Training in Discoverer is offered by University Human Resources. Click here for information on available Discoverer classes.

For online training materials, please see Integrated System Reports using Discoverer.

In order to log in to the ODS through Discoverer, you must first log into VPN. When you have started Discoverer and the login screen appears, you will need to enter the following information:

Username: Apps_id: UVA ODS Specialist
Password: Apps_password
Connect: ods

Your username will be the same one you use for the Integrated System, followed by a colon, and the responsibility for the ODS. There are five responsibilities with access to the ODS through Discoverer:

• UVA ODS Specialist
• UVA ODS Specialist-Limited
• UVA ODS Specialist-Restricted
• UVA ODS Specialist-Deducts
• UVA ASC ODS Viewer

You must enter the responsibility name exactly as shown; the responsibility name is case sensitive.

Your password also will be the same one you use for the Integrated System.

You must enter ods in the Connect field. If you get the error message "Failed to connect to database - ORA - 12154:TNS could not resolve service name," you may need to update your Tnsnames.ora file.

In the future when you start up Discoverer, it will remember the settings from the last time you used it, so normally you will need only to enter your password.

When you choose your Integrated System password, please do not include the characters $ or @. While these are acceptable characters for the Integrated System, they will cause an error when you try to log in through Discoverer.

Important: When you change your password in the Integrated System, the new password will not be effective in the ODS until the next day; you will continue to use the old password in Discoverer for the rest of that day.

If your password expires before you change it, you may be locked out of Discoverer. You will have to change it in Production and then wait until the ODS is refreshed (i.e., the next day) before you can use it.

Likewise, if you forget your application password and it is reset for you, this does not reset your ODS password. You will not be able to access the ODS through Discoverer until the next day.

By default, the Scheduling Manager in Discoverer is turned off. Send an email to the ODS Administrator at odsadmin@virginia.edu to have it turned on for you. There will be some restrictions on the use of the Scheduling Manager; these will be communicated to you by email.

Please do not send a request to the ODS Administrator until your Integrated System account is activated as the Administrator cannot activate Scheduling Manager until that time. (Please do not write the ODS Administrator with other types of questions. See Help! for other Help resources.)

For more information on using the Scheduling Manager, please see the Word document: Scheduling Discoverer Workbooks.

Copy the bitmap file linked below to your PC. Then you can insert it into the title of any Discoverer reports you create:

UVA Logo Bitmap

As installed, Discoverer cancels queries that run longer than 30 minutes. While it would be nice if no query required more than 30 minutes to run, that is not always the case.

To change the default setting, choose Tools from the menu, and then Options. Select the Query Governor tab. About two-thirds of the way down the dialog box is an entry that reads "Prevent queries from running longer than 30:00 minutes." Increase the number 30 to a higher number. While it appears to only have room for 99 minutes, it will let you increase the number even higher.

Logically, you would think that if you unchecked the box in front of Prevent queries that no limit would apply to your queries. Discoverer does not seem to work that way. The query limit appears to be applied whether or not the box is checked. And, you can change the number of minutes only when the box is checked.

This option applies to the computer, not to the user. If you use more than one computer for Discoverer, you will need to change it on each computer.

Some people have been told that the ODS Administrator has set a 30 minute limit on queries. That is not the case. No limit has been set centrally for the length of time queries may run. However, for long queries, we do recommend that you use the batch scheduling feature. In addition, the query time limit set on your PC does not apply to scheduled workbooks. See How can I use the Workbook Scheduling Feature in Discoverer?

Click on the following link for a Word document containing some tips on using Discoverer, as presented at the March 2002 Fiscal Administrators meeting.

Quick Tips on Using Discoverer