on the standard association of Siebel views; that is, users can execute reports if they have access to the relevant views.

CAUTION: It is strongly recommended that you limit access to standard templates only to administrators. Otherwise, you run the risk of users inadvertently modifying the standard report templates (or other templates that are visible to all users in the enterprise).

■ Reports - Custom Templates. This view contains report templates that are filtered by positions. Users with visibility to the My Templates view can create their own custom report templates. Only these users can see or execute the custom report templates in the Siebel application. However, they can share templates if other users have visibility to the relevant application views. The All Templates Across Organizations view allows managers and administrators to see the report templates of their subordinates. For more information about shared report layout templates, see “Sharing Report Layout Templates” on page 118.

About Multiorganizational Report TemplatesThe basic logic for how an organization-specific report template appears in the Reports menu is as follows:

■ When a user logs into the Siebel application, that user sees organization-specific reports where the Active Position Organization equals the organization or organizations on a custom template.

■ Users with more than one organization can change their Primary Active Position Organization during a single session. After making this change, the reports that user can view is different from the original access.

Creating Reports ■ Scenario for Report Template Visibility Across Organizations


Scenario for Report Template Visibility Across OrganizationsThis topic gives one example of how report template visibility across organizations might be used. You might use template visibility differently, depending on your business model.

A sales representative and his manager have visibility to the same Siebel view. However, the reports they can see differ depending on their organization settings. Let us consider that the user is the Holland organization, and his manager is in the Benelux organization. Benelux is the parent organization of both the Holland and Belgium organizations.

When accessing the reports menu:

■ Both the sales representative and his manager can see any report that is defined in the Standard Templates view and that is associated to the view.

■ The sales representative sees:

■ Custom templates he has created in the My Templates View. These templates have only a default organization.

■ Custom templates that are explicitly associated to the Holland organization, given his current active position organization is Holland.

■ The manager sees:

■ Custom templates he has created in the My Template View or templates his subordinates have created that appear in the My Teams view. These templates have only a default organization.

■ Custom templates that are explicitly associated to the Benelux organization, given his current active position organization is Benelux.

■ Custom templates created by both Holland and Belgium organizations because the manager can see report templates created by his subordinates regardless of whether the subordinate is in a different organization.

Should You Clone an Existing Report or Create Custom Reports?The following are some situations in which you might want to clone an existing report:

■ When you add new fields to a report layout template

■ When differences between your new report and an existing report are minor

■ When you want multiple versions of the same report showing slightly different data to different categories of users

When your requirements are not satisfied by an existing report and there are significant differences between the report that you want and an existing report, create a custom report. The following are some situations in which you must create a custom report:

■ When the report requires a new integration object


Creating Reports ■ Process of Creating Custom Reports

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■ When the report requires a new integration component for an existing integration object. For example, you create a new report for a view that belongs to the same business object.

Process of Creating Custom ReportsSiebel Business Applications allow you to create new reports based on preconfigured report layout templates, or you can create custom reports and report layout templates.

NOTE: For suggestions as to when to modify versus create a report layout template, see “Should You Clone an Existing Report or Create Custom Reports?” on page 105.

You create custom reports in three locations:

■ In Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop) by modifying the existing or creating new report layout templates.

■ In the Siebel clients by using the Siebel Reports administration views to upload and register report layout templates, associate reports with Siebel application views, and other administrative tasks.

■ (Optional) In Siebel Tools by either extending an existing integration object or creating new integration object definitions that execute at run time.

NOTE: Siebel Business Applications ship with standard integration objects. You create new integration objects only when existing integration objects do not suffice.



Figure 9 shows the process of creating custom reports. The roadmap is applicable to both connected and disconnected modes. For more information about the connection modes in relation to Siebel Reports, see Chapter 3, “Siebel Reports Development Environment.”

Figure 9 illustrates the high-level tasks you perform when creating custom reports:

1 (Optional) “Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 109

2 (Optional) “Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports” on page 110

NOTE: Create new integration objects only when no appropriate integration object exists.

Figure 9. Process of Creating Reports



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3 “Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports” on page 112

Using the Sample Data File Generation view in the Siebel client, in this step the following tasks are performed:

a Select an integration object for the report.

b Generate the sample XML data file, and then save it.

NOTE: The XML data file is typically saved to the XMLP\DATA directory in the Siebel File System. You can however, save the XML to another location. For more information about the Siebel Reports directory structure, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

4 “Creating Report Layout Templates Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word” on page 113

In this step, you either modify an existing report layout template or create a new one, and then do the following:

a Assign the Siebel fields in the report layout template.

b Save the report layout template to RTF.

c Periodically preview the report layout template to verify it appears as designed.

5 “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114

Using the template views (Reports - Custom Templates or Reports - Standard Templates), in this step do the following:

a Create a new report.

b Select a report layout template.

c Assign an integration object.

d Select an output file type.

e (Optional) Select a default language and locale, report access control, and so on.

6 (Optional) “Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a Report” on page 117

In this step, you add new integration objects to a report, and the generate sample XML.

7 (Optional) “Sharing Report Layout Templates” on page 118

In this step, you grant report access to others by adding positions.

8 (Optional) “Defining Report Layout Templates for Selected Records” on page 119

In this step, you click the Selected Records field to configure a report template to display only the currently selected records in a Siebel application view when a report is generated.

9 “Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application Views” on page 120

10 (Optional) “Changing the Report Sequence Order in the Reports Menu” on page 120

Using the Association View, in this step you can define the way reports are ordered or prevent them from appearing in the Reports menu.



Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel ReportsSiebel Business Applications ship with preconfigured reports and each of these reports references an integration object that serves as the report schema. This topic describes how to extend an existing integration object to add new fields for a report.

NOTE: It is recommended that you seek the assistance of a Siebel Tools configurator for integration object modification. It is also recommended that you consider this option before creating new integration objects for your reports. For information about creating new integration objects for Siebel reports, see “Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports” on page 110.

This task is an optional step in “Process of Creating Custom Reports” on page 106.

To extend an integration object to add a new field

1 In the Siebel client, identify the integration object by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the relevant report template view (either the Reports - Custom Templates view or Reports - Standard Templates view).

b Select the report for which you want to add a new field.

c In the Primary Integration Object Name column, identify and make note of the integration object for this report.

NOTE: Integration objects for reports begin with BIP.

2 Add a new field to the integration object by doing the following:


b In the Object Explorer, select and expand Integration Object.

TIP: Integration objects do not appear in the Object Explorer by default. Click the View menu, Options, and then the Object Explorer tab to add the integration objects to the Object Explorer view.

c Query for the integration object associated with the report.

d Expand the Integration Component and Integration Component Field object types to view the existing fields associated with this integration component.

e Create a new integration component field record and copy the Name, Data Type, and Length properties from the underlying business component field whose data you want to display in the report.

f Set the XML-related properties to construct the XML file when data is extracted.

NOTE: You must follow the convention for naming XML tags, that is, remove all spaces and special characters. However, it is not a requirement that you use the ss_ prefix convention.

3 Deploy the modified integration object by doing the following:

a While still in Siebel Tools, navigate to the Integration Objects List.



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b Right-click the integration object you want to deploy, and then select Deploy to Runtime Database.

NOTE: This action overrides the object definition in the SRF file.

c In the Siebel client, Navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Deployed Integration Objects view.

d Query for the integration object to verify it was deployed.

e Navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, Inbound Web Services view.

f Click Clear Cache to update the run-time database.

The extended integration object is now available for generating a new sample data file.

For information about generating sample data files, see “Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports” on page 112. For more information about working with and deploying integration objects, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel ReportsSiebel Business Applications ship with preconfigured integration objects that you can use for customizing your reports. However, you might want to create new integration objects, given no applicable integration objects are available in the Siebel Repository. Using Siebel Tools, you can create new integration objects. For more information about the role of integration objects in Siebel Reports, see “About Integration Objects in Siebel Reports” on page 100.

NOTE: It is strongly recommended you seek the assistance of a Siebel Tools developer for integration object creation. It is also recommended that you consider extending an existing integration object to add new fields before creating new integration objects for your reports. For information about extending existing integration objects, see “Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 109.


After new integration objects are created and deployed, you can use the integration objects to register a report layout template. For more information about registering a report layout template, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

NOTE: When creating custom integration objects for Siebel Reports, make sure that the fields used for dynamic queries in the applet of the master business component are also contained in the integration component. Dynamic queries are specific, customized queries that you create.

To create a new integration object for Siebel Reports

1 Log in to Siebel Tools.



2 Use the Integration Object Builder wizard to create the new integration object, making sure to name the new object definition with the prefix, BIP.

By default, you must add the BIP prefix so that integration objects appear in the Sample Data File Generation view.

NOTE: It is recommended that if you use this wizard for creating integration objects, that you deactivate only the required business component fields for the report. By default, the wizard automatically adds all business component fields in the integration component. A large amount of fields in an integration component might affect performance.

Typically, you add to an integration component only the fields that are required in the report. You must also add to the integration component fields in the user interface that are required for querying and filtering the data before executing the report.

3 Deploy the integration object to the run-time database by doing the following:

a In the Object Explorer in Siebel Tools, select Integration Object.

b In the Integration Object list, right-click the integration object you want to deploy, and then select Deploy to Runtime Database.

c In the Siebel client, navigate to the Administration - Web Services screen, then the Inbound Web Services view.

d Click Clear Cache to invalidate the integration object and Web services definitions in the run-time database.

4 (Optional) Generate a new sample data file for the integration object for use when designing your report templates.

This newly created integration object is now available in the Sample Data File Generation view for creating custom reports. For information about generating sample data files, see “Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports” on page 112. For more information about integration objects and deploying an integration object without compiling an SRF, see Integration Platform Technologies: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.



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Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel ReportsThis topic describes how to generate and save XML files for use in a report. You use the Sample Data File Generation view in the Siebel application to choose an integration object that seeds the data for a new report. Integration objects are metadata objects in Siebel Business Applications that provide the ability to obtain Siebel application data in XML format. XML data is used to create the report layout templates in RTF format and to generate reports at run time. When an XML data file generates successfully, it is used by the Siebel XMLP Report Server component in connected mode, and by the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine in disconnected mode to merge with the report layout template to construct the report. The produced document is then stored in the Siebel File System.

NOTE: It is recommended that you consider extending an existing integration object to add new fields before creating new integration objects for your reports. If, however, there is no existing integration object that fits your requirements, you can create new integration objects using Siebel Tools. For information about extending existing integration objects, see “Extending Integration Objects to Add New Fields for Siebel Reports” on page 109. For information about creating new integration objects for reports, see “Creating New Integration Objects for Siebel Reports” on page 110.

This task is a step in “Process of Creating Custom Reports” on page 106.

To generate a sample XML data file for a report

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Sample Data File Generation view.

2 In the Sample Data File Generation list, select the integration object for which you want to generate a data file, click Generate Sample XML, and then save the file to the SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\DATA directory.

An XML file is generated with the name of the integration object followed by .xml. For example, if the integration object name is BIPLiteratureFulfillment, the file name for the XML file is BIPLiteratureFulfillment.xml.

NOTE: When you generate sample XML data, only a subset of the I/O data is exported into the XML file. If some fields (such as multivalue fields) are not populated, these fields do not appear when loaded into Microsoft Word using Oracle BI Publisher Add-In for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop). If this occurs, export the schema using Siebel Tools (from the Tools menu, select Integration Object, and then Generate Schema). Rename the file with an .xsd extension, and then load this schema into Microsoft Word using the Oracle BI Publisher menu. All fields are now available for use in the template. For more information about XML schema generation, see Transports and Interfaces: Siebel Enterprise Application Integration.

You can now create report layout templates based on this XML data. For information about creating report layout templates, see “Creating Report Layout Templates Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word” on page 113.



Creating Report Layout Templates Using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft WordThis topic describes how to create report layout templates for reports using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word.


NOTE: It is recommended that you use Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word to create your custom RTF-formatted report layout templates. If you use other RTF-formatted templates for creating your reports, you must manually code the XSL statements and references to the data fields. Coding XSL is out of scope for this documentation.

CAUTION: Oracle BI Publisher does not support report names containing special characters.

The following are some situations in which you must create a new report layout template:

■ When a layout template requires that you add new fields or design a different layout

■ When a layout template requires association with a different integration component for the specified integration object

■ When a layout template requires association with a different or multiple integration objects

The following procedure assumes you have installed Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word (also known as Oracle BI Publisher Desktop). This procedure provides only quick reference information for creating report layout templates. For detailed information, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher User’s Guide, which is available from the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop program menu (click Start, Programs, Oracle BI Publisher Desktop, and then BI Publisher Users Guide).

To create a report layout template using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word

1 Start Microsoft Word.

2 From the application-level menu in Microsoft Word, select Oracle BI Publisher, Data, and then Load Sample XML Data.

3 In the Select XML Data window, select the XML data file.

NOTE: Typically, the XML data files reside in the XMLP\DATA directory on which the Siebel Server is running.

4 Define the format of the report and the Siebel fields that you want to appear in the report, using the Template Wizard as follows:

a From the Microsoft Word toolbar, choose Insert, Table/Form, and then Wizard.

b In the Template Wizard, choose the report format, and then click Next.

You can choose one of the following: Table, Form, or Free Form.

c (Optional) Change the XML data grouping, and then click Next.



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d Select the Siebel fields that you want to appear in your report, and then click Next.

e If the data is to appear in Table format, decide the grouping and sorting, and then click Next.

f Label the Siebel fields as you want them to appear in the new report, and then click Finish.

g Save the report layout template in RTF format.

The following files are created and stored in the Siebel File System for retrieval by the Siebel application as follows:

❏ The report layout template (RTF) and XLIFF files in connected mode

❏ The XSL and XLIFF files in disconnected mode

5 Periodically preview the report layout template by doing the following:

a In Microsoft Word, open the RTF template file (if not already open).

NOTE: Typically, the template files are stored in SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\TEMPLATES.

b From the application-level menu, select Oracle BI Publisher, Preview Template, and then choose the output file format.

The report appears in the chosen format with the data substituted.

c (Optional) Continue to preview different output file formats.

d Save the file in RTF format.

If you are currently creating a report for which you want to use this report layout template, you must register the report layout template in the Siebel application, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

NOTE: Additional report template creation information is provided in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Documentation Library 10.1.3.4 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN). Not all features mentioned in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher documentation are currently supported in Siebel Reports; only the features documented in this guide.

Registering Report Layout TemplatesYou must register report layout templates so that users have access to reports using the Reports menu in the Siebel application. To generate reports, report layout template files created using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word, must be uploaded. How these files are uploaded differs depending on the connection mode; that is, whether the Siebel application is in connected or disconnected mode. This topic describes how to upload and register layout templates from the Siebel application for both connection modes.

NOTE: Each report can have only one report layout template, but you can register the same report layout template for many reports.




In connected mode, the Oracle BI Publisher Server requires the RTF and XLIFF files in its folder structure. If the files are not available, the report is not generated. When the upload is successful, a new folder structure is created in the Oracle BI Publisher repository. This folder has the same name as the report selected and contains the report layout template (RTF), XLIFF, and .xdo files. The Oracle BI Publisher Server creates the XSL file during run time.

In disconnected mode, the RTF, XLIFF, and XSL files must be made available (by uploading the files to the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine) before the reports are generated. For more information about uploading report layout templates to the Siebel application, see “Workflow for Uploading Report Layout Templates to a Siebel Application” on page 102.

NOTE: If you are uploading new or modified report layout templates in a multiple Siebel Server environment, see also “Uploading New or Modified Report Layout Templates for Multiple Siebel Server Environments” on page 70. If you are uploading multilingual reports, see also “Example of Uploading Multilingual Reports to the Siebel Application” on page 78.

To register a layout template for a report

1 Make sure the Oracle BI Publisher Server is running.

a Click Start, Programs, and then Oracle - BIPHomeX.

b Choose Start BI Publisher.

A command window appears.

NOTE: You must leave this command window open while the Oracle BI Publisher Server is running.

2 In the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then one of the following template views:



3 In the appropriate templates list, click New.

4 Register the report layout template for the report by doing the following:

a Type a report name and optionally a description.

b Select a report layout template.

c Select an output type.

d (Optional) Select an existing XLIFF file.

e (Optional) Assign a position or positions in the Report Access field.

NOTE: The Report Access field is available only in the Reports - Custom Templates view to allow for sharing of generated reports.



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f Fill in the rest of the fields.

The fields are described in the following table.

Field Description

Start Date1

1. The start and end dates determine the period that a report is available for use. If you choose a start date, you must also choose an end date. Conversely, if you choose an end date, you must also choose a start date.

A start date and time for the report.

For preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications, there is no start date. For reports that you create, the Start Date field automatically populates with the current date and time when the report layout template was registered. However, you can change these values any time.

End Date1 An end date for the report. After the end date passes, the report no longer appears in the Reports menu. By default, this field is NULL.

Primary Integration Object Name

The primary integration object for the report. This field is read-only and is automatically populated when you select an integration object in the report template Integration Objects subview.

Template The RTF report layout template that is used to generate the report. Templates are stored in the following folder:

SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP\TEMPLATES

Output Type The format of the generated report, which can be one of the following: PDF, HTML, RTF, XLS, PPT, MHTML, or All.

NOTE: If a report is saved with only one report output type, the Report Output Type dialog box does not appear when the user selects that report in the Reports menu. Instead, the report begins generating in the assigned format. Typically, the output type is set to All. PPT is applicable only in connected mode.

Default Language The default language for the template.

Default Locale The default locale for the template.

XLIFF XLIFF files contain the strings of the report column, field labels, and captions that are used for translation purposes.

NOTE: If you change a report layout template and upload the template to a Siebel client, you must regenerate the report.

Report Access Controls access to generated reports using positions.

NOTE: The Report Access field is available only in the Reports - Custom Templates view to allow for sharing of generated reports.

Selected Records Indicates that only the currently selected records in a Siebel application view are included in the report at run time. For more information about how to use the selected records feature, see “Defining Report Layout Templates for Selected Records” on page 119.



5 Associate a primary integration object with the report by doing the following:

a In the relevant Integration Objects subview, click New.

b Fill in the fields in the new record.

The fields are described in the following table.

c (Optional) Click Generate Sample XML for use when designing reports.

6 (Optional) If you want to generate reports for multiple business objects, perform the tasks as described in “Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a Report” on page 117.

7 (Optional) Assign a language or languages to the report layout template.

For information about assigning languages to report layout templates, see “Adding and Deleting Languages from Report Templates” on page 79.

You must now associate the registered report with the views in which you want the report to be available. For more information on associating reports, see “Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application Views” on page 120.

Adding Multiple Integration Objects to a ReportThis topic describes how to create a Siebel report that reports across multiple, unrelated Siebel business objects. For more information about reporting across multiple business objects, see “About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business Objects” on page 101.


Field Description

Integration Object Name

The integration object that you want to associate with the report layout template.

Search Specification

A query data filter. When you create a nonprimary integration object for a report, you must enter a search specification value. For example, the value of the search specification might be the following expression:

[Status] = 'Closed'

NOTE: This field is not required for primary integration objects, because queries are taken from the Siebel application views.

For more information about multiple integration objects with regard to Siebel Reports, see “About Reporting Across Multiple Siebel Business Objects” on page 101.

Primary Indicates that this integration object is the primary integration object. The Primary Integration Object Name field in the template views are automatically populated when you select a primary integration object.

NOTE: The first integration object that you associate with a report is automatically indicated as the primary integration object.



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The following procedure assumes that you have registered or are in the process of registering a report layout template, as described in “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

To add multiple integration objects to a report

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, and then one of the following views:


■ Reports - Standard Template

2 In the relevant report template view, select a report (if not already selected).

3 In the Integration Objects subview, click New.

NOTE: Custom integration objects previously created appear as well as the preconfigured integration objects that ship with the Siebel application. One of the integration objects is indicated as primary. This Primary field is automatically indicated when associating an integration object with a report for the first time.

4 Fill in the fields in the new record.

The fields are described in Step 5 in “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

5 Repeat Step 3 and Step 4 of this procedure for each additional integration object that you want to add.

6 Click Generate Sample XML.

One XML data file is generated for the multiple integration objects.

NOTE: This step is similar to what occurs in “Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports” on page 112, but in the Sample Data File Generation view, you can generate XML for only one integration object.

If you are currently creating a report, you must now associate the registered report with a Siebel application view. See “Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application Views” on page 120.

Sharing Report Layout TemplatesSiebel Business Applications allow you to share report layout templates. If a report template is registered in the Siebel application, you can define the visibility of the report template for use by others using the Templates views.


The Report Access field on the report record controls access to the report templates that are executable. After a user is granted access to the report template, the template appears in the Reports menu when a user navigates to the relevant view.



To share a report layout template

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Reports - Custom Templates view.

2 Perform one of the following:

■ Query for an existing report.

■ Click New to register a new report.

For information about registering a new report, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

3 Grant access to the report by doing the following:

a Click the Report Access field to display the Position dialog box.

b In the Position dialog box, select the positions that you want to grant access to the report, and then click Add.

NOTE: You can select multiple positions by using the CTRL key.

You can define multiorganizational templates by adding a specific organization or organizations to the report template in the organizations multi-value group (MVG). You select multiple records using the shift or control keys.

NOTE: By default, custom templates belong to the default organization. However, for standard templates, no default organization is defined. You must manually define visibility for standard templates.

Defining Report Layout Templates for Selected RecordsYou can configure a report template to display only the currently selected records in a Siebel application view when a report is generated. When you implement the selected records feature, any query a user might perform is rendered irrelevant. The report is generated, using the selected records. This feature applies to any level of hierarchy visible in the view; that is, this feature is applicable to parent-child views and parent-child-grandchild views.

NOTE: If you encounter problems using this feature, you might need to perform additional Siebel Tools configuration. For instructions, see 1180903.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.


To define a report layout template for a selected record

1 In the Siebel application, navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then one of the following template views:



2 In the appropriate templates list, select the report for which you want to enable the single or multiselect feature, and then click the Selected Records field.



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Associating Registered Reports with Siebel Application ViewsAfter registering a report, you associate the report with one or more Siebel application views. The context-sensitive report appears in the Reports menu only in the views that are associated with the report.


To associate a registered report with a Siebel application view

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the View Association view.

2 In the Views list, select a view with which you want to associate a report.

3 In the Reports List subview, click Add.

4 In the Views dialog box, do the following:

a Choose a report name and optionally a description.

b (Optional) Assign a sequence number.

c Click OK.

The report is now available in the Reports menu when a user is in a view with which the report is associated and the user has visibility to that view.

5 Test the newly created report by generating it.

For information about generating reports, see Chapter 6, “Generating Reports.”

NOTE: If a report encounters errors while generating, a log file is created that report developers and administrators can use to troubleshoot the problem. For more information about troubleshooting reports, see Chapter 12, “Troubleshooting Siebel Reports.”

Changing the Report Sequence Order in the Reports MenuThis task is an optional step in “Process of Creating Custom Reports” on page 106.

You can define the way reports are ordered or even hide a report from appearing in the Reports menu by setting the Sequence field on the report record. You can define this field when creating a report (or change the sequence later) to a numeric value that determines the sort order of the reports. The sort order is calculated with the lowest value appearing higher in the list of reports. The Siebel application calculates the order. The calculation is based on the following logic:

■ The sequence value can be any positive integer including 0 (zero) or NULL.

■ When the sequence value is set to 0 (zero), the report does not appear in the Reports menu.

■ If the field value is blank or NULL, the report is generated using the standard sort order (that is, according to the report name). This setting is the default.



■ Reports with a positive integer sequence value are sorted by the sequence value and ordered before any report with a NULL sequence value.

■ If two or more records have the same sequence value, the records are sorted by name.

TIP: Because the Sequence field is a standard, numeric-business component field, you can add your own business logic for how reports appear in the application. For more information about configuring business components, see Configuring Siebel Business Applications.

To change the report sequence order in the Reports menu

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the View Association view.

2 Select the view for which you want to define the report order.

3 In the Report List, use the sequence field to assign a sequence to some or all of the reports.



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8 Scheduling Reports

This chapter describes how to schedule reports in Siebel Business Applications from a user perspective. It includes the following topics:

■ About Scheduled Reports on page 123

■ Scheduling Reports on page 124

■ Example of Scheduling an Opportunity Report on page 126

■ Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports on page 127

■ Suspending and Resuming Scheduled Reports on page 128

■ Deleting Scheduled Reports on page 129

About Scheduled ReportsYou schedule reports using the Schedule Report menu item from the Reports menu. This menu item opens a dialog box from which you select a report to schedule and the criteria for generating the report (such as when to generate the report, how often you want the report to generate, and whether the report generates with a recurring frequency). After a report job is scheduled, you can monitor and view the report using the Scheduled Reports view.

The Scheduled Reports view is an Oracle BI Publisher Web page that is embedded in the Siebel application user interface. The Siebel application and Oracle BI Publisher exchange data by way of a Web service to produce the report. For more information about using the Schedule Reports view, see “Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports” on page 127.

NOTE: Report scheduling requires the Siebel Web Client in connected mode. For more information about report scheduling in connected mode, see “Workflow for Generating Reports in Connected Mode” on page 28.

Related Topics“Scheduling Reports” on page 124

“Example of Scheduling an Opportunity Report” on page 126

“Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports” on page 127


“Deleting Scheduled Reports” on page 129


Scheduling Reports ■ Scheduling Reports

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Scheduling ReportsYou schedule reports by selecting the Schedule Report menu item from the Reports menu while in a Siebel application view. If you have been granted scheduling privileges, you can schedule reports using various criteria. Report scheduling is available only in connected mode. For more information about the connection modes in relation to Siebel Reports, see “About the Siebel Reports Architecture” on page 27.

CAUTION: If you are unable to schedule reports, you might not have the appropriate access controls assigned. Ask your administrator to grant you the XMLP_SCHEDULER responsibility.

NOTE: You cannot schedule parameterized reports. For information about parameterized reports, see Chapter 11, “Parameterized Reports.”

To schedule a report

1 Navigate to the Siebel application view from which you want to schedule a report, and click Reports.

2 From the Reports menu, select Schedule Report.

A scheduling dialog box appears.

Scheduling Reports ■ Scheduling Reports


3 Enter the schedule criteria for the report, and then click Schedule.

Some fields are described in the following table.

Field Description

Report Name The report you want to schedule.

Job Name Enter a name for the job you are scheduling.

NOTE: Any descriptive text for the job name is acceptable, the job name does not have to be unique. However, for search purposes, you might want to adopt a naming convention.

Output Type The output file format for the report. For information about the available output file types, see “Siebel Reports Output File Types” on page 22.

Report Locale The locale for the report.

Report Language The language for the report.

Frequency The recurrence of the report. Choices are: Run Immediately, Run Once, Run Daily/Weekly, or Run Monthly.

If you choose to run the report:

■ Immediately, the job is triggered as soon as you click Schedule.

■ Only one time, you must enter the exact date and time to run the report.

■ Daily or weekly, you must enter the day (or days) of the week, specify the run time for the selected day (or days), and a start and end date.

■ Monthly, you must enter the month (or months), the day (or range of days) to run, and a start and end date.

See also Run Time below.

Public If checked, the output of the job is viewable by all users. By default, this field is not checked.

Save Data If checked, the XML data of the job is saved and is viewable in the Scheduled Reports view. By default, this field is checked.

Save Output If checked, the output of the job is saved and is viewable in the Scheduled Reports view. By default, this field is checked.

Run Date The date and time the report generates when you choose the run once frequency.

Run Time The time the report generates when you choose a daily/weekly or monthly frequency.

NOTE: For a run once frequency, time is converted to UTC (Coordinated Universal Time). For daily, weekly, or monthly frequencies, the date, time, and time zone are based on the Oracle BI Publisher Server.


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A message appears indicating the report (with Job ID) has been scheduled.

4 (Optional) Schedule another report with different criteria.

5 Click Close to exit the scheduling dialog box.

NOTE: The scheduling dialog box remains open until you close it.

6 To view or monitor the report, do the following:

a Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Scheduled Reports view.

NOTE: The Scheduled Reports view is an embedded Web page from the Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise application.

b Drill down on the Job Name for more information, and then click Back if you want to view additional scheduled reports.

Related Topics“About Scheduled Reports” on page 123





Example of Scheduling an Opportunity ReportThis topic gives one example of scheduling a Siebel report. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business needs. For more information about report scheduling, see “Scheduling Reports” on page 124.

In this example, assume you want the By Sales Rep opportunity report to generate in HTML format each Tuesday and Thursday at 10:15 a.m. for a two week period from August 2-15, 2009.

Start Date andEnd Date

If a date is set in either of these fields, then it restricts the dates for which scheduling is active. By default, the start date is the date you schedule the report and the end date is NULL. A start and end date are required for the daily/weekly and monthly frequencies.

Day(s) The day (or days) of the week or date range you want the report to generate when you choose a daily/weekly frequency.

Month(s) The month (or months) you want the report to generate when you choose a monthly frequency.

Date(s) The day (or days) of the week or date range you want the report to generate when you choose a monthly frequency.

Field Description

Scheduling Reports ■ Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports


To schedule the By Sales Rep Opportunity report

1 Navigate to the Opportunities screen, My Opportunities, and then the Opportunity List view.

2 Run a query to limit the number of records returned, and then click Reports.

3 From the Reports menu, select Schedule Report.

4 In the Schedule a Report dialog box, enter the following schedule criteria for the report, and then click Schedule:

■ Report Name is By Sales Rep Opportunity

■ Job Name is <Enter a job name>

■ Output Type is HTML

■ Time is Run Daily/Weekly

■ Day of the Week is Tuesday and Thursday

■ Start Date is 8/2/2009

■ End Date is 8/15/2009

■ Run Time is 10:15:00 AM

For descriptions of these and other fields in this dialog box, see “Scheduling Reports” on page 124.

5 (Optional) Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Scheduled Reports view to monitor the scheduled report.

For information about monitoring and viewing your scheduled reports, see “Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled Reports” on page 127.






Monitoring and Viewing Scheduled ReportsUsing the Scheduled Reports view, you can view scheduled jobs and completed job history for reports that you have generated or have been given access to. In this view, you can also suspend, resume, or delete scheduled reports. For more information, see “Suspending and Resuming Scheduled Reports” on page 128 and “Deleting Scheduled Reports” on page 129.


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To monitor the status of a scheduled report

1 Navigate to the BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Scheduled Reports view.


2 Monitor the status in Oracle BI Publisher by doing one of the following:

■ Click the Schedules tab to view the report jobs you have scheduled and their status. Drill down on a report to view detailed information about the report job.

■ Click the History tab to view a history of your report jobs.






Suspending and Resuming Scheduled ReportsUsing the Scheduled Reports view, you can suspend and resume scheduled reports you have previously generated or have been granted access to.

To suspend or resume a scheduled report



2 Click the Schedules tab.

3 Click the checkbox next to the applicable report, and then click Suspend or Resume.






Scheduling Reports ■ Deleting Scheduled Reports


Deleting Scheduled ReportsThis topic describes how to delete reports that you have personally scheduled. You use the Scheduled Reports view to delete the scheduled reports that you no longer want. For more information about the Scheduled Reports view, see “About Scheduled Reports” on page 123.

To delete scheduled reports


2 Click the checkbox next to the report you want to delete, and then click Delete.

NOTE: This step removes the report from the report list; it does not remove the report from the Oracle BI Publisher repository. Only administrators can purge Siebel reports from the Oracle BI Publisher repository. For more information about purging scheduled reports, see “Purging Scheduled Reports from the Oracle BI Publisher Server” on page 72.







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9 Using Master-Detail Reports

This chapter describes master-detail reports as well as how to create a master-detail layout template. It includes the following topics:

■ About Master-Detail Reports

■ Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template

■ Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft Word

About Master-Detail ReportsThis topic describes master-detail reports in Siebel Business Applications. A master-detail report displays a list of detail business component records for each record in a master business component, to which the master and detail business components have a one-to-many relationship. It is similar to a master-detail view in a Siebel application, in that detail records are displayed for each master record. Unlike a master-detail view, however, a master-detail report lists detail records for all master records at the same time, rather than for one master record at a time.

Figure 10 shows an example of a Service Request Activity - All report in Siebel Service, which is a master-detail report.

In this example, the master-detail reports provide master information for each service request, followed by a list of activities for that service request. Each service request begins on its own page. For further analysis of the Service Request Activity - All master-detail report, see “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132.

Figure 10. Example of a Master-Detail Service Request Activity (All) Report


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A master-detail report can also have multiple detail elements. In this case, a list of detail records appears for several business components for each master record. For example, the Account Service Profile report provides three lists for each account master record: customer survey responses, opportunities, and service requests. A report with two detail elements is described in “Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft Word” on page 136. Many of the preconfigured reports that ship with Siebel Business Applications are master-detail reports.

A master detail report incorporates a parent business component and related child and grandchild business components as defined in the business object definition that the integration object is based on. When executing a report, the UI context is captured and passed to the primary integration component of the integration object. If a multivalue field (MVF) is included in a report, only the first record is displayed. To display all the records from an MVF in the report, an integration object must have been created in Siebel Tools under the associated integration object based on the business component that contains the MVF to be displayed.

This information is also valid for indirect MVFs. For example, consider the case where the business address (an MVF) of an account associated with an opportunity appears in the report. The business addresses in the MVF are not directly related to the opportunity, but they are related to the account that it is associated with it. To display all the records in the business address MVF as a detail section, first create a link between the Business Address business component and the Opportunity business component using Account Id as the source field. Include the Business Address business component under the Opportunity business object, and then create an integration object with the Business Address business component under the integration object, and include the necessary MVF. For more information about master-detail reports, see “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132 and “Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft Word” on page 136.

Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout TemplateThis topic gives one example of how master-detail reports work by comparing a specific layout template with its corresponding report. You might use the feature differently, depending on your business model. This example compares the Service Request Activity (All) report and its corresponding layout template.

To compare the Service Request Activity (All) report in Siebel Service with its corresponding layout template

1 Generate the Service Request Activity (All) report in Siebel Service by performing the tasks:

a Open the Siebel Service application.

b Navigate to the Service screen, then All Service Requests across Organizations view.

NOTE: My Service Requests is the default view.

c In the All Service Requests across Organizations list, select an account, click Reports, and then from the Reports menu, select Service Request Activity (All).

Using Master-Detail Reports ■ Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All)Report with its Corresponding Layout Template


d Choose a report output type, and then click Submit.

e In the File Download dialog box, select Open.

The Service Request Activity (All) report appears in the browser window. To view this report, see Figure 10 on page 131.

2 Open the layout template for the Service Request Activity (All) report using Microsoft Word:

a Navigate to the \XMLP\TEMPLATES folder (or the equivalent on your computer), and then open srvreqaa.rtf.

Notice the following features of this template as shown in the following figure:

❏ There is a table (form) for the master record.

❏ There is a table (list) for each set of child records.

❏ There is a for-each loop (over all master records) that includes the parent form and all the child lists.

❏ There is a condition on the IF statement (<?if:current-group()//ssAction?>) for the Activity section, which prevents the Activity section from displaying header information if there are no activities for the service request.

NOTE: To identify the layout template associated with a report, use the appropriate Template view (either Reports - Custom Templates or Reports - Standard Templates in the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen).

b From the Oracle BI Publisher menu, select Tools, Field Browser, and then Show All.

The Field Browser dialog box appears, which allows you to view and modify the template logic.

For more information, see “Syntax and Description of the Fields for an Example Template” on page 134.


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Syntax and Description of the Fields for an Example TemplateTable 9 provides details of the Oracle BI Publisher syntax and description for the fields defined in the example template.

Table 9. Oracle BI Publisher Syntax and Field Definitions for the Service Request Activity (All) Report Template

Syntax Oracle BI Publisher Code Description

If <?if://ssServiceRequest?> An IF condition that checks for service request records. If there are no service request records, no records are displayed.

for-eachgroup: ssServiceRequest

<?for-each-group:ssServiceRequest;position()?>

The start of a group section which iterates for each record in the Service Request data set.

ssSrNumberssAccountssStatus

<?ssSrNumber?><?ssAccount?><?ssStatus?

Field mappings

If <?if://ssCreated?> If condition that does not display the ssCreated field if null.

ssCreated <?format-date:psfn:totext(ssCreated,"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss","MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss");'SHORT_TIME'?>

Field formatting

End <?end if?> End of if condition

ssSeverityssDescription

<?ssSeverity?><?ssDescription?>

Field mappings

If <?if://ssClosedDate?> If condition that does not display the ssClosedDate field if null.

ssClosedDate <?format-date:psfn:totext(ssClosedDate,"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss","MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss");'SHORT_TIME'?>

Field formatting


ssPriorityssCustomerRefNumberssOwner

<?ssPriority?><?ssCustomerRefNumber?><?ssOwner?>

Field mappings

for-each:current-group() <?for-each:current-group()?>

Start of a group section, iterating for each record in the current group (for example, Service Request).

Using Master-Detail Reports ■ Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All)Report with its Corresponding Layout Template


You can view additional information about the integration object definition (and related integration components) in Siebel Tools. For information about viewing integration object definitions in Siebel Tools, see Using Siebel Tools.

If <?if:current-group()//ssAction?>

Condition to check for Action records. If there are no records, do not display the section.

for-each:ssAction <?for-each:ssAction?> Beginning of the repeating element group for Action.

If <?if://ssCreated?> If condition that does not display the ssCreated field if null.

ssCreated <?format-date:psfn:totext(ssCreated,"yyyy-MM-dd'T'HH:mm:ss","MM/dd/yyyy hh:mm:ss");'SHORT_TIME'?>

Field formatting


ssCreatedByNssOwnedBysssStatussTypessDescription

<?ssCreatedByName?><?ssOwnedBy?><?ssType?><?ssStatus?><?ssDescription?>

Field mappings

end for-each:ssAction <?end for-each?> End of the repeating element group for Action.

End if <?end if?> The end of the if condition

end for-each <?end for-each?> End of current-group() repeating group section.

page break <?split-by-page-break:?> Page break after the end of the group section.

end for-each-group: ssServiceRequest

<?end for-each-group?> End of Service Request group section

End <?end if?> End if statement for conditional check on Service Request records

If <?if:not(//ssServiceRequest)?>

If condition that prints "No Data Found" at the bottom of the report if there are no records.

End <?end if?> End if statement for above condition.

Table 9. Oracle BI Publisher Syntax and Field Definitions for the Service Request Activity (All) Report Template

Syntax Oracle BI Publisher Code Description


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For more information about Oracle BI Publisher syntax, see Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide, Release 10.1.3.4 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN). For more information about creating master-detail templates, see “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132 and “Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft Word” on page 136.

Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in Microsoft WordCreating a master-detail report follows the same process as creating a simple report. However, consider the following important points when creating master-detail reports:

■ Make sure that all child integration components in the integration object have the appropriate value in the Parent Integration Component property.

■ In the RTF template, make sure that the correct for-each-group and for-each:current-group elements are placed in the template, see “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132.

■ When creating custom integration objects for Siebel Reports, make sure that the fields used for dynamic queries in the applet of the master component are also contained in the integration component. Dynamic queries are specific, customized queries that you create.

To create a master-detail layout template in Microsoft Word

1 Open Microsoft Word, and create a new document.

2 Using the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop menu, select Data, and then Load XML Data.

3 Select the XML file containing the sample data, and then save the template in RTF format.

4 Add the relevant titles, formatting, page header and footer, and so on to the document.

5 Add the Master data section by doing the following:

a Insert a master data section manually, or by using the Insert menu option from the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop menu.

b Select the master data section, and add a for-each-group section:

❏ Click Insert, Repeating Group, and then the Advanced tab.

NOTE: This process embeds the for loop within the table and does not replicate the location of the controls in the preconfigured examples.

❏ Change the expression:

<?for-each-group:ssServiceRequest;position()?>

c (Optional) If you want to view descriptive text for the inserted sections, click Tools, Options, Build, and then Descriptive.

6 Add the Detail data section by doing the following:

a Select the detail data section.

Using Master-Detail Reports ■ Creating a Master-Detail Layout Template in MicrosoftWord


b From the Oracle BI Publisher menu, click Insert, and then Repeating Group.

c Select the defaults, and then click OK.

7 Insert a page break after the final detail section by doing the following:

a Select the Oracle BI Publisher properties of the entire group.

b Navigate to Create, Group, and then Properties.

c Select a page break option.

8 Add the additional formatting features and conditions.

For more information on adding features, see “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132.

9 After testing the report, register the report layout template in the usual manner.

For information about registering report layout templates, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

Viewing Descriptive Text for Repeating Group SectionsWhen creating templates with repeating group sections, you might find it useful to view the descriptive text for the inserted sections. Descriptive text allows you to view the Oracle BI Publisher syntax.

To view the descriptive text for the repeating group sections

1 Start Microsoft Word.

2 From the Oracle BI Publisher application-level menu, click Options, Build, and then in the For-each form field box, select Descriptive.

For more information about master-detail reports, see “About Master-Detail Reports” on page 131 and “Example of Comparing the Service Request Activity (All) Report with its Corresponding Layout Template” on page 132.


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10 Migrating Reports

This chapter describes how to migrate reports from a development, test, or production environment to another. The tasks in this chapter are performed by the system administrator and are for disconnected mode only. This chapter includes the following topics:

■ Requirements for Migrating Reports on page 139

■ Process of Packaging and Migrating Reports on page 140

■ Process of Migrating an Integration Object for a Report on page 144

■ Process of Migrating New Reports after Creating New Integration Objects on page 145

Requirements for Migrating ReportsYou can use Application Deployment Manager (ADM) to migrate reports from one environment to another. When you migrate reports, you are importing data values from a source environment to a target environment. For example, you migrate reports from the development or test environment (source) to the production environment (target). For more information about ADM, see Siebel Application Deployment Manager Guide. For information about setting up your environment to use ADM for migrating reports, see “Requirements for Migrating Reports” on page 139.

Before migrating reports from one environment to another, perform the following tasks:

1 In the source environment, make sure the reports are finalized and ready to migrate.

2 Perform the following in the source environment:

a Install Perl software (version 5.0 or later).

b Make sure you include the Application Deployment Manager (ADM) component group as part of the Siebel Server installation process.

For more information about installing Siebel Servers, see Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.

c Set up ADM for your particular deployment needs. In particular, you must have a Siebel Management Server and Siebel Management Agents installed.

For more information on setting up ADM, see Siebel Installation Guide for the operating system you are using.


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Process of Packaging and Migrating ReportsThe Application Deployment Manager (ADM) packaging process prepares the report template data for migration by consolidating the information into a single deployment package. This deployment package is the functional entity used by the ADM framework to stage and execute the deployment. The deployment package is a set of files representing the report files, held in a predefined package directory, together with a package descriptor file holding details of the package contents.

To migrate XML files along with their associated SIF objects, you must specify the repository SIF object and the XML file for packaging. After the migration of the integration objects is called, the SIF objects and the XML files are migrated together.

To migrate reports from one environment to another:

1 Make sure you have met the necessary requirements for migrating reports.

For information about these requirements, see “Requirements for Migrating Reports” on page 139.

2 “Packaging the Report Files in the Source Environment” on page 140

3 “Migrating the Report Files to the Target Environment” on page 141

4 “Packaging Report Database Records in the Source Environment” on page 142

5 “Migrating Report Database Records to the Target Environment” on page 143

Packaging the Report Files in the Source EnvironmentThis topic describes how to package the report files in the source environment.

This task is a step in “Process of Packaging and Migrating Reports” on page 140.

The following procedure assumes that your reports are finalized and available in the source environment.

To package the report files

1 Manually copy the files that you want to migrate from the source environment Siebel Server installation directory (SIEBSRVR_ROOT\XMLP) to the following target environment:

SharedFolder\PackageName\file\siebsrvr\XMLP\<subdirectory_name>

where:

SharedFolder is a shared folder on the deployment computer.

PackageName is the name of the ADM package folder that contains the report files to be migrated.

file is the type of file, such as database, repository, and so on.

siebsrvr\XMLP<subdirectory_name> is the Siebel Server folder structure.



a Copy the XML files to the following directory:

SharedFolder\PackageName\file\AppServer\XMLP\DATA

b Copy the RTF and XSL files to the following directory:

SharedFolder\PackageName\file\AppServer\XMLP\TEMPLATES

c Copy the XLIFF files to the following directory:

SharedFolder\PackageName\file\AppServer\XMLP\enu\xliff

2 Run the following command to generate a descriptor file for the package:

admpkgr generate "shared folder\package name"

where:

SharedFolder\PackageName is the shared folder and package name in which the packages to be migrated reside.

Migrating the Report Files to the Target EnvironmentThis topic describes how to migrate the report files to the target environment.


To migrate the report files to the target environment

1 Navigate to the installation folder where the Siebel Management Server is installed.

2 Run the following command to create a package folder structure:

admpkgr init SharedFolder\PackageName

where:

SharedFolder\PackageName is the shared folder package name in which the packages to be migrated reside.

NOTE: You must specify a path in a shared location.

TIP: If an error occurs, you might have an invalid path to the JAR files. To resolve this error, make sure the CLASSPATH variable points to the exact location of the JAR files in the admpkgr.bat file in the Management Server installation folder.

3 Run the following command to call the deploy.bat file to load the package to the server database:

deploy_enterprise load username password PackageName

where:

■ deploy_enterprise is of the form deploy_enterprise, where enterprise is replaced by the enterprise name given by the user at the time of the configuration.



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■ username and password are the username and password account of the Siebel user who is deploying the package.

■ PackageName is the name of the package for which the descriptor was created in Step 2 on page 141.

4 Run the following command to create a session for the deployment:

deploy_enterprise create username password PackageName

5 Run the following copy command to complete the deployment of the sample package:

deploy_enterprise copy username password PackageName

6 In the destination Siebel Server folder (siebsrvr\XMLP), verify that the files you placed in the deployment package (as described in Step 1 on page 140) are available in the appropriate folders.

Packaging Report Database Records in the Source EnvironmentThis topic describes how to use Application Deployment Manager (ADM) to package report database records.


To package report database records

1 Navigate to the Application Deployment Manager screen, then the Deployment Projects view.

2 In the Deployment Projects list, create a new project record.

3 Fill in the project fields as necessary, making sure to check the Export to File field to create the export file.

For descriptions of the projects fields, see Siebel Application Deployment Manager Guide.

NOTE: It is recommended that you name your report projects with a BIP prefix. This prefix allows you to search for your report projects.

4 In the Deployment Filter field in the Deployment Project data type list, create search expressions for the data types to filter only those items of a data type that match the condition for migration. Save each filter.

For example, if you create a report in the source environment and that report is:

■ Named Test Account List

■ Based on the BIP Accounts - Current Query integration object



■ Associated with the Account List view

You enter the following filter information to migrate the data types to the target environment:

NOTE: If the data type of interest is not available, it might be set as Inactive. Make sure the Active field for the data type is checked in the Data Type Details view.

This step allows you to query the reports being migrated to the target environment.

5 Enable the report project by performing the following:

a Navigate to the Deployment Projects view.

b In the Deployment Projects list, select the draft deployment.

The Status field of the draft deployment project record appears as Draft.

c Click the Enable button to activate the report project.

ADM populates the Status field with Enabled and the Publication Date/Time field with the date and time of the report project activation.

6 Export the reports by performing the following:

a Navigate to the Application Deployment Manager screen, then the Deployment Sessions view.

b Select the newly enabled report project, and make sure the Export to File and the Deployment Lock fields are checked.

c Enter a shared location to store the XML files that contain the database records.

d Click Deploy.

The database record XML files are exported to the shared location.

Migrating Report Database Records to the Target EnvironmentUse the following procedure to migrate report database records from the source environment to the target environment.

To migrate report database records to the target environment

1 Navigate to the Application Deployment Manager screen, then the Deployment Sessions view.

Data Type Filter

BIP Sample Data Generation [Name]=' BIP Accounts - Current Query'

BIP Report Template Registration [Report Name]=' Test Account List'

BIP View Association [Name]=' Account List View'

BIP Report Template Translations [Report Name]=' Test Account List'


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2 Click the Deployment Sessions Menu button, and select Deploy from File.

3 In the Deploy from File dialog box, enter the file paths from which to migrate the database records by doing the following:

a Enter the file path for the XML file that contains the Sample Data Generation file, and then click Import.

b Enter the file path for the XML file that contains the Report Template Registration file, and then click Import.

c Enter the file path for the XML file that contains the View Association file, and then click Import.

NOTE: Make sure to specify the shared location where the database records are stored.

For example, you might enter the following shared locations:

■ \\sharedlocation\88-25ZC7_BIP_Sample_Data_Generation.xml

■ \\sharedlocation\88-25ZC7_BIP_Report_Template_Registration.xml

■ \\sharedlocation\88-25ZC7_BIP_View_Association.xml

4 In the target environment, make sure the data was migrated correctly by verifying that the report appears in the Reports menu.

For example, in Step 4 on page 142 in the “Packaging Report Database Records in the Source Environment” you created a report named Test Account List. To verify that report migrated correctly, navigate to the Accounts screen, and then the Account List view. Click Reports to verify the Test Account List report appears in the Reports menu.

Process of Migrating an Integration Object for a ReportThis topic describes how to migrate integration objects for reports from the source environment.

NOTE: The following process assumes you have created a new integration object that has yet to be migrated.

To migrate an integration object for a report, perform the following tasks:

1 Create and export a SIF file for the integration object by doing the following:


b In the Object Explorer, select Integration Object.

c In the Integration Object list, right-click the integration object for which you want to create the SIF file, and then click Add to Hot Fix.

d In the Generate Hot-Fix dialog box, enter a label, and then click Export.

A directory containing this SIF file is placed in the Tools\ADM directory.

Migrating Reports ■ Process of Migrating New Reports after Creating New IntegrationObjects


2 Copy the SIF and descriptor files in the repository folder of the ADM package that was created when you ran the admpkgr init command.

For more information about generating the command, see “Packaging the Report Files in the Source Environment” on page 140.

3 Perform the steps as described in “Packaging the Report Files in the Source Environment” on page 140.

NOTE: If there is no report for this integration object and there are no plans to move a report for this integration object, you can skip Step 1 on page 140.

4 Verify that the integration object was moved to the target environment, perform the following:

a Log in to the target environment computer.

b Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Sample Data File Generation view.

c Make sure the integration object appears in the Sample Data File Generation list.

Process of Migrating New Reports after Creating New Integration ObjectsThis topic describes how to migrate reports if you create new reports based on newly created integration objects.

To migrate a new report after creating a new integration object, perform the following:

1 Perform the procedure in “Process of Migrating an Integration Object for a Report” on page 144.

2 Generate the XML data file for the report as described in “Generating Sample XML Data Files for Siebel Reports” on page 112.

3 Copy the database record files in the related package folder along with the SIF file, and then migrate them.


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11 Parameterized Reports

This chapter describes parameterized reports and how to create them. It is intended only for those who have report developer or administrator privileges.

The topics in this chapter include:

■ About Parameterized Reports on page 147

■ About Report Parameter Types and Attributes on page 148

■ About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout Template on page 149

■ About Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application on page 150

■ About Report Parameter Validation on page 152

■ Process of Creating Parameterized Reports on page 152

■ Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application on page 153

■ Example of Generating a Parameterized Report on page 155

About Parameterized ReportsParameterized reports allow developers and administrators to pass data into an Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) RTF report layout template at run time and customize the report output. A parameterized report can produce many different reports from the same report template.

Parameterized reports allow you to:

■ Narrow the query, sort specification, or grouping by a field for report execution

■ Produce different reports from the same report template

How Parameterized Reports Are GeneratedParameterized reports are generated in the same manner as other reports. The parameters a user chooses and the parameter values entered are held in memory at run time. After entering the parameters and clicking Submit, the report is executed and the parameter values are removed from memory.

Related Topics“About Report Parameter Types and Attributes” on page 148

“About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout Template” on page 149




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“Example of Generating a Parameterized Report” on page 155

About Report Parameter Types and AttributesParameters and attributes for the report template are defined at design time. These definitions are created in the Siebel application and determine the applet control type displayed at run time. The types of parameters include: Checkbox, Date, LOV, Text, Number, DateTime, Label, and TextArea. Attributes for each parameter include the custom display name (including custom multilingual translations), default value, required field, LOV name (for LOV type only), and order. For information about defining these parameters and attributes, see “Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 153.

Table 10. Report Parameter Types

ParameterType Behavior

Picklist ValuesAppear in UI?

Checkbox Displays a simple checkbox Boolean parameter. No

Date Displays a text box where the user can enter a date value and an associated calendar control which can be invoked using an icon. The date format is based on the user preferences.

No

LOV Displays a picklist where the user selects a value from a list. You can define any application list of values (based on Picklist Generic BC). Dynamic list of values are not possible. An LOV must exist in the list of application list of values. The LOV parameter type supports MLOV translation. The list of values available are restricted based on the business object of the view the report is associated with. Hierarchical LOVs are not possible.

NOTE: The picklist name chosen from the UI determines whether it is bounded or not. If the selected picklist is bounded, then the LOV parameter is bounded, but if the selected picklist is not bounded, then the LOV parameter is not bounded.

Yes

Text Displays a text box where the user can enter a string value. No

Number Displays a text box where the user can enter a numeric value. The number control invokes the standard calculator widget.

No

DateTime Displays a text box where the user can enter a date and time value and an associated calendar control which can be invoked using an icon. The calendar control includes time and time zone options. The date format is based on the user preferences.

No

Parameterized Reports ■ About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout Template


Related Topics“About Parameterized Reports” on page 147







About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout TemplateYou control the layout of report templates using parameter values. For information about parameter syntax and usage, see about defining parameters topic in the Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Report Designer's Guide Release 10.1.3.4 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

You use template parameters within a report layout template to dynamically change the layout of the report using conditions based on the parameter value. Some examples are:

■ Control the sorting pattern in a table. You can select a column name for sorting.

■ Control the grouping pattern in a table. You can select a column name for the group.

Label This parameter type is simple text that you can use as descriptive text for a section separator. There is no control type related to this parameter. The only applicable property for this type is the Display Value and the Order attribute. All parameter display values align from the right, therefore, a very large Label Display value will extend the applet on the left side.

NOTE: It is not possible to define font face, size, color, style, or alignment or wrap the Display Value with HTML formatting codes in order to determine the run time appearance of labels.

Yes

TextArea Displays a text area (with small scrollbar) where the user can enter a large string value.

No

Table 10. Report Parameter Types

ParameterType Behavior

Picklist ValuesAppear in UI?


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■ Render data rows in different colors by defining a user-specified field (such as ACTIVE_STATUS).

TIP: To test that the parameters are passed through correctly, you can display user input directly on the report. In this manner, you can verify Oracle BI Publisher received the correct user input, but there is no impact on the report layout controls.

NOTE: You can also use parameters to filter data in a template, but this action is not recommended for performance reasons. It is more efficient to filter records in the user interface using a query than in the report layout template.

You must define template parameter definitions at the beginning of an RTF report layout template using the following syntax:

<?param@begin: Param1>

NOTE: Default values are now defined in the user interface (in previous releases, default values were defined in the report layout template). For more information about defining default values, see “Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 153.








About Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel ApplicationTypically, you use parameters to control the layout of a report, such as dynamic grouping or dynamic sections.

Use the following syntax in the RTF report layout template to display run-time parameter values on the report output:

Param1 = <?$Param1?>



Parameterized Reports ■ About Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application


The following bullet points provide information about parameter definitions and how to use them:

■ In the Parameters list in the Templates views, you can:

■ Define parameters using the New button.

NOTE: It is recommended that you do not copy parameters using the Copy Record functionality.

■ Make a parameter required by setting the Required field to Y. A red asterisk appears next to the parameter at run time.

■ Define the order in which parameters appear at run time by setting values in the Order field. Parameters must have a unique Order value. If the order values are left blank, then the parameters appear in the user interface after any other values.

■ The parameter choices a user can select at run time is displayed as a single list. Because of this, it is recommended that you do not specify a large number of parameters (limit to no more than 25) because the appearance of the list becomes too large and impedes the ability to select values correctly.

■ For each data type, the appropriate validation occurs at run time to check that a user has entered a correct value.

■ Each parameter value a user enters at run time is passed to the Oracle BI Publisher Server as string values when the report is generated. Therefore, certain data types, such as Date, must address the appropriate functions for the value to be recognized as an official date value. For example, you can use the canonical date functions to convert a string value into a date value.

■ The minimum and maximum validation (date values entered within a set range) and validation or defaults using date functions, such as Today()-7 and conditional value logic (a display of one parameter that depends on another value) are not currently possible.

■ In the Parameter Translations list in the Templates views, you can associate a language translation by setting a Display Value.

NOTE: Although possible, it is recommended that you do not use parameters to filter data in a report layout template. Doing so can negatively impact performance.









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About Report Parameter ValidationGiven the report parameters have been defined, you can check for any inconsistencies using the validation feature. The validation verifies the:

■ Number of parameters defined in the Siebel application equals the number of parameters defined in the report layout template.

NOTE: Most parameter types are dynamically mapped to the Report Parameter Form Applet business component field, however, Label parameter types are not. Additionally, Label parameter types are ignored during validation against the report layout template.

■ Name attribute for each parameter in the Siebel application has an equivalent placeholder in the report layout template.

For information about when to perform parameter validation, see “Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 153.








Process of Creating Parameterized ReportsTo create a parameterized report, perform the following tasks:

1 Create parameter definitions (or make sure the definitions exist) in the report layout template.

For example, you might have the following definition:

<?param@begin: Param1?>

For information about parameter definitions in report layout templates, see “About Referencing Parameters in the Report Layout Template” on page 149.

2 “Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application” on page 153




Parameterized Reports ■ Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel Application






Defining Report Parameters in the Siebel ApplicationThis topic describes how to define report parameters in the Siebel application so that users have options when generating reports that govern what appears in the report output.

To define report parameters in the Siebel application

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Publisher Reports screen, then the Reports - Custom Templates view.

2 From the applicable Template view, select a template, and then check the Parameters field to set it to True.

NOTE: This flag ensures the parameter applet appears at run time. The template views you have access to depend on the user’s organizational position.


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3 Scroll down to the Parameters list, click New, and then fill in the applicable fields.

The following table describes some of the fields.

NOTE: Each parameter name value you define must have a correlating parameter definition in the report layout template. For example, if you define a parameter named Param1, the definition of Param1 must appear in the report layout template.

4 If there are translations, add the following information for each language:

■ Display Name

■ Default Value

NOTE: Translation fields are multilingual.

5 Click Validate to check for inconsistencies between the template definitions you defined above and the report layout template. For more information about this feature, see “About Report Parameter Validation” on page 152.








Field Description

Label Descriptive text for the parameter. You can use this field for translations.

Name The name of the parameter. This field references the same in the report layout template.

Order The order in which parameters appear at run time.

Type The type of parameter. Choices are: Checkbox, Date, LOV, Text, Number, DateTime, Label, and TextArea. For a description of each parameter, see “About Report Parameter Types and Attributes” on page 148.

Default Use this field to provide the default value for the parameter. This default value appears in the Report Parameter dialog box and is passed to the Oracle BI Publisher Server for report generation. This field is used for translations.

Picklist Name The name of the picklist from which users choose values in the parameter dialog box. Use this field for LOV parameter types.

Required A value of Y indicates the parameter is required. If required, a value must be entered in the user interface.

Parameterized Reports ■ Example of Generating a Parameterized Report


Example of Generating a Parameterized ReportThis topic gives one example of generating a Siebel report. You might use this feature differently, depending on your business needs.

In this example, assume you have created a parameterized report and want to generate that report in a specific format.

To generate a parameterized report

1 Navigate to the application view that the parameterized report is associated with.

2 Run a query to limit the number of records returned, and then click Submit.

3 Select the report from the Reports menu.

NOTE: If this report has parameters defined, the Siebel application retrieves the parameters from the parameter definitions for the report template defined in the Siebel application.

4 From the parameter pop-up applet, select the parameter values for the report, and then click Submit.

NOTE: If the report does not have a default output type defined, you must select the output file type, and then click Submit again.

The report is generated by the Oracle BI Publisher Server, and then transferred to the Siebel application screen. For more information about generating reports, see “Generating Reports” on page 89.









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12 Troubleshooting Siebel Reports

This chapter describes how to enable logging for the various Siebel Reports components and how to troubleshoot common error messages that might occur when generating reports.

It contains the following topics:

■ Enabling Logging for Siebel Reports in the Siebel Application on page 157

■ About Enabling Logging for the Oracle BI Publisher Server on page 159

■ Enabling and Disabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected Mode on page 159

■ Guidelines for Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word on page 160

■ Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word on page 161

■ Troubleshooting Error Messages for Siebel Reports on page 162

NOTE: Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher) for Siebel Business Applications logs all exceptions and debug level information.

Enabling Logging for Siebel Reports in the Siebel ApplicationYou can configure Siebel Business Applications to create log files that capture detailed information about errors that occur while generating reports. The reports administrator can use the log files to investigate why the error occurred.

You set the log level for the XMLP Report Server component by using the Server Manager UI or the Server Manager command-line interface program (srvrmgr program).

NOTE: You can adjust the log levels at any time.

Setting the Log Level for the XMLP Report Server Component Using the Server Manager UIUse the following procedure to set the log level for the XMLP Report Server component using the Server Manager UI.

To set the log level for the XMLP Report Server component using the Server Manager UI

1 Navigate to the Administration-Server Configuration screen, Servers, and then the Components view.

2 In the Component field, query for XMLP Report Server, and then click the Events view tab.


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3 In Events list, query for XMLP Report Log, and then set the log level value to 5.

4 Click the Component tab.

5 In the Component field, query for your AOM (Application Object Manager), for example, Call Center Object Manager (ENU), and then click the Events tab.

6 In the Events list, query for XMLP Report Log, and then set the log level value to 5.

7 Stop and restart the XMLP Report Server and AOM server components.

For more information about restarting the Siebel Server, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Setting the Log Level for the XMLP Report Server Component Using Server ManagerUse the following procedure to set the log level for the XMLP Report Server component using Server Manager (srvrmgr).

To set the log level for the XMLP Report Server component using Server Manager

1 Run the following command to connect to the Siebel Server Manager:

srvrmgr /g <gateway machine name:port number> /s <xmlp siebel server name> /e <enterprise> /u <user name> /p <password>

where:

gateway machine name:port number is the name of the physical computer on which the Siebel Gateway Name Server is running and the port number on which the Gateway Name Server is listening.

NOTE: The colon and port number are optional if using an optional default port.

xmlp siebel server name is the name of the server on which the XMLP Report Server component is enabled.

user name is the login name of the administrator.

password is the password for the administrator.

For example, you might use the following command:

srvrmgr /g <gateway machine name>:2330 /s <xmlp siebel server name> /e Siebel /u SADMIN /p MSSQL

2 Run the following command to change the event log level:

change evtloglvl XMLPReportLog=5 for comp xmlpreportserver

where 5 is the event log level that you want to change.

For example, to get details for a call to a business service, run the following command:

change evtloglvl ObjMgrBusServiceLog=5 for comp xmlpreportserver

Troubleshooting Siebel Reports ■ About Enabling Logging for the Oracle BI PublisherServer


3 Shut down the XMLP Report Server component and then restart this component to make sure logging changes take effect.

About Enabling Logging for the Oracle BI Publisher ServerYou can configure the Oracle BI Publisher Server to create log files that capture detailed information about errors that occur while generating Siebel Reports in connected mode. The administrator can use the log files to understand how much time it takes for a report to render and so on. For information about enabling logging for the Oracle BI Publisher Server, see the chapter about setting the system maintenance options in Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Administrator's and Developer's Guide, Release 10.1.3.4 available on Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

Enabling and Disabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected ModeYou can configure the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine to create log files that capture detailed information about errors that occur while generating Siebel Reports in disconnected mode. The administrator can use the log files to learn when there are report generation problems with the JAR (Java ARchive) files or the Oracle BI Publisher (RTF) layout templates.

Enabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected ModeUse the following procedure to enable debugging for the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine.

To enable debugging for Siebel Reports in disconnected mode

1 In a text editor such as Notepad, create a new file entitled, xdodebug.cfg, and type in the following for use as a sample file:

LogLevel=STATEMENT

LogDir=<path to logging directory>

2 Place the file in the jre\lib directory used by the Siebel client (for example, C:\Program Files\Java\jre1.6.0_07\lib) and make sure that the directory specified by the LogDir parameter exists. The resulting log files from the report generation will be created at this location.

If an error occurs while generating reports in disconnected mode, an xdo.log file is created and saved to the path specified in the .cfg file. Use this log file for troubleshooting.


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Disabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected ModeTo optimize the performance of Siebel Reports in disconnected mode, you might want to disable debugging for the Oracle BI Publisher XDO Engine.

To disable debugging for disconnected mode

1 On the computer where Oracle’s Siebel Developer Web Client is installed, copy the xdo.cfg in the jre\lib installation folder to another computer for backup purposes.

2 Remove or rename the xdo.cfg in the jre\lib directory used by the Siebel client.

Guidelines for Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft WordThis topic provides guidelines for resolving class not found errors when previewing reports in Microsoft Word.

Guidelines for Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft WordObserve and adhere to the following guidelines when resolving class not found errors:

■ Make sure there are no spaces or new line character after the -Xbootclasspath/a: string. For example, this string might appear as follows:

set_JAVA_OPTIONS=-Xbootclasspath/a:C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes…

■ To check the syntax, turn off word wrapping in the editor you are using so that set_JAVA_OPTIONS is a single line. You must have three distinct lines in your batch file if word wrapping is turned off.

■ Check the path to Microsoft Word that the batch file references.

■ Search for winword.exe from C:\Program Files to find the path.

■ The %1 in the batch file is an argument to represent a document that is typically opened in Microsoft Word (RTF files).

■ Do not use set _JAVA_OPTIONS as a system environment variable because this prevents you from previewing reports in the Siebel client.

For instructions for resolving, see Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft Word on page 161.

Troubleshooting Siebel Reports ■ Resolving Class Not Found Errors When PreviewingReports in Microsoft Word


Resolving Class Not Found Errors When Previewing Reports in Microsoft WordErrors can occur when previewing reports with Microsoft Word that use preconfigured RTF (Rich Text Format) templates. To resolve these types of errors, you create a custom batch file to launch Microsoft Word and load the required template libraries before opening the RTF template.

NOTE: In your batch file, replace the explicit drive and folder locations with those on your own computer based on where you installed the Siebel Web Client. It is not necessary to associate .doc extensions with this batch file.

To resolve class not found errors when previewing reports in Microsoft Word

1 Navigate to C:\Program Files.

2 Create a MSWordForBIPub.bat file containing the following code to set the _JAVA_OPTIONS environment variable before launching Microsoft Word.

echo %1

set _JAVA_OPTIONS=-Xbootclasspath/a:

C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes\SiebelXMLP.jar;C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes\siebel.jar;C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes\XSLFunctions.jar;C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes\SiebelCustomXMLP.jar;C:\81DQSSIA\client\classes\SiebelCustomXMLP_SIA.jar

"C:\Program Files\microsoft office\Office\Winword.exe" %1

TIP: Create a shortcut to the MSWordForBIPub.bat batch file and move it to your desktop.

3 If you want to make sure this batch file is always executed when opening a preconfigured report layout template, you associate the RTF files with the .bat file by doing the following:

a Navigate to the template files in your Siebel client environment. (For example, C:\Siebel\client\XMLP\TEMPLATES)

b Sort the templates files by Type.

c Right-click on a RTF file (or select all) and Select Open With to choose an text editor.

d Click Browse to find the .bat file, and then open it.


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e Check the Always use the selected program to open this kind of file checkbox, and then click OK.

This associates the selected RTF file or files with the batch file created in Step 2 on page 161. The batch file sets an environment variable needed for publishing Oracle BI Publisher reports from within Microsoft Word.

NOTE: This workaround automatically associates the RTF file with the batch file. Now, when you double-click a RTF file, you see a command prompt window (running the batch file) automatically run at the same time. Alternatively, you can go to the desktop shortcut icon and run the shortcut to the .bat file to test the report preview.

Many standard RTF files in the Siebel client Templates directory (C:\siebel\client\XMLP\TEMPLATES) are set to read only. Before previewing reports from this directory, go to Properties for the applicable template and remove the Read-only attribute to avoid run-time errors.

Troubleshooting Error Messages for Siebel ReportsTable 11 contains the error messages that you might encounter when using Siebel Reports and the suggested solutions for resolving the errors.

Table 11. Resolving Siebel Reports Error Messages

Error Message or Symptom Description and SolutionConnectionMode

SBL-OMS-00203: Error <?> invoking method "<?>" for Business Service "<?>"

This error occurs when you fail to upload the template to the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Errors While Running Siebel Reports (SBL-OMS-00203)” on page 167.

Connectedanddisconnected

"Unable to find definition for component XMLPReportServer(SBL-SRQ-00103)" error when I clicked on the Submit button to generate the report."

This error occurs after clicking Submit to generate a report.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Error After Clicking Submit to Generate a Report (SBL-SRQ-00103)” on page 167.


The specialized method 'GetFileToDir' is not supported on Business Component 'Report Template BC' used by Business Object 'Report Administration'.(SBL-DAT-00322)

This error occurs when the path settings in the configuration files are incorrect.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Errors That Occur Due to Incorrect Configuration File Settings (SBL-DAT-00322)” on page 167.




SBL-RPT-50504: Error occurred while saving the record. No data file provided for XLIFF generation.

This error occurs when users forget to provide a sample XML data file for generating an XLIFF file.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting XLIFF File Errors” on page 168.

Disconnectedonly

"Class name incorrect" error when generating BI Publisher reports

This error occurs when Oracle BI Publisher or the JAR files are not loaded.

To resolve, set the classpath, see “Troubleshooting the CLASSPATH Settings Using Siebel Server Manager” on page 169.

Disconnectedonly

Reports having custom java class involved are not generating.

Verify that SiebelCustomXMLP.jar, SiebelXMLP.jar are under SIEBSRVR_ROOT\classes.

Make sure that the Oracle BI Publisher Server path is:

$OC4J_PATH\j2ee\home\applications\xmlpserver\xmlpserver\WEB-INF\lib

For Siebel Industry Applications, make sure the following files are in both paths:

■ SiebelCustomXMLP_SIA.jar

■ SiebelXMLP.jar

Connectedonly

][java.lang.String][EXCEPTION] oracle.apps.xdo.XDOException: XSLT10gR1: Failed Secure Java Extensions check.

This error appears in the Oracle BI Publisher log file or console when generating a report when the JAR files have not been copied to the Oracle BI Publisher Server, or the required Disable External Reference parameter attribute has not been set to FALSE.

To resolve, see “Starting and Stopping OC4J and Oracle BI Publisher” on page 49.

Not applicable

Verify the BIP Server Userid and Password. (SBL-RPT-50529) or

Failed to log into BI Publisher: invalid username or password.

This error message appears in the XMLP log file, because the user has not provided the correct User ID and password for the Oracle BI Publisher Server in the XMLP Report Server component parameters.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Oracle BI Publisher Server Login Errors” on page 169.

Connectedonly





164

Generic Error in Compression Routine (SBL-UIF-00227)

Verify whether the temp\xmlp directory exists in the Siebel Server root directory (SIEBSRVR_ROOT). If it does not, create one. Also make sure the Siebel File System is set appropriately. For information about setting the Siebel File System, see Siebel System Administration Guide.


PublicReportService::executeCreateReport Failure: due to Report Name contains special characters for report

Make sure that the report name does not contain the following special characters:

■ Forward slash (/)

■ Backslash (\)

■ Double quote (")

■ Single quote (')

■ Tilde (~)

■ Ampersand (&)

■ Asterisk (*)

■ Plus sign (+)

■ Left angle bracket (<)

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Connectedonly

SBL-EAI-04308: Operation 'runReport' of Web Service 'http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/service/PublicReportService.PublicReportServiceService' at port 'PublicReportService' failed with the following explanation: "oracle.apps.xdo.webservice.exception.OperationFailedException: PublicReportService::generateReport failed: due to oracle.apps.xdo.servlet.CreateException: Report definition not found:/SiebelCRMReports/<Report Name>/<Report Name>.xdo".

This error occurs when you execute a report that has missing bits on the Oracle BI Publisher Server (such as the .xdo file).

To resolve, upload the layout template from Oracle BI Publisher using the Report Template Registration view. For more information about uploading layout templates, see “Registering Report Layout Templates” on page 114.

Connectedonly





Alignment issues with columns with HTML file output type

The problem occurs when the table header row and the data row are composed of two different tables with no space between them. HTML, and sometimes EXCEL, might generate output with alignment issues.

NOTE: There are two tables, one for Table Header and one for Data Row. But they look like one single table, because there is no space between the two tables.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Alignment Problems in HTML Output” on page 169.


Alignment issue with JPN/PSJ environment in the reports.

The PPT output type for Japanese (JPN) is distorted in generated reports. Create the font mappings for the Oracle BI Publisher Server to make sure that the HTML output appears correctly.

To resolve, see “Troubleshooting Japanese Font Errors” on page 169.

Connectedonly





166

SBL-EAI-05010: Class name incorrect or does not extend SiebelBusinessService : com/siebel/data/SiebelPropertySet -- JVM Exception:java.lang.NoClassDefFoundError: com/siebel/data/SiebelPropertySetObjMgrBusServiceLog

Object manager error: ([0] Class name incorrect or does not extend SiebelBusinessService : <?>

This error occurs while uploading files to Oracle BI Publisher.

To resolve, verify the following:

■ JAVA_HOME variable is set correctly.

■ The following JAR files (Siebel.JAR, SiebelXMLP.JAR, XSLFunctions.JAR, SiebelCustomXMLP.JAR, and SiebelCustomXMLP_SIA.JAR) are copied from the following directory:

siebelroot\classes\original

Then make sure they are copied to the following directory:

ORACLE_HOME\j2ee\home\applications\xmlpserver\xmlpserve\WEB-INF\lib

■ The CLASSPATH variable is set correctly in the JVMSubSys profile.

■ The JVM SubSystem Name parameter for XMLPReportServer is set to XMLPJvmSubsys.

NOTE: If this value is JAVA, override it.

Not applicable

SBL-EAI-04308: Operation 'uploadReport' of Web Service 'http://xmlns.oracle.com/oxp/service/v11/PublicReportService.PublicReportServiceService' at port 'PublicReportService_v11' failed with the following explanation: "oracle.apps.xdo.webservice.exception.InvalidParametersException: PublicReportService::executeUploadReport Failure: Due to Report with Path [/SiebelCRMReports/Application Activity/Application Activity.xdo] already exist!".

This error occurs while uploading files to Oracle BI Publisher.

This error indicates that the Oracle BI Publisher Server already has a copy of the file that is currently being uploaded. The uploadReport method does not support uploading a new version of an existing file.

To resolve, the administrator must either rename or delete the folder for the existing instance of the report on the Oracle BI Publisher Server. The Oracle BI Publisher Server stores the report layout templates in:

ORACLE_HOME\xmlp\XMLP\Reports\SiebelCRMReports

Not applicable





Troubleshooting Errors While Running Siebel Reports (SBL-OMS-00203)Use the following procedure if errors occur while generating Siebel Reports (error message SBL-OMS-00203).

To troubleshoot errors while generating Siebel Reports

1 Make sure the XMLP Report Server component is enabled.

2 Increase the XMLP Report Server component log level to 5 to create a more detailed log file.

3 Copy the xdodebug.log file to the jre\lib directory.

For information about performing these tasks, see “Enabling Logging for Siebel Reports in the Siebel Application” on page 157 and “Enabling and Disabling Debugging for Siebel Reports in Disconnected Mode” on page 159.

Additionally, you might encounter an instance where a layout template was registered with one database, but you generated it with a different database, and the generation fails. If this error happens, you must complete the following task.

To regenerate and rerun the report

1 Regenerate the XML data.

2 Reregister the layout template.

3 Regenerate the report.

Troubleshooting Error After Clicking Submit to Generate a Report (SBL-SRQ-00103) Use the following procedure if an error occurs after clicking Submit to generate a report (error message SBL-SRQ-00103).

To troubleshoot if an error occurs after clicking Submit to generate a report

1 Enable and synchronize the XMLPReportServer component.

For information about enabling this component, see Siebel System Administration Guide.


For information about restarting the Siebel Server, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Troubleshooting Errors That Occur Due to Incorrect Configuration File Settings (SBL-DAT-00322)Use one of the following procedures to correct errors that occur due to incorrect configuration file settings (error message SBL-DAT-00322).



168

To troubleshoot for errors when in connected mode

1 Make sure Siebel File System path is correct by doing the following:

a Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, Servers, and then the Components view.

b Query for the Callcenter Object Manager (or other application specific Object Manager, like Siebel Sales or Siebel Service).

c Click the Parameters view tab, and then query for FileSystemManager, and then click Advanced.

d In Siebel File System field, provide the path as \\<machine name>\fs.

e Make sure that the fs directory exists in the D: drive and also that it is shared.


3 Verify that the File System component is running.

4 Verify that CLASSPATH is set in the JVMSubSys profile parameter.

5 Verify that all the required JAR files are included and available in the CLASSPATH.

6 Verify that the CLASSPATH separator is in the correct format for Windows or UNIX.

In UNIX, the CLASSPATH separator is a colon (:). In Windows, the CLASSPATH separator is a semicolon (;).

To troubleshoot for errors when in disconnected mode

1 In the application .cfg file, search for FileSystem, and then add \\<machine name>\fs\att as the value, making sure the fs directory is shared.

2 In the [XMLPReports] section of the .cfg file, make sure this section is defined as follows:

[XMLPReports]XdoDir = /xmlp/templates/ReportOutputDir = /xmlp/reports/ReportDataDir = /xmlp/data/

3 To check whether the file system path is set properly, try to register the template.

If registering the template is successful, you can drill down on the generated XLIFF file. If either browsing the template fails or the drilldown fails, this means that the file system path is not set appropriately.

Troubleshooting XLIFF File ErrorsUse the following procedure when users forget to provide a sample XML data file when generating XLIFF files.

To troubleshoot XLIFF errors

1 Navigate to the Administration - BI Reports screen, then the Sample Data File Generation view.

2 Select the integration object associated with the report, and then click Generate Sample XML.



Troubleshooting the CLASSPATH Settings Using Siebel Server ManagerUse the following procedure to change the CLASSPATH parameter using the Siebel Server Manager utility.

To change the CLASSPATH parameter using Siebel Server Manager

1 Log in to the Server Manager command-line interface (srvrmgr program).

For information on how to start and use the srvrmgr program, see Siebel System Administration Guide.

Execute the following command to change the CLASSPATH:

change param CLASSPATH=SIEBSRVR_ROOT\classes\Siebel.jar; SIEBSRVR_ROOT\classes\SiebelXMLP.jar;SIEBSRVR_ROOT\classes\wlfullclient.jar;

Troubleshooting Oracle BI Publisher Server Login ErrorsUse the following procedure when Oracle BI Publisher login errors occur.

To troubleshoot Oracle BI Publisher Server login errors

1 Navigate to the Administration - Server Configuration screen, then the Servers view.

2 Click the Component view tab, and query for XMLP Report Server.

3 Click the Parameters view tab, query for BIP Server Login, and then enter (or verify) the correct login information for the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

4 While still in the Parameters view tab, query for the BIP Server Password, and then enter (or verify) the correct password for the Oracle BI Publisher Server.

Troubleshooting Alignment Problems in HTML OutputUse the following procedure to troubleshoot alignment problems in HTML output.

To fix alignment problems in HTML output

1 Add a row to the Table Header.

2 Copy the Form fields from the data row in the added row.

3 Delete the previous table that contained the data row.

The single table now contains both header and data row.

Troubleshooting Japanese Font ErrorsUse the following procedure to properly display JPN (Japanese) fonts in Siebel Reports.



170

To create font mapping to display Japanese fonts properly

1 Search for msgothic.ttc, and then copy the file to the computer on which the Oracle BI Publisher Server is installed:

\Java\jdk\jre\lib\fonts

2 Restart OC4J (Oracle Application Server Containers for Java Platform, Enterprise Edition).

3 Launch the Oracle BI Publisher Server URL.

4 Log in to Oracle BI Publisher Server.

5 Navigate to Admin, Runtime configuration, and then Font Mappings.

6 Create the following two font mappings:

■ Arial, Normal, msgothic.ttc

■ Arial, Bold, msgothic.ttc


13 Report Business Service

This chapter describes the Report Business Service and its methods. These methods are used in scripts or workflow processes to automate reporting-related business processes. For example, you can define workflow processes to automate the business processes for generating a report with a specific query, or saving a report in a specific format, or emailing a report to a customer.

This appendix is intended for Siebel configurators. It consists of the following topics:

■ About the Report Business Service on page 171

■ Configuring the Report Business Service on page 172

About the Report Business ServiceMost users are familiar with report generation in the Siebel Business Application views. In these views, users can run a query, and then generate a report interactively or schedule a report for later generation. Subsequently, users can view, print, or share the report with others. This mechanism requires user interaction to accomplish reporting business needs.

Using the Report Business Service business service methods, administrators can generate, share, and print reports automatically without user interaction. Because reports are automatically generated when certain business rules are satisfied, there is no way for the user to pass a query. Therefore, the view mode applied on the report executable is used for obtaining data.

Siebel Business Process Designer, an interactive software tool, lets you automate how your organization handles workflow processes. For more information about Siebel Business Process Designer and workflow processes, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

NOTE: Currently, the Report Business Service business service methods are supported only on run-time events. Therefore, a user must be logged on to trigger an event that will invoke these methods.

Knowledge of Siebel Tools, scripting, Siebel Business Process Designer, and the Oracle BI Publisher Server is necessary to use the Report Business Service report business service methods. Having an understanding of running the business services is also necessary. Administrators can create as many workflow processes as needed to satisfy their business requirements and include the necessary report business service methods as steps (recall that workflow processes can include one or more business services as steps). The report designers can test these workflow processes in the Business Process simulator. For more information about workflow processes and the Business Process simulator, see Siebel Business Process Framework: Workflow Guide.

NOTE: The Reports Business Service report business service methods are executed only in the Siebel Web Client.


Report Business Service ■ Configuring the Report Business Service

172

Configuring the Report Business ServiceThe Report Business Service enables Oracle BI Publisher reports to be executed from the Siebel application using a workflow process, or through scripting. For example, you might want to add a button to invoke report generation. The report is generated in the background by connecting to the Oracle BI Publisher Server. The report output is stored in the Siebel File System and accessed from the My BI Publisher Reports view.

NOTE: The Reports Business Service cannot be executed on the Mobile Web Client.

For detailed information about using the Report Business Service service and its methods, see 823360.1 (Article ID) on My Oracle Support.


Index

Aadministering reports 69

Ccopying JAR files to the Oracle BI Publisher

Server 47custom reports

creating new integration objects for 110creating, process of 106extending integration objects for Siebel

Reports 109process of creating, diagram of 107

Ddebugging

disabling for Siebel Reports in disconnected mode 160

enabling for Siebel Reports in disconnected mode 159

deleting scheduled reports 129deploying reports to the Siebel Web Client

from a disconnected client 69description of 104directory structure for Siebel Reports

DATA directory, described 31FONTS directory, described 31REPORTS, directory described 31TEMPLATES directory, described 31xliff directory, described 31

disabling external file references for the Oracle BI Publisher Server 48

documentation, where to find previous versions of Siebel Reports 38

Eenabling and configuring report scheduling,

process of 62error messages, troubleshooting for

reports 162Extensible Markup Language

See XMLExtensible Stylesheet Language

See XSLExtensible Stylesheet Language

Transformation

See XSLTExtensible Stylesheet Language-Formatting

ObjectsSee XSL-FO

Ggenerating reports 92

about 89example of 94monitoring the status of 94scenario for 90workflow for connected mode 28workflow for generating in disconnected

mode 29generating reports (diagram) 92

Iintegrating Oracle BI Publisher with Siebel

Business Applicationsguidelines for 37preparation tasks for 43process of installing and configuring Oracle BI

Publisher 44roadmap for 40

integration objects for Siebel Reportscreating new 110extending to add new fields to a report 109

JJAR files for the Oracle BI Publisher Server,

adding an explicit reference to 59

Llanguages

adding to report layout templates 79deleting from report layout templates 79

logging for Siebel Reportsenabling logging for in the Siebel

application 157setting log levels for using the GUI 157setting log levels for using the Server Manager

(srvrmgr) 158logging for the Oracle BI Publisher Server

about enabling 159


Index ■ M

174

Mmaster-detail reports

about 131creating master-detail layout templates in

Microsoft Word 136example of comparing the Service Request

Activity (All) report with its corresponding layout template 132

using 131migrating reports

migrating an integration object for a report 144

migrating new reports after creating new integration objects 145

migrating the report files to the target environment 141

moving database records to the target environment 143

packaging and migrating reports, process of 140

packaging database records in the source environment 142

packaging the report files in the source environment 140

requirements for 139multilingual reports

about working with 75adding and deleting languages from report

layout templates 79designing 77uploading to the Siebel application, example

of 78

OOC4J, starting and stopping 49optimization

enabling scalable mode for Siebel Reports 84increasing EAI HTTP transport sleep time

for 87optimizing performance for large data

volumes, process of 84setting a temporary directory on the Oracle BI

Publisher Server for 86setting concurrency parameters for 82setting the report execution wait time for 81setting the server request processor wait time

for 82Oracle BI Publisher

starting and stopping 49Oracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft

WordSee Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Add-in for Microsoft Word

Oracle BI Publisher Enterprise, installing 44Oracle BI Publisher repository

about 33changing the location of for Siebel

Reports 73Oracle BI Publisher Server

about 32adding an explicit reference to JAR files 59copying JAR files to 47disabling external file references for 48

Oracle BI Publisher-Siebel application interaction 33

Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word

about using with Siebel Reports 24advantages of using 25Excel Analyzer feature 26installing 46menu and toolbar, example of 25Template Builder feature 26Template Viewer feature 26using to create report layout templates 113

Pparameter type

Checkbox, described 148Date, described 148DateTime, described 148Label, described 149LOV, described 148Number, described 148Text, described 148TextArea, described 149

parameter validation, about 152parameterized reports

about 147about defining parameters in the report

template 149about referencing parameters in the report

layout template 149creating, process of 152example of generating 155how they are generated 147

purging reportsautomatically purging from the Siebel File

System 71from the Oracle BI Publisher Server 72

purging scheduled reports 72

Rregistering report layout templates,

about 104report execution modes comparison,

Index ■ S


diagram of 34report layout template views 104report layout templates

creating using Oracle BI Publisher Add-in for Microsoft Word 113

defining for selected records 119diagram for uploading to a Siebel

application 102registering 114registering and sharing, about 104sharing 118workflow for uploading to a Siebel

application 102report parameters

about defining in the Siebel application 150report sequence order, changing in the

Reports Menu 120report templates

about multiorganizational templates 104visibility across organizations, scenario

for 105report translation, about 80reports

about generating 89about parameterized reports 147adding multiple integration objects to 117associating registered reports with application

views 120creating 99deleting 97determining the report language at run

time 76determining whether to modify existing or

creating custom 105generating 92generating an opportunity report, example

of 94generating sample XML data files for 112generating, diagram of 92parameter types and attributes, about 148registering and sharing report layout

templates, about 104registering report layout templates 114reporting across multiple Siebel business

objects 101scenario for creating custom 99setting language and locale user

preferences 97troubleshooting 157uploading report layout templates to a Siebel

application, workflow for 102using master-detail reports 131viewing previously generated reports 96

Reports Business Service

about 171configuring 172

Reports menuchanging the report sequence order 120sample diagram of 89using to generate reports 89

Sscenario

creating custom reports 99scheduled reports

about 123deleting 129enabling and configuring, process of 62example of 126monitoring and viewing 127procedure for 124

sharing report layout templates, about 104Siebel application-Oracle BI Publisher

interaction 33Siebel Reports

about 21about integration objects for 100about using 22administering 69architecture, described 27development environment, described 27directory structure, described 31file types, described 32overview of 21report execution in connected mode 35report execution in disconnected mode 35report output files types 22upgrading, roadmap for 66uploading preconfigured reports to the Oracle

BI Publisher Server 61users, described 23using Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher

Add-in for Microsoft Word with 24workflow for generating reports in connected

mode 28workflow for generating reports in

disconnected mode 29

Ttesting integration configurations for Siebel

Reports 65troubleshooting reports

alignment problems in JPN and PSJ environments 165

class name incorrect errors 163class not found errors when previewing

reports in Microsoft Word 161


Index ■ U

176

class not found errors when previewing reports in Microsoft Word, guidelines for 160

column alignment problems in HTML and EXCEL 165

custom Java classes 163error after clicking Submit to generate a

report 162error due to special character violations 164error messages for 162error while uploading files to Oracle BI

Publisher 166errors relating to the Siebel File System or

XMLP directory 164errors while running 162incorrect path settings in configuration

files 162Oracle BI Publisher run-time errors 163Oracle BI Publisher Server login errors 163report definition errors 164XLIFF errors 163

Uupgrading

Oracle BI Publisher to version 10.1.3.4.1 from 10.1.3.4.0 67

Siebel Reports, roadmap for 66

uploading files to Oracle BI Publisher errorSBL-EAI-04308 166SBL-EAI-05010 166

user preferences, setting language and locale for reports 97

using Siebel Reports, requirements for 38

WWeb service

PublicReportService Web service, about 33workflow

generating reports in connected mode 28generating reports in disconnected mode 29

XXLIFF (XML Localization Interchange File

Format), described 32XML (Extensible Markup Language),

described 32XPath (XML Path Language), described 32XSL (Extensible Stylesheet Language),

described 32XSL-FO (Extensible Stylesheet Language-

Formatting Objects), described 32XSLT (Extensible Stylesheet Language

Transformation), described 32

Siebel Reports Guide

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