Creating and Refreshing Application Databases

On the Manage Database page, you can create and refresh application databases, which are used to store data in Oracle Hyperion Planning for each plan type in the application. Databases are structured according to dimensions, hierarchical members, attributes, and other data specified in an application.

Oracle Essbase creates an encrypted data file (essbase.sec) to store access permission information.

When you create an application, select Create to update the Planning multidimensional databases that store application data. While building your outline, you can transfer database changes and access permissions separately to improve performance and make changes quickly available to users. When the outline is complete, Oracle recommends that you include access permissions when refreshing database information.

You must refresh the application database whenever you change the application structure. Changes made to an application are not reflected to users performing data entry and approvals tasks until you refresh the Planning databases for the application. For example, when you modify properties of an Entity member, add a Scenario, or change access permissions, these changes are stored in the Planning relational database until you refresh the application database.

During refresh:

Security filters are updated.
Currency conversion calculation scripts are updated.
Members and associated properties are propagated from the relational database to the multidimensional database.
Custom attributes are added, modified, or deleted in the multidimensional database.
Exchange rate values are repopulated in the Planning outline.
Member formulas for certain accounts are dynamically generated or updated.
Additions or changes to alias tables and their associations to dimensions or members are updated.
The Planning application is restructured.
UDAs are added to the Planning application.

Caution:

Oracle recommends backing up the application before creating or refreshing. See Backing Up Applications and Application Databases. Following these steps affects data in the database. When you click Create, data is erased and Planning plan types are rebuilt. When you click Refresh, data might be replaced. For important information, see Considerations for Working with Essbase.

When an administrator uses Create Database or Refresh Database, all other tasks are unavailable to other users, including the application owner.

All users must be logged off from the Planning application before Planning databases can be refreshed. Oracle recommends that administrators send a broadcast message to all users, asking them to save their work and close the application before the Planning application is refreshed. Planning does not log out users during refresh. See Limiting Use of an Application During Maintenance.

Application refresh time depends on factors such as the number of entities and users in the application, and many users and security filters lengthens refresh time. To maximize system availability, you can transfer access permissions information during nonpeak hours.

To create or refresh the application database:

Back up the application. See Backing Up Applications and Application Databases.
Select Administration, and then Application.
Select Create Database or Refresh Database.
Select options:
- Database: Creates or refreshes a Planning database for the application.
- Update custom-defined functions: Updates Planning custom-defined functions for the application when creating or refreshing the application database.
  
  For information about working with custom-defined functions, see the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator's Guide.
- Security Filters: Generates security filters for use by third-party applications. To generate security filters for all users in the application, select Security Filters, but do not select Validate Limit. To generate security filters for selected users, see Managing Security Filters.
  
  Access permissions are stored in an encrypted data file (essbase.sec).
  
  Tip:
  
  Before you generate security filters for all users, limit user access to the application by setting the Enable Use of the Application For option to Administrator. After generating security filters, change the setting back to All Users. See Limiting Use of an Application During Maintenance.
  
  Note:
  
  After creating or refreshing security filters for a user who has access to dynamic members, the Essbase bucket name is displayed in the filter line for dynamic members instead of the actual member name.
- Shared Members: Evaluates access permissions that are set for all instances of the member (base and shared) and applies the least restrictive access permission to them all. For example, if a shared member's parent has Write access assigned to all its children, and another shared member under another parent has Read access assigned to all its children, the base member and all its shared members are given Write access (for examples, see About Effective Access Permissions to Shared Members).
  
  Note:
  
  If your application does not depend on shared member security, consider clearing this option to improve performance.
  
  If this option is cleared, shared members inherit the security assigned to the base member.
- Validate Limit: Identifies security filters that exceed the Essbase security filter limit of 64 KB per row. This option validates filter size to ensure it does not exceed the size limit before building Essbase security filters.
To create or refresh data in the Planning database, click Create or Refresh.
Review the confirmation message. To continue, click Create or Refresh. After the update completes, click Finish.

Note:

If the create or refresh process takes some time, click Run in Background to run the process in the background without displaying the status.

To view the results of running Create or Refresh in the background, view the Planning logs. For information about logs, see the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management System Installation and Configuration Troubleshooting Guide.