This chapter contains the following topics:
Note:
The Oracle BI Administration Tool requires administrator privileges on the machine on which it’s installed. Before installing or running the tool, ensure that you are logged in with administrator privileges.Learn how to open the Oracle BI Administration Tool.
Note:
Don’t use double-click to open a repository file. The resulting Administration Tool window is not initialized to your Oracle instance, resulting in errors.
admintool utility located in ORACLE_HOME/bitools/bin.Use these steps to set preferences and options for the Oracle BI Administration Tool.
The table describes some of the Oracle BI Administration Tool options available in the Options dialog on the General tab.
| Option | Action When Selected |
|---|---|
|
Display qualified names in diagrams |
Displays fully qualified names in the Physical Diagram and Business Model Diagram. For example, selecting this option displays "B - Sample Fcst Data"..."B02 Market" rather than B02 Market in the Physical Diagram. Selecting this option can help identify objects by including the name of the parent database or business model, but it can also make the diagram harder to read because the fully qualified names are longer. If you choose not to select this option, you can still see fully qualified names by moving the cursor over an object in the diagram, or by selecting an object in the diagram and then viewing the text in the status bar. |
|
Display original names for alias in diagrams |
Displays the names of original physical tables rather than the names of alias tables in the Physical diagram. Select this option when you want to identify the original table rather than the alias table name. |
|
Show Wizard introduction page |
Displays the Calculation Wizard introduction page. The introduction page also contains an option to suppress its display in the future. Use the Calculation Wizard to create new calculation columns that compare two existing columns and to create metrics in bulk (aggregated), including existing error trapping for NULL and divide by zero logic. See Using the Calculation Wizard. |
|
Check out objects automatically |
Automatically checks out an object when you double-click it. If you don't select this option, you are prompted to check out objects before you can edit them. This option only applies when the Administration Tool is open in online mode. See Editing Repositories in Online Mode. |
|
Show row count in physical view |
Displays row counts for physical tables and columns in the Physical layer. Row counts are not initially displayed until they are updated. Row counts are not shown for items that are stored procedure calls from the Table Type list in the General tab of the Physical Table dialog. Row counts are not available for XML, XML Server, or multidimensional data sources. When you are working in online mode, you cannot update row counts on any new objects until you check them in. |
|
Prompt when moving logical columns |
Lets you ignore, specify an existing, or create a new logical table source for a moved column. |
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Remove unused physical tables after Merge |
Executes a utility to clean the repository of unused physical objects. It might make the resulting repository smaller. |
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Allow import from repository |
When selected, the Import from Repository option on the File menu becomes available. By default, the Import from Repository option on the File menu is disabled. It is recommended that you create projects in the repository that contain the objects that you want to import, and then use repository merge to bring the projects into your current repository. See Merging Repositories. |
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Allow logical foreign key join creation |
When selected, provides the capability to create logical foreign key joins with the Joins Manager. This option is provided for compatibility with previous releases and is generally not recommended. |
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Skip Gen 1 levels in Essbase drag and drop actions |
When selected, excludes Gen 1 levels when you drag and drop Essbase cubes or dimensions from the Physical layer to the Business Model and Mapping layer. |
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Hide unusable logical table sources in Replace wizard |
By default, the Replace Wizard shows all logical table sources, even ones that are not valid for replacement. When this option is selected, unusable logical table sources are hidden in the Replace Wizard screens. Click Info for details on why a logical table source that maps to that column does not appear in the list. Selecting this option might result in the Wizard page loading more quickly, especially for large repositories. |
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Allow first Connection Pool for Init Blocks |
Selecting this option is not a best practice and might cause performance issues. By default, when you select a connection pool for an initialization block, the first connection pool under the database object in the Physical layer does not display as available for selection. This behavior ensures that you cannot use the same connection pool for initialization blocks that you use for queries. If the same connection pool is used for initialization blocks and for queries, then queries might be blocked whenever initialization blocks run. Alternatively, initialization blocks used for authentication might be blocked by long-running queries, causing delayed or hanging logins. Select this option to change the default behavior and allow the first connection pool to be selected for initialization blocks. |
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Show Upgrade ID in Query Repository |
Upgrade IDs are not displayed by default in the Query Repository dialog. When this option is selected, Upgrade IDs are displayed as a column in the Query Repository results. In addition, you can set a filter on Upgrade ID to search for a particular value. This option is useful for MDS XML format repositories in which the Upgrade ID is included in the file name. |
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Extender For BIAPPS |
The availability of this option depends on your configuration. |
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Show Tenant Info in Online Login |
If you are working in a multi-tenant environment, then select this option to show the Tenant info field in the Open Online dialog. |
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Display Translation Key in the presentation tree |
Select this option to instead display the translation key values for all presentation objects. |
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Edit presentation names |
By default, the presentation object names are read-only. Select this option to allow the names of presentation objects to be modified. |
|
Drag and drop: Show only hierarchal columns |
For Essbase data sources, selecting this option hides presentation columns and shows only hierarchal columns in Answers. |
You can set preferences for the repository in the Oracle BI Administration Tool.
Repository tab options include the following:
Show tables and dimensions only under display folders
You can create display folders to organize objects in the Physical and Business Model and Mapping layers. They have no metadata meaning. After you create a display folder, the selected objects appear in the folder as a shortcut and in the database or business model tree as an object. You can hide the objects so that only the shortcuts appear in the display folder.
See Setting Up Display Folders in the Physical Layer and Setting Up Display Folders in the Business Model and Mapping Layer.
Hide level based measure
By default, each level of a dimension hierarchy in the Business Model and Mapping layer shows both dimension columns that are assigned to that level, and level-based measures that have been fixed at that level. Level-based measures are objects that are not part of the dimension table, but that have been explicitly defined as being at a particular level.
Hiding level-based measures in dimension hierarchies can reduce clutter. The measures are still visible in the logical fact tables.
System logging level
This option determines the default query logging level for the internal BISystem user. The BISystem user owns the Oracle BI Server system processes and is not exposed in any user interface.
A query logging level of 0 (the default) means no logging. Set this logging level to 2 to enable query logging for internal system processes like event polling and initialization blocks.
See Managing the Query Log in System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
LDAP
If you are using any alternative LDAP servers, the Oracle BI Server maintains an authentication cache in memory for user identifiers and properties to improve performance when using LDAP to authenticate large numbers of users. Disabling the authentication cache can slow performance when authenticating hundreds of session. The authentication cache is not used for Oracle WebLogic Server's embedded directory server.
Properties for the authentication cache include:
Cache refresh interval
The interval at which the authentication cache entry for a logged on user is refreshed.
Number of Cache Entries option (authentication cache) and Number of Cache Entries
The maximum number of entries in the authentication cache, pre-allocated when the Oracle BI Server starts. If the number of users exceeds this limit, cache entries are replaced using the LRU algorithm. If this value is 0, then the authentication cache is disabled.
You need to specify some additional LDAP properties when you are using a secure connection to your LDAP server. In other words, provide the following information when you have selected SSL on the Advanced tab of the LDAP Server dialog:
Wallet directory
The location of the Oracle wallet that holds the client certificate and Certificate Authority (CA) certificate.
Password and Confirm password
The password for the Oracle wallet.
The authentication cache properties and Oracle wallet properties are shared for all defined LDAP server objects.
Learn how to edit objects in the repository.
This section provides information about editing, deleting, and reordering objects.
To edit objects, double-click an object, or right-click an object and select Properties. Then, complete the fields in the dialog that is displayed. In some dialogs, you can click Edit to open the appropriate dialog.
To delete objects, select one or more objects and click Delete, or press the delete key. You can also right-click an object and select Delete.
To reorder objects, drag and drop an object to a new location. Note the following:
Reordering is only possible for certain objects and in certain dialogs.
In some dialogs, you can use an up or down arrow to move objects to a new location.
In the Oracle BI Administration Tool main window, you can drag and drop an object onto its parent to duplicate the object. For top-level objects like business models and subject areas, drag and drop the object onto white space to duplicate it.
You can learn about the repository object naming requirements.
All repository object names must follow these requirements:
Names that are 128 characters or less
Names that don’t contain leading or trailing spaces
Names that don’t contain characters such as single quotes, hash marks, question marks, or asterisks
Note:
Repository object names can include multi-byte characters.
In the Oracle BI Administration Tool, you can change the icon that represents a particular object in the repository.
Changing the icon for a particular object does not have any functional effect, and is not visible in Answers or other clients. Changing the icon is a useful way to visually distinguish objects for the convenience of repository developers.
For example, you can:
Use a special icon for objects that are in the Business Model and Mapping layer, but not the Presentation layer, for easier maintenance of the repository.
Mark objects that are logical calculations with a separate icon.
Choose an icon to visually distinguish tables in the Presentation layer that appear as nested folders in Answers.
Use an icon to denote objects in a logical table that pertain to a specific functional area, or that are sourced from a particular logical table source.
You can only change the icon for individual objects. You cannot globally change the icon for all objects of a particular type.
Many dialogs in the Administration Tool show lists of objects, such as a list of physical columns in the Physical Table dialog, a list of logical levels for Preferred Drill Path in the Logical Level dialog, and a list of presentation hierarchies in the Presentation Table dialog.
You can click the header to sort the objects in ascending or descending order. An up arrow or down arrow icon is displayed next to the header name, indicating how the list has been sorted.
Each list also has a default order that is persisted from session to session. The default order appears when you view a list in a dialog for the first time each session. The default order is displayed when there is no ascending or descending arrow icon in the header. Click the header three times to toggle between ascending, descending, and default order. In some cases, the default order is the ascending or descending order.
Some dialogs provide the capability to move items up or down in a list. In these dialogs, if you click Up or Down while the list is sorted in ascending or descending order, the selected item moves, and the resulting order becomes the new default order. Clicking the header eliminates any manually determined order.
You can use command-line utilities with the Oracle BI Server to make programmatic changes to your repository file, run sample queries, delete unwanted repository objects, and perform other tasks.
The table describes the Oracle BI Server command-line utilities.
Important:
When using Oracle BI EE tools such as nqcmd, biserverxmlcli, and comparerpd, you must edit the input to match the format expected by SQL, for example, do not include a single quote in your XML content.
| Utility Name | Description | Where to Go for More Information |
|---|---|---|
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Use to import flex object changes from ADF data sources and map them to the Business Model and Mapping layer and Presentation layer. |
Automatically Mapping Flex Object Changes Using the biserverextender Utility |
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Usedto compare data types of logical columns between a particular repository and a generated list of logical column types to ensure that the types match as expected. |
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XML utilities ( |
Use to leverage the Oracle BI Server XML API for metadata migration, programmatic metadata generation and manipulation, metadata patching, and other functions. The XML utilities include:
|
XML Schema Reference for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition |
|
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Used to compare two repositories and generate a CSV diff file, an XML patch file, or an MDS XML diff. |
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Use to upload a JSON file containing a list of application roles to delete from a specific server instance. |
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Used to upload a JSON file containing a list of users to delete from a specific server instance. |
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Use to download the repository to work offline on diagnostics and development tasks. |
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Use to equalize objects in two repositories that have the same name, but different Upgrade IDs. Running this utility before merging repositories prevents unintended renaming during the merge. |
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Use to localize the names of Presentation layer subject areas, tables, hierarchies, columns and their descriptions. |
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Use to extract projects from a given repository. |
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Use to create a list of connection pools in JSON format for a specific server instance. |
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Use to create a list of repository variables in JSON format for a specific service instance. |
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Use to convert MUD history files from .mhl format to .xml format so that you can check in the files under source control. |
Checking In New Versions of the MUD Master and MUD Log File to Source Control |
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Use to invoke the Oracle BI Summary Advisor to generate an aggregate specification script that is run to create aggregates. This utility is only available for Oracle Business Intelligence running on an Oracle Exalytics machine. |
Using the nqaggradvisor Utility to Run the Oracle BI Summary Advisor |
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Use to run test queries against the repository. Connects using an Oracle BI Server ODBC DSN. |
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Use to view the query log. |
System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition |
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Used to change the Oracle BI repository password. |
Changing the Oracle BI Repository Password Using the obieerpdpwdchg Utility |
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Use to apply an XML patch file. This utility is especially useful for patching repository files on Linux or UNIX systems. |
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Use to delete unwanted repository objects from your repository file, such as databases, tables, columns, initialization blocks, and variables. |
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Use to upload a JSON file containing information about the application roles to rename for a specific server instance. |
Rename Application Role CommandRename Application Role Command |
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Used to upload a JSON file containing a list of information about users to rename for a specific server instance. |
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Use to generate the information necessary for the Oracle Database SQL Access Advisor or IBM DB2 Cube Views tool to preaggregate relational data and improve query performance. |
Exchanging Metadata with Databases to Enhance Query Performance |
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Use to upload a modified JSON file containing updated connection pool values to a specific server instance. |
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Use to upload a JSON file or a modified JSON file containing variable information to a specific server instance. |
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Use to upload the repository to the Oracle BI Server and include changes in the Oracle Business Intelligence archive (BAR) file. |
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Use to check the consistency of a repository. |
Using the validaterpd Utility to Check Repository Consistency |
Many configuration settings that affect the Oracle BI Administration Tool and repository development are managed in the NQSConfig.INI configuration file.
Repository developers must be familiar with the NQSConfig.INI configuration settings to effectively work with the Administration Tool and with their repositories.
Common configuration settings that affect repository development include:
LOCALE
Set LOCALE in NQSConfig.INI to specify the place (geographical, political. or cultural) to return the data from the server, and to determine the localized names of days and months.
DATE_TIME_DISPLAY_FORMAT, DATE_DISPLAY_FORMAT, and TIME_DISPLAY_FORMAT
Set these options in NQSConfig.INI to control the display of data/time formats.
DEFAULT_PRIVILEGES
Set DEFAULT_PRIVILEGES in NQSConfig.INI to specify the default privilege, NONE or READ, granted to users and application roles for repository objects without explicit permissions set.
See System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for full information about NQSConfig.INI configuration settings.
Oracle BI provides a sample repository called SampleApp.rpd that provides best practices for modeling many different types of objects described in this guide.
Oracle BI EE provides a sample repository called SampleApp.rpd that provides best practices for modeling many different types of objects described in this guide.
A basic version of SampleApp.rpd, called SampleAppLite.rpd, is automatically installed as the default repository when you install Oracle BI EE.
The full version of SampleApp.rpd contains many additional examples and features. You can find this version on the Oracle Technology Network at:
http://oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/obiee-samples-167534.html
The default password for Admin123. For security reasons, you must immediately change this default password the first time you open SampleAppLite.rpd in the Administration Tool, see Changing the Oracle BI Repository Password.
Use the downloadrpd command to download the repository used by the service instance.
The Download Repository command extracts the repository from the Oracle Business Intelligence archive (BAR) file for the service instance. Oracle recommends only working with the downloaded repository for offline diagnostic and development purposes such as testing. In all other repository development and maintenance situations, you should use BAR to utilize BAR's repository upgrade and patching capabilities and benefits.
You execute the utility through a launcher script, datamodel.sh on UNIX and datamodel.cmd on Windows.
If the domain is installed in default folder then the location of the launcher script looks like the following:
Oracle_Home/user_projects/domains/Domain_Name/bitools/bin/datamodel.sh or datamodel.cmd on Windows
If the client install doesn't have domain names, the launcher script location is as follows:
Oracle_Home\bi\bitools\bin\datamodel.cmd
See What You Need to Know Before Using the Command.
Important:
You must have Oracle BI EE BI Service Administrator privileges to run the downloadrpd command and issue any of the commands. You must also have membership in the Administrators group in WebLogic security.
Syntax
The downloadrpd command takes the following parameters:
downloadrpd -O RPDname [-W RPDpwd] -SI service_instance -U cred_username [-P cred_password] [-S hostname] [-N port_number] [-SSL] [-H]
Where
O specifies the name of the repository that you want to download.
W specifies the password for the repository. If you do not supply the password, you are prompted for the password when the command is run. For security purposes, Oracle recommends that you include a password in the command, only when using automated scripting to run the command.
SI specifies the name of the service instance.
U specifies a valid user's name to be used for Oracle BI EE authentication.
P specifies the password corresponding to the user's name that you specified for U. If you do not supply the password, a prompt displays for the password when the command is run.
S specifies the Oracle BI EE host name. Only include this option when you are running the command from a client installation.
N specifies the Oracle BI EE port number. Only include this option when you are running the command from a client installation.
SSL specifies to use SSL to connect to the Oracle WebLogic Server to run the command. Only include this option when you are running the command from a client installation.
H displays the usage information and exits the command. Use -H or run .sh without any parameters to display the help content.
Example
datamodel.sh downloadrpd -O sampleapplite.rpd -SI bi -U weblogic -S server1.example.com -N 7777 -SSL
You can learn about the download and upload repository commands, and to the list and update connection pool, rename and delete users and application roles, list and update repository commands.
System Privileges
For either the Oracle BI EE installation or client installation, you must have Oracle BI EE BI Service Administrator privileges to run the command line utility and issue any of the commands.
Passwords in Commands
The commands provide options for including a user's password and a repository passwords. If you do not supply passwords, then you are prompted for passwords when you run the command.
For security purposes, Oracle recommends that you include passwords in the command only if you are using automated scripting to run the command.
Trust Store Key File for SSL
WebLogic Server provides Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) support for encrypting data transmitted between WebLogic Server clients and servers, Java clients, Web browsers, and other servers. When using SSL, you must use the WebLogic Server's trusted keys file if the server is using a self-signed certificate. This is the case when a domain is first created, as the server's identity certificate is generated when the domain is created.
If you replace the WebLogic Server's default self-signed identity certificate with a certificate signed by a recognized signing authority, then the standard Java trusted certificate list validates it and the extra settings are not needed.
The location of the WebLogic Server's trusted key file is:
ORACLE_HOME/wlserver/server/lib/DemoTrust.jks
The default password for the DemoTrust.jks file is:
DemoTrustKeyStorePassPhrase
The location of the trusted key file and its password are passed to the system properties javax.net.ssl.trustStore and javax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword. For example,
java \ -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStore=$ORACLE_HOME/wlserver/server/lib/DemoTrust.jks \ -Djavax.net.ssl.trustStorePassword=DemoTrustKeyStorePassPhrase \ -jar bi-commandline-tools.jar <args…>
Upon installation, the data-model-cmd.sh and data-model-cmd.cmd scripts are delivered with the trusted key file locations included. For Oracle BI EE installations, you do not need to update the trusted key file locations.
For Oracle BI EE client installation, you must put the trusted keys file in the correct location. Oracle recommends that you copy and paste the files from the WebLogic Server to the proper location.
Hostname, Port Number, and Use of SSL
For Oracle BI EE installations, the command line utility by default queries the Oracle BI EE endpoint manager which provides the host name, port number, and whether SSL is available. For Oracle BI EE installations, the user does not need to include these options in the command.
For Oracle BI EE client installation, you must include the S Oracle BI EE host name, N Oracle BI EE port number, and SSL, use SSL to connect to the WebLogic Server to run the command options in the commands.
You can open a repository for editing in either online or offline mode. The tasks you can perform depend on the mode in which you opened the repository.
This section contains the following topics:
Use offline mode to view and modify a repository while it is not loaded into the Oracle BI Server.
If you attempt to open a repository in offline mode while it is loaded into the Oracle BI Server, the repository opens in read-only mode. Only one Administration Tool session at a time can edit a repository in offline mode. See About Read-Only Mode.
You do not need to enter a user name and password to open a repository in offline mode. You only need to enter the repository password.
This section contains the following topics:
Use these steps to open an RPD-format repository in offline mode.
If the server is running and the repository you are trying to open is loaded, the repository opens in read-only mode. If you want to edit the repository while it is loaded, you must open it in online mode. Also, if you open a repository in offline mode and then start the server, the repository becomes available to users. Any changes you make become available only when the server is restarted.
When you open an RPD-format repository in the Administration Tool in offline mode, the title bar displays the name of the open repository, for example, SampleAppLite.
Use online mode to view and modify a repository while it is loaded into the Oracle BI Server.
The Oracle BI Server must be running to open a repository in online mode. There are certain things you can do in online mode that you cannot do in offline mode. In online mode, you can perform the following tasks:
Manage user sessions
Manage the query cache
Manage clustered servers
Use the Oracle BI Summary Advisor (Oracle Exalytics Machine deployments only)
This section contains the following topics:
Use these steps to open a repository in online mode.
The Oracle BI Server data source names (DSNs) that have been configured on your computer are displayed in the Open Online Repository dialog. If no additional DSNs have been configured for this version of the Oracle BI Server, you might see only the default DSN that is configured for you during installation.
See “Integrating Other Clients with Oracle Business Intelligence” in Integrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for information about how to create an ODBC DSN for the Oracle BI Server.
The user name that you provide must have the Manage Repositories permission. See Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
For multitenancy, provide the details in the form tenantguid:servicename, for example 1234101:service1. Contact the tenant administrator to obtain the GUID and service name. See System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for information on GUIDs for tenants in the Identity Store. The Oracle BI Server uses the details that you specify to open the repository that is appropriate for your tenant.
If you expect to work extensively with the repository and check out many objects, use the Load all objects on startup option to loads all objects immediately, rather than as selected. The initial connect time might increase slightly, but opening items in the tree and checking out items is faster.
Leave the Tenant info field blank if multitenancy is not configured.
When you open a repository in the Administration Tool in online mode, the title bar displays the DSN for the Oracle BI Server to which you are connected rather than the name of the current repository.
When performing a single-node deployment, changes made using the Oracle BI Administration Tool, in online mode are available after reloading the metadata in Presentation Services.
In a clustered deployment, Oracle BI Server consumes these changes automatically, but you must restart all destination Oracle BI Servers for them to get the latest changes, and then reload metadata in Presentation Services by clicking the Reload Files and Metadata link from the Administration page.
See Using nqcmd to Test and Refine the Repository.
You can restart the destination Oracle BI Servers using the RollingRestart ODBC procedure, or you can restart the destination servers using Fusion Middleware Control:
Use the RollingRestart ODBC procedure, and enter the following in nqcmd:
call RollingRestart(timeout);
where timeout is the number of seconds to wait for each destination Oracle BI Server to restart before moving on to the next one.
For example:
call RollingRestart(300);
In this example, the system waits five minutes for each Oracle BI Server to restart. If the given Oracle BI Server restarts sooner, the system moves on to the next one immediately.
Note:
You must run the RollingRestart procedure directly against the source Oracle BI Server. Because the DSN created upon install for each Oracle BI Server is clustered by default, you must manually create a non-clustered DSN for the source Oracle BI Server to run the procedure against.
See “Integrating Other Clients with Oracle Business Intelligence” in Integrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for how to create an ODBC DSN for the Oracle BI Server.
To restart the destination servers using Fusion Middleware Control, first use the Cluster Manager in the Oracle BI Administration Tool, in online mode, to determine which Oracle BI Server is the source, and which are the destination servers. Use the Process tab of the Availability page Fusion Middleware Control to restart the destination Oracle BI Servers. See Using Fusion Middleware Control to Start and Stop Oracle Business Intelligence System Component Processes in System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
It is a best practice to avoid making other configuration changes in Fusion Middleware Control or the configuration files when using the RollingRestart ODBC procedure or when restarting the destination Oracle BI Servers in Fusion Middleware Control. Because only the destination servers are restarted, a situation might result where the source Oracle BI Server has a different set of configuration settings loaded than the destination Oracle BI Servers. If this occurs, restart the source Oracle BI Server.
Use online mode only for small changes that do not require running consistency checks.
Running consistency checks against the full online repository can take a long time. Instead, make more complex changes that require consistency checks in offline mode against a project extract of the repository.
The table provides guidelines for when to perform online and offline edits.
| Mode | Use This Mode For... | Example Use Cases |
|---|---|---|
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Online |
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Offline |
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You should limit the number of concurrent online users. The best practice is to have only one user working in online mode at a time. Even when users have different objects checked out, dependencies between the objects could cause conflicts when the changes are checked in. Only one user should make online changes in a single business model at a time.
If you must have multiple concurrent users in online mode, do not have more than five users. For situations where you need more than five users, use the multiuser development environment. See Setting Up and Using the Multiuser Development Environment.
Even with a single user making changes, be aware that online mode is riskier than offline mode because you are working against a running server. If you check in changes that are not consistent, it might cause the Oracle BI Server to shut down. When you work in online mode, make sure to have a backup of the latest repository so that you can revert to it if needed. You can also use Undo All Changes available on the File menu to roll back all changes made since the last check-in.
When you are working in a repository open in online mode, you are prompted to check out objects when you attempt to perform various operations.
When you are working in a repository that was opened in online mode, you are prompted to perform a consistency check before checking in the changes you make to a repository.
If you have made changes to a repository and then attempt to close the repository without first checking in your changes, a dialog opens automatically asking you to select an action to take. If you move an object from beneath its parent and then attempt to delete the parent, you are prompted to check in changes before the delete is allowed to proceed.
Use the Check in Changes dialog to make changes available immediately for use by other applications. Applications that query the Oracle BI Server after you have checked in the changes recognize the changes immediately. Applications that are currently querying the server recognize the changes the next time they access any items that have changed.
If the Administration Tool detects an invalid change, a message is displayed to alert you to the nature of the problem. Correct the problem and perform the check-in again. You can
In some cases, you might see the error, 97005 (Transaction Failed). This error occurs when the Oracle BI Server does not accept the changes. You can check the server log files to determine the cause of the problem.
You must save changes to persist the changes to disk. You must check in changes before you can save, but you do not need to save to check in changes.
Only one component, the Oracle BI Server or a single Oracle BI Administration Tool client in offline mode can have a repository open in read/write mode at a time.
If a second component opens a repository that is already in use, the repository is opened in read-only mode.
For example, assume the Oracle BI Server loads a repository in read/write mode. Any Administration Tool clients connecting to that repository in online mode also get read/write mode because they are accessing the repository through the Oracle BI Server. However, Administration Tool clients opening that repository in offline mode get read-only mode because the repository is already open for read/write through the Oracle BI Server.
If the Administration Tool client opens a repository offline in read/write mode, when the Oracle BI Server starts, the server and any Administration Tool client are also opened in read-only mode.
To enable the server to load the repository in read/write mode, you must first close the Administration Tool client that has the repository locked, and then restart the Oracle BI Server.
The Administration Tool opens a repository in read-only mode when Oracle Business Intelligence has been clustered, and the Administration Tool is connected in online mode to a dependent server. The cluster’s controlling BI Server holds a lock on the repository. To avoid this lockout situation when running in a clustered environment, ensure that the Oracle BI Server ODBC data source name (DSN) used by the Administration Tool is configured to point to the cluster controllers rather than to a specific Oracle BI Server.
Use these steps to open a MDS XML file.
When you open a MDS XML format repository in the Administration Tool, the title bar displays the format and root folder location, for example, MDS XML C:\Root_Folder.
Repository metadata must pass a consistency check before you can make the repository available for queries.
The Consistency Check Manager lets you enable and disable rules for consistency checks, find and fix inconsistent objects, and limit the consistency check to specific objects. You can also use the validaterpd utility to check the validity of all metadata objects.
Note:
The Model Check Manager identifies modeling problems that affect Oracle BI Summary Advisor and aggregate persistence performance and results. Run Model Check Manager before running Oracle BI Summary Advisor or the Aggregate Persistence Wizard. See Using Model Check Manager to Check for Modeling Problems.
This section contains the following topics:
The Consistency Check Manager checks the validity of your repository to ensure that it can load at run time, and to identify any syntax or semantic errors that may cause queries to fail.
Running a consistency check might result in updates to your repository metadata when you run the Global Consistency Check or the Check Consistency option against an object. You must save the repository when using those options. For example, invalid objects are deleted during Consistency Checks. This behavior might result in deleted expressions and filters on logical table sources and logical columns. Invalid references can occur when objects were deleted in the Physical layer without properly accounting for the references in the Business Model and Mapping layer objects.
The Show Consistency Check option is read-only and does not implement changes in the repository.
The Consistency Check Manager does not check the validity of objects outside the metadata using the connection. It only checks the consistency of the metadata and not the mapping to the physical objects outside the metadata. If the connection is not working or objects were deleted in the database, the Consistency Check Manager does not report these errors.
The Consistency Check Manager identifies application roles that defined in the Administration Tool, but that were not added to the policy store. Messages about placeholder application roles only appear when you perform a consistency check in online mode. The set of consistency check messages returned for your repository might contain different results depending on whether you have opened the repository in offline or online mode.
If you use lookup tables to store translated field names with multilingual schemas, the consistency checking rules are relaxed for the lookup tables. See Localizing Oracle Business Intelligence.
The consistency checker returns the following types of messages:
Errors
These messages describe errors that you must fix. Use the information in the message to correct the inconsistency, then run the consistency checker again. The following is an example of an error message:
[38082] Type of Hierarchy '"0RT_C41"..."0RT_C41/MDF_BW_Q02"."Product Hierarchy for Material MARA"' in Cube Table '"0RT_C41"..."0RT_C41/MDF_BW_Q02"' needs to be set.
If you disable an object and it is inconsistent, a message is displayed, asking if you want to make the object unavailable for queries.
Warnings
These messages indicate conditions that you might need to fix. For example, you might receive a warning message about a disabled join that was intentionally disabled to eliminate a circular join condition. Other messages may warn of inconsistent values, or feature table changes that do not match the defaults. The following is an example of a warning message:
[39024] Dimension '"Paint"."MarketDim"' has defined inconsistent values in its levels' property 'Number of elements'.
Note:
After upgrading from a previous software version and checking the consistency of your repository, you might notice messages that you had not received in previous consistency checks. The inconsistencies are the result of issues that were undetected before the upgrade, not new errors.
Use the Oracle BI Administration Tool to run the consistency checker on all of the repository objects, on a specific physical database or data source, physical database, business model, or subject area.
You can view the Consistency Check Manager’s results without performing a global consistency check, by selecting the Show Consistency Checker from Tools menu. If you have checked consistency in the current session, the messages from the last check appear in the Messages pane.
Note:
If a disabled object is inconsistent, you are prompted to make the object unavailable for queries. If an object is not consistent, the Consistency Check Manager appears and displays a list of messages.
orainst\servers\obis1\logs\username_NQSAdminTool.log.orainst\servers\obis1\logs\username_NQSAdminTool.logYou can use the Oracle BI Server validaterpd utility to check the validity of all metadata objects in a repository.
Running this utility performs the same validation checks as the Consistency Check Manager in the Administration Tool.
The validaterpd utility is available on both Windows and UNIX systems. You can run validaterpd against a binary RPD file, against an XML file based on the Oracle BI Server XML API, or against a set of MDS XML documents.
The location of the validaterpd utility is:
BI_DOMAIN/bitools/bin
Using validaterpd with the -L option checks your repository metadata for issues that might affect the success of Oracle BI Summary Advisor or the aggregate persistence engine. See Checking Models Using the validaterpd Utility to learn about using validaterpd with the -L option.
Syntax
The validaterpd utility takes the following parameters:
validaterpd {-R repository_name | -I input_file_pathname |
-D MDS_XML_document_directory} [-P repository_password] {-O output_txt_file_name |
-C output_csv_file_name | -X output_xml_file_name} [-8] [-F fixed_rpd_name|-E] [-S] [-B]
Where:
repository_name is the name and path of the binary RPD file that you want to validate.
input_file_pathname is the name and path of the XML input file that you want to validate.
MDS_XML_document_directory is the location of the input MDS XML documents.
repository_password is the password for the repository that you want to validate.
The repository_password argument is optional. If you do not provide the password argument, you are prompted to enter the password when you run the command. To minimize the risk of security breaches, Oracle recommends that you do not provide password arguments either on the command line or in scripts. The password argument is supported for backward compatibility only, and are removed in a future release. For scripting purposes, you can pass the password through standard input.
output_txt_file_name is the name and path of a text file where the validation results are recorded.
output_csv_file_name is the name and path of a csv file where the validation results are recorded.
output_xml_file_name is the name and path of an XML file where the validation results are recorded.
Specify -M to specify that you want to execute MDS XML documents. If you specify -D, the -M argument is not needed. You only need to specify -M when you have a single MDS XML file that contains all the object definitions.
-8 specifies UTF-8 encoding in the output file.
Specify -F to create a new version of the repository in RPD format that includes automatic fixes for some internal validation errors. For fixed_rpd_name, provide the name and path of a binary RPD file where you want to save the fixes. When this option is chosen, a list of all fixes is logged to the following file: orainst\servers\obis1\logs\username_NQSAdminTool.log.
Specify -E to save the changes into the input repository (-R must also be specified). When this option is chosen, a list of all fixes is logged to the following file: orainst\servers\obis1\logs\username_NQSAdminTool.log.
Specify -S to check server errors and navigation spaces only.
Specify -B to skip checks for business models availability.
Examples
The following example generates an output file called results.txt that contains validation information for the repository called repository.rpd, and saves a fixed version to fixed_repository.rpd:
validaterpd -R repository.rpd -O results.txt -F fixed_repository.rpd Give password: my_rpd_password
The following example generates an output file called results.csv that contains validation information for the repository contained in the MDS XML documents located at C:\MDS_dir:
validaterpd -D C:\MDS_dir -C results.csv Give password: my_rpd_password
Note:
You must provide the full path names to your repository files, both the input files and the output files, if they are located in a different directory.
Review the table to get information about some commonly seen consistency check warnings and errors.
Note:
The table provides a partial list only and does not show all possible warnings and errors.
| Validation Rule Example | Type | Description |
|---|---|---|
|
[14031] The content filter of a source for logical table: FACT_TABLE_NAME references multiple dimensions. |
Error |
The given logical table has a logical table source with a WHERE clause filter that references multiple dimensions. A WHERE clause with multiple dimensions is invalid. |
|
[38126] 'Logical Table' '"Technology - WFA"."Fact WFA WO "' has name with leading or trailing space(s). |
Error |
Identifies an object with leading or trailing spaces in the object name. Repository objects can no longer have leading or trailing spaces in their names. Leading and trailing spaces in object names can cause query and reporting issues. |
|
[38012] Logical column DIM_Start_Date.YEAR_QUARTER_NBR does not have a physical data type mapping, nor is it a derived column. [38001] Logical column DIM_Start_Date.YEAR_QUARTER_NBR has no physical data source mapping. |
Error |
Logical columns that are not mapped to any logical table source are reported as consistency errors, because the logical table source mappings are invalid and would cause queries to fail. Both of the given validation rules are related to the same issue. |
|
[39062] Initialization Block 'Authorization' uses Connection Pool '"My_DB". "My_CP"' which is used for report queries. This may impact query performance. |
Warning |
Indicates that the same connection pool is being used for both queries and for initialization blocks. This configuration is not recommended. Instead, create a dedicated connection pool for initialization blocks. Otherwise, query performance might suffer, or user logins might hang if authorization initialization blocks cannot run. |
|
[39028] The features in Database 'MyDB' do not match the defaults. This can cause query problems. |
Warning |
Some database feature defaults were changed in this release of Oracle BI EE. Unless you have specific customizations to your feature set, it is recommended that you reset your database features to the new defaults. |
|
[39003] Missing functional dependency association for column: DIM_Offer_End_Date.CREATE_DT. |
Warning |
This warning indicates that the given column is only mapped to logical table sources that are disabled. The warning brings this issue to the repository developer's attention in case the default behavior is not desired. |
|
[39059] Logical dimension table MY_DIM has a source MY_DIM_DAILY at level Daily that joins to a higher level fact source MY_FACT_SUM.MTHLY_SUM |
Warning |
Even though this fact logical table source has an aggregate grain set in this dimension, no join was found that connects to any logical table source in this dimension (or a potentially invalid join was found). This means that either no join exists at all, or it does exist but is potentially invalid because it connects a higher-level fact source to a lower-level dimensional source. Such joins are potentially invalid because if followed, they might lead to double counting in query answers. For example, consider Select year, yearlySales. Even if a join exists between monthTable and yearlySales table on yearId, it should not be used because such a join would overstate the results by a factor of 12 (the number of months in each year). If you get a 39059 warning after upgrading, verify that the join is as intended and does not result in incorrect double counting. If the join is as intended, then ignore the 39059 warning. |
|
[39055] Fact table "HR"."FACT - HC Budget" is not joined to tables in logical dimension "HR"."DIM - HR EmployeeDim". This can cause problems when extracting project(s). |
Warning |
This warning indicates that there is a physical join between the given fact and dimension sources, but there is not a corresponding logical join between the fact table and the dimension table. |
|
[39054] Fact table "Sales - STAR"."Fact - STAR Statistics" is not joined to logical dimension table "Sales - STAR"."Dim - Plan". This can cause problems when extracting project(s). |
Warning |
This warning indicates that the aggregation content filter "Group by Level" in the logical table source of a fact table references logical dimension tables that are not joined to that fact table. If that fact table is extracted in the extract/MUD process, the dimensions that are not joined not be extracted. In this case, the aggregation content of the extracted logical table source would not be the same as in the original logical table source. |
|
[39057] There are physical tables mapped in Logical Table Source ""HR"."Dim - Schedule"."SCH_DEFN"" that are not used in any column mappings or expressions. |
Warning |
This warning indicates that the given logical table source has irrelevant tables added that are not used in any mapping. This situation not cause any errors. |