Discoverer Plus worksheet using a parameter.

Maintaining Items and Item Classes 9-31 Figure 9–24 Item Properties dialog

3. Select the Indexed Item field to display a drop down list of the other items in the

folder that you can choose.

4. Select an item from the drop down list to use as an indexed item.

Figure 9–25 Item Properties dialog showing an indexed item The item and its indexed item must have a one-to-one mapping. In this example each Product Description has a corresponding unique Product Key value. Note: You can select the following items to be an indexed item: ■ Items that are indexed in the database Note: In simple folders this is indicated by an icon displayed next to the item. However, in complex folders Discoverer does not display an icon next to the item. The item will preferably be defined as a primary key in the database. If you are not sure whether the item is defined as a primary index or not, ask your database administrator. 9-32 Oracle Fusion Middleware Administrators Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Discoverer ■ Items that are not indexed in the database Note: In simple folders this is indicated by the absence of an icon displayed next to the item. However, in complex folders Discoverer does not display an icon next to items whether they are indexed in the database or not. Therefore, in complex folders the absence of an icon does not indicate that an item is not indexed in the database. If you are unsure about whether an item is indexed in the database, ask the database administrator. The item will preferably be an item that has few values for example, Region, Department, Month, Days of the Week, . If you are not sure, ask your database administrator.

5. Click Apply.

Note: If Discoverer determines that an identical item and an associated indexed item are already defined in another folder, Discoverer displays the Matching Values dialog . Note: If you selected an item from the Indexed Item field drop down list that does not have a list of values LOV item class defined for it, Discoverer displays the following warning dialog: Figure 9–26 Warning dialog 6. If the above warning dialog is displayed, click OK. Discoverer automatically creates a LOV item class for the item you selected in the Indexed Item field drop down list. For more information about creating a LOV item class, see About setting up lists of values . Note: When the item to which you assigned the indexed item is used by an end user as a parameter in a worksheet, the indexed item will improve Discoverer’s performance. Note: If you click Cancel in the warning dialog, Discoverer does not create a LOV item class for the item selected in the Indexed Item field, and Discoverer cannot improve performance for worksheet parameters. However, Discoverer still uses the indexed item to improve performance for drilling on the item in a worksheet.

7. Click OK to close the Item Properties dialog.

Notes about items based on columns with user-defined datatypes When a table is created, a datatype must be specified for each of the columns in the table. Oracle provides several built-in datatypes for example, number, date, varchar2 and several categories for user-defined datatypes for example, object types, varrays, nested tables. User-defined datatypes are sometimes called abstract datatypes. User-defined datatypes use Oracle built-in datatypes and other user-defined datatypes as the building blocks of types that model the structure and behavior of data in applications. Maintaining Items and Item Classes 9-33 Note that when you create a Discoverer folder based on a table using the Load Wizard, any columns that have user-defined datatypes are ignored that is, no items are created in the folder. If you want to include an attribute of a user-defined datatype as an item in a Discoverer folder, you must do one of the following: ■ create a custom folder and define a column with a built-in datatype in the folder’s SQL statement to access the attribute of the user-defined datatype on which you want to base the item for more information about creating custom folders, see How to create custom folders ■ create a database view, define a column with a built-in datatype in the view definition to access the attribute of the user-defined datatype on which you want to base the item, and specify the view as the object on which to base a simple folder when using the Load Wizard for more information about using the Load Wizard, see How to create simple folders from the database To access the attributes of a user-defined datatype, you will have to be familiar with the appropriate syntax. For more information about user-defined datatypes and accessing their attributes, see the Oracle documentation supplied with your version of the database.