Automatically/Programmatically setting private connection in portlets

Question

We are creating a BI dashboard with Discoverer Relational 10g and Portal 10g (latest versions). Our dashoard consists of approximately 15 portlets.
We have opted for private connections in which each portal user connects using his own private connection and the VPD is used for data security. We have been able to use the capi.sh scripts to programmatically create 1 private connection per user.
Is there a way to avoid that each of the 50 users have to "customize" each of the 15 portlets to choose their one and only private connection from the list of connections before they see their own data. Please note that we cannot show default data as the data is specific to the user.
we need a way of programmatically preset the connections of each portlet for each user so that the see the data as soon as they enter instead of us spending all the time to explain all the users how to set the connection and then each of them spending time choosing the connections.
Has anyone come up with a solution?
Thanks in advance

Answer 1

Hi Goga
Let's look at your points in turn.
1> You do need to create a database user, granting necessary privileges and sharing required workbooks
2> Yes you do need to have an OID entry for the single sign on piece. Personally I'd use the same username for both single sign-on and the database. It will be far easier for the users, and for you who has to manage it. Thus if a user leaves you will be removing / disabling the same user in both environments
3> You will need to have a private connection for each user. This cannot be done through OEM and can either be done online as you suggest or scriptually using CAPI or using your own script. I know of a company that has created a front-end to Discoverer such that when the user enters their SSO username correctly the system checks to see if a private connection exists for ths user - you can do this if the accounts have the same name - and then creates the connection on the fly if no such account exists. Because the user has a database role they will see all reports shared with them using the role. By the way, the connections are stored in this table in the infrastructure: wwsso_psex_user_info$
4> This is the one that has me confused too. I've been trying to think if there was a way to allow portlets to be accessed using a user's private connection automatically. There isn't exactly. I've been reading the Publising Workbooks in Oracle Application Server guide (page 3-23) and it seems to suggest a way. Here is what it says:
If you choose connections other than the Publisher’s Connection to display data
or allow users to choose their own connection, only those connections that have access to the worksheet defined in the portlet will be able to see it. For example, you create a worksheet portlet using worksheet MyWorkbook.sheet1 and choose the Publisher’s Connection to be user SCOTT and you allow users to customize their database connection. The user SCOTT has shared the MyWorkbook workbook to user MARY but not to user FRED. When user MARY customizes the portlet to use her connection, she will see the contents of MyWorkbook.sheet1. If user FRED customizes the portlet to use his connection he will get an error stating that he does not have access to the worksheet.
This might just be the clue. I think its worth a try. Please let me know how you get on.
Best wishes
Michael