Oracle Business Intelligence (OBIEE): Interactive Dashboards &

Answers
by Sideris Courseware Corporation
Sideris. (c) 2009. Copying Prohibited.

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kakasala@in.ibm.com
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OracleBusinessIntelligence(OBIEE):InteractiveDashboards&Answers

Section 1: Course Introduction

About This Course
Objectives Of This Course

Oracle Business Intelligence (BI), formerly known as Siebel Business Analytics, empowers business users with
sophisticated data analytic capabilities without any knowledge of database structures or the SQL database language. This
training course will guide students through all of the features available from the product to allow one to build sophisticated
database requests and to format resulting answers. The following topics are included in this training courseware guide
book:

n Background discussion of relational databases, the SQL database language, data warehousing, business intelligence
(BI) and data analytics presented in a form that business professionals can readily understand.

n Background concepts regarding logical data models, physical data models, star schema and snowflake schema
warehouse models.

n Important data concepts including fact tables, dimensions, cubes, measures and other dimensional data model objects.

n An introduction to Oracle BI concepts, including the Oracle BI repository layers, Oracle BI Presentation Services,
Oracle BI Presentation Catalog and basic navigation of the Oracle BI Answers and Dashboards interface.

n Use interactive Dashboards to analyze warehouse data, uncover trends and reach important business decisions.

n Design customized Dashboards to reflect an individual's role, perspective or business interest.

n Creating requests and viewing answers produced from Oracle BI.

n Formatting requests using sorts, filters and prompts.

n Formatting column output and modifying column data using formulas.

n Creating report results with compound layouts, including views such as tabular, chart, pivot table, gauge and others.

n Drill-down into report details, navigation and employing variables to create a dynamic and interactive analytics
environment.

n Deploying report results for specific devices, such as mobile devices commonly in use like Apple iPhone, Blackberry or
other popular devices.

n Advanced features such as presenting interactive maps as filter criteria, HTML customization of report output and other
topics.
Target Audience

The target audience for this course is any business professional seeking to analyze enterprise-wide or departmental
information collected into an organization data warehouse. Among those for whom this course might be particularly useful
would be:

n Data architects

n Data warehouse administrators and analysts

n Business analysts

n Financial managers

n Market research professionals

n Human resource managers

n Procurement and vendor management professionals

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n Field representatives

n Business development managers

Course Prerequisites

No specific prerequisite courses are required. A general working knowledge of desktop business software and the use of
web-based services via a browser are the only mandatory technical prerequisites.
Instructor Notes

It is assumed that there is a wide range of backgrounds and experience among those taking this course. For this reason,
several introductory sections have been included to ensure that each student is properly versed in prerequisite concepts
needed to complete this course.

Those audiences that do not require an in-depth discussion of these sections may either consider these briefly or may
consult these sections after the course as a reference.

Workshop Setup

Workshop Setup Guidelines

About These Guidelines

The workshop setup for this course should be performed by a qualified Oracle BI administrator, working with the support of
an Oracle database administrator. The total time to complete the setup for experienced administrators is estimated to be
approximately 2 hours.

NoteThis is not a trivial configuration. If you need technical assistance with this setup, a setup support contract from
Sideris is available for this purpose.

The major phases in the setup for this course as outlined in these guidelines are:

Oracle database server installation

Sample Equities data model creation

Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) installation

Student workstation configuration

Oracle BI server metadata configuration

Oracle BI server security configuration

Oracle BI Presentation Catalog user creation

Oracle BI Presentation Catalog Permissions

Oracle BI Presentation Catalog import (un-archive) solution objects

Oracle Database Server Installation

You will need to perform a full installation of an instance of the Oracle database on a server. The following general
requirements regarding this phase of the setup apply:

n One may use the database release Oracle 10g or later.

n Either the MS Windows or Linux operating systems are recommended platforms for the Oracle database although any
supported platform is acceptable.

n Any edition of the Oracle database is acceptable, including the Express Edition (XE).

n You may accept the default values, wherever possible, during the installation procedure.

This installation should take approximately 30 minutes. The specific installation procedures required will depend upon your

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local configuration. You should acquire the software installation kit for this product and reference the enclosed installation
guide for specific instructions.

At the end of the installation you will be notified of certain key elements regarding this database instance. Make careful
note of the database system administrator ID, password and database service name assigned during the installation
process.
Sample Equities Data Model Creation

Sideris has developed a set of SQL scripts which will create a sample data model required for this course. You should
have received these scripts along with your courseware shipment. A starting script named SiderisBIsetup.SQL must be run
first, and it will invoke all the other scripts required for this phase of the setup.

The name of this sample data model is called Equities. It consists of standard Oracle database objects, such as tables,
dimensions, materialized views and so on.

To create the Equities data model, access the system console on the database server. Navigate to the directory where the
Sideris SQL files have been located and launch the Oracle SQL*Plus tool. This tool was installed as part of the database
server installation.

C:\> cd test
C:\Test> sqlplus /nolog

SQL*Plus: Release 11.1.0.6.0 - Production on Wed Dec 31 16:10:12 2008

Copyright (c) 1982, 2007, Oracle. All rights reserved.

SQL>

From the SQL prompt, execute the starting Sideris script and follow the prompts to complete the data model creation:

SQL> @ SiderisBIsetup.SQL

============================================================================
Welcome to the Sideris classroom setup. Your assistance in preparing the
workshop environment for the course is very much appreciated.

You will be asked to answer several questions. Some questions

will indicate a possible answer in parentheses (e.g. Y or N) and
the default answer in brackets [N]. Press ENTER following each reply.

You may abort this script at any time by pressing the CONTROL C keys.

Regardless of your answers, this procedure will not make any destructive
changes to your database.
============================================================================

Enter the password for the SYSTEM database ID [MANAGER]: ***********

Enter the database Oracle Net service name (e.g. TEST) [LOCAL] : testxx
...Attempting to connect as user SYSTEM now.
Connected.

Press ENTER if "Connected." is shown above. Otherwise an error has occurred

and press CONTROL C to abort.
[ENTER]

The list of tablespaces in your database is shown below. Choose a

tablespace where the sample database will be stored. The amount of space
will be very small so you need not be overly concerned about the tablespace
that you select. However, we will not permit you to use the SYSTEM
tablespace.

TABLESPACE_NAME CONTENTS
--------------- ---------
EXAMPLE PERMANENT
SYSAUX PERMANENT
TEMP TEMPORARY

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UNDOTBS1 UNDO
USERS PERMANENT

Enter a tablespace for the sample data from the list shown above [USERS]:
Enter temporary tablespace from the list shown above [TEMP]:
Enter the name of the user ID for the sample data [sideris]:

Notice that the database ID for the sample data model is "sideris" by default. If you choose a different value than the default
provided, be sure to make note of this for use later in the workshop set.

The script will continue, and you need only monitor the feedback and press ENTER when prompted to do so.

============================================================================
...Attempting to create the database ID now...

ID sideris created with a password of sideris

ID sideris granted GRANT CONNECT, RESOURCE, CREATE VIEW, CREATE DIMENSION,
CREATE MATERIALIZED VIEW privileges
============================================================================

============================================================================
Creating the sample database now...
============================================================================
Connected.

Dropping any existing objects, you may ignore any "does not exist" errors
Press ENTER to proceed...

DROP DIMENSION Product_Dimension

*
ERROR at line 1:
ORA-30333: dimension does not exist

...

Creating new objects next. No errors should appear...

Press ENTER to proceed...

Creating Table 'STOCKS'

Creating Table 'TIME'
Creating Table 'BROKERAGES'
Creating Table 'TRANSACTIONS'

============================================================================
If any class files were included in your shipment
of textbooks, please copy these files to a location accessible
to each student workstation. Kindly indicate to the instructor
or to the students the location of these files.

Thank you for your assistance in setup for the Sideris training course.
============================================================================

SQL> exit

This completes the configuration of the Oracle database server.

Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) Installation

You will next need to perform a full installation of the Oracle Business Intelligence (BI) platform, including the Oracle BI
Server component. These general guidelines apply:

n The MS Windows operating system is the recommended platform for Oracle BI, although any supported platform is
acceptable.

n You may use a dedicated server if you wish, or you may perform this installation on the same server as the database

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instance just created.

This installation may take between 30 60 minutes. Once again, the specific installation procedures required will depend
upon your local configuration. You should consult your software installation guide for specific instructions.

Either as part of the installation process or as part of the installation guide provided with the software you will be notified of
the Oracle BI Server administrator user name and password. Make note of these credentials as they will also be required
later in this setup.
Student Workstation Configuration

During the course the students will access the oracle BI installation from a workstation. Each student workstation should
meet the following basic requirements:

It must have a Java-enabled browser, preferably an industry-standard browser such as Mozilla Firefox, Apple Safari or
Microsoft Internet Explorer.

Internet or network access to the Oracle database and the Oracle BI Server, including appropriate firewall and proxy
settings.
Oracle BI Server Metadata Configuration

In order for the Oracle BI Server to access the Equities data model created on the database server, it must load a
repository description file which maps to that sample data model. This file has also been provided by Sideris along with the
course textbooks and is named SiderisEquities.rpd.

Copy the SiderisEquities.rpd file to the Oracle BI Server repository directory within the Oracle BI installation. By default,
this directory is as follows on an MS Windows platform:

OracleBI\Server\Repository

You next need to make this file accessible to the Oracle BI Server. You do so by modifying the NQSConfig configuration
file found within the configuration directory of your Oracle BI Server installation. By default this directory is as follows:

C:\OracleBI\server\Config

Within this file, locate the [ REPOSITORY ] section and ensure that the SiderisEquities.rpd file is noted as the default for
the Oracle BI Server.

[ REPOSITORY ]
Equities = SiderisEquities.rpd, DEFAULT;

Be sure that the DEFAULT keyword is removed from any other .RPD file references within this section of the file. Save
your changes to this file.

You next need to modify the Connection Pool definition within the .RPD file to reference your Oracle database installation.
Launch the Oracle BI Administration tool and follow the instructions shown next. This tool was installed as part of the
Oracle BI installation.
1. Select the File Open Offline menu item.

2. From the file Open dialog, select the file SiderisEquities.rpd and click the Open button.

3. Enter the BI administrator credentials provided to you during the Oracle BI installation.

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Double-click on the Connection Pool node found within the Physical pane. You may need to expand the EquitiesDB node
in order to locate the Connection Pool definition.

You need to modify the attributes of the Connection Pool definition to reference your Oracle database installation. The
important elements you must provide are:

n Call Interface Select OCI 10g/11g for an Oracle 10g or 11g database installation.

n Data Source Name Enter the Oracle Net service name which corresponds to your database instance. This was
assigned during the Oracle database installation.

n User name, password this is the user name you created earlier in this setup to hold the sample data model. By
default both of these values should be "sideris", but if you assigned a different user name during the
SiderisBIsetup.SQL script, then you should provide that user name instead. The password should be the same as the
user name.

Click the OK button when finished.

To save the changes to the Connection Pool, implement these steps from the Oracle BI Administration tool:
1. Select the File Save menu item.

2. If asked to check global consistency, click No.

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3. Select the File Exit menu item.

You will need to restart the Oracle BI Server and the Oracle BI Presentation Server in order for these changes to be
effective.
Oracle BI Server Security Configuration

Each student must have a user account created for the Oracle BI Server so that they can access the .RPD metadata file
and the actual Equities data model which you have now configured. This is also done using the Oracle BI Administration
tool.

Launch the Oracle BI Administration tool and load the SiderisEquities.rpd file as follows:
1. Select the File Open Online menu item.

2. Enter the BI administrator credentials.

Next, perform the following steps to create a group and individual user accounts for the students:
1. Select the Manage Security menu item to invoke the Security Manager.

2. Click on the Action New Group menu item to create a new group. Assign a name such as Classroom or
Students to the group and click the Permissions button.

3. Click the Add button.

4. Double click on the Equities item and click the OK button.

5. Click Yes if prompted to check out objects.

6. Click the OK button to define the group.

The newly defined group should be visible from the Security Manager.

For each student, perform these steps to create an individual user account for each one:
1. Click on the Action New User menu item to create a new user. Assign a name such as Classroom1 or Student1.

2. Assign a Password and Confirm Password values.

3. Check the group just created, which should be listed within the Group Membership list.

4. Click the OK button.

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Exit the Security Manager by selecting the Action Close menu item.

Exit the Oracle BI Administration Tool by clicking on the Save button. Click OK or Yes if asked to check in recent changes,
check global consistency or perform other standard housekeeping tasks. You may ignore any warnings which appear.

NoteRemember, when making changes to the environment with the Oracle BI Administration Tool you may need to
restart the Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Presentation Server components in order for the changes to be
accessible.
Create Oracle BI Presentation Catalog User Creation

From a browser launch the Oracle BI Presentation Services interface and log on as each of the newly created Oracle BI
Server student accounts.

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The general form of the URL required to access Oracle BI Presentation Services is shown next, with an example for an
Oracle BI installation within the Sideris labs shown thereafter:
http://host:port/analytics

http://siderislab5:9704/analytics

The Oracle BI Server will automatically create a Presentation Catalog user as each account is successfully authenticated.
Oracle BI Presentation Catalog Permissions

From a browser launch Oracle BI Presentation Services and log on again, this time using the BI Administrator account.
Each student account must be granted the privilege Answers: Save Content with HTML Markup. You may assign this
privilege using the following steps from the Answers interface while connected as an administrator:
1. Click on the Settings Administration link to raise the Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration page.

2. Click on the Manage Privileges link to raise the Privilege Administration page.

3. Click on the link for the Save Content with HTML Markup privilege within the Answers section of the page to raise the
Change Privilege Permissions page.

4. From the Change Privilege Permissions page, click the Add link to add each one of the student accounts as grantee
of this privilege. If you wish you may also include the Everyone group as well. You may need to click the Show Users
And Groups link to find the newly added user accounts.

5. Click the Finished button to dismiss the Change Privilege Permissions page.

6. Click the Finished button to dismiss the Privilege Administration page.

7. Click the Close Window button to dismiss the Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration page.

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An example of what the completed Change Privilege Permissions page might appear link during this sequence is shown
here.

Using this same procedure, please be sure that the privilege Manage Dashboards is also added to the student accounts.
Catalog Manager Un-Archive

Several Catalog Manager archive files have been provided. You will need to un-archive these so that they exist within your
Catalog. Then, you need to ensure that all student and instructor accounts have full access to these folders once they
have been imported into your catalog. Note the files which we have provided:

n archiveSiderisDashboards this is a folder which contains the Dashboard to be used in the Using A Dashboard
workshop of this course. All students must have access to this folder in order to complete the workshop.

n archiveSiderisDeployDashbaord this is a folder which contains all objects to be used in the Building A Dashboard
workshop of this course. The students should select the objects from this folder when building their dashboard. All
students must have access to this folder in order to complete the workshop.

n archiveStudent1 this is the MyFolders folder for the account with which the examples, solutions and workshops
throughout this course have been developed. You might make this folder available to the instructor.

n archiveSiderisAnswersSolutions this contains the solutions for the Answers exercises. It has been segmented by
course section number. You might make this folder available to the instructor and the students.

NoteThere may be additional setup instructions for this course. Consult the electronic resources which accompanied
the course materials to determine if any additional steps are required.

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