After you create an Oracle BI Repository file, you can import metadata from your data sources into the Physical layer of your repository.
The Physical layer of the Administration Tool defines the data sources to which the Oracle BI Server submits queries, and the relationships between physical databases and other data sources that are used to process multiple data source queries.
Metadata imports to an Oracle BI Repository must occur through an ODBC or native database connection to the underlying data source. Metadata can also be imported from software such as Microsoft Excel through an ODBC connection.
Importing metadata directly from each data source saves you time and effort by importing the structure for the Physical layer. Data from these sources can be displayed on Oracle BI Server and other clients. You can only import metadata from supported data sources.
After you import metadata, properties in the associated database object and connection pool are typically set automatically. However, you may want to adjust database or connection pool settings. See Setting Up Database Objects and Connection Pools for more information.
Although you can create the Physical layer manually rather than importing metadata, it is a labor-intensive and error-prone activity. It is strongly recommended that you import metadata.