5 Install, configure, and test reports

In this step, you configure OBIEE to point to the topic workflow data, and then upload predefined sample reports. Further, you test the predefined Topics reports in Oracle BI EE to ensure the configuration was successful.

This chapter includes the following sections:

• Updating the RPD connection pool

• Uploading the RPD file

• Disabling the Presentation Services cache

• Deploying the web catalog file

• Testing Topics reports

Updating the RPD connection pool

1. Unzip the OBIEE.zip file having the OBIEE directory onto the Windows machine where the Oracle BI Developer Client Tool is installed. The client tool is included as part of the OBIEE installation at the following location (depending on your installation):

   /u01/app/oracle/fmw/Oracle_BI1/clients/biserver/biee_client_install_x64.exe.

   This is a self-extracting archive that installs the client tool and other utilities. The same package is downloadable from the OBIEE application itself:

   1. Log into OBIEE.

   2. Navigate to the Home page.

   3. Go to Download BI Desktop Tools.

   4. Select the 32-bit or 64-bit Oracle BI Client Installer.

2. Open the Oracle BI Developer Client Tool on Windows:

   1. Click Start, and select All Programs.

   2. Select Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Plus Client, and click Administration.

3. From the File menu, select Open, and click Offline.

   A dialog box appears.

4. Locate and open OBIEE\reporting\twc_repository.rpd file.

5. Click OK.

6. When prompted, type the repository password.

   Oracle provides a default password of abcd1234.

7. From the File menu, click Change Password.

   The Change Repository Password dialog box appears.

8. In the Old Password field, type the default password of abcd1234.

9. Type and confirm a new password for the repository, and record it for later use.

10. Click OK.

11. In the Physical pane, expand the TWC node.

    The TWC subnode appears.

12. Right-click the TWC subnode, and select Properties.

    The Connection Pool - TWC dialog box appears.

13. Select the General tab if it is not already selected.

14. Edit the following:

    1. In the Data source name field, specify the entire connection string for your Empirica Signal Topics database server. Use the corresponding tnsnames entry for the database server (minus the leading alias names) as a starting point, and remove any new lines or returns.

       If you choose to enter the net service name as defined in the tnsnames.ora file, see the associated documentation at:

       http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E17904_01/bi.1111/e10540/deploy_rpd.htm#CHDJDIJI

    2. In the User name and Password fields, type the username and password of the OBIEE database account that you created in Creating the OBIEE Topics database account.

    3. Click OK.

15. When prompted, confirm the password, and click OK.

    The Connection Pool - TWC dialog box closes.

16. From the Tools menu, click Update all row counts to test the connection to your BI Server.

    • If successful, row counts are available on the Physical pane (by mouse-over of the components).

    • If unsuccessful, an error occurs. To troubleshoot, check your database settings.

17. From the File menu, click Save.

18. When prompted to check for global consistency, click No.

    The Oracle BI Developer Client Tool saves the changes.

19. From the File menu, click Close.

20. From the File menu, click Exit.

    The Oracle BI Developer Client Tool closes.

Uploading the RPD file

1. Log into Oracle Fusion Middleware Enterprise Manager on the OBIEE server using the WebLogic administrator username and password.

   You can access the server at http://<server name>:<port>/em.

2. In the left pane, expand the Business Intelligence folder, and click coreapplication.

   The coreapplication page appears.

3. Click the Deployment tab, and then click the Repository subtab.

4. Click Lock and Edit Configuration above the Capacity Management tab.

5. Click Close.

   A confirmation message appears. Click Close in the confirmation message dialog box.

6. In the Upload BI Server Repository section, click Browse next to the Repository File field.

   The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.

7. Navigate to the OBIEE\reporting folder on the Windows machine.

8. Select the twc_repository.rpd file edited in the previous section, and click Open.

   The Choose File to Upload dialog box closes.

9. Type and confirm the repository password in the Repository Password field and the Confirm Password field using the password that you chose in step 9 in Updating the RPD connection pool.

10. In the upper-right corner of the BI Server Repository section, click Apply.

11. Click Activate Changes above the Capacity Management tab.

    A confirmation message appears.

12. Click Close.

13. Restart Oracle Fusion Middleware:

    1. Click the Overview tab.

    2. In the System Shutdown & Startup section, click Restart.

       A confirmation message appears.

    3. Click Yes.

14. Log out.

Disabling the Presentation Services cache

The values in an OBIEE topics report are cached due to performance considerations. An OBIEE user viewing topics reports may not be seeing the most recent data from the Empirica Signal application. By default, OBIEE caches report values for a minimum of 10 minutes and a maximum of 60 minutes depending on the system load. The following configuration change disables the OBIEE Presentation Services cache:

1. Edit the instanceconfig.xml file in the directory <MW_HOME>/<ORACLE_INSTANCE>/config/OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent/coreapplication_obips1.

   Depending on your OBIEE installation, <MW_HOME> might be similar to /u01/app/product/oracle/fmw and <ORACLE_INSTANCE> might be similar to instances/instance1.

2. Add the following lines to the instanceconfig.xml file immediately after the <ServerInstance> tag:

    <Cache>
      <Query>
        <MaxExpireMinutes>-1</MaxExpireMinutes>
        <MinExpireMinutes>-1</MinExpireMinutes>
        <MinUserExpireMinutes>-1</MinUserExpireMinutes>
      </Query>
    </Cache>
   

3. Disable the query cache:

   1. Log into the Fusion Middleware Enterprise Manager using the WebLogic administrator username and password.

   2. Navigate to Business Intelligence > Core Application.

   3. Click the Capacity Management tab followed by the Performance tab.

   4. Click Lock and Edit Configuration.

   5. Clear the Cache Enabled check box.

   6. Click Apply.

   7. Click Activate Changes.

   8. Click the Restart to apply recent changes link at the top of the page.

   9. Click Restart.

   10. Click Yes.

Deploying the web catalog file

1. Log into OBIEE using a Signal superuser username and password.

   • If OBIEE is not configured for SSO, use a Signal superuser account which doesn't have SSO enabled.

   • If OBIEE is configured for SSO, use a Signal superuser account which has SSO enabled.

   You can access OBIEE at http://<server name>:<port>/analytics.

2. Under the Search field at the top of your screen, click Catalog.

   The Catalog tab appears.

3. In the top-most portion of the left pane, select Shared Folders.

4. In the Tasks section of the left pane, click Unarchive.

   The Unarchive dialog box appears.

5. Next to the Archive file field, click Browse.

   The Choose File to Upload dialog box appears.

6. Navigate to the OBIEE\reporting folder.

7. Select the twc_repository.catalog file, and click Open.

8. Specify the following:

   Replace: None

   ACL: Inherit

9. Click OK.

   The web catalog file is deployed.

Testing Topics reports

When you have completed all configuration steps, you should test the predefined Topics reports in OBIEE to ensure the configuration was successful.

1. Log into the Empirica Signal application.

2. Click the Topics tab.

   The Topics page appears.

3. Click Report.

   If SSO is configured, the Topics Dashboard should appear. If SSO is not configured, the OBIEE login page appears. In this case log into OBIEE using the Empirica Signal username and password.

If the Topics Dashboard does not appear, do the following to access Topics reports:

1. At the top of the page, click Catalog.

   The Catalog tab appears

2. In the Folders pane, expand Shared Folders.

3. Expand the Topics subfolder.

4. Expand My Dashboard, and click Topics.

   Topics reports appear.

5. Click Open next to a report to open it.