| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) E10540-01 |
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| Oracle® Fusion Middleware Metadata Repository Builder's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11g Release 1 (11.1.1) E10540-01 |
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This chapter provides an overview of the Administration Tool, and explains other concepts that you need to know before beginning to build your metadata repository.
This chapter contains the following topics:
About Options in Fusion Middleware Control and NQSConfig.INI
Checking the Consistency of a Repository or a Business Model
The Oracle BI Administration Tool is a Windows application that you can use to create and edit repositories.
This section describes the Administration Tool main window, how to set preferences, Administration Tool menus, and other related information.
This section contains the following topics:
To open the Administration Tool, choose Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > BI Administration.
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Note: Do not open the Administration Tool by double-clicking a repository file. The resulting Administration Tool window is not initialized to your Oracle instance, and errors will result. |
You can also launch the Administration Tool from the command line, as follows:
The main window of the Administration Tool shows a graphical representation of the three layers of a repository (the Physical layer, Business Model and Mapping layer, and Presentation layer). See "About Layers in the Oracle BI Repository" for more information.
The Administration Tool main window also contains the following:
Menus. See "About Administration Tool Menus" for more information.
Toolbar. Provides access to global functionality such as Open and Save, and also includes functions for the Physical Diagram and Business Model Diagram.
Status bar. Provides contextual information about the current dialog or selected object, as well as other useful information.
Title bar. In offline mode, displays the name of the open repository. In online mode, displays the DSN for the Oracle BI Server to which you are connected.
Figure 2-1 shows the Administration Tool main window.
Figure 2-1 Example Administration Tool Main Window
You can use the Options dialog to set preferences for the Administration Tool.
To set preferences:
In the Administration Tool, select Tools, then select Options to display the Options dialog.
On the General tab, select the options you want to choose.
Table 2-1 describes the options on the General tab.
Table 2-1 Options on the General Tab
| Option | Action When Selected |
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Automatically tiles the layer panes of the repository when you resize the Administration Tool. When this option is selected, the Cascade and Tile options are not available in the Windows menu of the Administration Tool. |
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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. Note: 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. |
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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. |
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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" for more information. |
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Automatically checks out an object when you double-click it. If you do not 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 "Opening a Repository in Online Mode" for more information. |
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Displays row counts for physical tables and columns in the Physical layer. Row counts are not initially displayed until they are updated. To update the counts, select Tools > Update All Row Counts. You can also right-click a table or column in the Physical layer and select the option Update Row Count. Note: 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. |
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When selected, displays the Administration Tool toolbar. |
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When selected, displays the Administration Tool status bar. |
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Lets you ignore, specify an existing, or create a new logical table source for a moved column. |
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Executes a utility to clean the repository of unused physical objects. It might make the resulting repository smaller. |
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When selected, the Import from Repository option on the File menu becomes available. Note: By default, the Import from Repository option on the File menu is disabled and this option will not be supported in the future. 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" for more information. |
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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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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. Often, Gen 1 levels are not needed for analysis, so they can be excluded from the business model. See "Working with Essbase Data Sources" for more information. |
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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. |
On the Repository tab, you can set the following options:
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" for more information about creating display folders.
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. Note that the measures are still visible in the logical fact tables.
See Example 9-1, "Level-Based Measure Calculations" for more information about level-based measures.
Default logging level. This option determines the default query logging level for all users. You can override this level for individual users in the User dialog. A query logging level of 0 (the default) means no logging.
See "Managing the Query Log" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information about the query log and query logging levels.
LDAP. If you are using any alternative LDAP servers, the Oracle BI Server maintains an authentication cache in memory for user identifiers and properties, which improves performance when using LDAP to authenticate large numbers of users. Disabling the authentication cache can slow performance when hundreds of sessions are being authenticated. Note that 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. The maximum number of entries in the authentication cache, preallocated 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:
Key file name. The name of the key file that holds the client certificate and Certificate Authority (CA) certificate.
Password and Confirm password. The password for the key file.
Note that the authentication cache properties and key file properties are shared for all defined LDAP server objects.
On the Sort Objects tab, specify which repository objects appear in the Administration Tool in alphabetical order. For example, if you want the database objects that appear in the Physical layer to appear in alphabetical order, select the Database option.
On the Cache Manager tab, select the columns you want to display in the Cache Manager. To change the order of columns in the Cache Manager, select an item, then use the Up and Down buttons to change its position.
On the Multiuser tab, specify the path to the multiuser development directory and the name of the local developer for this Administration Tool. See "Setting Up a Pointer to the Multiuser Development Directory" for more information.
On the More tab, you can set the scrolling speed for Administration Tool dialogs, as well as set the default window size for the join diagrams.
To set the scrolling speed, position the cursor on the slider.
To set the default window size, in the Default diagram zoom list, choose a percentage or Best Fit.
The default window size is Best Fit. If you use the Best Fit option, the following rules apply:
If there are five or fewer objects, the zoom level is 50%.
If there are more than five objects, the zoom level changes automatically to Zoom to Fit.
Click OK when you are finished setting preferences.
The Administration Tool includes menus for File, Edit, View, Manage, Tools, Actions, Window, and Help. These menus are described in the following sections.
The File menu provides options to work with repositories, like Open and Save, as well as several server-related options like Check Out All that are only active when a repository is open in online mode. The File menu also provides a list of recently opened files.
Table 2-2 lists the options in the File menu.
Table 2-2 File Menu Options
| Menu Option | Description |
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New Repository |
Opens the Create New Repository Wizard and closes the currently open repository, if any. If a repository is currently open with unsaved changes, you are prompted to save them before proceeding. See "Creating New Oracle BI Repository Files" for more information. |
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Open |
Provides options for opening a repository in either offline or online mode. See "Using Online and Offline Repository Modes" for more information. |
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Multiuser |
Provides options to check out projects in a multiuser development environment and view multiuser development history. See Chapter 3, "Setting Up and Using the Multiuser Development Environment" for more information. |
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Close |
Closes the currently open repository. If you have unsaved changes, you are prompted to save them. |
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Save |
Saves your latest changes. |
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Save As |
Opens the Save As dialog so that you can save the repository to a different file. The new file remains open in the Administration Tool. |
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Copy As |
Opens the Save Copy As dialog so that you can copy the repository to a different file. The current file, not the new file, remains open in the Administration Tool. |
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Change Password |
Lets you change the repository password for the currently open repository. See "Changing the Repository Password" for more information. |
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Import Metadata |
Opens the Import Metadata Wizard. See the following sections for more information: |
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Compare |
Prompts you to select the repository with which you want to compare the currently open repository and opens the Compare repositories dialog. See "Comparing Repositories" for more information. |
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Turns off any highlighted changed objects. This option is only available if you have turned on compare mode by choosing Mark in the Compare repositories dialog. |
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Merge |
Opens the Merge Repository Wizard. See "Merging Repositories" for more information. |
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Check Global Consistency |
Checks the repository for consistency and opens the Consistency Check Manager. See "Checking the Consistency of a Repository or a Business Model" for more information. |
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Check Out All |
Checks out all repository objects. This option is only available in online mode. |
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Check In Changes |
Checks in all repository objects. This option is only available in online mode. |
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Undo All Changes |
Rolls back all changes made since the last check-in. This option is only available in online mode. |
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Exit |
Closes the currently open repository and then closes the Administration Tool. If you have unsaved changes, you are prompted to save them. |
The Edit menu provides access to the following basic editing functions for repository objects: Cut, Copy, Paste, Duplicate, and Delete. You can also choose Properties to view and edit properties for a selected object.
The View menu options let you hide or display the panes that show the three layers of the repository (Presentation, Business Model and Mapping, and Physical). You can also display the Business Model Diagram and Physical Diagram.
Choose Refresh to refresh the repository view. This feature can be useful in online mode to reveal changes made by other clients. It can also be used in either online or offline mode when the repository view has become out of sync and does not display a recent change or addition. Refreshing the repository view collapses any expanded objects in the tree panes and helps reduce clutter.
The Manage menu enables you to access the management functions described in Table 2-3.
Table 2-3 Manage Menu Options
| Menu Option | Description |
|---|---|
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Opens the Job Manager. The Job Manager is the management interface to Oracle BI Scheduler. This option is available when a repository is open in online mode. See "Using Oracle BI Scheduler Job Manager" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information. |
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Opens the Session Manager. In the Session Manager, you can monitor activity on the system, including the current values of repository and session variables. This option is available when a repository is open in online mode. See "Managing Server Sessions" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Security Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information. |
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Opens the Cache Manager. The Cache Manager enables you to monitor and manage the cache. This option is available when a repository is open in online mode and caching is enabled. See "Using the Cache Manager" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information about enabling the cache and using the Cache Manager. |
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Opens the Cluster Manager. The Cluster Manager monitors and manages the operations and activities of the cluster. This option is available when the Oracle BI Cluster Server is installed. See "Using the Cluster Manager" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information. |
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Opens the Security Manager. The Security Manager provides access to data access security functions and other identity-related options. See Chapter 13, "Applying Data Access Security to Repository Objects" for more information. |
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Opens the Joins Manager. The Joins Manager enables you to work with both physical and logical joins in a list format. The Joins Manager provides an alternative to working with joins in the Physical and Logical diagrams and shows all join types in one place. See "Defining Physical Joins with the Joins Manager" and "Defining Logical Joins with the Joins Manager" for more information. |
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Opens the Variable Manager. The Variable Manager enables you to create, edit, or delete variables and initialization blocks. See Chapter 18, "Using Variables in the Oracle BI Repository" for more information. |
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Opens the Project Manager. The Project Manager enables you to create, edit, or remove projects or project elements. Project elements include subject areas (formerly called presentation catalogs), logical fact tables, groups, users, variables, and initialization blocks. You use projects during multiuser development. See "Setting Up Projects" for more information. |
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Applies to the Oracle Marketing Segmentation product. For information about using the Marketing options in Oracle Business Intelligence, see Oracle Marketing Segmentation Guide. |
The Tools menu options enable you to access the functions described in Table 2-4.
Table 2-4 Tools Menu Options
| Menu Option | Description |
|---|---|
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Updates row counts in the Physical layer. See "Displaying and Updating Row Counts for Physical Tables and Columns" for more information. |
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Opens the Consistency Check Manager. See "Checking the Consistency of a Repository or a Business Model" for more information. |
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Opens the Query Repository dialog. See "Querying and Managing Repository Metadata" for more information. |
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Opens the Utilities dialog, which lets you select from a list of Administration Tool utilities. See "Using Administration Tool Utilities" for more information. |
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Options |
Opens the Options dialog, which lets you customize Administration Tool display preferences and other options. See "Setting Preferences" for more information. |
The Actions menu options are available when working with the Physical Diagram or Business Model Diagram. The options enable you to select elements, create new joins, or create new tables.
The Window menu options enable you to cascade or tile open layer windows and toggle among them.
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 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.
The Browse dialog appears in many situations in the Administration Tool. You use it to find and select an object.
The Browse dialog is accessible from several dialogs that let you make a selection from among existing objects.
The left pane of the Browse dialog lets you browse the tree view for a particular object. It contains the following parts:
A tree listing all of the objects in the Presentation layer, Business Model and Mapping layer, or the Physical layer of a repository.
Tabs at the bottom of the left pane let you select a layer. Some tabs might not appear if objects from those layers are not appropriate for the task you are performing.
The right pane of the Browse dialog lets you search for the object you want. It contains the following parts:
Query enables you to query objects in the repository by name and type. The Name field accepts an asterisk (*) as the wildcard character, so you can query for partial matches.
The Show Qualified Names option lets you identify to which parents an object belongs.
View lets you view properties of a selected object in read-only mode.
Note that in general, the left pane and the right pane of the Browse dialog are not connected. Rather, the panes provide alternate methods to locate the object you want.
The exception to this is the Synchronize Contents feature, which lets you synchronize an object from the query results list with the tree view. This feature is a helpful contextual tool that locates a particular object in the tree view.
Table 2-5 lists and describes the tasks you can perform in the Browse dialog.
Table 2-5 Tasks You Can Perform in the Browse Dialog
In the 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. This feature is intended as 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.
You can mark objects that are logical calculations with a separate icon.
You can choose an icon to visually distinguish tables in the Presentation layer that appear as nested folders in Answers.
You can 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.
To change the icon for a particular repository object:
In the Administration Tool, right-click an object in the Physical, Business Model and Mapping, or Presentation layer (for example, a particular logical table).
Select Set Icon.
In the Select Icon dialog, select the icon you want to use for that object and click OK.
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. Note that clicking the header eliminates any manually determined order.
Some features and options in the Administration Tool are for use by organizations that have the Oracle Marketing Segmentation product. For information about these features and options, see Oracle Marketing Segmentation Guide.
Note that additional information about Oracle Marketing Segmentation features is provided in the Presentation Services Help.
You can use a variety of 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.
Table 2-6 describes the Oracle BI Server command-line utilities.
Table 2-6 Oracle BI Server Command-Line Utilities
| Utility Name | Description | Where to Go for More Information |
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XML utilities (biserverxmlgen, biserverxmlexec, biserverxmlcli) |
Used 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: |
"About the Oracle BI Server XML API" in Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition |
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Oracle BI ODBC client utilities (nqcmd, NQClient) |
Used to run test queries against the repository. Both utilities connect using an Oracle BI Server ODBC DSN. |
"Testing and Refining the Repository" |
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patchrpd |
Used to generate and apply an XML patch file. This utility is especially useful for patching repository files on Linux or UNIX systems. |
"Using patchrpd to Apply a Patch" |
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extractprojects |
Used to extract projects from a given repository. |
"Using the extractprojects Utility to Extract Projects" |
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equalizerpds |
Used 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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prunerpd |
Used to delete unwanted repository objects from your repository file, such as databases, tables, columns, initialization blocks, and variables. |
"Deleting Unwanted Objects from the Repository" |
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Used 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" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition |
Before running any of the Oracle BI Server command-line utilities, you must first run bi-init.cmd (or bi-init.sh on UNIX) to launch a command prompt or shell window that is initialized to your Oracle instance. You can find this utility in:
ORACLE_INSTANCE/bifoundation/OracleBIApplication/coreapplication/setup
Then, run the appropriate command-line tool from the resulting shell window with the desired options.
Many configuration settings that affect the Administration Tool and repository development are managed in either Fusion Middleware Control, or the NQSConfig.INI configuration file. Repository developers must be familiar with Fusion Middleware Control and NQSConfig.INI configuration settings to effectively work with the Administration Tool and with their repositories.
Some of the most common configuration settings that affect repository development include:
Repository File: This option is set in Fusion Middleware Control. It controls the current published repository.
Disallow Online RPD Updates: This option is set in Fusion Middleware Control. It controls whether the Administration Tool opens in read-only mode when connected to the Oracle BI Server.
LOCALE: This option is set in NQSConfig.INI. It specifies the locale in which data is returned from the server and determines the localized names of days and months.
DATE_TIME_DISPLAY_FORMAT, DATE_DISPLAY_FORMAT, TIME_DISPLAY_FORMAT: These options are set in NQSConfig.INI. They control the display of date/time formats.
DEFAULT_PRIVILEGES: This option is set in NQSConfig.INI. It determines the default privilege (NONE or READ) granted to users and application roles for repository objects without explicit permissions set.
See Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for full information about Fusion Middleware Control and NQSConfig.INI configuration settings.
Oracle Business Intelligence 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 choose the Simple Install option. SampleAppLite.rpd is located in the following directory:
ORACLE_INSTANCE\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obisn\repository
The full version of SampleApp.rpd contains many additional examples and features. This version can be found on the Oracle Technology Network at:
http://oracle.com/technology/products/bi/enterprise-edition.html
The default password for SampleAppLite.rpd is Admin123. You must immediately change this default password the first time you open SampleAppLite.rpd in the Administration Tool. See "Changing the Repository Password" for more information.
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.
To open a repository, you must enter the repository password. This password is specific to each repository and is used to encrypt 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" for more information.
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.
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Note: In offline editing, remember to save your repository from time to time. You can save a repository in offline mode even though the business models might be inconsistent. |
To open a repository in offline mode:
In the Administration Tool, select File > Open > Offline.
Go to the repository you want to open, and then select Open.
In the Open Offline dialog, enter the repository password, and then click OK.
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 a repository in the Administration Tool in offline mode, the titlebar displays the name of the open repository.
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 scheduled jobs
Manage user sessions
Manage the query cache
Manage clustered servers
To open a repository in online mode:
In the Administration Tool, select File > Open > Online to display the Open Online Repository dialog.
The Oracle BI Server DSNs that have been configured on your computer are displayed in the 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 Oracle Fusion Middleware Integrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for information about how to create an ODBC DSN for the Oracle BI Server.
Enter the repository password for the repository currently loaded in the Oracle BI Server.
You can use Repository tab of the Deployment page in Fusion Middleware Control to view the name of the current repository.
Provide a valid user name and password.
If you expect to work extensively with the repository (for example, you plan to check out many objects), select the Load all objects on startup option. This 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.
Select the appropriate DSN and click OK.
When you open a repository in the Administration Tool in online mode, the titlebar displays the DSN for the Oracle BI Server to which you are connected, not the name of the current repository.
Use caution when making changes to your repository in online mode, and always perform a consistency check to ensure the repository is consistent before checking in objects.
In addition, 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, there might be dependencies between the objects that can cause conflicts when the changes are checked in. In general, 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 Chapter 3, "Setting Up and Using the Multiuser Development Environment" for more information.
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 File > Undo All Changes 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. Select the objects you want to check out and click Yes to check out the objects.
If you are performing a task in a wizard, the Checkout screen displays a summary of the objects that need to be checked out to complete the operation. Click Next to check out the objects and complete the task.
When you are working in a repository open 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 will recognize them immediately. Applications that are currently querying the server will recognize the changes the next time they access any items that have changed.
To make changes available and have them saved to disk immediately:
In the Administration Tool, select File, then select Check In Changes.
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. Note that you can select a message row and click Go To, or double-click a message row, to go directly to the affected object.
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 (either the Oracle BI Server, or a single 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 number of Administration Tool clients connecting to that repository in online mode will 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 will get read-only mode, because the repository is already open for read/write through the Oracle BI Server.
Alternatively, assume an Administration Tool client opens a repository offline in read/write mode. When the Oracle BI Server starts, it will get read-only mode, as will any Administration Tool clients connecting to that repository in either offline or online modes. To enable the server to load the repository in read/write mode in this situation, you must first close the Administration Tool client that has the repository locked, and then restart the Oracle BI Server.
The Administration Tool also 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 slave server. This occurs because the Master BI Server holds a lock on the repository. To avoid this situation when running in a clustered environment, ensure that the Oracle BI Server ODBC DSN used by the Administration Tool has been configured to point to the Cluster Controllers rather than to a particular Oracle BI Server.
In addition, the Administration Tool opens repositories in read-only mode when the configuration setting Disallow Online RPD Updates has been selected in Fusion Middleware Control. See "Using Fusion Middleware Control to Disallow RPD Updates" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information about this configuration setting.
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.
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.
Each time you save the repository, a dialog asks if you want to check global consistency. You have the following options:
Yes. Checks global consistency and then saves the repository file.
No. Does not check global consistency and then saves the repository file.
Cancel. Does not check global consistency and does not save the repository file.
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 any mapping to the physical objects outside the metadata. If the connection is not working or objects have been deleted in the database, the Consistency Check Manager does not report these errors.
If you use lookup tables to store translated field names with multilingual schemas, note that consistency checking rules are relaxed for the lookup tables. See "Localizing Oracle Business Intelligence Deployments" in Oracle Fusion Middleware System Administrator's Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition for more information about localization and lookup tables.
The consistency checker returns the following types of messages:
Errors. These messages describe errors that need to be fixed. 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 may or may not be errors. 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'.
Best Practices. These messages provide information about conditions, but do not indicate an inconsistency. The message appears if a condition violates a best practice recommendation.
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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. This typically indicates inconsistencies that had been undetected before the upgrade, not new errors. |
In the Consistency Check Manager, you can sort the rows of messages by clicking the column headings. Additionally, the status bar provides a summary of all the rows displayed.
You can check consistency in the following ways:
To check consistency for all objects in the repository, select File, then select Check Global Consistency.
To check the consistency of a particular repository object, such as a physical database, business model, or subject area, right-click the object and select Check Consistency.
If you already have the Consistency Check Manager open, you can check global consistency by clicking Check All Objects.
To view the Consistency Check Manager without performing a global consistency check, select Tools, then select Show Consistency Checker. If you have checked consistency in the current session, the messages from the last check appear in the Messages pane.
To check the consistency of a repository:
In the Administration Tool, select File, then select Check Global Consistency. The Consistency Check Manager is displayed, listing any messages relating to the current repository.
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Note: If you disable an object and it is inconsistent, a dialog appears, asking whether you want to make the object unavailable for queries. |
To edit the repository to correct inconsistencies, double-click any cell in a row to open the properties dialog for that object. Then, correct the inconsistency and click OK.
To copy the messages so that you can paste them in another file such as a spreadsheet, select one or more rows and click Copy. Note that clicking Copy without any rows selected copies all messages.
To check consistency again, click Check All Objects to perform a global check. Or click the Refresh button in the top right corner to check only the objects that were listed as inconsistent in the last check.
When finished, click Close.
To check the consistency of a single object in a repository:
In the Administration Tool, right-click an object, then select Check Consistency.
If the object is not consistent, a list of messages appears.
To edit the repository to correct inconsistencies, double-click any cell in a row to open the properties dialog for that object. Then, correct the inconsistency and click OK.
To copy the messages so that you can paste them in another file such as a spreadsheet, click Copy.
To check consistency of the object again, click the refresh button at the top right corner of the dialog.
If you click Check All Objects, all objects in the repository are checked.
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