Connecting to an Oracle data source
To connect with Oracle data sources, you must perform the following tasks:
Install the proper Oracle client software on the server running the design.
Supply a connection string.
Define the appropriate environment variables.
Ensure that a listener process is running on the database host.
When configuring the Oracle client, you must configure the client’s locale setting to match the locale of the machine.
Defining Oracle environment variables
You must set the following environment variables when connecting to an Oracle data source:
ORACLE_HOME
NLS_LANG
About ORACLE_HOME
For Oracle databases on Linux platforms, the account running iHub processes must have a definition for the standard Oracle environment variable ORACLE_HOME. You can provide this definition in a login script such as .cshrc or .profile, or you can include it in the scripts that start the iHub processes.
For Oracle databases on Windows, also ensure that the definition of the environment variable PATH indicates the location of the dynamic link library that selects the proper database.
About NLS_LANG
The Oracle Linux environment variable and Windows registry setting NLS_LANG specifies the Oracle locale, that consists of the language, territory, and character set. The default value for NLS_LANG is American_America.US7ASCII. The administrator must ensure the NLS_LANG setting is correct for the information in the Oracle database.
On Linux systems, add the environment variable NLS_LANG to the pmd11.sh script, the iHub request server startup script. On Windows servers, the Oracle installer configures NLS_LANG.
The following example sets NLS_LANG for simplified Chinese on Linux:
export NLS_LANG
NLS_LANG="Simplified Chinese_China.ZHS16GBK"
Double quotes are required when setting a value that contains spaces.
On Microsoft Windows server operating systems, set the NLS_LANG registry value in the key HKEY_LOCAL_MACHINE \Software\Oracle\Home.
For information about the NLS_LANG values, see the Oracle documentation.
About the Oracle listener processes
iHub interacts with an Oracle data source through the Oracle listener process. If iHub is having trouble communicating with the Oracle data source, the link to the listener process possibly failed. You can frequently solve such problems by stopping and starting the listener process.
Setting the maximum column length
The default maximum column length Actuate uses with Oracle data sources is 4000 characters. Problems can occur when generating an Actuate document if the design uses an Oracle data source column with a large column length. You can use a registry setting on Windows or an environment variable on Linux to set a smaller maximum column length used by Actuate.
To change the maximum character length:
On Windows, change the value of the string value name MaxVarLen. The value name is in the registry key.
HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Actuate\DBMS\Oracle
On Linux, set the environment variable AC_DBMS_ORACLE_MAXVARLEN.