Auction Rate Securities - Additional Information (Detail) (USD $)	12 Months Ended
	Oct. 31, 2013	Oct. 31, 2012	Oct. 31, 2011
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Number of different issuers the Company held investments in for auction rate securities	3	4
Investments in auction rate securities, amortized cost basis	$ 13,000,000	$ 18,000,000
Auction rate securities, redeemed	5,000,000
Investments in auction rate securities, original principal amount	15,000,000	20,000,000
Gain or loss recognized upon redemption	0
Interest rate revising interval	30 days
Auction rate securities, earliest maturity period	2033
Auction rate securities, latest maturity period	2050
Unrealized losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss, before tax	0	200,000
Unrealized losses recorded in accumulated other comprehensive loss, net of taxes		100,000
Auction rate securities
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Auction rate security, at fair value, that was not in unrealized loss position		10,000,000
Auction rate securities, continuous unrealized loss position, less than twelve months, fair value		7,800,000
Other-than-temporary credit loss recognized in earnings	0	300,000	0
Auction rate securities | Retained Earnings
Schedule of Available-for-sale Securities [Line Items]
Total amount of other-than-temporary impairment (OTTI) credit loss recognized	$ 2,000,000	$ 2,000,000