3.11 Setting Compatibility Framework for Oracle BI Server

The compatibility framework allows the BI Server to add new features or bug fixes in Oracle BI 12c (12.2.1 and later) that are not compatible with the Oracle BI 11g releases while providing a flexible framework that enables the BI Server to operate in a compatibility mode with the earlier major release. Individual features and bug fixes can be enabled or disabled independently using compatibility flags. Alternatively, you can set all the compatibility flags to the default values using a single COMPATIBLE_RELEASE flag for the Oracle BI system to be compatible with the earlier release, which is 11.1.1.9. Add the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter to the NQSConfig.INI file to ensure that the migrated 12c environment behaves as closely as possible to Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Release 1 (11.1.1.9) environment.

Note:

If the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter is not set, then the system defaults to the behavior of the current release, such as 12.2.1.0.

The framework does not distinguish individual bundle patches (only the first four digits of the version number are significant for determining compatibility).

When applying new features, enhancements, or bug fixes that are not inherently backward-compatible, ensure that you specify a compatibility flag using the guidelines described in this topic.

Note:

The NQSConfig.INI file does not contain the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter by default. The global bi:compat-mode-11g is the default flag and it applies to all Oracle BI EE components. When the bi:compat-mode-11g element in the bi-config.xml file is set to true, the BI Server compatibility framework behaves as if the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE were set to 11.1.1.9 and it disables any features or bug fixes that would cause major compatibility issues during migration from 11g to 12c. However, if you explicitly edit the NQSConfig.INI file to set the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter or any other compatibility flag, then the setting in the NQSConfig.INI file takes precedence over the global bi:compat-mode-11g flag specified in the bi-config.xml file.

In addition to setting the general COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter, you can set compatibility flags for specific features or bug fixes, which begin with the prefix "OBIS_". Instructions to set these specific compatibility flags are provided by the support team to solve certain issues on a need basis. For example,

[ COMPATIBILITY ]
COMPATIBLE_RELEASE=11.1.1.9;
OBIS_ENABLE_DIMENSIONALITY=0;

Setting the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter or specific compatibility flags in the NQSConfig.INI file applies the changes to the entire system. You can also set the COMPATIBLE_RELEASE parameter or the specific feature flag as a session variable or an environment variable so that the compatibility mode is set to specific reports or dashboards. You can do this by adding a query prefix to an analysis request. The following is an example of a variable setting:

set variable COMPATIBLE_RELEASE='11.1.1.9':