06 RTF Templates

Table of Contents
Table of Contents........................................................................................................................ 1
Methods of RTF Template Creation.............................................................................................2
What Is Oracle BI Publisher Desktop?.........................................................................................2
Basic Method............................................................................................................................... 3
Finishing the Basic Method..........................................................................................................4
Viewing the Report...................................................................................................................... 4
Viewing the Report...................................................................................................................... 5
Viewing the Report...................................................................................................................... 6
Viewing the Report...................................................................................................................... 7
Form Field Method....................................................................................................................... 8
Loading the XML Data.................................................................................................................9
Loading the XML Data.................................................................................................................9
Inserting the Field...................................................................................................................... 10
Progress So Far......................................................................................................................... 11
Creating Your Table................................................................................................................... 12
Inserting Table/Form.................................................................................................................. 13
Selecting G_RESPS.................................................................................................................. 14
Dropping the Nodes................................................................................................................... 14
Your Finished Template............................................................................................................. 15
Previewing Your Report............................................................................................................. 15
Viewing the Report.................................................................................................................... 16
Designing the RTF Template.....................................................................................................17
Premarkup Layout..................................................................................................................... 17
Student Lab............................................................................................................................... 17

Methods of RTF Template Creation

Although there are a virtually limitless number of ways that RTF templates for Oracle BI
Publisher could be created, only two methods are supported:

Basic RTF method

Form field method

Methods of Creating RTF Templates

Basic RTF method: Using any word-processing application that supports RTF version 1.6 (or
later) to design a template using Oracle BI Publishers simplified syntax
Form Field method: Using Microsoft Words form field feature, place the syntax in hidden form
fields rather than directly into your design. Oracle BI Publisher supports this using Microsoft
Word 2000 (or later) running Microsoft Windows 2000 (or later).

What Is Oracle BI Publisher Desktop?

following functions:

Insert data fields.

Insert data-driven tables.

Insert data-driven forms.

Insert data-driven charts.

Preview your template with sample XML data.

Browse and update the content of form fields.

Extract boilerplate text into an XLIFF translation file and test translations.

All of these steps, and many others, can be performed manually. Oracle BI Publisher
Desktop simplifies the common tasks associated with creating an Oracle BI Publisher
RTF template.

Oracle BI Publisher Desktop is available for download from MetaLink. Use patch
#4461378 (or later as directed) to obtain the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop program.

Basic Method
Start with the User Listing Start 2.rtf file. Edit the RTF template using the basic method to
place the fields.

Start Microsoft Word.

In the template, you replace all the text within < > (angle brackets) with the
appropriate Oracle BI Publisher tags.

Enter <?USER_NAME?> in the User Name field.

Enter <?for-each:G_RESPS?> and <?APPLICATION_NAME?> in the

Application Name column of the table.

Enter <?RESPONSIBILITY_NAME?> and <?START_DATE?> in the

corresponding columns.

By default, the User Listing Start 2.rtf file is kept at the following directory path:
D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\
By default, you use Microsoft Word to create and edit your RTF files. But, any program capable
of creating and editing RTF files can be used for the Basic method. The Form Field method
relies upon the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop plug-in that works only with Microsoft Word 2000
and later.

Finishing the Basic Method

Enter <?END_DATE?> and <end for-each?> in the End Date column of the
table.

Save the new template as User Listing End 2.rtf.

Exit Microsoft Word.

Viewing the Report

Start Oracle BI Publisher Viewer:

Why do you use the Template Viewer? In most cases, if you have to put in fields using the Basic
method, you are doing so for one of three reasons.
1.

You prefer the Basic method.

2.

You are using an editor other than Microsoft Word 2000 or later.

3.

You are entering advanced tags.

Most users do not use the Basic method by preference. They do so either because they are not
using Microsoft Word, or they are using advanced tags. Because you are not using any
advanced tags in this exercise, assume that you are not using Microsoft Word.
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If you are using Microsoft Word, you could view the results of your report directly within Oracle
BI Publisher Desktop. But the Template Viewer reproduces the same capabilities, and it has
capabilities that are not available to you via Microsoft Word, namely viewer PDF templates.

Viewing the Report

Point the Template Viewer to your working directory.

In this case, your working directory is:

D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\

Viewing the Report

Select the Data source (FNDSCURX.xml)

Select the Template (User Listing End 2.rtf)

Select the Output Format (PDF)

Click the Start Processing button to produce your output.

Viewing the Report

If you have done everything correctly, you should see Adobe Acrobat Reader open with the
output of your report. If not, you have done something in error, and you need to return to
Microsoft Word to edit your file until it produces the correct output.

Form Field Method

Start with the User Listing Start.rtf file. Edit the RTF template using the Form Field
method to place the fields.
1. Start Microsoft Word.
2. In the template, you replace all the text within < > (angle brackets) with the
appropriate Oracle BI Publisher tags.
3. Before you can use the Form Field method, you must load the associated
XML data.

By default, the User Listing Start 2.rtf file is kept at the following directory path:
D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\
By default, we are using Microsoft Word to create and edit our RTF files. But, any program
capable of creating and editing RTF files can be used for the Basic Method. The Form Field
Method will rely upon the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop plug-in that only works in Microsoft Word
2000 and later.

Loading the XML Data

1. Load the XML data using the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop (Template
Builder) menu.

Loading the XML Data

1. Select your XML data source (FNDSCURX.xml), and check for the confirmation
message.

2. Choose Insert > Field from the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop menu.

Inserting the Field

1. When the Field selector opens, select USER_NAME from the list, and then
click Insert.

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Progress So Far
1. Your RTF template should look similar to the following at this point:

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1. Notice that the USER_NAME field is GRAY

form field.

in color, indicating that it is a

Creating Your Table

1. Create a data table for the rest of the data. Unlike the basic method, you are
not going to start with a table created for you. You are going to allow
Oracle BI Publisher Desktop create one for you.
2. Choose Insert > Table/Form > Advanced from the menu.

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Inserting Table/Form
3. This opens the Insert Table/Form window.

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Selecting G_RESPS
4. Click G_RESPS in the Data Source pane, and drag it to the Template pane.
5. You are prompted to select Drop Single Node, Drop All Nodes, or Cancel. Select
Drop All Nodes to grab the four fields beneath G_RESPS.

Dropping the Nodes

6. When you drop all the nodes, the Template pane will look as follows:

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7. Click the OK button in the Insert Table/Form window to save your work, and return
to the template.

Your Finished Template

8. When you return to your template, your table will have been created for you. Your
template should look similar to the following:

9. Notice that it has created the table, created the fields in the table, and created the
<for-each> looping mechanism to loop through all the data.

Previewing Your Report

1. Save your template as User Listing End.rtf.
2. You can preview your results within Microsoft Word, or you can use the
Template Viewer. Within Word, choose Preview > PDF from the menu.

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Viewing the Report

If you have done everything correctly, you should see Adobe Acrobat Reader open with the
output of your report. If not, you have done something in error, and you need to return to
Microsoft Word to edit your file until it produces the correct output.
Your report should look exactly the same whether you produce it from within Microsoft Word or
you use the Template Viewer.

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Designing the RTF Template

Premarkup layout

Supported native formatting features

Add markup

Images and charts

Template features

Conditional formatting

Page-level calculations

Data handling

Variables, parameters, and properties

Advanced report layouts

Premarkup Layout
Oracle BI Publisher converts all formatting that you apply in the word-processing
program to XSL-FO. But, some features of your word processor may not be mappable to
XSL-FO.

Student Lab

Complete the files using the Basic and Form Field methods outlined in the
lesson. Test both methods via Template Viewer and within Microsoft Word
to ensure that everything works.

Follow the same steps on your PC.

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1. Open Microsoft Word.

2. Open the starting template, D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher
Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\User Listing Start 2.rtf.
3. Replace the <Put USER_NAME here> marker with <?USER_NAME?>.
4. Replace the <put APPLICATION_NAME here> marker with <?
APPLICATION_NAME?>.
5. Replace the <put RESPONSIBILITY_NAME here> marker with <?
RESPONSIBILITY_NAME?>.
6. Replace the <put START_DATE here> marker with <?START_DATE?>.
7. Replace the <put END_DATE here> marker with <?END_DATE?>.
8. Replace the <put for-each here> marker with <?for-each:G_RESPS?>.
9. Replace the <put end for-each here> marker with <?end for-each?>.
10. Save your progress at User Listing End 2.rtf.
11. Exit Microsoft Word.
12. Start the Template Viewer (Start > Programs > Oracle XML Publisher Desktop >
Template Viewer).
13. Point to the D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher Desktop\samples\RTF
templates\User Listing\ directory.
14. Select FNDSCURX.xml as your Data.
15. Select User Listing End 2.rtf as your Template.
16. Set the Output Format drop-down to the format of your choice (for example,
PDF).
17. Click the Start Processing button.
18. View the resulting output.
19. Close the output.
20. Open Microsoft Word.
21. Open the starting template, D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher
Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\User Listing Start.rtf.
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22. Load the XML data at D:\Program Files\Oracle\XML Publisher

Desktop\samples\RTF templates\User Listing\FNDSCURX.xml.
23. Choose Insert > Field from the menu to replace the <INSERT USER NAME
HERE> marker.
24. Position your cursor in the document where you wish to create your data table at
the <INSERT TABLE OF RESPONSIBILITIES HERE> marker.
25. Choose Insert > Table/Form > Advanced from the menu.
26. Click <G_RESPS> and drag it from the Data Source pane to the Template pane.
27. Select Drop All Nodes when prompted.
28. Click the OK button to insert the data table.
29. Save your progress as User Listing End.rtf.
30. Preview your report within Microsoft Word by choosing Preview > PDF (or the
output format of your choice).
31. Exit Microsoft Word.

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