Building the Presentation Layer

of a Repository

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Objectives
After completing this lesson, you should be able to:
Identify the objects of the Presentation layer of a repository
Modify the properties of the Presentation layer objects
Build the Presentation layer of a repository

4-2

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Presentation Layer
Provides a way to present a customized view of a business
model to users
Exposes only the data meaningful to the users
Organizes the data in a way that aligns with the way users
think about the data
Renames data as necessary for the set of users

4-3

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Presentation Catalogs
Organize and simplify the business model for a set of users
Single catalog must be populated with content from a single
business model; cannot span business models.
Multiple catalogs can reference the same business model.

Catalog for
user group 1

Catalog for
user group 2

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Both catalogs reference

the same business model.

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Presentation Tables
Organize presentation columns into categories that make
sense to the users
May contain columns from one or more logical tables
Can be modified independently of logical tables
Can be created:
Automatically by dragging logical tables from BMM layer
Manually in the Presentation layer

Presentation
tables

4-5

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Presentation Columns
Define the columns used to build queries in the Oracle BI
user interface
Map to logical columns in the BMM layer
Can be created:
Automatically by dragging logical tables or columns from the
BMM layer
Manually in the Presentation layer

Presentation
columns

4-6

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Presentation Layer Mappings

Presentation layer objects map to objects in the Business
Model and Mapping layer.

Presentation catalogs
map to the business
model.
Presentation tables may
map to logical tables.

Presentation columns
map to logical columns.

4-7

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Defining User Interface in the Presentation Layer

Presentation layer objects define the interface that users see to
query the data from the data sources.

Presentation
catalog

Subject area
Folder

Presentation
folder

Column

Presentation
column

4-8

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Nested Presentation Tables

Give the appearance of nested folders in Oracle BI Answers
Prefix the name of the presentation folder to be nested with
a hyphen and a space.
Place it after the folder in which it nests.

SalesFacts nested under Facts

4-9

Hyphen and space omitted in Answers

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Aliases
Keep track of any changes to Presentation layer objects

Prior names

4 - 10

Add or delete
aliases.

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ABC Example
Build the Presentation layer to present users with a customized
view of ABCs data.

4 - 11

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Implementation Steps
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.

4 - 12

Create a new presentation catalog.

Rename tables.
Reorder tables.
Delete columns.
Rename columns.
Reorder columns.

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

1. Create a New Presentation Catalog

Drag the SupplierSales business model from the Business
Model and Mapping layer to the Presentation layer to
automatically create Presentation layer objects.

Business model becomes

presentation catalog.
Logical tables become
presentation tables.
Logical columns become
presentation columns.

4 - 13

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

2. Rename Tables
There are a few methods for renaming tables in the
Presentation layer:
Use the General tab in the properties dialog box.
Right-click a table and select Rename.
Double-click a table slowly to make the name editable and
then enter a new name.

Use the General tab.

Rename.
Double-click.

4 - 14

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3. Reorder Tables
To reorder tables, open the Presentation Catalog properties
box and use the Up and Down buttons, or drag.

Double-click.

4 - 15

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4. Delete Columns
Delete unnecessary columns to simplify the content and make
it more understandable to users.

Select columns.

Double-click.

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Remove.

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5. Rename Columns
Presentation columns use the logical column name by
default.
Use the General tab in the column properties dialog box to
deselect the Use Logical Column Name check box and enter
custom name.

Use the General tab.

Custom name

Deselect to create a custom name.

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Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

6. Reorder Columns
To reorder columns, open the Presentation Table properties
box and use the Up and Down buttons, or drag.

Select and move a column

or group of columns.

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Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Considerations
Presentation catalogs can map to only one business model.
Multiple presentation catalogs can map to the same
business model.
Presentation columns can come from multiple logical tables
in a business model.
Presentation columns are automatically renamed when the
corresponding logical object is renamed.
Presentation tables cannot have the same name as the
presentation catalogs.
Presentation objects can be modified or deleted without
affecting corresponding logical objects.

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Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Best Practices
Use meaningful names.
Names cannot contain single quotation marks (); the
Administration Tool prevents it.
Use of double quotation marks () is permitted but should be
avoided.
Keep presentation object names unique:
Naming presentation columns the same as presentation
tables can lead to inaccurate results.
Uniqueness allows SQL statements to be shorter because
qualifiers are unnecessary.

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Group objects in meaningful ways.

Eliminate unnecessary objects to reduce confusion.
Use object description fields to convey information to users.
Keep names short to save space on reports.
Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Summary
In this lesson, you should have learned how to:
Identify the objects of the Presentation layer of a repository
Modify the properties of the Presentation layer objects
Build the Presentation layer of a repository

4 - 21

Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Practice 4-1 Overview:

Creating the Presentation Layer
This practice covers the following topics:
Creating Presentation layer objects
Customizing Presentation layer objects

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Copyright 2008, Oracle. All rights reserved.