FAQ Oracle Reports
10g (10.1.2) FAQ

Generic

 

 

Generic

About Oracle Reports

What is Oracle Reports?
Oracle Reports is an enterprise reporting tool used by thousands of organizations in the world today to produce high quality, production reports. These reports dynamically retrieve, format, and publish information in any format to an unlimited number of recipients, and are easily dynamically generated via the web.
Top of Page

What is the latest release and version of Oracle Reports?

The latest release of Oracle Reports is 10g Release 2 (10.1.2). The previous release of Oracle Reports was 10g (9.0.4).

I bought Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2, but this does not contain Oracle Reports. Why, and what are my options now?

Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) was released in two phases. The first phase (version number 10.1.2.0.0) contained several components such as Oracle Portal, OracleAS Containers for J2EE (OC4J), Oracle Discoverer, and so on. But this phase did not contain certain other components such as Oracle Reports, Oracle Forms, and so on. That is the reason you did not get Oracle Reports.

The second phase (version number 10.1.2.0.2) contains all the OracleAS components, including phase 1 components, Oracle Reports, Oracle Forms, and so on. As a result, if you buy or upgrade to Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.0), you will not get Oracle Reports. To get Oracle Reports functionality, you must buy or upgrade to Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.2).

If you have already bought and installed Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2.0.0), you need to upgrade to version 10.1.2.0.2 to get Oracle Reports functionality. Refer to the following documents for detailed upgrade information:

  • Oracle Application Server Upgrade and Compatibility Guide for UNIX
  • Oracle Application Server Upgrade and Compatibility Guide for Windows

The above documents are available on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).
Top of Page

What are the new features of Oracle Reports 10g (10.1.2)?

The major features introduced in Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) are:

  • A new destination format SPREADSHEET that allows you to generate output from paper layout reports to HTML files that can be directly opened with Microsoft Excel 2000. This output format preserves the rich layout formatting such as colors, fonts, conditional formatting, graphs, and images in the Excel output.
  • Text formatting enhancements that allow you to use a defined set of inline HTML formatting tags (e.g., <b>, <i> and so on) to format text. These formatting tags are honored in all bitmap output formats (HTML, HTMLCSS, Printer, Screen, PDF, RTF, and PostScript).
  • The capability to apply external style sheets and user-defined styles to your report for HTMLCSS output.
  • Enhanced implementation of font subsetting for PDF output, which enables you to create reports that are clearer, accessible, and searchable.
  • Standards compliance of HTML / HTMLCSS output (HTML 4.01) and XML output (XML 1.1).
  • Graph enhancements, for example, the ability to specify date-sorting order in every graph, support for dashed and dotted lines, and the ability to specify time format.
  • Capability to send report output to a WebDAV-enabled Virtual Private Portal.
  • New performance metrics and more extensive Reports engine management via OracleAS Control Enterprise Manager.
  • Java-based communication architecture that overcomes Visibroker's non-availability on HP Tru-64 machines, among other benefits.
  • Performance improvements, especially in loading HTMLCSS output in the browser.
  • Document Taxonomy properties are now available in SPREADSHEET output as well, in addition to the PDF output.

For more information about these features refer to the white paper Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) New Features available on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).
Top of Page

What new features were introduced in Oracle Reports 10g (9.0.4)?

The major features that were introduced in Oracle Reports 10g (9.0.4) are:

  • Extensive image format support:
    • Support for PNG, GIF, BMP, JPEG, Progressive JPEG, and Exif JPEG image formats in your report.
    • Ability to specify the image format for report output - GIF, JPEG, PNG or BMP.
  • PDF taxonomy that allows you to specify document properties such as author, keywords, and so on for PDF output.
  • Ability to control the order in which report sections (Header, Main, and Trailer) should be formatted.
  • Enhanced integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager.
  • Integration with Oracle Workflow, which can be used to call Oracle Reports Services from your business process.
  • Oracle Reports Web service.
  • New destination types FTP Server and WebDAV.
  • Dynamic environment switching within a single Reports Server.
  • Removal of dependency on the DISPLAY environment variable for Oracle Reports runtime on UNIX platforms.
  • Removal of dependency on a valid printer for Oracle Reports runtime on UNIX platforms.
  • Enhanced logging and security.

Top of Page

Have any features been deprecated and desupported in Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2)?

The following functionality is deprecated in Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2):

The following functionality is obsolete in Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2):

  • Running Reports Server as a Windows service: Instead of running the Reports Server as a Windows service, configure and run the Reports Server through Oracle Process Manager and Notification Server (OPMN). Refer to Oracle Application Server Reports Services Publishing Reports to the Web for more information.

For a description of the functionality deprecated and desupported since Oracle6i Reports, refer to the white paper A Guide to Functional Changes between Oracle Reports 6i and 10g available on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN).

Top of Page

Where can I find more information on Oracle Reports?
More information can be found on Oracle Reports 10g page on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN). Here you will find links to documentation for building as well as publishing reports. When you click Getting Started with Oracle Reports, you will find additional examples, demonstrations, tools, sample code, and white papers.
Top of Page

Availability

How do I buy Oracle Reports?
There are two pieces to Oracle Reports - Reports Developer (for developing reports) and Reports Services (for publishing your reports). The Reports Developer is part of both the following products, so you can license either of these products depending on your requirements .

  • Oracle Developer Suite 10g Release 2 (10.1.2).
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Tools 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) .

Oracle Reports Services is part of all of the following products, so you can license any of these products depending on your requirements.

  • Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Enterprise Edition.
  • Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Forms and Reports Services.
  • Oracle Business Intelligence 10g Release 2 (10.1.2).

For details on licensing and pricing, refer to http://www.oracle.com.
Top of Page

What platforms is Oracle Reports available on?
Since Oracle Reports is part of Oracle Application Server, it is available on all platforms that Oracle Application Server is certified with. These platforms include Microsoft Windows, Linux, and UNIX-based platforms. For detailed certification information, consult the certfication matrix on Metalink.
Top of Page

Is Oracle Reports available on Windows XP?
Oracle Application Server (and thus Oracle Reports) is certified on Windows XP. For detailed certification information, consult the certification matrix on Metalink.
Top of Page

How is Oracle Reports installed?
There are two pieces to Oracle Reports - development and deployment. The development environment (Reports Developer) can be installed in either of the following ways:

  • Oracle Developer Suite 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) by choosing Complete installation option.
  • Oracle Business Intelligence Tools 10g Release 2 (10.1.2).

The deployment environment (Reports Services) is installed with all of the following products:

  • Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Enterprise Edition by choosing the BI and Forms installation option.
  • Oracle Application Server 10g Release 2 (10.1.2) Forms and Reports Services.
  • Oracle Business Intelligence 10g Release 2 (10.1.2).

Top of Page

Configuration

I get SQL errors when I run my Oracle Portal install scripts, what could be wrong?
It is normal to get some errors in the Oracle Portal install script. For example, all of the drops will create errors if any of the objects does not exist. Also, you will get an error that a procedure called get_version failed. This is normal since we check which version of Oracle Portal is installed. One or more of the versions may not exist, so this error is displayed.
Top of Page

Data sources

Does Oracle Reports work with non-Oracle data sources?
Oracle Reports supports the following data sources: Oracle SQL, JDBC, XML, text files, and Oracle OLAP. Using JDBC, you can access any database for which a JDBC driver is available, for example, Microsoft SQL Server, IBM DB2, Sybase, and Informix. Additionally, using the Pluggable Data Source Java API, you can create your own access mechanisms that allow you to use data in your specific format in your report. You can get data from any number of different data sources in a single report, and authenticate the user against all of them by using Oracle Single Sign-On.
Top of Page

Java

Is there a Java Interface for communicating with the Reports Server from other Java Applications ?

Since Oracle Reports 10g (9.0.4), Oracle Reports Services has had the ability to be exposed as a Web service. Oracle Reports provides the necessary public interfaces and bindings required to be exposed and to function as a Web service. This functionality enables any application developer to easily integrate Oracle Reports in their application. Refer to Oracle Application Server Reports Services Publishing Reports to the Web available on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) for more information about Oracle Reports Web service.

Additionally, Oracle Reports has a wealth of documented Java APIs that allow you to extend its functionality. You can create various plugins to create new data sources, destinations, your own security mechanism, and so on. Specifically, Oracle Reports provides you Java APIs to create:

  • Pluggable data sources.
  • Pluggable destinations.
  • Pluggable engines.
  • Pluggable notification.
  • Pluggable security service.
  • Pluggable cache manager.

Refer to Oracle Reports SDK (Software Development Kit) for documentation of Oracle Reports' pluggable Java API and sample implementation code.

Further, you can include Java business logic in your report by using the Java Importer facility. See Oracle Reports online Help available on the Oracle Technology Network (OTN) for more information on Java Importer.
Top of Page

XML

What is the extent of XML support in Reports?
Oracle Reports provides extensive support for XML. You can get data from XML files into your report, you can create or save your entire report definition in XML format, and you can get the report output in XML. Additionally, Oracle Reports allows you to specify runtime report customizations in XML format.
Top of Page

Migration

I am currently using an older version of Oracle Reports, for example, Oracle6i Reports. Where do I get more information on migration?
If you are using any old version of Oracle Reports, especially version 6i or older, you should immediately migrate to Oracle Reports 10g Release 2 (10.1.2). It is not necessary to migrate to an intermediate version like Oracle9i Reports or Oracle Reports 10g (9.0.4). You can get all the migration-related information and documents on the Reports Migration page on Oracle Technology Network.
Top of Page

Copyright and Corporate Info