Introduction

This chapter illustrates how to use the Oracle BI Administration tool to nest the folders in the presentation layer of the Oracle BI Repository. After finishing the building of an initial business model, the repository is tested and validated by running Oracle BI analysis and verifying the results generated by Oracle BI Server.

This chapter covers the following topics:

1. Nesting Presentation Tables

2. Testing and Validating RPD

3. Publishing the Repository

4. Validating UI with RPD

Nesting Presentation Tables

The Presentation Tables can be nested by following the steps below:

1. Use the Administrator Tool to update Presentation layer metadata to give the appearance of nested folders in UI.

2. Select a presentation table which is to be set as parent folder.

3. Open the Properties dialog box for the presentation table that corresponds to the folder that you want to nest.

4. Use Child Presentation Tables tab to define child presentation tables.

5. Add → to the beginning of the Description field and then place the table after the presentation table in which it nests.

6. Alternatively, you can prefix the name of the presentation table to be nested with a hypen and a space and then place the table after the presentation table in which it nests.

7. The Upgrade Presentation Foldering utility to convert your metadata to the new structure.

Testing and Validating RPD

It involves several steps that check whether a repository is constructed correctly and whether it yields the expected results when queries are executed in Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) end-user applications.

At a high-level, the steps include:

1. Checking the repository for consistency

2. Enabling logging

3. Loading a Repository

4. Checking analysis results

5. Checking query results by inspecting the query log

1. Consistency Check

When you create RPD, the OBIEE server does not accept the rpd until it is error free. It is very important to perform consistency check on the rpd. You can do consistency check on various bases at an individual object or the entire rpd.

Checking a repository for consistency at high-level

Navigate to File->Global Consistency Check or use ctrl+k shortcut. This will open the Consistency Check Manager that checks for entire RPD.

When you do the consistency check,

The following points are checked during the consistency check:

• All logical columns are mapped directly or indirectly to one or more physical columns.

• All logical dimension tables have a logical key.

• All logical tables have a logical join relationship to another logical table.

• There are at least two logical tables in the business model: a logical fact table and a logical dimension table.

• Both can map to the same physical table.

• There are no circular logical join relationships.

• A subject area exists for the business model.

Note:

Errors: Must be fixed to make the repository consistent

Warnings: Indicate conditions that may or may not be the error

BestPractices: Are conditions that do not indicate in consistencies

2. Enabling logging

     Logging is intended for quality assurance testing and debugging. We can enable logging      for individual users, system user, and individual request.

   Logging can be set if we are performing ad-hoc reporting which is doing reporting for a   particular time and want to see that query. Basically this is definitely not for the business users. It is really important if your query result is something unexpected and checks for the appropriate query in the query log.

   Query logging is normally disabled in production mode. If it is required, the logging can be enabled for the certain set of users, and can be controlled for each user.

How at a user level we can control logging in two ways as follows:

Initializing Log-Level Session Variable:

1. Open the online RPD. In Admin tool, select Manage->Identity. The security manager dialog appears.

2. Double-Click the user’s user ID. The user dialog box appears.

3. Set the logging level by clicking up or down arrows next to the logging level field or by manually entering the number between 0-7 in the field.

4. Any changes made in the rpd can be saved by check-in.

System Log Level:

We can find a default logging level in the Options->Repository tab of the repository.

This will set a default system log level which will fetch logs for all users as well as analysis.

3. Publishing a Repository

Once we do the consistency check, then the repository is published as described below

• Go to the Enterprise Manager URL.

• Go to Business Intelligence, the RPD can be located in any drive.

• The BI Server can access multiple repositories.

They are located:

On 10g: BI_ORACLE_HOME/server/Repository

On 11g:  ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis\repository

You can publish the repository in two modes:

• Distributed Mode:  In distributed mode, each Oracle BI Server instance loads the repository from its default local directory. Repositories uploaded through Fusion MiddleWare Control are uploaded to each default local directory.

• Shared Mode: In shared mode, each Oracle BI Server instance loads the repository from the shared network location designated as the repository publishing directory.

Repositories can be edited in either online mode or offline mode.

From the Admin Tool,

You develop repository in offline mode indicated by

You use online mode for minor updates and changes.

Online Mode:

If the server is in the same network online editing can be done. In Online mode, the administrator can edit a live repository that the server has in memory. The users can access the repository while changes are being made. Changes to the RPD are immediately made when they are checked in.

Warning: In Multi-user environment (MUD) online editing can result in conflicts, because developers potentially overwrite each other’s work.

Offline Mode:

In offline mode, the Admin can edit any repository and save the changes. The changes are applied when the BI server next starts and loads the repository into memory.

4. Validate UI with RPD

      For the first time you make the rpd online, change all the users in the system, and you save that rpd, we can see the query log as shown below.

Viewing log files in Fusion MiddleWare Screen (FMW)

Enter http://localhost:7001/em in a browser to open FMW screen and sign in as your administrative user.

Click the Log Messages sub tab. The query log will be opened as shown below:

Oracle BI Logical SQL

The example for a simple SQL Query is shown below

There are types of SQL: physical SQL and logical SQL. The logical SQL is the SQL that understand BI Server. The physical SQL is the SQL that send the BI Server request to the data sources to retrieve the data.

Queries specific to OBIEE

Can we connect directly to the database without any of the three layers?

The Direct Database Request (DDR) allows you to perform SQL statement directly on database. However the rpd cannot be skipped even though the request does not go to subject area and the BMM layer. This can be achieved by creating connection pool using EDS. Users with permissions can create and issue DDR directly to physical end database.

Can we create Analysis from two subject areas?

We can create query from multiple subject areas within the same repository by using the option “Add/Remove Subject Areas”.

Can we include Fusion DFFs into RPD?

Yes we can include Fusion DFF and KFF into the rpd. If you are directly importing the OLTP table into the rpd then it is just like adding a new physical column. Once you add the column, the BMM object to which you want to add particular DFF is included.

Selvi

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