Tips and tricks for creating cm14 reports white paper (1)

COLLABORATE 14 Copyright ©2014 by Thomas Everritt Page 1
Tips and Tricks for Creating CM14 Reports
Thomas Everritt
Hill International, Inc.
Abstract:
Provides technical considerations and setup for BI Publisher for CM14. Provides tip and tricks of how to create
CM14 using the BI Publisher web interface and Word plugin.
Hill International
Hill International, Inc. was founded in 1976. The company has over 4,000 Employees in over 100 offices
worldwide. Hill is the largest independent U.S. construction management (for fee only) according to Engineering
News-Record (June 13, 2013). Hill’s Project division has managed more than 10,000 projects valued at over $500
billion. Hill’s Claims division has resolved more than 50,000 claims valued over $100 billion
Thomas Everritt
Thomas Everritt is the Vice President of Hill International’s project management systems. He has over 13 years of
experience in information technology Management, 8 years of experience in the construction industry, and 4 years
of experience with Primavera Contract Management. Thomas installs, configures, administers, and updates two
CM14 and four CM13.1 environments with over 1000 users, 40 project groups, and 200 projects. He has two years
of experience with Business Intelligence Publisher (BI Publisher) and CM14.
Where to Get Resources
One of the most difficult hurdles in learning BI Publisher is finding resources to use the technology. Thankfully
there are several good tools including: the Help function in BI Publisher Web Application and in the Word Plugin,
the Report Designer's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher (Report Designer’s Guide)
http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/bi.1111/e22254/toc.htm, the Oracle BI Publisher Desktop <version> for xx
bit Office on Windows http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-publisher/downloads, and How To
Create a New Contract Management Report or Form within BI Publisher (1458950.1).
Oracle Red Stack
One question you may be asking yourself is why must I use BI Publisher? The reason is BI Publisher is the reporting
application for Oracle’s Red Stack which includes: the Database, Weblogic, Application (CM14, EPPM), and BI
Publisher.
Licensing
It is important to always check with your Oracle Representative to ensure you have proper licensing. My
understanding is the CM and Enterprise Project Portfolio Management (EPPM) licenses include read access to
existing reports. In order to create or edit reports, you will need to purchase an editor license for each named
user. The price is very reasonable. If you connect BI Publisher to any other application other than CM14 or EPPM,
you must purchase full licenses of Weblogic and BI Publisher.
Capabilities
BI Publisher has a number of great capabilities. BI Publisher is able to connect to Microsoft SQL or Oracle
databases using a JDBC connection. This is much easier to setup users than the previous ODBC connection that
was required for each computer using Infomaker. Output formats include pdf, html, xml, doc, rtf, xls, csv, ppt, and
interactive. With BI Publisher, it is possible to schedule reports and the Letter module is easier to use than the old
Microsoft Word configuration.

Caveats - General
It is always best to check the CM14 compatibly matrix to determine the correct version of all related software
including BI Publisher and Weblogic. If you are the person configuring reports for Primavera CM14 and EPPM, you
will discover the setup, reports, and functionality are very different. We are going to focus on CM14 during this
session; however, I don’t want to leave you hanging on what the differences might be. Almost all CM14 reports
are written using the web console while all EPPM reports use RTF documents. CM14 reports are run from the
modules while EPPM reports are run from a separate report tab. The latter requires you to pick a report then
attributes, such as project name, to run the report. This leads me to my next caveat. CM14 reports do not allow
the user to enter run time parameters. This may be a deal breaker with your users. A work around is to run the
reports through the BI Publisher web application rather than CM14.
The truth is quality control wasn’t perfect. Infomaker reports were developed and updated over quite a few years.
BI Publisher is a completely different format so the CM14 team had to start from scratch. While most reports
immediately ran correctly and others have been updated, you might still find a report that does not perform
exactly as you expect.
BI Publisher works with Internet Explorer, Firefox, and Chrome browsers. I have not tested Safari but suspect
because it is built on web kit that it will also work. However, I believe Firefox esr works best because Internet
Explorer throws erroneous errors and Chrome doesn’t display XML correctly.
Caveats - General
There are two applications to create and update reports: the Web Application and the Word Plugin. You must use
the Web Application to create and update the data model as well as link the data model to the report. Currently,
you must use the Word Plugin to create line breaks for multiple lines of text and advanced report features.
There are two versions of the Microsoft Word Plugin: x86 and x64. It is important to note that the selection of the
x86 or x64 version is based on the Microsoft Office version rather than the operating system. In example, if you
are using a x64 Version of Windows 8.1 and have a x86 version of Microsoft Office installed, you must install the
x86 version of the Word Plugin.
Caveats – Infomaker Users
Infomaker users probably won’t be initially happy with BI Publisher. Differences include users can’t enter
parameters at run time and there is no graphics based data (SQL) view. Within the Web Application, differences
include: you are not able to hide fields, there are no if then statements (If data = 0 then “” to suppress 0 values),
line breaks don’t display with multiple lines of text, and the layout is grid based rather than a pallet.
Administration
The Administration tab allows you to configure the JDBC connection for your data sources.
Security is based on roles. Roles are assigned data sources and built-in roles such as BI Publisher Developer,
Scheduler, and Template Designer. Then users are assigned to a role. Finally, roles are applied to folders.
Home
The Home tab is where you select the Catalog. You can also navigate to recent reports and manage favorites. If BI
Publisher is properly configured, the Download BI Publisher Tools is where you can download the Word Plugin
rather than directly from Oracle.
Catalog Menu
The catalog menu allows you to navigate through the report folders. You will notice the Forms and Reports folders
are identical to CM13. The Templates folder has been added for letter templates.

The catalog menu is also provides functions including: copy, cut, paste, delete, rename, permissions, upload, and
download.
How to Open Report for Editing
To open a report, first navigate to the folder, then click Edit. Do not click Open because this runs the report rather
than open the report for editing.
Design Lessons Learned
It is best practice to start from an existing report rather than create a new report. It is much easier to delete what
you do not need and add what the existing report is missing than starting from scratch. The old advice of have a
backup copy and save often applies here. If you need to keep the existing report as well as a new version of the
report, Save as a new Report. If you don’t need the existing report, Save as a new Layout Template then set it as
the default from View a List.
The best process to ensure your report works correctly is to run XML from the Data Model to ensure the data is
correct, then run the report from BI Publisher to ensure the report works correctly, then import to CM14 and run
from the CM14 module.
How to Obtain Parameter Data to Run XML or Report
To run XML from the data model or run a report from BI Publisher, you will need parameters from CM14. Typically
for reports you will need VENDOR_TYPE and PROJECT_NAME and for forms you will need VENDOR_TYPE and
MASTER_KEY. This can be found by right clicking on the document in CM14, selecting Copy shortcut, pasting into
Notepad and reading the information from the HTML arguments. A word of warning. I have had problems using
the CM14 sample projects master keys in BI Publisher due to special characters. The work around is to create a
new document then use its master key.
How to Change or Navigate to the Data Model
On the Report tab, click on the hyperlinked name of the data model to go to the data model. Click on the
magnifying glass to change the data model.
Data Model
The Data Model tab is where you configure the Default Data Source, Data Set, and Parameters. Click XML to run a
report that displays the XML.
XML
The XML report displays the data fields and data that is sent to the report. By default, the XML report returns five
rows. You may also select 10, 50, 100, or all rows before running the report.
Report
You have already seen the Report tab links the report to the Data Model. Other useful links are return to the
Catalog; edit, configure properties, or delete Layout Templates; Save or Save As the report; and View as a list. The
Save as icon is the recommended method to start a new report using the existing report.
How to Save a Layout Template
Once you click on Edit on the Layout Template, you can click the Save As icon to create a new layout template
using the existing template.
How to Change the Default Layout Template
Only the default template is displayed in CM14. To set your new layout template to the default template, click on
View a List from the Report tab, then check the box for the Default Layout. In this view, you can also set output

formats and the default format. The default format is the format that will be displayed when you run the report in
BI Publisher. The only format that will display in CM14 is PDF.
Left Pane
Let’s investigate the edit report panes. On the left pane you will find the Data Source, Components, and
Properties. Under Data source, the Data Fields are displayed. You drag and drop the data fields onto the design
area to add them to the report. Under Components, you find the template elements. You can insert components
from the left pane or the toolbar. Under Properties, you will find Formatting. This is where you format data fields.
Data may also be formatted from the toolbar; however, the left pane has greater functionality.
Static Toolbar
The static toolbar displays the same functions regardless of the component selected in the design area. Functions
include: Undo, Redo, Cut, Copy, Paste, Preview, Return, New, Save, and Save as.
Dynamic Toolbar
The dynamic toolbar displays functions based on the component selected in the design area. The Insert area
provides the capability to insert Components and Page Elements. The Page Layout is useful to set the page
Orientation as well as view or hide the Header and Footer. The Component area provides different functionality
for: Layout Grid, Text, Image, Repeating Section, and Data Table.
Design Area
The important thing for Infomaker users to remember is the Design Area is not a pallet where you drag
components for alignment. Instead, BI Publisher is grid based. You align components using Layout Grids and Cells
similar to a spreadsheet. You place components inside a Layout Cell.
How to Set Page Properties
You may have noticed the Page Layout area of the dynamic toolbar did not have a function to set page properties
such as margins. To reach this functionality, click in an area outside the Components on the Design Area and select
Properties from the left pane.
Layout Grid Cell
From the Layout Grid Cell on the dynamic toolbar, you have access to many functions. Use Font to set font type,
size, bold, italics, underline, color, borders, and background color. Use Alignment to set alignment inside cells.
Use Insert and Delete to insert and delete rows and columns. Use Join and Unjoin cells to combine or split cells.
Use the mouse or Properties from the left pane to adjust Layout Grid Cell height and width.
How to Draw a Line
To draw a line, select a Layout Grid Cell, then select Properties from left pane, and finally click the ellipses (…) to
set the border
Text
Text has the same Font settings as Layout Grid Cell. Use the Layout Grid Cell Alignment rather than Text
Alignment. The most useful elements on the Text component are insert page number, date and time, and
hyperlink.
How to Use Text and Data within the Same Layout Cell
By default, multiple text and data components within the same layout grid cell are shown on separate lines. Here
is how to align the text and data components on the same line. Insert a text component, drag and drop data, and
select the Text component. Select Properties from left pane then change the Display from Block to Inline.

How to Set Data Format
Data Format sets the format for number, percent, currency, date, and time. To set the data format, select the data
field then either select Data Formatting from the dynamic toolbar and select format or select Properties from left
pane and enter the Formatting Mask.
Insert an Image
Image formats include gif, jpg, png, and bmp. The size limit for the image is 10MB but much smaller is
recommended to speed display time. To insert an image, browse to the image file. To insert from a URL enter the
URL. To resize the image use the mouse or select Properties from the left pane.
Data Table
A data table is a simple table of data. An example is the attendee list in a meeting minutes report. Rows of
information can be filtered or formatted based upon field content. You can also display a summary row which will
display information such as the number of attendees.
The data in the table uses the same font attributes as text and data: font type, size, bold, italics, underline, color,
borders, background color, and alignment. Additional functions are: group, sort, conditional format, and formula.
Grouping allows like data items to be grouped together, such as Attendee Names with the same Company Name.
Sorting allows you to sort in forward or reverse alpha-numeric order. Conditional formatting allows you to format
a row based on a data field value.
The attendee data table shown is filtered by Attended is equal to yes, grouped and sorted by Company Name, and
sorted by Initials. The summary row is displayed and a formula was used to add a count of Attendee Names.
Repeating Sections
Repeating sections are used to create classic banded reports. A repeating section, repeats rows based on the
occurrence of an element in the data. In example, all rows with the Status of Open. You can nest repeating
section within repeating sections. You can also set repeating sections to break pages for different data groupings.
In example, start a new page for each status of new, open, closed, etc.
Repeating sections are either an Element or Group Detail. Element specifies the element for which the section
repeats. For example, if the dataset contains sales information for several countries. If you select COUNTRY as the
repeat-by element, then the section of the layout repeats for each unique country occurring in the dataset.
If you have nested sections, then select Group Detail. To continue the previous example, assuming there are
unique data rows for each city and grouping by country, then this option creates a section that repeats for each
city.
BIP Word Plugin
The Word Plugin in beyond the scope of this session; however, I would like to conduct a brief overview. Report
formats are RTF and you can use script for advanced options. There are quite a few posts on the Internet on how
to use scripts. Note that the reference may be to the older product name XML Publisher rather than BI Publisher.
The Word Plugin creates a ribbon menu in Word. Useful functions include: Logon; Open Report and Layout
Template; Load Data; Insert Field, Table, and Repeating Group; Preview PDF, and Field Browser. For an
explanation of functionality, see the Report Designer’s Guide, Chapter 4 Creating RTF Templates.
Files
You may want to manually edit the report files. In example, you may want to setup reports for multiple project
groups. The default file location for BI Publisher reports is
<driveletter>:OracleMiddlewareuser_projectsdomainsbifoundation_domainconfigbipublisherrepositoryRe
ports. The default names for the subfolders are US SQL for CM14 and P6Reports for EPPM reports.

The file extension for the report is .xdo and for the data model is .xdm.
How to Setup Reports for Multiple Project Groups
BI Publisher can be setup to setup for multiple project groups. First, setup a new Data Source using Administration
in the Web Application. This may already be completed as part of CM14 configuration. Next copy the US SQL
folder on the BI Publisher server and rename it. A good name might be the name of the data source; in example
Client1. You will see this name as a Folder in the Web Application Catalog.
Use the Web Application to change every data model and report inside the Catalog Folder. You will need to edit
the report to change the data model from the one in the old folder to the one in the new folder. You will also need
to change the data model to use the correct data source. This involves over 1000 configuration edits. Instead, you
can use a text editor like NotePad++ or Developer’s Notepad to search for and replace all occurrences in the new
report folder.
To change the data model the report uses, Go to the new report folder on the server, expand the Forms or Reports
folder, expand any module folder, expand any <report name>.xdo folder, and use the text editor to open the
_report.xdo file. The object is to find all pointers to the US SQL folder and replace it with the new folder name. A
typical search and replace for all files in the folder would be:
Search for: <dataModel url="/US Sql/
Replace with: <dataModel url="/Client1/
To change the data source the data model uses, go to the new report folder on the server, expand the Forms or
Reports folder, expand any module folder, expand a <report name>.xdm folder, and use the text editor to open
the _datamodel.xdm file. The object is to find all pointers to the US_SQL data source and change it to your new
data source. A typical search and replace for all files in the folder would be:
Search for: defaultDataSourceRef="US_SQL"
Replace with defaultDataSourceRef="Client1"
and
Search for <sql dataSourceRef="US_SQL">
Replace with <sql dataSourceRef="Client1">

Tips and tricks for creating cm14 reports white paper (1)

Recommended

More Related Content

What's hot (19)

Similar to Tips and tricks for creating cm14 reports white paper (1) (20)

More from p6academy (20)

Recently uploaded (20)

Tips and tricks for creating cm14 reports white paper (1)