ODTUG 2007 Presentations

Hello everyone. Just wanted to let you know that I have had two papers accepted for this year's ODTUG Kaleidoscope conference in Daytona Beach, Florida.

The two papers are entitled:

• Securing private information
• Automated scheduling and e-mailing from within Discoverer

Securing private information

Recent high-profile cases have highlighted the need for data such as social security numbers, dates of birth and ethnicity to be protected.

Have you considered securing your private and confidential information but decided it was too difficult?

If so, come to ODTUG in June and let me show you how to use the database to secure your organization's information. Using profiles and a VPD, you will see how to set up both row-based and column-based security. I will of course use Discoverer to demonstrate how the data has been protected.

The second part of the presentation will show you how you to set up a mechanism to allow your support staff to connect to the database using the same profile as an end user, without the need to know the end user's password. This will also be demonstrated using Discoverer.

Thus, you can set up a secure environment yet at the same time enable your support staff to help your users without the security breach of a disclosed password.

Automated scheduling and e-mailing from within Discoverer

As a regular contributor to Oracle OTN forums I am frequently asked how to do this and how to do that. Many of the answers that I give relate to the advanced use of Discoverer in ways that it was not designed to do in it's standard mode.

One of the most frequently asked questions that comes up is how to automate the scheduling and emailing of Discoverer reports. Using a combination of powerpoint and a live demonstration, I will show attendees just how to use the Discoverer command-line interface in conjunction with a third-party scheduler and third-party command-line email tool to do exactly this.

The second half of my presentation will be a live demonstration of how to set up Discoverer to allow the creation of lists of values that comprise both an ID and a Description at the same time. The live demonstration will use a combination of both Discoverer Administrator and Discoverer Plus to show parameters that will accept either an ID or Description, yet still returning the description to the user.

Summary

Both of these presentations will be in my usual style yet will cover a couple of really complex issues that have constantly been asked for on the forums.

By providing attendees with these practical hints and tips, I am hopeful that attendees will come away with a better understanding of the power of Discoverer.

Being a member of Oracle's business intelligence customer advisory board, the author of the Oracle Discoverer 10g Handbook, and an Oracle ACE, I probably know Discoverer better than most. Who better, therefore, to show you how to make the most of the amazing product that is Oracle Discoverer?