Creating A Repository Using The Oracle Business Intelligence Administration Tool 14-Jun-10

ORACLE BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOP
Creating a Repository Using the

Oracle Business Intelligence Administration Tool
Purpose
This tutorial shows you how to use the Oracle BI EE Administration Tool to build,
modify, enhance, and manage an Oracle BI repository on the BIC2G:EE 10.1.3.2
VMWare image (Linux Edition v1.0).
Time to Complete: Approximately 3 hours

Topics
This tutorial covers the following topics: Page
Prerequisites .....................................................................................................2
Building the Physical Layer of a Repository ......................................................3
Building the Business Model and Mapping Layer of a Repository...................16
Building the Presentation Layer of a Repository..............................................44
Testing and Validating a Repository................................................................46
Creating Calculation Measures .......................................................................57
Organizing the Presentation Layer ..................................................................87
Using Initialization Blocks and Variables .........................................................93
Adding Multiple Sources................................................................................110
Executing Direct Database Requests............................................................125
Using Aggregates..........................................................................................129
Creating Time Series Measures ....................................................................137
Summary .......................................................................................................147
1
OVERVIEW
This tutorial shows you how to build an Oracle BI metadata repository. You learn
how to import metadata from databases and other data sources, simplify and
reorganize the imported metadata into a business model, and then structure the
business model for presentation to users who request business intelligence
information via Oracle BI user interfaces, such as Oracle BI Answers and Oracle
BI Interactive Dashboards.
Prerequisites
This tutorial is for a Windows client environment connecting to the Linux BIC2G
image as a server. Instructions for installing VMWare software and client BI tools
and data source drivers are found in the file “Prerequisites for Oracle BI
Workshop”
After installing VMWare and opening the BIC2G Linux image, follow these
instructions to map a network drive on local client to the Linux Server:
¾ Go to http://192.168.209.134/go/setup.html and click on the Map button.
¾ Execute the downloaded file to map the chosen drive letter (G:) to the
Linux Server.
Open up the mapped drive and rename the existing SH.rpd repository:
¾ Open up G:\biee\10.1.3.2\OracleBI\server\Repository in windows
explorer
¾ Rename the existing SH.rpd to SH_backup.rpd
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Building the Physical Layer of a Repository
In this topic you use the Oracle BI Administration Tool to build the Physical layer
of a repository.
The Physical layer defines the data sources to which Oracle BI Server submits
queries and the relationships between physical databases and other data
sources that are used to process multiple data source queries. The
recommended way to populate the Physical layer is by importing metadata from
databases and other data sources. The data sources can be of the same or
different varieties. You can import schemas or portions of schemas from existing
data sources. Additionally, you can create objects in the Physical layer manually.
When you import metadata, many of the properties of the data sources are
configured automatically based on the information gathered during the import
process. After import, you can also define other attributes of the physical data
sources, such as join relationships, that might not exist in the data source
metadata. There can be one or more data sources in the Physical layer, including
databases, spreadsheets, and XML documents. In this example, you import and
configure tables from the sample SH schema included with the Oracle 10g
database.
To build the Physical layer, you perform the following steps:
Create a New Repository
Create an ODBC Data Source
Import SH Schema
Create Physical Joins
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Create a New Repository
To create a new repository, perform the following steps:
1. Open the BIC2G Process Control for Services,

http://oracle2go.us.oracle.com/go/process_control/pc.html
Select the checkbox next to BI Server, click on STOP.
2. Wait for the flag to turn RED.
3. Click Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Administration to
open the Oracle BI Administration Tool.
4. Click File > New to open the New Repository dialog box.
5. In the New Repository dialog box, the local Repository folder is selected by
default. Browse to the Linux server repository folder in the drive mapped during
the pre-requisite steps to this section:
Browse to G:\biee\10.1.3.2\OracleBI\server\Repository
Name the file SH.rpd.
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6. Click Save. The new repository opens in the Administration Tool and displays
three empty layers: Presentation, Business Model and Mapping, and Physical.
If necessary, select Tools > Options > Show toolbar to display the toolbar.
The Physical layer is where information on physical data sources is stored. The
Business Model and Mapping layer is where measurements and terms used in
business are mapped to the physical data sources. The Presentation layer is
where the business model is customized for presentation to the user. You can
work on each layer at any stage in creating a repository, but the typical order is
to create the Physical layer first, then the Business Model and Mapping layer,
and then the Presentation layer.
Leave the Administration Tool open.
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Create an ODBC Data Source
An ODBC data source is needed to import schema information about a data

source into an Oracle BI Server repository. To create an ODBC data source for
importing the SH schema information, perform the following steps:
1. Click Start > Programs > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC) to
open the ODBC Data Source Administrator.
2. Click the System DSN tab and click Add.
The Create New Data Source dialog box opens.
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3. In the Create New Data Source dialog box, select the Oracle driver.
4. Click Finish to open the Oracle ODBC Driver Configuration dialog box.
5. In the Oracle ODBC Driver Configuration dialog box, enter a Data Source
Name (this can be any name), select the appropriate TNS Service Name from
the drop down list (ORCL in this example), and enter SH as the User ID for the
SH schema.
6. Click Test Connection to open the Oracle ODBC Driver Connect dialog box.
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7. In the Oracle ODBC Driver Connect dialog box, enter the password SH for the
SH schema and click OK.
8. You should see a "Testing Connection" message indicating the connection is

successful.
9. Click OK to close the Testing Connection message.
10. Click OK to close the Oracle ODBC Driver Configuration dialog box.
11. Verify that the SH system data source is added in the ODBC Data Source
Administrator and click OK to close the ODBC Data Source Administrator.
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Import SH Schema
To import the SH schema information into the repository, perform the following
steps:
1. In the Oracle BI Administration Tool, click File > Import > from Database . . .
2. In the Select Data Source dialog box, select the SH ODBC DSN you created in
a previous step, enter SH as the user name and password, and click OK to
open the Import dialog box.
3. In the Import dialog box, locate the SH schema folder.
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4. Expand the SH schema folder and use Ctrl + Click to select the following
tables:
CHANNELS, COSTS, COUNTRIES, CUSTOMERS, PRODUCTS,
PROMOTIONS, SALES, TIMES
5. Verify that only the Tables and Keys checkboxes are selected, which is the
default, and click the Import button. The Connection Pool dialog box opens.
It is best practice to only import objects needed to support your business
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model. However, don’t worry if you import extra objects at this point. You can
always delete objects later if they do not support your business model.
6. In the Connection Pool dialog box, on the General tab, verify that the call
interface is set to Default (OCI 10g) and change the data source name to the
appropriate tnsnames.ora entry ( ORCL in this example). Please note that this
is the TNS service name, not the ODBC DSN.
7. Leave the rest of the settings as they are and click OK to close the Connection
Pool dialog box. The import process starts.
8. When the Import process completes, click Close to close the Import dialog box.
9. In the Physical layer of the repository, expand the SH schema folder and verify
that the correct tables are imported.
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10. To verify connectivity, click Tools > Update All Row Counts.
11. When update all row counts completes, verify that the row counts are displayed
in the Physical layer of the Administration Tool:
Create Physical Joins
To create physical joins in the Physical layer of the repository, perform the
following steps:
1. In the Physical layer, right-click the SH schema folder and select Physical
Diagram > Object (s) and All Joins. Alternatively, you can select the SH
database object and then click the Physical Diagram button on the toolbar.
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2. In the Physical Diagram, if the tables are too big, right-click in the white space,
select Zoom, and adjust the size.
3. Rearrange the tables so they are all visible in the Physical Diagram.
4. Click the New Foreign Key button on the toolbar.
5. Click the Channels table and then the Sales table. The Physical Foreign Key
dialog box opens.
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It matters which table you click first. The join is creating a one-to-many (1:N)
relationship that joins the key column in the first table to a foreign key column in
the second table. The Administration Tool makes a best "guess" and
automatically determines which columns should be included in the join.
Make sure the join expression is:
CHANNELS.CHANNEL_ID = SALES.CHANNEL_ID
6. Click OK to close the Physical Foreign Key dialog box. The join between
Channels and Sales is displayed in the Physical Diagram.
7. Continue to create the following joins:
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PROMOTIONS.PROMO_ID = SALES.PROMO_ID
TIMES.TIME_ID = SALES.TIME_ID
PRODUCTS.PROD_ID = SALES.PROD_ID
CUSTOMERS.CUST_ID = SALES.CUST_ID
COUNTRIES.COUNTRY_ID = CUSTOMERS.COUNTRY_ID
Note that Countries joins to Customers and Costs in not joined for now. All
other tables join directly to Sales.
When you are finished, click the X in the upper right corner to close the
Physical Diagram.
8. Select File > Save or click the Save button on the toolbar to save the
repository.
9. Click No when prompted to check global consistency. Checking Global

Consistency checks for errors in the entire repository. Some of the more
common checks are done in the Business Model and Mapping layer and
Presentation layer. Since these layers are not defined yet, bypass this check
until the other layers in the repository are built. You learn more about
consistency check later in this tutorial.
10. Leave the Administration Tool and the SH repository open for the next topic.
Congratulations! You have successfully created a new repository, set up an
ODBC data source, imported a table schema from an external data source into
the Physical layer, and defined keys and joins.
In the next topic you learn how to build the Business Model and Mapping layer
of a repository.
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Building the Business Model and Mapping Layer of a Repository
In this topic you use the Oracle BI Administration Tool to build the Business
Model and Mapping layer of a repository.
The Business Model and Mapping layer of the Administration Tool defines the
business, or logical, model of the data and specifies the mappings between the
business model and the Physical layer schemas. This is where the physical
schemas are simplified to form the basis for the users’ view of the data. The
Business Model and Mapping layer of the Administration Tool can contain one or
more business model objects. A business model object contains the business
model definitions and the mappings from logical to physical tables for the
business model.
The main purpose of the business model is to capture how users think about
their business using their own vocabulary. The business model simplifies the
physical schema and maps the users’ business vocabulary to physical sources.
Most of the vocabulary translates into logical columns in the business model.
Collections of logical columns form logical tables. Each logical column (and
hence each logical table) can have one or more physical objects as sources.
There are two main categories of logical tables: fact and dimension. Logical fact
tables contain the measures by which an organization gauges its business
operations and performance. Logical dimension tables contain the data used to
qualify the facts.
To build the Business Model and Mapping layer, you perform the following steps:
Create a Business Model
Create Logical Tables
Create Logical Columns
Create Logical Joins
Rename Business Model Objects
Delete Unnecessary Business Model Objects
Build Dimension Hierarchies
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Create a Business Model
To create a new business model, perform the following steps:
1. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, right-click the white space and select
New Business Model.
2. In the Business Model dialog box, name the business model SH and leave the
Available for queries box unchecked. The Description edit box is used to add
a comment for yourself or another developer. Leave it empty.
3. Click OK to close the Business Model dialog. The new SH business model
appears in the Business Model and Mapping layer. The red symbol on the
business model indicates it is not yet enabled for querying. You enable the
business model for querying later after the Presentation layer is defined and the
repository passes a global consistency check.
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Create Logical Tables
To create a new logical table, perform the following steps:
1. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, right-click the SH business model
and select New Object > Logical Table.
2. In the Logical Table dialog box, name the table Sales Facts.
3. Click OK to close the Logical Table dialog. The Sales Facts logical table
appears in the SH business model in the Business Model and Mapping layer.
The Sources folder is populated in the next step when you create a logical
column.
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Create Logical Columns
To create a logical column, perform the following steps:
1. In the Physical layer, expand the Sales physical table.
2. Select the column AMOUNT_SOLD.
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3. Drag the AMOUNT_SOLD column from the Physical layer to the Sales Facts
logical table in the Business Model and Mapping layer. A new AMOUNT_SOLD
logical column is added to the Sales Facts logical table.
4. Expand the Sources to see the logical table source that was created
automatically when you dragged the AMOUNT_SOLD column from the
Physical layer. Logical table sources define the mappings from a logical table to
a physical table. A logical table’s Sources folder contains the logical table
sources. Because you dragged a column from the Physical layer, the logical
table source name, SALES, is the same name as the physical table. However,
it is possible to change names in the Business Model and Mapping layer
without impacting the mapping.
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5. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, double-click the AMOUNT_SOLD
logical column to open the Logical Column dialog box.
6. Click the Aggregation tab.
7. In the Default aggregation rule drop down list, select SUM.
8. Click OK to close the Logical Column dialog box. Notice that the logical column
icon is changed to indicate an aggregation rule is applied.
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Create Logical Joins
To create logical joins in the business model, perform the following steps:
1. Select the following tables in the Physical layer. Select only these tables:
CHANNELS, CUSTOMERS, PRODUCTS, PROMOTIONS, TIMES
2. Drag the selected tables from the Physical layer onto the SH business model
folder in the Business Model and Mapping layer. This automatically creates
logical tables in the Business Model and Mapping layer. Notice that each
logical table has a yellow table icon. In the Business Model and Mapping layer,
this indicates a fact table. Because you have not yet created the logical joins,
all table icons are yellow. The icon color for dimension tables changes to white
in a later step when you create logical joins.
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3. Right-click the SH business model and select Business Model Diagram >
Whole Diagram.
4. Rearrange the table icons so they are all visible. Place the Sales Facts table in
the middle. Adjust the zoom factor, if desired.
5. Click the New Complex Join button in the toolbar.
6. Click the Channels table icon first and then click the Sales Facts table icon in
the Logical Table Diagram window. The order is important. The second table
clicked is the many side of the relationship. The Logical Join dialog box opens.
Leave the default values as they are, but note which properties you can set:
name, business model, tables, driving table, join type, and cardinality. Also note
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which properties you cannot set: the join expression and the join columns.
Typically, when defining logical joins, you leave the defaults as they are.
7. Do not change the default values, click OK, and verify your work in the Logical
Table Diagram. Notice that the fact table, Sales Facts, is at the many end of
the join:
8. Repeat the steps for the remaining tables. Your final result should look similar
to the picture.
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9. Click the X in the upper right corner to close the Logical Table Diagram. Notice
that the color of the table icons for the dimension tables has changed to white
in the business model. In a business model, a yellow icon indicates a fact table
and a white icon indicates a dimension table. Defining the join relationships
determined which tables are the logical dimension tables and which is the
logical fact table. A fact table is always on the many side of a logical join. You
now have a logical star schema consisting of one logical fact table, Sales
Facts, and five logical dimension tables: Channels, Customers, Products,
Promotions, and Times.
10. Save the SH repository. Do not check global consistency.
Rename Business Model Objects
To use the Rename Wizard to rename the objects in the business model,
perform the following steps:
1. Click Tools > Utilities.
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2. In the Utilities dialog box, click Rename Wizard and then Execute.
3. In the Rename Wizard, click the Business Model and Mapping tab and select
the SH business model.
4. Click the Add Hierarchy button.
5. Click Next.
6. Click Select None.
7. Check Logical Table and Logical Column.
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8. Click Next.
9. Select All text lowercase.
10. Click Add
11. Click Change specified text. In the Find box, type an underscore. In the
Replace box, type a space.
12. Click Add.
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13. Click First letter of each word capital and click Add.
14. Click Change specified text. In the Find box, type a space and the letters Id.
In the Replace With box, type a space and the letters ID. Check Case
sensitive.
15. Click Add.
16. Click Next and review changes.
17. Click Finish and verify that logical tables and logical columns in the Business
Model and Mapping layer are changed as expected.
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18. Save the repository. Do not check global consistency.
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Delete Unnecessary Business Model Objects
To delete logical columns that are not needed in the business model, perform the
following steps:
1. For the Channels logical table in the Business Model and Mapping layer, use Ctrl +
click to select the Channel Class ID and the Channel Total ID logical columns.
2. Right-click either of the highlighted columns and select Delete to delete the columns.
Alternatively, you can use the Delete key on your keyboard.
3. Click Yes to confirm the delete.
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4. Verify that the Channels logical table now has only four logical columns.
5. Repeat the steps to delete the following logical columns in the Customers table:
¾ Cust City ID
¾ Cust State Province ID
¾ Country ID
¾ Cust Main Phone Number
¾ Cust Total ID
¾ Cust Src ID
¾ Cust Eff From
¾ Cust Eff To
¾ Cust Valid
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6. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and verify that the Customers
logical table has only the following logical columns:
7. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and repeat the steps to delete
the highlighted logical columns in the Products table.
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8. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and verify that the Products
9. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and repeat the steps to delete
the highlighted logical columns in the Promotions table.
10. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and verify that the Promotions
11. Do not delete any columns in the Times table.
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Build Dimension Hierarchies
Dimension hierarchies introduce formal hierarchies into a business model,

allowing Oracle BI Server to calculate useful measures and allowing users to drill
down to more detail. In a business model, a dimension hierarchy represents a
hierarchical organization of logical columns belonging to a single logical
dimension table. Common dimension hierarchies used in a business model are
time periods, products, customers, suppliers, and so forth.
Dimension hierarchies are created in the Business Model and Mapping layer and
end users do not see them in end user tools such as Oracle BI Answers or
Interactive Dashboards. In each dimension hierarchy, you organize dimension
attributes into hierarchical levels. These levels represent the organizational rules
and reporting needs required by your business. They provide the structure that
Oracle BI Server uses to drill into and across dimensions to get more detailed
views of the data. Dimension hierarchy levels are used to perform aggregate
navigation, configure level-based measure calculations, and determine what
attributes appear when Oracle BI users drill down in their data requests.
To build the Channels dimension hierarchy in the SH business model, perform
the following steps:
1. Right-click the Channels logical table and select Create Dimension.
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2. Right-click the ChannelsDim object, which was created by the action in the
previous step, and select Expand All.
3. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and verify that the
ChannelsDim dimension hierarchy matches the picture.
4. Right-click the Channels Detail level and select New Object > Parent Level.
5. In the Logical Level dialog box, name the logical level Class and set the
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Number of elements at this level to 3. This number does not have to be
exact. The ratio from one level to the next is more important than the absolute
number. These numbers only affect which aggregate source is used
(optimization, not correctness of queries).
6. Click OK to close the Logical Level dialog box. The new Class level is added
to the hierarchy.
7. Right-click the Class level and select Expand All.
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8. Drag the Channel Class column from the Channel Detail level to the Class
level to associate the logical column with this level of the hierarchy.
9. Right-click Channel Class and select New Logical Level Key.
10 In the Logical Level Key dialog box, verify that Channel Class and Use for
drilldown are selected. The level key defines the unique elements in each
logical level. Each level key can consist of one or more columns at this level.
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11. Click OK to close the Logical Level Key dialog box. The Channel Class
column now displays with a key icon.
12. Right-click the Class level and select New Object > Parent Level.
13. In the Logical Level dialog box, name the logical level Channel Total
Attribute and set the Number of elements at this level to 1.
14. Click OK to close the Logical Level dialog box. The Channel Total Attribute
level is added to the hierarchy.
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15. Right-click the Channel Total Attribute level and select Expand All.
16.. Drag the Channel Total column from the Channel Detail level to the Channel
Total Attribute level.
17. Right-click Channel Total and select New Logical Level Key.
18. In the Logical Level Key dialog box, verify that Channel Total and Use for
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drilldown are selected.
19. Click OK to close the Logical Level Key dialog box. The Channel Total
column now displays with a key icon.
20. Right-click the Channel Desc column and select New Logical Level Key.
21. In the Logical Level Key dialog box, notice that Use for drilldown is selected.
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22. Click OK to close the Logical Level Key dialog. Both Channel Desc and
Channel ID display with key icons.
23. Double-click the Channels Detail level to open the Logical Level dialog box.
24. Click the Keys tab.
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25. Click Channels Detail_Key.
26. Click the Edit button.
27. In the Logical Level Key dialog box, uncheck Use for drilldown.
28. Click OK to close the Logical Level Key dialog box. Notice that the key icons
are different. Channel Desc is used for drill down Channels Detail_Key is
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not. Later, when a user drills down in Answers or a dashboard, the default drill
is to the level key that has Use for drilldown checked in the next lowest level.
Based on this example, when a user drills down from the Channel Class
column (the next highest level), the default is to drill down to the Channel Desc
column, not the Channels Detail_Key column.
29. Click OK to close the Logical Level dialog box.
30. Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and verify that the
finished ChannelsDim hierarchy looks like the picture.
32. Optional: Build a dimension hierarchy for the Products logical table. Use the
preceding steps, the screenshot, and the characteristics below as a guide.
Don't worry if you cannot complete this step. In Part Two of this OBE, you use
a different repository that already has the dimension hierarchies prebuilt.
The ProductsDim dimension hierarchy should have the following

characteristics:
¾ For the Subcategory level, set Number of elements at this level to
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21.
¾ For the Category level, set Number of elements at this level to 5.
¾ For the Product Total Attribute level, set Number of elements at this
level to 1.
¾ For the Products Detail level, uncheck Use for drill down for
Products Detail_Key (Prod ID).
¾ Check Use for drill down for all other keys in the ProductsDim
hierarchy.
If you complete this step, save the repository. Do not check global consistency.
Building the Presentation Layer of a Repository

In this topic you use the Oracle BI Administration Tool to build the Presentation
layer of a repository.
The Presentation layer is built after the Physical layer and Business Model and
Mapping layer and adds a level of abstraction over the Business Model and
Mapping layer. It is the view of the data seen by end users in client tools and
applications, such as Oracle BI Answers. The Presentation layer provides a
means to further simplify or customize the Business Model and Mapping layer for
end users. For example, you can organize columns into catalogs and folders.
Simplifying the view of the data for users makes it easier to craft queries based
on users’ business needs because you can expose only the data that is
meaningful to the users, organize the data in a way that aligns with the way users
think about the data, and rename data as necessary for the set of users.
You typically create Presentation layer objects by dragging objects from the
Business Model and Mapping layer. Corresponding objects are automatically
created in the Presentation layer. Presentation layer objects can then be
renamed and reorganized.
To build the Presentation layer, you perform the following steps:
1. Drag the SH business model from the Business Model and Mapping layer to
the Presentation layer to create the SH catalog in the Presentation layer.
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2. Expand the SH catalog in the Presentation layer. Notice that the tables and
columns in the Presentation layer exactly match the tables and columns in the
Business Model and Mapping layer. Notice also that dimension hierarchies are
not displayed.
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Testing and Validating a Repository
You have finished building the initial business model and now need to test the
repository before continuing your development. You begin by checking the
repository for errors using the check consistency option. You then test the
repository by running queries using Oracle BI Answers. Finally, you examine the
query log file to verify the SQL generated by Oracle BI Server.
To test and validate a repository, you perform the following steps:
Run a Consistency Check
Enable Query Logging
Create an empty Webcatalog to test your RPD
Change the metadata files file and Start Oracle BI Services
Use Oracle BI Answers to Execute Queries
Use Query Log to Verify Queries
Run a Consistency Check
Consistency check is a utility in the Administration Tool that checks if a repository

has met certain requirements. Repositories and the business models within them
must pass the consistency check before you can make business models
available for queries. When a repository or business model is inconsistent, a
detailed message alerts you to the nature of the inconsistency.
The Consistency Check Manager displays three types of messages:
Error messages indicate errors that need to be fixed to make the repository
consistent.
Warning messages indicate conditions that may or may not be errors, depending
upon the intent of the Oracle BI Server administrator. For example, if the
Administrator user has an empty password this should be addressed, but is not a
requirement for a consistent repository.
Best Practices messages provide information about conditions but do not
indicate an inconsistency. For example, if there are physical tables with no keys
defined, a best practice message is displayed. Defining keys for physical tables
is best practice, but is not a requirement for a consistent repository.
For each message the Consistency Check Manager identifies the message type,
the object type, the object, and provides a detailed description of the message.
There are options to display only selected message types, display results using
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qualified names, check all objects in the repository, and copy the results to
another file.
To check consistency, you perform the following steps:
1. Select File > Check Global Consistency.
2. You should receive a message indicating that the repository is consistent and
asking if you want to make it available for queries.
3. Click Yes to make the SH business model available for queries. The
Consistency Check Manager displays.
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4. If the Consistency Check Manager displays any Error messages, edit the
repository to correct the inconsistencies and run the consistency check again.
If you see only Warning and Best Practices messages, you can ignore the
messages for now and click Close.
5. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, notice that the SH business model
icon has changed to indicate the business model is now available for queries
(the red circle with a line is gone).
6. Double-click the SH business model object to open the Business Model

properties dialog box. Notice that Available for queries is checked.
7. Click OK to close the Business Model properties dialog box.
8. Save the repository. Click No when asked to check global consistency (you just
checked it).
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Enable Query Logging
To enable query logging for the Administrator user, perform the following steps:
1. Select Manage > Security.
2. In the Security Manager, select Users in the left pane. The Administrator user
appears in the right pane.
3. In the right pane, double-click Administrator. The User dialog box opens.
4. Verify that the User tab is selected. In the Password field, type Administrator
and then confirm in the Confirm Password field. In the Logging level field, set
the value to 2.
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To test the repository, you need to generate some queries, retrieve the results,
and examine the query log. You log query activity at the individual user level.
Logging is intended for testing, debugging, and technical support. In production
mode, logging is normally disabled because query logging can impact
performance by producing very large log files.
5. Click OK to close the User dialog box.
6. Click Action > Close to close the Security Manager.
8. Select File > Close to close the repository.
9. Select File > Exit to close the Administration Tool.
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Create an empty Webcatalog to test your RPD
The end-user report objects are stored in a Web Catalog. We will create a new
Web catalog to start our testing of the SH.rpd.
1. Browse to G:\biee\10.1.3.2\OracleBIData\web\catalog
Create a new folder in this location called SH_Start
Change the metadata files file and Start Oracle BI Services
In this step, you start the Oracle BI Server service to load the SH repository into
memory. An entry in the Repository section of the initialization file
NQSConfig.ini instructs Oracle BI Server to load a specific repository into
memory upon startup. If Oracle BI Server detects a syntax error while loading the
repository, it logs the error to the server log file
(...\\OracleBI\server\Log\NQServer.log).
The Linux image includes a special Process Control page that allows us to easily
perform this change to the server’s main metadata files through a web GUI.
Modify the NQSConfig.ini only if you wish to change system settings like turning
caching on. You will find instructions for doing this in the online documentation.
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The path to the Web Catalog is stored in another initialization file called
InstanceConfig.xml. The editing of this file has also been simplified on the
Linux image by the Process Control page
1. Open the Process Control Page:

Select Repository: sh.rpd and Web Catalog SH_Start
Click SET
2. If the Oracle BI Server, Oracle BI Presentation Server and Oracle BI Java

Host services were not started prior to making the previous change, you will
need to explicitly start them.
Ensure that the previous step is completed and that the files listed under each
service are correct.
Check the BI Server and BI Presentation Server boxes and click Start
Wait until all the relevant flags go green
52
Use Oracle BI Answers to Execute Queries
To start Oracle BI Answers and execute a query, perform the following steps:
1. Select Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Presentation
Services.
2. Log in to Oracle Business Intelligence as Administrator with password

Administrator
3. Click the Answers link.
4. Click the SH subject area.
5. In the left pane, click the Customers folder to expand it. Notice that the folders
and columns in Answers match the folders and column in the Presentation
layer of the repository.
6. Click the Cust State Province column in the left pane to add it to the request
criteria on the right.
7. Click the Sales Facts folder in the left pane to expand it.
53
8. Click the Amount Sold column to add it to the request criteria.
9. Click the Results tab.
10. By default, results are displayed in a compound layout, consisting of a title and
a table view.
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Use Query Log to Verify Queries
1. Click Settings > Administration to open the Oracle BI Presentation Services

Administration Window.
2. Click the Manage Sessions link to open the Session Management window.
3. In the Session Management window, under Cursor Cache, click the View Log
link for the last entry.
4. The log displays the last query executed by Administrator. The log file should
look similar to the picture.
55
Locate the SQL Request section. This section contains the logical SQL issued
from Answers.
Locate the General Query Info section, just below the SQL Request section.
This section identifies the repository, subject area, and presentation catalog
from which the query was run.
Locate the Sending query to database named SH section, just below the
General Query Info section. This section identifies the physical data source to
which Oracle BI Server is connecting and the physical SQL that was generated.
The rest of the file contains information such as query status, number of rows
returned, and so forth.
5. Close the query log.
6. Click Finished to close the Session Management window.
7. Click Close Window to close the Oracle Bi Presentation Services

Administration window.
8. Leave Answers open.

Congratulations! Up to this point you have successfully built the Physical,
Business Model and Mapping, and Presentation layers of a repository, run a
consistency check, and tested the repository using Oracle BI Answers. For the
remainder of this OBE you enhance the repository by performing tasks such as
building calculation measures, adding multiple logical table sources, building
variables and initialization blocks, mapping to aggregate tables, and so forth.
56
Creating Calculation Measures
Often, a business wants to compare values of a measure and needs a
calculation to express the comparison. Oracle BI Server has a calculation engine
to perform a multitude of calculations. Calculation measures allow end users to
ask business questions like “Show me the accounts receivable balance as of Q3”
or “Show me the difference between units ordered and units shipped.” An
Expression Builder enables you to create expressions that are similar to
expressions created with SQL. In the examples in this lesson, you use the
Expression Builder to create calculation measures that appear as columns to
users in Answers. Users can then easily build queries using familiar terminology.
There are different methods for creating calculation measures in the
Administration Tool. You can use existing logical columns as objects in a
formula, use physical columns as objects in a formula, or use the Calculation
Wizard to automate the process. All three methods are covered in this OBE. You
use physical columns for calculations that require and aggregation rule to be
applied after the calculation. You use logical columns for calculation formulas
that require an aggregation rule that is applied before the calculation. You can
also build calculation measures in Answers. The advantages to building
calculation measures in the repository is the measures are built once and can be
made available to all users. The advantage of defining a logical column formula
based on existing logical columns is that you only have to define it once. When
you create formulas based on physical columns, you have to map for each
physical source it could be derived from.
To create calculation measures, you perform the following steps:
Create a BI Server ODBC Connection
Load a Prebuilt Repository
Create a New Measure
Create a Calculation Measure Using Answers
Create a Calculation Measure Using Logical Columns
Create a Calculation Measure Using Physical
Columns
Create a Calculation Measure Using the Calculation
wizard
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Create a BI Server ODBC Connection
To edit the RPD while the server is running it is necessary to create a direct
connection to the server rather than opening up the .rpd file on it’s own. The
Oracle BI Server provides an ODBC API just for this purpose. This is also the
way that Presentation Services connects to the mid-tier BI Server, requests being
sent to the server as Logical SQL queries. To connect to this layer to modify the
.rpd “Online”, we need to first create the necessary ODBC DSN:
1. Open Start > Control Panel > Administrative Tools > Data Sources (ODBC)
2. Click on the System DSN tab and select Add…
3. Enter a suitable name for the DSN e.g. LinuxPEServer-SalesHistory

Enter oracle2go for the Server
Click Next >
4. ¾ Login ID: Administrator

¾ Password: Administrator
¾ Port: 9703
Check the box “Connect to the Oracle BI Server to obtain default settings…”
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Click Next >
5. Change the default Catalog to SH
Click Finish
6. Hit OK to close the ODBC Administrator
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Load a Prebuilt Repository
A prebuilt repository is provided to expedite your completion of the remaining

exercises in this OBE. The provided repository is similar to the repository you
built in the first part of this OBE, but with the following relevant differences:
Physical joins are built for the the COSTS physical table in the Physical layer.
There are four additional dimension hierarchies: CustomersDim, ProductsDim,
PromotionsDim, and TimesDim.
To load the prebuilt repository, perform the following steps:
1. Stop the Oracle BI Server service using the Process control page:
2. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to

G:\biee\10.1.3.2\OracleBI\server\Repository.
3. Change the name of the SH.rpd file to SH_PartOne.rpd.
4. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the SetupFiles folder and copy the
SH_PartTwo.rpd file to G:\biee\10.1.3.2\OracleBI\server\Repository.
5. Rename SH_PartTwo.rpd to SH.rpd. There is no need to update the

NQSConfig.ini file, because, in an earlier step, you modified the entry in the
Repository section of the initialization file to instruct Oracle BI Server to load the
SH repository into memory upon startup.
6. Start the Oracle BI Server service from the process control page:
7. Click Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Administration to
open the Administration Tool.
8. Click File > Open > Online.
9. In the Open Online dialog box, select the LinuxPEServer-Sales History DSN
you created earlier. Type Administrator in the Password field and click Open.
10 The SH repository opens in online mode.
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.
Up to this point , all the changes you have made to the repository have been in
offline mode. Now that you have a consistent repository and Oracle BI Server is
running and using the repository, you can make changes to the metadata in
online mode.
In offline mode the relationship between the Administration Tool and the
repository is like the relationship between any Windows application and a file.
An application, the Administration Tool in this case, opens a file for editing,
makes changes to its in-memory copy, and tells the OS to save the changed
file.
In online mode, the relationship is different. Oracle BI Server has already

opened the repository file and the operating system has put a write-lock on the
file. In this mode, Oracle BI Server can act as an agent of the Administration
Tool. When the Administration Tool tells it to, Oracle BI Server sends the
Administration Tool a copy of its in-memory repository. Then it listens for
messages from the Administration Tool about changes, makes those changes
to its in-memory copy, and, when told by the Administration Tool, tells the OS to
save the changed file.
When you start the Administration Tool in online mode, you pick an Oracle BI
ODBC DSN that points to the repository you want to edit (i.e., the repository that
is the default repository in the DSN). The Administration Tool then
communicates changes to Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Server makes the
corresponding changes to its in-memory copy.
Typically, you develop a repository in offline mode and use online mode for
minor updates and changes.
If desired, examine the structure of the provided repository before proceeding
with the remaining steps in this OBE. In particular, examine the relevant
differences: the physical joins for the COSTS physical table, and the four
additional dimension hierarchies: CustomersDim, ProductsDim, PromotionsDim,
and TimesDim.
11 To verify connectivity, click Tools > Update All Row Counts. This may take a
. few minutes.
12 When Update Row Counts completes, expand the Physical layer and verify that
. row counts appear for all tables and columns.
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Notice that the objects have a red check mark. Since Oracle BI Server may be
processing queries while you are editing the repository in online mode, you
must check out objects before editing them. Once the objects have been edited,
you check them in again. At that point the changes you made become active.
When you are finished editing, you can save the changes to the repository.
In this example, the Administration Tool is configured to check out objects
automatically. Thus, objects were checked out automatically when you ran
Update Row Counts. If you do not see the red check marks, select Tools >
Options > General Tab > Check out objects automatically.
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Create a New Measure
To add a new measure to the Sales Facts table, perform the following steps:
1. In the Physical layer, navigate to COSTS > UNIT_COST.
2. Drag UNIT_COST from the Physical layer to the SALES logical table source for
the Sales Facts logical table. UNIT_COST appears as a logical column in the
Sales Facts logical table.
3. Right-click the UNIT_COST logical column, select Rename, and rename the
column to Unit Cost. Alternatively, slowly double-click the column to make it
editable.
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4. Set the aggregation rule for the Unit Cost logical column to SUM. Hint: double-
click the column to open the Logical Column properties dialog box and click the
Aggregation tab..
5. Drag the Unit Cost logical column to the Sales Facts presentation folder.
6. Click File > Check In Changes or click the Check In Changes button on the
toolbar to check in changes.
7. Click Yes when prompted to check global consistency. The Consistency Check
Manager opens and displays Warnings and Best Practices messages. Review
the messages.
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8. For the purposes of this tutorial, you disable the Warnings and Best Practices
messages. Click the Options tab.
9. Expand Warnings folder, select Check Features Match Default, and then click
the Disable button.
If you desire, review the other Warnings items that are checked.
10 Select Best Practices > Physical Table > Search for Tables With No Keys,
. and then click the Disable button.
If you desire, review the other Best Practices items that are checked.
11
Click the Messages tab.
.
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12 Click Check All Objects. The Consistency Check Manager displays with no
. messages, indicating a consistent repository.
13
Click Close to close the Consistency Check Manager.
.
14
Save the repository.
.
15 Return to Answers to test the new column in Answers. If Answers is not open,
. select Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Presentation
Server, log in as Administrator with password Administrator, click the
Answers link, and click the SH subject area.
16
Click Reload Server Metadata.
.
17 Build the following request:

.
Times.Calendar Year, Sales Facts.Amount Sold, Sales Facts.Unit Cost.
18 Click Results.
.
19 Click Settings > Administration > Manage Sessions > View Log to view the
. query log and examine the SQL generated by the request.
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Create a Calculation Measure Using Answers
Before you create calculation measures in the metadata using the Administration
Tool, you create a calculation measure using Answers. You do this so you can
compare your results later when you create similar calculations measures in the
repository.
To create a calculation measure using Answers, perform the following steps:
1. Click the Criteria tab. The request from the previous set of steps should still be
open.
2. Add another Amount Sold column to the request.
3. Click the Edit Formula button for the Amount Sold column that you just added.
4. The Edit Column Formula dialog box displays with "Sales Facts"."Amount Sold"
in the Column formula field.
5. In the Edit Column Formula dialog box, click to the right of "Sales
Facts"."Amount Sold" in the Column Formula field.
6. Click the Minus operator to add it to the formula.
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7. In the left panel, click Sales Facts > Unit Cost to add it to the formula.
8. Click the Custom Headings check box.
9. In the Custom Heading field, type Gross Profit.
10.Click OK to close the Edit Column Formula dialog box and verify the change to
the request.
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11.Click Results.
12.Click Settings > Administration > Manage Sessions > View Log to view the
query log.
13.Leave Answers open for the next topic.
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Create a Calculation Measure Using Logical Columns
In this topic, you define a new calculation measure named Gross Profit in the
Sales Facts logical table, using existing logical columns to define the calculation
formula. To create a calculation measure using logical columns, perform the
following steps.
1. Return to the SH repository, which should still be open in online mode in the
Administration Tool.
2. Right-click the Sales Facts logical table and select New Object > Logical
Column.
3. In the Logical Column dialog box, name the logical column Gross Profit and
check Use existing logical columns as the source.
4. Click the Expression Builder button (three dots) to open the Expression
builder.
5. In the left pane, click Logical Tables.
6. Select Sales Facts in the middle pane, Amount Sold in the right pane, and
click Insert. The Amount Sold column is added to the formula.
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7. Click the minus sign operator to add it to the formula.
8. Double-click Unit Cost in the right pane to add it to the formula.
9. Click OK to close the Expression Builder. Notice that the formula appears in the
Logical Column dialog box.
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10. Click OK to close the Logical Column dialog box. The Gross Profit logical
column appears in the business model.
11. Drag the Gross Profit logical column to the Sales Facts table in the
Presentation layer.
12. Check in changes.
13. Click Yes when prompted to check global consistency. If the repository is
consistent (no Error messages), close the Consistency Check Manager. If there
are Error messages, you must correct the errors before continuing.
14. Save the repository.
15. Return to Answers, which should still be open from the previous topic.
16. Click Reload Server Metadata.
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17. Expand Sales Facts and verify that the Gross Profit column is now visible in
Answers.
18. Create the following request. (If the request from the previous topic is still open,
delete the Gross Profit column you created in Answers and then add the Gross
Profit column you created in the repository to the query.)
¾ Times.Calendar Year
¾ Sales Facts.Amount Sold, Sales Facts.Unit Cost, Sales Facts.Gross
Profit
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19. Click Results. Verify that the results are the same as for the query you built
using the Gross Profit column created in Answers.
20. Click Settings > Administration > Manage Sessions > View Log to view the
query log. Your results should look similar to the picture.
Note that the difference between AMOUNT_SOLD and UNIT_COST is being

calculated in the outer query block (SAWITH0.c2 - SAWITH0.c1 as c4 in the
example pictured here). Because you defined the Gross Profit calculation using
logical columns, the columns are summed first and then the difference is
calculated. You compare these results to the query results in the next practice.
22. Click Finished to close the Session Management window.
23. Click Close Window to close Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration.
24. Leave Answers open for the next topic.
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Create a Calculation Measure Using Physical Columns
In this topic, you define a new calculation measure named Gross Profit Physical
in the Sales Facts logical table, using physical columns to define the calculation
formula.
To create a calculation measure using physical columns, perform the following
steps.
2. Right-click the Sales Facts logical table and select New Object > Logical
Column.
3. In the Logical Column dialog box, name the logical column Gross Profit
Physical.
4. Click the Aggregation tab.
5. Set the default aggregation rule to SUM.
6. Click OK to close the Logical Column dialog box. Gross Profit Physical is
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added to the business model.
7. Expand Sales Facts > Sources and double-click the SALES logical table
source. The Logical Table Source dialog box opens.
8. Click the Column Mapping tab.
9. Click the Expression Builder button for the Gross Profit Physical logical
column.
10 In the Expression Builder, select Physical Tables > SALES >
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. AMOUNT_SOLD and then click the Insert button to add the column to the
formula.
11 Click the minus sign operator to add it to the formula.

.
12 Select Physical Tables > COSTS > UNIT_COST and then click the Insert
. button to add the column to the formula.
13 Click OK to close the Expression Builder. Notice that the expression is added
. in the Logical Table Source dialog box.
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14 Click OK to close the Logical Table Source dialog box. The icon for Gross
. Profit Physical changes to indicate an aggregation rule is applied.
15 Drag Gross Profit Physical to Sales Facts in the Presentation layer.

.
16 Check in changes.
.
17 Click Yes when prompted to check global consistency. If the repository is

. consistent (no Error messages), close the Consistency Check Manager. If
there are Error messages, you must correct the errors before continuing.
18 Save the repository.

.
19 Return to Answers, which should still be open from the previous topic.
.
20 Click Reload Server Metadata.
78
.
21 Expand Sales Facts and verify that the Gross Profit Physical column is now
. visible in Answers.
22 Create the following request.

.
¾ Times.Calendar Year, Sales
¾ Facts.Amount Sold, Sales Facts.Unit Cost, Sales Facts.Gross
Profit Physical
23 Click Results. Verify that the results are the same for the Gross Profit
. Physical (built using physical columns) as they were for the Gross Profit
column (built using logical columns).
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The calculation formula for the logical columns looks like this: sum(Amount
Sold) – sum(Unit Cost), whereas the calculation formula for the physical
columns looks like this: sum(AMOUNT_SOLD – UNIT_COST). Because of
arithmetic laws, you know that you can sum ColumnA and sum ColumnB and
then take the differences of those sums, and have exactly the same results if
you calculate the difference first (the value in ColumnA – the value in
ColumnB for each row) and then sum the difference. So in this example, the
results are the same for the logical column and the physical column
calculations.
24 Click Settings > Administration > Manage Sessions > View Log to view
. the query log. Your results should look similar to the picture.
Note that the difference between amount sold and unit cost is calculated first
and then summed: sum(T245.AMOUNT_SOLD - T168.UNIT_COST)in the
example pictured here.
25 Close the query log.

.
26 Click Finished to close the Session Management window.

.
27 Click Close Window to close Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration.

.
28 Leave Answers open for the next topic.

.
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Create a Calculation Measure Using the Calculation wizard
In this topic, you use the Calculation Wizard to define a new calculation measure
named Share of Category in the Sales Facts logical table.
To create a calculation measure using the Calculation Wizard, perform the
following steps:
2. Right-click the Amount Sold logical column and select Duplicate.
3. A new column named Amount Sold#1 is added to the business model.
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4. Rename Amount Sold#1 to Category Sales.
5. Double-click Category Sales to open the Logical Column dialog box.
6. Click the Levels tab and select Category as the logical level for ProductsDim.
Category Sales is now a level-based measure that will calculate total sales at
the category level when used in a query. Level-based measures are useful for
creating share measures. You use the Calculation Wizard to create a share
measure in the steps that follow.
7. Click OK to close the Logical Column dialog box.
8. Right-click Amount Sold and select Calculation Wizard.
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9. Click Next.
10.Check Category Sales as the column to compare with Amount Sold.
11.Click Next.
12.Uncheck Change and Percent Change and check Percent.
83
13.Change Calculation Name to Share of Category.
14.Click Next.
15.Click Finish. Share of Category is added to the business model.
16.Drag Category Sales and Share of Category to Sales Facts in the
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Presentation layer.
17.Check in changes.
18.Click Yes when prompted to check global consistency. If the repository is

19.Save the repository.
20.Return to Answers, which should still be open from the previous topic.
21.Click Reload Server Metadata.
22.Expand Sales Facts and verify that Category Sales and Share of Category
are now visible in Answers.
23.Place the cursor over the icon to display the screenshot and use it as a
reference to create a query. Notice the sort settings for the Prod Category and
Amount Sold columns.
24.Expand the Times folder.
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25.Hold down the Ctrl key and click the Calendar Year column to open the
Create/Edit Filter dialog box.
26.Click the All Choices link.
27.Click 2001 to add it to the Value field.
28.Click OK to close the Create/Edit Filter dialog box. The filter is added to the
request.
29.Click Results. Only partial results are shown in the picture.
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30.Leave Answers open.
Organizing the Presentation Layer
The Presentation layer is built after the Physical layer and Business Model and
Mapping layer and adds a level of abstraction over the Business Model and
Mapping layer. It is the view of the data seen by end users in client tools and
applications, such as Oracle BI Answers. The Presentation layer provides a
means to further simplify or customize the Business Model and Mapping layer for
end users. For example, you can organize columns into catalogs and folders.
Simplifying the view of the data for users makes it easier to craft queries based
on users’ business needs because you can expose only the data that is
meaningful to the users, organize the data in a way that aligns with the way users
think about the data, and rename data as necessary for the set of users.
You typically create Presentation layer objects by dragging objects from the
Business Model and Mapping layer. Corresponding objects are automatically
created in the Presentation layer. You also can manually create catalogs and
folders based on the needs of your users.
Presentation catalogs allow you to show different views of a business model to
different sets of users. Presentation catalogs have to be populated with content
from a single business model. They cannot span business models. However,
multiple presentation catalogs can refer to the same business model.
Presentation catalogs contain presentation tables. You can use the Presentation
Tables tab in the Presentation Catalog properties dialog box to reorder, sort, or
delete Presentation layer tables. You can also use this tab to access the
Presentation Table dialog box, where you can create and edit tables. Changes to
87
the Presentation layer do not impact corresponding objects in the Business
Model and Mapping layer.
Use presentation tables to organize columns into categories that make sense to
the user community. Presentation tables appear as folders in the Oracle BI user
interface. Presentation tables contain presentation columns. A presentation table
can contain columns from one or more logical tables. The names and object
properties of the presentation tables are independent of the logical table
properties.
Presentation tables contain presentation columns. Use the Columns tab in the
Presentation Table properties dialog box to reorder, sort, or delete Presentation
layer columns. You can also use this tab to access the Presentation Column
dialog box, where you can create and edit columns.
Presentation columns define the columns used to build queries in the Oracle BI
user interface, such as Oracle BI Answers. The presentation column names are,
by default, identical to the logical column names in the Business Model layer. To
provide a convenient organization for your end users, you can drag a column
from a single logical table in the Business Model and Mapping layer onto multiple
presentation tables.
To organize the Presentation layer, perform the following steps:
2. In the Presentation layer, double-click the SH presentation catalog to open the

Presentation Catalog dialog box.
3. Click the Presentation Tables tab.
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4. To create a new presentation Table, click the Add button to open the
Presentation Table dialog box.
5. Click the General tab and name the presentation table Calendar.
6. In the Description field, type -> Calendar time attributes. Adding -> in the
description nests the table under the table above it. The description displays as
a tool tip in Answers.
7. Click OK to close the Presentation Table dialog box.
8. Repeat the steps and create another presentation table named Fiscal with -
>Fiscal time attributes in the Description field.
9. Drag the tables or use the Up and Down buttons to rearrange the tables in the
following order:
¾ Times
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¾ Fiscal
¾ Calendar
¾ Products
¾ Customers
¾ Channels
¾ Promotions
¾ Sales Facts
10.Click OK to close the Presentation Catalog dialog box. The new tables are
added to the Presentation layer and the presentation tables are reordered.
11.Double-click the Channels presentation table to open the Presentation Table

dialog box.
12.Click the Columns tab.
13.Drag the columns or use the Up and Down arrows to reorder the columns. A
suggested approach is to order the columns hierarchically from top to bottom.
14.Click OK to close the Presentation Table dialog box. The column order is
changed in the Presentation layer.
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15.Expand the Times presentation table.
16.Use cut and paste to move all the fiscal columns from the Times presentation
table to the Fiscal presentation table and all the remaining columns from the
Times presentation table to the Calendar presentation table. Use Shift+click
and Ctrl+click to select multiple columns.
18.Click Yes when prompted to check global consistency. If the repository is

20.Return to Answers, which should still be open from the previous topic.
21.Click Reload Server Metadata.
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22.Verify that the Fiscal and Calendar folders are nested under the Times folder.
23.Verify that the columns in the Fiscal and Calendar folders appear as expected.
24.Verify that the Channels columns appear as expected.
25.Leave Answers open.
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Using Initialization Blocks and Variables
You can use variables in a repository to streamline administrative tasks and

modify metadata content dynamically to adjust to a changing data environment.
A variable has a single value at any point in time. Variables can be used instead
of literals or constants in the Expression Builder in the Administration Tool.
Oracle BI Server substitutes the value of a variable for the variable itself in the
metadata.
You use the Variable Manager to define variables and initialization blocks.
There are two classes of variables: repository variables and session variables.
A repository variable has a single value at any point in time. There are two types
of repository variables: static and dynamic. Static repository variables have
values that are constant and do not change while Oracle BI Server is running.
Dynamic repository variables have values that are refreshed by data returned
from queries in initialization blocks. Repository variables are represented by a
question mark icon in the Variable Manager.
Session variables are created and assigned a value when each user logs on.
There are two types of session variables: system and nonsystem. System
variables have reserved names and are used for specific purposes by Oracle BI
Server, such as authenticating users. Non-system variables are application-
specific variables created by an Administrator. System and nonsystem variables
are represented by a question mark icon in the Variable Manager.
Initialization blocks are used to initialize dynamic repository variables, system
session variables, and nonsystem session variables.
To create initialization blocks, session variables, and dynamic repository
variables, you perform the following steps:
Create an Initialization Block for Session Variables
Test the Initialization Block and Session Variables
Create a Dynamic Repository Variable
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Create an Initialization Block for Session Variables
Session variables are like dynamic repository variables in that they obtain their
values from initialization blocks. Unlike dynamic repository variables, however,
the initialization of session variables is not scheduled.
When a user begins a session, Oracle BI Server creates new instances of
session variables and initializes them. Unlike a repository variable, there are as
many instances of a session variable as there are active sessions on Oracle BI
Server. Each instance of a session variable could be initialized to a different
value.
A session is an instance of a user running the client application. The session
starts when the application is started and ends when the application is exited.
To create an initialization block for session variables, perform the following steps:
2. Click Manage > Variables to open the Variable Manager.
3. Click Session > Initialization Blocks.
94
4. Right-click in the white space on the right and select New Initialization Block.
5. In the Session Variable Initialization Block dialog box, type setUser in the
Name field.
6. Click the Edit Data Source button to open the Session Variable Initialization
Block Data Source dialog box.
95
7. Click the Browse button and select SH > Connection Pool in the Select
Connection Pool dialog box.
8. Double-click Connection Pool or click the Select button to add the connection
pool to the Session Variable Initialization Block Data Source dialog box.
9. In the Default Initialization String field, type the following initialization string:
select ':USER', case when upper(':USER') = 'KURT' then 'Germany' when
upper(':USER') = 'KEIKO' then 'Japan' when upper(':USER')= 'CHARLES'
then 'United Kingdom' when upper(':USER') = 'KAREN' then 'United States
of America' end, 'CountryManagers', 2 from Dual
10. Click OK to close the Session Variable Initialization Block Data Source dialog
box. The initialization string is visible in the Session Variable Initialization Block
dialog box.
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11. Click Edit Data Target to open the Session Variable Initialization Block
Variable Target dialog box.
12. Click New to open the Session Variable dialog box.
13. In the Name field, type USER.
14. Click OK to close the Session Variable dialog box.
15. Click Yes when prompted about the USER session variable having a special
purpose.
16. The USER variable is added to the Session Variable Initialization Block
Variable Target dialog box.
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17. Repeat the steps and add three more variables: UserCountry, GROUP, and
LOGLEVEL. Click Yes when promoted about the GROUP and LOGLEVEL
session variables having a special purpose. The order is important. The order
of the variables must match the order of the values for the variables in the
initialization string in the initialization block.
98
18. Click OK to close the Session Variable Initialization Block Variable Target
dialog box. The variables are displayed in the Variable Target section of the
Session Variable Initialization Block dialog box.
19. Click OK to close the Session Variable Initialization Block dialog box. The
setUser initialization block is visible in the Security Manager.
20. Click Action > Close to close the Variable Manager.
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Test the Initialization Block and Session Variables
1. Click Manage > Security to open the Security Manager.
2. Click Groups in the left pane.
3. Right-click the white space in the right pane and select New Security Group.
4. Name the group CountryManagers.
5. Click the Permissions button to open the User / Group Permissions dialog box.
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6. Click the Filters tab.
7. Click the Add button.
8. Click the Customers presentation table.
9. Click Select to add Customers to the User / Group Permissions dialog box.
10. Click the Expression Builder button (three dots) on the right to open the
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Expression Builder (you may need to scroll to see the button).
11. Select Logical Tables > Customers > Country and then click the Insert
button to add Country to the formula.
12. Click the = operator to add it to the formula.
13. Select Session Variables > UserCountry and click the Insert button to add
UserCountry to the formula as an argument in the VALUEOF() function.
14. Click OK to close the Expression Builder. The filter is added in the User / Group
Permissions dialog box.
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15. Click OK to close the User / Group Permissions dialog box.
16. Click OK to close the Group dialog box. CountryManagers is added as a group
in the Security Manager.
17. Click Action > Close to close the Security Manager.
20. Return to Answers.
21. Log out of Answers.
22. Test the initialization block by logging in to Answers as one of the users in the
initialization block: Kurt, Keiko, Charles, or Karen.
23. Create the following query:

Customers.Country, Times.Calendar.Calendar Year, Sales Facts.Amount
Sold.
24. Click Results. The results of the query should correspond to the the user's
country (Kurt = Germany, Keiko = Japan, Charles = United Kingdom, Karen =
United States of America). The picture shows the results when the user = Kurt.
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Create a Dynamic Repository Variable
1. Return to the SH repository open in online mode.
2. Click Manage > Variables to open the Variable Manager.
3. Click Repository > Initialization Blocks.
4. Right-click the white space and select New Initialization Block to open the
Repository Variable Init Block dialog box.
5. Name the initialization block getMaxSalesDate.
6. Click Edit Data Source to open the Repository Variable Init Block Data Source
dialog box.
7. Click the Browse button to open the Select Connection Pool dialog box.
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8. Double-click the SH > Connection Pool object to add it to the Connection Pool
field in the Repository Variable Init Block Data Source dialog box.
9. In the Default Initialization String field, type the following SQL:

select TIME_ID, CALENDAR_YEAR, CALENDAR_MONTH_DESC,
CALENDAR_MONTH_ID from TIMES
WHERE TIME_ID = (select max(TIME_ID) from SALES)
10.Click OK to close the Repository Variable Init Block Data Source dialog box.
The connection pool and initialization string are added to the Repository
Variable Init Block dialog box.
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11.Click Edit Data Target to open the Repository Variable Init Block Variable
Target dialog box.
12.Use the New button to create four variables: maxSalesDate, maxYear,
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maxMonthDesc, and maxMonthID. The order is important. The order of the
variables must match the column order in the initialization string.
13.Click OK to close the Repository Variable Init Block Variable Target dialog box.
The variables appear in the Variable Target field in the Repository Variable Init
Block dialog box.
14.Click Edit Data Source to open the Repository Variable Init Block Data Source
dialog box.
15.Click Test and verify you get the results in the picture.
16.Close Results.
17.Click OK to close the Repository Variable Init Block Data Source dialog box.
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18.Click OK to close the Repository Variable Init Block dialog box. The
getMaxSalesDate initialization block is displayed in the Variable Manager.
19.Select Repository > Initialization Blocks > Variables > Dynamic to see the
variables displayed in the Variable Manager.
20.Click Action > Close to close the Variable Manager.
22.Select File > Check Global Consistency. If the Consistency Check Manager
displays any errors, edit the repository to correct the errors before continuing. If
there are no error messages, close the Consistency Check Manager.
24.Return to Answers.
25.Build the following query:

Calendar.Calendar Year, Sales Facts.Amount Sold.
26.Click the Add Filter button for the Calendar Year column.
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27.In the Create/Edit Filter dialog box, click Add > Variable > Repository.
28.In the Server Variable field, type maxYear.
29.Click OK to close the Create/Edit Filter dialog box. The filter is added to the
request.
30.Click Results and verify that Calendar Year returns the expected result.
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Adding Multiple Sources
Data is often partitioned into multiple physical sources for a single logical table in
a business model. When a logical table source does not contain the entire set of
data at a given level, you need to specify the portion of the set that it does
contain. When individual sources at a given level contain information for a portion
or fragment of the domain, Oracle BI Server needs to know the content of the
sources in order to pick the appropriate source for the query. The goal is to
provide seamless and efficient access from the users' perspective. When there
are multiple sources, the metadata is built so that Oracle BI Server handles the
navigation to the appropriate source. Oracle BI Server can seamlessly access
and process data from multiple sources in an efficient manner to satisfy users’
requests.
In this example, sales quota numbers are stored in an XML file, SHQuota.xml.
You incorporate the quota numbers into the business model and create business
measures to report variance from quota and percent of quota.
To add quota information to the business model, you perform the following steps.
Import the XML data source into the repository
Map the Logical Dimension Columns
Setup Time Alias on imported XML source
Create the quota measures
Test the Quota Measures.
First, copy the file SHQuota.xml to the network drive G:\. This equates to the
folder /ora/ in the Linux file system. Also, go to the Process Control page and
change the BI Server to use the original SH.rpd that you backed-up as
SH_backup.rpd at the beginning of this entire tutorial.
Import the XML data source into the repository
1. Return to the SH repository open in online mode.
2. Select File > Import > from Database.
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3. Change the Connection Type to XML in the dropdown.
Insert the URL: G:\SHQuota.xml
Leave the XSLT and other parameters blank.
4. Click OK. The Import dialog box opens.
5. In the Import dialog box, select the top level SHQuota.xml object.
6. Verify that Tables are checked and click Import.

Click OK to accept the default configuration for the XML Connection Pool
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7. When import completes, close the Import dialog box and verify that the
SHQuota table has been imported into the Physical layer.
8. Double-click the Table database object in the Physical layer (SHQuota) to

open the Table dialog box.
9. Since this file needs to be accessed by the Linux server we need to change
the path to the file. Click the XML tab.
Change the URL from G:\SHQuota.xml to /ora/SHQuota.xml
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10.Since XML is all text by default, this time we need to manually tell the server
what format the column data is expected in. Click on the Columns tab.
Double-click on Amt column and change Type to DOUBLE. Click OK.
11.Likewise, change the following other column types:

¾ Quota: DOUBLE
¾ Year: INT
¾ QtrNumber:INT
12.Click OK to close the Table dialog box.
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Map the Logical Dimension Columns
1. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, expand Customers > Sources
and note that there are two logical table sources: CUSTOMERS and
COUNTRIES.
2. Drag the physical column Country from SHQuota in the Physical layer to the
logical column Customers.Country in the Business Model and Mapping
layer. Notice that a new logical table source, SHQuota, is created
automatically.
3. Drag the physical columns SubRegion and Region from SHQuota in the
Physical layer to the corresponding logical columns in the Customers table in
Business Model and Mapping Layer.
4. Double-click the SHQuota logical table source in the Customers > Sources
folder to open the Logical Table Source dialog box.
5. Click the Column Mapping tab. Notice the logical to physical column
mappings.
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6. Click OK to close the Logical Table Source dialog box.
11. Repeat the steps and map Products.Prod Category to Category and verify
the logical table source mapping.
Setup Time Alias on imported XML source
The Time Comparison measure functions Ago() and ToDate() used elsewhere in
this tutorial enforce requirements on the physical tables. Specifically, the Time
attributes must be in a separate physical layer table definition from other
attributes. This can be easily achieved in most instances via the use of an alias.
We need to use this approach for the imported XML file.
1. Right click on SHQuota. Select New Object > Alias.

Call the object TimeAlias
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2. Right-click on the XML database and select Physical Diagram > Selected
Objects Only
3. Create a foreign key join from the TimeAlias table to the SHQuota table:
¾ Click on the foreign key button:

¾ The icon should remain pushed in
¾ Now click first on the TimeAlias table and then click on the SHQuota
table
(The join path should appear as a line from the source to target as you drag
the mouse between the first and second click)
4. Create a join on ALL COLUMNS by multi-selecting all columns from both

table lists. The expression for the join should correctly map each column
from parent to child but can be edited if it is not as shown below:
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Since we don’t have a dedicated dimension table at the quarter level, this join
on all columns ensures we can model the XML file as an aggregate time
dimension without worrying about double-counting quotas.
5. Accept the table key creation by clicking Yes.
6. The joined Tables should appear in the Physical layer as follows:
8. Check global consistency. Fix any errors before proceeding.
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Create the quota measures
1. Drag the column SHQuota.Quota from the Physical layer onto the Sales Facts
logical table. Notice that a new logical table source, SHQuota, and a new logical
column, Quota, are created.
2. Double-click Sales Facts.Quota to open the Logical Table dialog box.
3. Click the Aggregation tab and set the aggregation rule to Sum.
4. Close the Logical Table dialog box.
5. The Quota logical column states quota in thousands, so rename Quota to

Quota (000).
12.Set the Level of the Quota (000) Measure according to the granularity of the
XML file:
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6. Right-click Sales Facts and select New Object > Logical Column to open the
7. Click the General tab and name the logical column Quota.
8. Check Use existing logical columns as the source.
Builder.
10.Create the following formula:

1000*"SH"."Sales Facts"."Quota (000)"
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11.Close the Expression Builder. The formula displays in the Logical Column dialog
box.
12.Close the Logical Column dialog box. The Quota column is added to the
business model.
13.Right-click Sales Facts.Amount Sold and select Calculation Wizard.
14.Click Next.
15.Select the Quota column.
16.Click Next.
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17.Make sure Change is selected. In the Calculation Name field, name the
calculation Variance from Quota.
18.Uncheck Percent Change.
19.Check Percent and make sure it is selected. In the Calculation Name field,
leave the name as is: % of Quota.
20.Click Next.
21.In the Finish window, verify the calculations that will be created by the
Calculation Wizard.
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22.Click Finish. The calculation measures are added to the business model.
23.Add the Quota (000), Quota, Variance From Quota, and % of Quota
measures to the Sales Facts presentation table.
25.Check global consistency. If you receive any Error messages, edit the repository
to correct the errors before proceeding.
Test the Quota Measures.
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1. Return to Answers. Log out and then log back in as Administrator with
password Administrator.
2. Reload Server Metadata.
3. Create the following request:

Calendar.Calendar Year, Sales Facts.Amount Sold, Sales Facts.Quota,
Sales Facts.Variance From Quota, Sales Facts.% of Quota.
4. Create the following filter:

¾ Calendar Year is equal to / is in 1999, 2000, 2001.
5. Click Results. (Please note that SHQuota contains data only for 2001).
6. Drill down on 2001.
7. Examine the query log
8. Click Settings > Administration.
9. Click Manage Sessions.
10. Locate the last query run under Cursor Cache and click View Log.
11. Notice that two separate queries are executed to collect the data from the
ORCL database and the SHQuota.xml file:
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-------------------- Sending query to database named SH (id: <<46098>>):
WITH
SAWITH0 AS (select D1.c1 as c1,
D1.c2 as c2,
D1.c3 as c3
from
(select sum(T245.AMOUNT_SOLD) as c1,
T268.CALENDAR_YEAR as c2,
T268.CALENDAR_QUARTER_DESC as c3,
ROW_NUMBER() OVER (PARTITION BY T268.CALENDAR_QUARTER_DESC ORDER BY
T268.CALENDAR_QUARTER_DESC ASC) as c4
from
TIMES T268,
SALES T245
where ( T245.TIME_ID = T268.TIME_ID and T268.CALENDAR_YEAR = 2001 )
group by T268.CALENDAR_QUARTER_DESC, T268.CALENDAR_YEAR
) D1
where ( D1.c4 = 1 ) )
select SAWITH0.c2 as c1,
SAWITH0.c3 as c2,
SAWITH0.c1 as c3
from
SAWITH0
order by c2
+++Administrator:b5ed0000:b5ed000b:----2007/05/22 01:16:07
-------------------- Sending query to external gateway database named G:\SHQuota.xml (id: <<46004>>):
<NQSQueryInput><NQSDatabaseName>G:\SHQuota.xml</NQSDatabaseName><NQSUser></NQSUser><
NQSPassword></NQSPassword><NQSQuery><NQSColumn>
<NQSColumnType>int</NQSColumnType>
<NQSColumnAlias>c2</NQSColumnAlias>
<NQSColumnName>Year</NQSColumnName>
<NQSColumnFullName>//Table/QUOTA/Year</NQSColumnFullName>
<NQSTableName>SHQuota</NQSTableName>
<NQSTableAlias>4194</NQSTableAlias>
<NQSTableAliasName>SHQuota</NQSTableAliasName>
<NQSTableFullName>/ora/SHQuota.xml</NQSTableFullName>
</NQSColumn>
<NQSColumn>
<NQSColumnType>string</NQSColumnType>
<NQSColumnName>QtrDesc</NQSColumnName>
<NQSColumnFullName>//Table/QUOTA/QtrDesc</NQSColumnFullName>
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</NQSColumn>
<NQSColumn>
<NQSColumnType>double</NQSColumnType>
<NQSColumnName>Quota</NQSColumnName>
<NQSColumnFullName>//Table/QUOTA/Quota</NQSColumnFullName>
</NQSColumn>
</NQSQuery></NQSQueryInput>
-------------------- Query Status: Successful Completion
-------------------- Rows 201, bytes 9648 retrieved from database query id: <<46004>>
-------------------- Rows 4, bytes 224 retrieved from database query id: <<46098>>
13. Click Finished to close the Session Management screen.
14. Click Close Window to close the Oracle BI Presentation Services screen.
Executing Direct Database Requests
Users with the appropriate permissions can create and issue a direct database
request directly to a physical back-end database. The results of the request can
be displayed and manipulated within Oracle BI Answers, and subsequently
incorporated into Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards and Oracle BI Delivers.
The following privilege settings in Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration
control whether you can create and issue physical requests:
Edit Direct Database Requests: If this privilege is set for you, you can create
direct database requests. By default, this privilege is set only for users defined as
Presentation Server Administrators.
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Execute Direct Database Requests: If this privilege is set for you, you can issue
physical requests. By default, this privilege is not enabled for anyone. It can be
changed by a Presentation Server Administrator.
To execute a direct database request, perform the following steps:
1. In Answers, click Settings > Administration.
2. In the Oracle BI Presentation Service Administration screen, click Manage

Privileges to open the the Privilege Administration screen.
3. In the Privilege Administration screen, scroll down to Answers. Note that the
Edit Direct Database Requests privilege is granted to Presentation Server
Administrators. By default, the Administrator user is a member of this group.
4. Note that the Execute Direct Database Requests privilege is not granted to
anyone.
5. Click (not permitted) to open the Change Privilege Permissions screen.
126
6. Click the Add button next to Presentation Server Administrators to give this
group explicit access to this privilege.
7. Click Finished to close the Change Privilege Permissions screen. Notice the
change to the privilege permissions for Execute Direct Database Requests.
8. Click Finished to close the Privilege Administration screen.
9. Click Close Window to close the Oracle BI Presentation Services

Administration screen.
10 Click the Answers link to return to the Answers start page.

.
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11 Click the Create Direct Request link.
.
12 In the Connection Pool field, type the connection pool name for the SH data
. source enclosed in double quotes ("SH"."Connection Pool" in this example).
13 In the SQL Statement field, type SELECT * FROM Channels.

.
14 Click Validate SQL and Retrieve Columns to display the columns from the
. Channels table.
15 Click Results. Your results should look similar to the screenshot.

.
16 Leave Answers open

.
128
Using Aggregates
Aggregate tables store pre-computed results, which are measures that have
been aggregated (typically summed) over a set of dimensional attributes. Using
aggregate tables is a very popular technique for speeding up query response
times in decision support systems. This eliminates the need for run-time
calculations and delivers faster results to users. The calculations are done ahead
of time and the results are stored in the tables. Aggregate tables should have
many fewer rows than the non-aggregate tables and, therefore, processing
should be quicker.
The aggregate navigation capability of Oracle BI Server allows queries to use the
information stored in aggregate tables automatically, without query authors or
tools having to specify aggregate tables in the queries. Oracle BI Server allows
users to concentrate on asking the right business questions, because the server
decides which tables provide the fastest answers. For Oracle BI Server to have
enough information to navigate to aggregate tables, you need to configure
certain metadata in the repository.
There is a utility in Oracle BI EE called the Aggregate Persistence Wizard that

enables model-first DWH development and maintenance. Hence from the
business model we have already created, it is possible to quickly generate
aggregate tables to improve system performance and have these tables
automatically mapped into the central business model without the need to
maintain these mappings manually.
The following steps are included for Managing Aggregates:

Run the Aggregate Persistence Wizard
Execute the Aggregate Build Scripts
Study the Aggregate Metadata and Test in
Answers
Run the Aggregate Persistence Wizard
1. In the Administration Tool, go to Tools > Utilities
Select Aggregate Persistence Wizard and click Execute…
129
Insert a path for the aggregate DDL file. E.g. G:\AggregateDDL.sql. Click
Next
Select the whole fact table SalesFacts
Select the levels of aggregation for each dimension. Since we are including
SHQuota fields, these should only include the dimensions for which quotas are
stored and to the following maximum depth:
¾ ProductDim: Category
¾ TimeDim: Quarter
¾ CustomerDim: Subregion
Click Next
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Select the location for the aggregate within the existing SH schema. Click Next
Notice the logical SQL generated by the wizard

"ag_Salesfacts"
for "SH"."Salesfacts"("Amount Sold","Unit Cost","Gross Profit Physical","Category Sales","Amount Sold
MAgo","Unit Cost MAgo","# of Customers","# Customers MAgo","CountDays","Quota (000)")
at levels ("SH"."ProductsDim"."Category", "SH"."TimesDim"."Quarter", "SH"."CustomersDim"."Subregion")
using connection pool "orcl SH"."Connection Pool"
in "orcl SH".."SH"
Check I am done and click Next
Click Finish
Save and Check-in Changes. Close the Administration Tool
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Execute the Aggregate Build Scripts
These scripts can be executed either using the NQCmd.exe utility on-demand or,
if the BI Server is to be responsible for rebuilding aggregates on a regular basis
these jobs can be set up in the BI Scheduler. As we have not configured the
scheduler yet, we will use the NQCmd utility.
To execute the aggregate build scripts follow these steps:
Open a command prompt: Start > Run > cmd

Browse to G:\ and run the following command to create the Aggregate
metadata
nqcmd -d LinuxPEServer-SalesHistory -s g:\AggregateDDL.sql -u Administrator -p Administrator
Notice the executed command and output results:

create aggregates
"ag_Salesfacts"
using connection pool "orcl SH"."Connection Pool" in "orcl SH".."SH"
Statement execute succeeded
Processed: 1 queries
Next run the following command to create the Aggregate tables in the database
nqcmd -d LinuxPEServer-SalesHistory -s g:\AggregateDDL.sql_DDL -u Administrator -p
Administrator
Notice the executed command and output results:

prepare aggregates
"ag_Salesfacts"
using connection pool "orcl SH"."Connection Pool" in "orcl SH".."SH"
Statement execute succeeded
Processed: 1 queries
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Study the Aggregate Metadata and Test in Answers
Open Admin Tool and connect to Oracle BI Server Online
Notice the new Physical tables with a red icon have been created in the SH
schema and new Logical table sources in the Business Model
Studying the new SalesFacts table source, you can understand how pre-
existing aggregates are manually mapped into the business model by creating
a new logical table source, defining the appropriate expression to map each
Logical column to the aggregate table:
Then the aggregation level of the logical table source is configured for each
dimension under the Content tab to tell the server when it should be used vs
the detail tables or other aggregates:
133
Also you can see from the new Logical Dimension Table sources (e.g. for the
Time Dimension) that aggregate dimension tables are included and set to the
correct level for that dimension.
This further speeds up query times and ensures that tables are joined at the
same level so as not to double count any records. The tables we created with
the Aggregate Persistence Wizard have the following physical relationships:
E.g. Join on Category:
134
Test the aggregates by logging into Answers and creating the same query as
before:
Run the query and check the results
8. Click Settings > Administration.
9. Click Manage Sessions.
10. Locate the last query run under Cursor Cache and click View Log.
You can see from the SQL that the BI Server “aggregate awareness” ensured
the new table was used without any guidance from the user and as a result all
previously created queries will now run faster if they are at a sufficiently high
level of granularity. Notice also that even though the physical aggregate tables
do not include any calculated measures like Variance from Quota or % Quota,
the server uses the aggregate definitions for the base measures to calculate
the derived figures in the most optimal way.
-------------------- SQL Request:

SET VARIABLE QUERY_SRC_CD='Report';SELECT Calendar."Calendar Year" saw_0, "Sales
Facts"."Amount Sold" saw_1, "Sales Facts".Quota saw_2, "Sales Facts"."Variance from Quota" saw_3,
"Sales Facts"."% of Quota" saw_4 FROM SH ORDER BY saw_0
+++Administrator:b5fc0000:b5fc001b:----2007/05/22 05:42:10
-------------------- General Query Info:

Repository: BIEE, Subject Area: SH, Presentation: SH
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-------------------- Sending query to database named orcl SH (id: <<213522>>):
WITH
SAWITH0 AS (select sum(T4383.Quota_0008059661B) as c1,
sum(T4383.Amount_Sol00000140) as c2,
T4315.Calendar_Y00000809 as c3
from
SA_Quarter0000097D T4315,
ag_Salesfacts T4383
where ( T4315.Calendar_Q000007F5 = T4383.Calendar_Q000007F5 )
group by T4315.Calendar_Y00000809)
select distinct SAWITH0.c3 as c1,
SAWITH0.c2 as c2,
SAWITH0.c1 * 1000 as c3,
nvl(SAWITH0.c2 , 0) - nvl(SAWITH0.c1 * 1000 , 0) as c4,
case when SAWITH0.c1 * 1000 = 0 then NULL else SAWITH0.c2 * 100.0 / nullif( SAWITH0.c1 * 1000, 0)
end as c5
from
SAWITH0
order by c1
-------------------- Query Status: Successful Completion
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Creating Time Series Measures
The ability to compare business performance with previous time periods is

fundamental to understanding a business. Time comparisons allow businesses to
analyze data that spans multiple time periods, providing a context for the data.
Yet, as Ralph Kimball states, SQL was not designed to make comparisons over
time straightforward:
”The most difficult area of data warehousing is the translation of simple business
analyses into SQL. SQL was not designed with business reports in mind. SQL
was really an interim language designed to allow relational table semantics to be
expressed in a convenient and accessible form, and to enable researchers and
early developers to proceed with building the first relational systems in the mid-
1970s. How else can you explain the fact that there is no direct way in SQL to
compare this year to last year?” – Ralph Kimball
The solution is to model time series data in the Oracle BI repository. This allows
users to make one request for the desired result. Oracle BI Server runs multiple
queries in parallel to get the results. The queries that run in the background to
support the time measure are transparent to the user.
Oracle BI Server provides Ago and ToDate functions for time series
comparisons. Both of these functions operate on measures. The Ago function
calculates the aggregated value as of some time period shifted from the current
time. For example, the Ago function can produce sales for every month of the
current quarter, along with the corresponding quarter ago sales. The ToDate
function is used to aggregate a measure attribute from the beginning of a
specified time period to the currently displaying time. For example, the ToDate
function can calculate Month to Date sales for a given year. You use the
Expression Builder to apply the functions.
To create time series measures, perform the following steps:
Identify a Dimension as a Time Dimension
Create a Month Ago Measure
Create a Change Month Ago Measure
Create a ToDate Measure
Ensure Correct Month Sort-Order for To-Date Calculation
Test the Time Series Measures
137
Identify a Dimension as a Time Dimension:
1. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, double-click the TimesDim

dimension hierarchy to open the Dimension dialog box.
2. In the Dimension dialog box, check Time Dimension.
3. Click OK to close the Dimension dialog box.
4. Expand TimesDim to the Times Detail level and double-click the Times Detail
level to open the Logical Level dialog box.
5. Click the Keys tab.
6. Check the Chronological Key checkbox for Times Detail_Key.
7. Click OK to close the Logical Level dialog box.
138
Create a Month Ago Measure
2. Name the logical column Month Ago Sales.
Builder.
5. Select Functions > Time Series Functions > Ago.
6. Click Insert to add the Ago function to the Expression Builder.
139
7. Click the first <<expr>> in the expression.
8. Select Logical Tables > Sales Facts and then double-click Amount Sold to
add it to the expression.
9. Click the second <<expr>> in the expression.
10.Select Time Dimensions > TimesDim and then double-click Month to add it to
the expression.
11.Click <<integer>> in the expression and type 1. The Ago function calculates the
Amount Sold value one month prior to the current month.
140
12.Click OK to close the Expression Builder. The formula is displayed in the
13.Click OK to close the Logical Column dialog box.
141
Create a Change Month Ago measure
2. Name the logical column Change Month Ago Dollars.
4. Click the Expression Builder button to open the Expression Builder.
5. Select Logical Tables > Sales Facts and then double-click Amount Sold to
add it to the expression.
6. Insert a minus sign in the expression.
7. Select Logical Tables > Sales Facts and then double-click Month Ago Dollars
to add it to the expression.
8. Click OK to close the Expression Builder. The formula is displayed in the Logical
Column dialog box.
142
Create a To-Date Measure
1. Right-click Sales Facts and select New Object > Logical Column.
2. Name the new logical column Year To Date Sales.
3. Select Use existing logical columns as the source.
4. Open the Expression Builder.
5. Select Functions > Time Series Functions and double-click ToDate to insert
the expression.
6. Click the first <<expr>>.
7. Select Logical Tables > Sales Facts and then double-click Amount Sold.
143
8. Click the second <<expr>>.
9. Select Time Dimensions > TimesDim and the double-click Year to add it to
the expression.
10. Click OK to close the Expression Builder. The formula is displayed in the
144
Ensure Correct Month Sort-Order for To-Date Calculation
1. In the Business Model and Mapping layer, expand the Times logical table.
2. Double-click Calendar Month Name to open the logical column dialog box.
3. Click the Set button.
4. Select Calendar Month Desc and click OK.
5. The sort order column displays in the Logical Column dialog box.
The Calendar Month Name column is now automatically sorted by Calendar

Month Desc whenever it is used in an Answers query.
6. Click OK to close the logical column dialog box.
7. Drag the three time series measures from the Business Model and Mapping
layer to the Sales Facts presentation table.
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9. Check global consistency. Fix any errors before proceeding. See here for how
to resolve any Time dimension errors related to imported XML data source.
Test the Time Calculations
1. Return to Answers and reload server metadata.
2. Create the following query and filter in Answers:

¾ Times.Calendar Month Name
¾ Sales Facts.Amount Sold
¾ Sales Facts.Month Ago Sales
¾ Sales Facts.Change Month Ago Sales
¾ Sales Facts.Year To Date Sales
¾ Calendar Year is equal to / is in 2001
3. Click Results.
146
Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
Build the Physical, Business Model and Mapping, and Presentation layers of a
repository
Test and validate a repository
Create calculation measures
Use initialization blocks and variables
Add multiple sources to logical tables in a business model
Execute direct database requests
Use aggregate tables to speed processing
Create time series measures
Related Information
To learn more about Oracle Business Intelligence, you can refer to:
Additional OBEs on the OTN Web site.
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Creating A Repository Using The Oracle Business Intelligence Administration Tool 14-Jun-10

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Creating A Repository Using The Oracle Business Intelligence Administration Tool 14-Jun-10

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ORACLE BUSINESS INTELLIGENCE WORKSHOP

Creating a Repository Using the

Time to Complete: Approximately 3 hours

¾ Go to http://192.168.209.134/go/setup.html and click on the Map button.

To create a new repository, perform the following steps:

1. Open the BIC2G Process Control for Services,

2. Wait for the flag to turn RED.

An ODBC data source is needed to import schema information about a data

2. Click the System DSN tab and click Add.

The Create New Data Source dialog box opens.

8. You should see a "Testing Connection" message indicating the connection is

9. Click OK to close the Testing Connection message.

3. In the Import dialog box, locate the SH schema folder.

Create Physical Joins

4. Click the New Foreign Key button on the toolbar.

7. Continue to create the following joins:

9. Click No when prompted to check global consistency. Checking Global

To create a new business model, perform the following steps:

To create a new logical table, perform the following steps:

To create a logical column, perform the following steps:

1. In the Physical layer, expand the Sales physical table.

2. Select the column AMOUNT_SOLD.

6. Click the Aggregation tab.

7. In the Default aggregation rule drop down list, select SUM.

5. Click the New Complex Join button in the toolbar.

10. Save the SH repository. Do not check global consistency.

Rename Business Model Objects

1. Click Tools > Utilities.

4. Click the Add Hierarchy button.

6. Click Select None.

7. Check Logical Table and Logical Column.

9. Select All text lowercase.

10. Click Add

12. Click Add.

15. Click Add.

16. Click Next and review changes.

3. Click Yes to confirm the delete.

11. Do not delete any columns in the Times table.

12. Save the repository. Do not check global consistency.

Dimension hierarchies introduce formal hierarchies into a business model,

1. Right-click the Channels logical table and select Create Dimension.

7. Right-click the Class level and select Expand All.

9. Right-click Channel Class and select New Logical Level Key.

24. Click the Keys tab.

26. Click the Edit button.

29. Click OK to close the Logical Level dialog box.

31. Save the repository. Do not check global consistency.

The ProductsDim dimension hierarchy should have the following

Building the Presentation Layer of a Repository

3. Save the repository. Do not check global consistency.

To test and validate a repository, you perform the following steps:

Run a Consistency Check

Enable Query Logging

Create an empty Webcatalog to test your RPD

Change the metadata files file and Start Oracle BI Services

Use Oracle BI Answers to Execute Queries

Use Query Log to Verify Queries

Run a Consistency Check

Consistency check is a utility in the Administration Tool that checks if a repository

1. Select File > Check Global Consistency.

6. Double-click the SH business model object to open the Business Model

7. Click OK to close the Business Model properties dialog box.

1. Select Manage > Security.