Background

This blog assumes some basic knowledge of Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) - BI Publisher (BIP), Oracle Analytics Publisher (BIP) Desktop, and RTF Templates.

For those who have never used BIP before, the Create Pixel Perfect Reports using Analytics Cloud class is a good place to start.

BIP Desktop can be downloaded from here. The BIP Desktop bit version must match the MS Office bit version (which is not necessarily the same as the Operating System bit).

This blog was tested on:

* Microsoft Office Standard 2016 - Microsoft Word 2016 (16.0.5044.1000) MSO (16.0.5032.1000) 32-bit

* Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) Version 5.5.0

* Oracle Analytics Publisher (BIP) 12.2.5.5.0

* Oracle BI Publisher Desktop 12.2.1.4.0 for 32 bit Office on Windows - Build 12.214.00.000

* Windows 10 Pro - 64-bit Operating System

The blog is divided into five sections:

1) Table Alternate Row Shading

2) Replacing Nulls With Dashes

3) Using Bullets

4) Chart Tips & Tricks:

i) Shift Label From Line

ii) Remove Line Beneath Heading

iii) Auto Scale Axis

iv) Thin Chart Lines

5) Conditional Formatting - Numeric vs. Alphanumeric

 Table Alternate Row Shading

To achieve alternate row shading as shown in the above report, create two lines in the MS Word table one for each format.

Then use <?if:position() mod 2=1?> and <?if:position() mod 2=0?> to specify odd and even formatting.

 Replacing Nulls With Dashes

To replace nulls with dashes as shown in the above report, edit the data model, go to the structure tab, enter a dash in "Value If Null".

 Using Bullets

To use bullets in BIP, add the bullets to the RTF, select the bullet in MS Word to confirm what font it is using.

Add the font in BIP Administration -> Runtime Configuration -> Font Mappings -> Manage Custom Fonts -> Upload the font (i.e. WINGDNG2.TTF).

Add the font to Font mappings -> RTF Templates. The Base Font name should match the name seen when opening the TTF font file (i.e. Wingdings 2).

 Chart Tips & Tricks

Some BIP Chart docs that may be helpful:

* Documentation on <dvt:graph> can be found here.

* Some useful info regarding the charting engine commands can be found here (although it is not BIP specific).

i) Shift Label From Line

Notice how close the labels are to the line by default.

Use the following to shift the labels:

<MarkerText visible="true" markerTextPlace="MTP_CUSTOM" markerTextAngleDefault="75" markerTextRadiusDefault="30">

See results below. The limitation of this command is that it affects both lines (series). There is no way to set a different spacing for each line.

ii) Remove Line Beneath Heading

It may be desirable to remove the line below the heading for a cleaner more modern looking chart.

Use CL_NONE within customLayout to remove the unwanted line.

<Graph seriesEffect="SE_NONE" graphType="LINE_VERT_ABS" customLayout="CL_NONE">

iii) Auto Scale Axis

When the values of lines are similar they may overlap each other.

A possible solution is to use <Y1Axis axisAutoScaledFromZero="false"/>

i.e.

<Y1Axis axisAutoScaledFromZero="false" lineColor="#E2DFDD" /><LegendArea visible="false" />

Note how the axis is now starting at 2.5 and the lines are now further apart.

iv) Thin Chart Lines

The default chart lines are quite thick - especially with multi-line (series) charts.

Default line width:

The line width can be controlled at the series level.

i.e.

<Series id="0" color="#2C5967" lineWidth="2" /><Series id="1" color="#759C6C" lineWidth="2"/>

Line width set to 2:

 Conditional Formatting - Numeric vs. Alphanumeric

In this particular example nulls were converted to "em dashes" in the data model. The desire was to format nulls/dashes as valid values. However, the RTF was unable to interpret the "em dash" as a string. As a workaround "Not a Number [NaN]" was used to evaluate if a dash/null was present in the field. The field is converted to a number then a string. After which it is possible to evaluate if it is a number or not. NaN may come in handy for other use evaluate/decode/if-else/case statement type scenarios.

i.e.

Not a Number: <?if:string(number(FieldName))!='NaN'?> 

Is a Number: <?if:string(number(FieldName))='NaN'?>

 Want to Learn More?

Click here for more A-Team Oracle Analytics (OAC) Blogs.

Click here for doc on Oracle BI Publisher Best Practices for SaaS Environments.

Click here for multiple archived BIP blogs written by Tim Dexter.

 Summary

This article walked through some helpful advanced tips and tricks using Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) - BI Publisher (BIP) - RTF Templates. It covered a number of formatting topics that may be of interest to RTF developers. 

Subjects covered included: "Alternate Row Shading", "Replacing Nulls With Dashes", "Using Bullets", "Chart Tips & Tricks", and "Conditional Formatting".

The blog assumed some basic knowledge of Oracle Analytics Cloud (OAC) - BI Publisher (BIP), Oracle Analytics Publisher (BIP) Desktop, and RTF Templates.