Lesson 4: Exporting Results, Scheduling and Sharing Reports
Lesson 4: Exporting Results; Printing, Scheduling, and Sharing Reports
Overview
In this lesson you will learn how to export query results to
Microsoft Excel (as a pivot table or as a Web query) and to PDF format. You
will also learn how to schedule a workbook, and how to print and share your
reports.
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Exporting Results to Other Applications
Using Discoverer Plus Relational you can export query results to other applications, such as Microsoft Excel, CSV, XML, PDF, and many other formats.
Open the Annual Sales & Profits worksheet from the Sales by Channel workbook, which you created in the topic titled "Using Graphs to Visualize Data" in Lesson 3 of this OBE tutorial.
2.
Select File > Export from the menu bar to start the
Export Wizard.
Select the Current worksheet option and select both
the Crosstab and Graph check boxes.
3.
Click Next to proceed to the Format and Name page of
the Export Wizard.
Select Microsoft Excel Workbook with PivotTable (*.xls) from the Crosstab drop-down list.
Click the Browse button and select the folder on
your local drive in which you want to save the Excel file.
Enter a name in the Name field (for example, Sales by Channel_Annual Sales & Profits) or accept the default name.
4.
Click Next to proceed to the Graph page of the Export
Wizard. Select the Use Current On Screen Size radio button
option (or, optionally, select the height and width that you want to use
for the exported graph.)
5.
Click Next to proceed to the Supervise page of the Export
Wizard. Select the Supervised option if you want to overlook
the export process, or select the Unsupervised option,
which will resolve any problems automatically.
6.
Click Finish; the Export Log window is displayed. The Sheet Name, File Name, and Status of the exported objects are shown.
7.
Select the Open the first exported sheet check box and
click the OK button to complete the export process. The
Excel sheet with the pivot table of the workbook that is created opens
to display the results of your query.
(Optional) Explore the features of the Excel pivot table (for example, toggle between page item values or pivot items to create a different layout. Select Insert > Chart from the Excel menu bar to view or edit the graph that's linked to the pivot table.)
Exporting to Web Query for Microsoft Excel (*.iqy)
Exporting the results of a query from Discoverer Plus Relational to
Microsoft Excel offers great advantages. You can store the results of your queries
to your local drive, for example, and you can use Excel to analyze data further.
Exporting query results from Discoverer to Excel as a Web Query offers two additional
advantages: It enables secure access to data through Excel, and it ensures that
the data that you see in Excel is the latest version of the data that exists
in the database.
To export query results to Web Query for Microsoft Excel,
perform the following steps:
1.
Open the Profit Growth by Quarter worksheet from the Profits Analysis workbook, which you created in the topic titled "Creating Advanced Calculations and Conditions, and Using Parameters" in Lesson 3 of this OBE tutorial.
2.
Select File > Export from the menu bar to start the
Export Wizard. Select the Current worksheet option and
select the Crosstab check box.
3.
Click Next to proceed to the Format and Name page of
the Export Wizard.
Select Web Query for Microsoft Excel 2000+ (*.iqy) from the Crosstab drop-down list.
Select GIF Image (*.gif) from the Graph drop-down list.
Click the Browse button and select the folder on
your local drive in which you want to save the Excel file.
Enter a name in the Name field (for example, Profits Analysis_Profit Growth by Quarter) or accept the default name.
4.
Click Next to proceed to the Supervise page of the Export
Wizard. Select the Supervised option if you want to overlook
the export process, or select the Unsupervised option,
which will resolve any problems automatically.
5.
Click Finish; the Export Log window is displayed. The Sheet Name, File Name, and Status of the exported objects are shown.
6.
Select the Open the first exported sheet check box and
click the OK button to complete the export process. Microsoft
Excel opens and you are prompted to enter the password for the current
user.
7.
Enter bi_user for the password and click the OK
button. MS Excel connects to the database, and then retrieves and displays
the results.
Exporting to Portable Document Format (*.pdf)
To export query results in PDF format, perform the following steps:
Open the Quarterly Sales for Europe worksheet from the Sales by Channel workbook, which you created in the topic titled "Using Graphs to Present Data" in Lesson 3 of this OBE tutorial.
2.
Select File > Export from the menu bar to start the
Export Wizard. Select the Current worksheet option and
select both the Table and Graph check
boxes.
3.
Click Next to proceed to the Format and Name page of
the Export Wizard.
Select Portable Document Format (*.pdf) from the Table drop-down list.
Click the Browse button and select the folder on
your local drive in which you want to save the PDF file.
Enter a name in the Name field (for example, Sales by Channel_Quarterly Sales for Europe ) or accept the default name.
4.
Click Next to proceed to the Graph page of the Export
Wizard. Select the Specify option. Select the Preserve
the Ratio of Height and Width and the Preserve the On
Screen Font Size check boxes, and then enter 500 pixels (or less)
in the Width field.
5.
Click Next to proceed to the Supervise page of the Export
Wizard. Select the Supervised option if you want to overlook
the export process, or select the Unsupervised option,
which will resolve any problems automatically.
6.
Click Finish; the Export Log window is displayed. The Sheet Name, File Name, and Status of the exported objects are shown.
7.
Select the Open the first exported sheet check box and
click the OK button to complete the export process. If
Adobe Acrobat Reader is installed on your computer, the exported PDF file
opens to display the results in PDF format.
Printing, Sharing, and Scheduling Workbooks
Using Discoverer Plus Relational you can print the results of your queries, you can share your workbooks with other users, and you can schedule long running queries to run during off-peak hours. In this topic you will learn how to print a worksheet or an entire workbook, how to share a workbook with other users, and how to schedule a workbook.
Open the Sales by Subcategory worksheet from the Profits Analysis workbook, which you created in the topic titled "Creating Advanced Calculations and Conditions, and Using Parameters" in Lesson 3 of this OBE tutorial. (Note: Select the Electronics and Photo values for the Category parameter, and then select all the values for the Subcategory parameter.)
2.
Select View from the menu bar and select the Title
check box.
Double-click inside the title area; the Edit Title dialog box is displayed.
Use the Insert drop-down list and select Workbook
Name, Sheet Name, and Parameters
(one at a time) to create the following title:
&WorkbookName: &WorksheetName
&Parameters
3.
Click the OK button to close the Edit Title dialog box.
4.
Select View from the menu bar and select the Text
Area check box.
Double-click inside the text area; the Edit Text Area dialog box is displayed.
Enter This report was created on: directly into the Text
area followed by a space. Then, select Date from the
Insert drop-down list.
5.
Click the OK button to close the Edit Text Area dialog
box.
6.
Select File > Save from the menu bar to save the changes you made to the Profits Analysis workbook. Do not close the workbook.
7.
Select File > Print Preview from the menu bar.
The Print Preview window opens. Preview all the pages using the default page setup (portrait, 8.5 x 11).
8.
Click the Page Setup button at the bottom of the Print
Preview window; the Page Setup dialog box opens.
Select the Landscape option for Orientation.
Select the Print on First Page Only option for Title.
Select the Print on Every Page option for Text Area.
Select the Print All Page Item Combinations option
for Page Items.
9.
Click the Preview button; the Print Preview window opens.
Use the navigation buttons at the upper right side of the Print Preview
window to preview all the pages.
10.
Optionally, click the Print button to print the report.
Otherwise, click the Close button to close the Print
Preview window.
Sharing a Workbook
To share a workbook with one or more users, perform the following
steps:
Open any one of the worksheets in the Profits Analysis workbook (if one is not already open), and then select File > Share from the menu bar.
2.
The Share Workbook window opens. Enter Scott in the
Search field and click the Go button. The database user
SCOTT should be the only
user shown in the Available list.
3.
Click the Share all button to copy SCOTT
to the Shared list.
Alternatively, use the scroll bar in the Available list to select the
database users with whom you want to share your workbook. (Press and hold
the [Ctrl] key to select multiple users.) Select PUBLIC
to share the workbook with all Discoverer Plus Relational users.
4.
Click the OK button to close the Share Workbook window.
Scheduling a Workbook
To schedule a workbook to run at a later time, perform the
following steps:
Open any one of the worksheets in the Profits Analysis workbook (if one is not already open), and then select File > Schedule from the menu bar.
Step 1 of the 'Schedule Wizard is displayed. Change the name for the
workbook to Profits Analysis_Scheduled. By default, all
three of the worksheets included in the Profits Analysis workbook are
selected. Clear the Profit Growth by Quarter and Margins
by Product check boxes.
2.
Click Next to proceed to the next step of the wizard.
The Parameter Values page is displayed. Select the Electronics
and the Photo product categories for the Category parameter.
Hint: Use the search (flashlight) button to select values
for the Category parameter.
3.
Click Next to proceed to the next step of the wizard.
The Schedule page is displayed.
4.
Click the Calendar button; the Calendar dialog box opens.
Select the date on which you want to schedule the query to run, and then
click the OK button to close the Calendar dialog box.
5.
In the Time field, select the hour segment first and then the minutes, and use the up or down arrows to specify the time that you want to schedule
the query to execute.
Note: For the purpose of this example, schedule the query to run 5 minutes past the current time.
6.
Accept the default selections for the remaining options and click the Finish button.
7.
Select File > Exit from the menu bar to exit Discoverer Plus Relational. Wait for at least 5 minutes, then reconnect to Discoverer Plus Relational.
At the first page of the Workbook Wizard, click Cancel to exit the wizard.
8.
Select Tools > Manage Schedules from the menu bar.
The Scheduling Manager window opens. Click the workbook name to select it.
9.
Click the Edit button. The Edit Scheduled Workbook window is displayed. Use the Schedule tabbed page to reschedule the report.
Use the Parameter Values tabbed page to edit the parameter values, and the General tabbed page to enter a description for the completed report.
10.
Click the Share button. The Share Workbooks window is
displayed. Select a user (for example, SCOTT)
with whom to share the results of the completed report.
11.
Click the plus (+) sign next to the workbook name, and
then click the Results 1 report to select it.
Click the Open button to open the report.
Summary
In this lesson you learned how to export query results to
Microsoft Excel (as a pivot table or as a Web query) and to PDF format. You
also learned how to schedule a workbook, and how to print and share your reports.
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