1. Designing with Reports for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud
  2. Designing Reports
  3. About Connections and Data Sources

About Connections and Data Sources

Data sources define how Reports grids connect to cloud data sources.

In Narrative Reporting Deployments:

Connections need to be defined by the Service Administrator to connect Reports to the various supported data sources. A data source defines a specific cube to connect to.

  • Connections streamline the creation and maintenance of Reports data sources and provide a single area of credentials maintenance for multiple cubes in an application.

  • When creating or editing a Connection, you can select cubes to be added as data sources. Data Source artifacts in the Library can also optionally be used to maintain connections to cubes, however, this can also be done in Connections. Data sources use the Connections as a parent artifact "container". When creating or editing a data source, you can select a Connection to use and select a cube from that connection.

Connections also allow accessing reporting artifacts in Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud platform instances on the same domain via a Remote Library. In the Narrative Reporting Library, users can browse remote libraries for reporting artifacts to open, or to copy Reports from the EPM Cloud Platform to Narrative Reporting.

Data sources enable you to maintain your connections on two levels:

  • Global changes: Change all reports that use a specific connection to use a different connection. For example, all report grids that point to server1:cubetype1 will now point to server2:cubetype2.

  • Selective changes: For selected reports, change the connection to point to a different data source. For example, you have created two data source connections, and half of your report grids point to connection1 while the other half point to connection2. You can change the connection details for either connection1 or connection2 without affecting the other grids.

Supported data sources include:

  • EPM Cloud, used for:

    • Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management

    • FreeForm

    • Planning and Planning Modules

    • Financial Consolidation and Close

    • Tax Reporting

  • Oracle Essbase Cloud

  • Oracle Profitability and Cost Management Cloud Essbase Provider

  • Oracle Fusion Applications Essbase Provider

  • Oracle Essbase Analytic Provider Services (APS)

Note:

  • The User ID logged into Narrative Reporting that is creating the Connections, as well as the Administrator ID in the Connections, need to be the same User ID, also both need to be native users and not Single Sign-On (SSO).

  • When connecting Narrative Reporting to EPM Cloud data sources, the release version of Narrative Reporting needs to be the same release version as the EPM Cloud data source. This is required for the Remote Library feature as well as compatibility between Narrative Reporting and the EPM Cloud Platform ADM driver, which is used for data and member queries against the EPM Cloud Platform cubes.

In Enterprise Performance Management Cloud deployments:

Data Sources are automatically created based on the EPM Cloud application cubes that are on the instance, no manual data source creation/maintenance is necessary. You can only utilize cubes on the same EPM Cloud instance.

For Narrative Reporting Deployments:

video icon -- Working with Connections and Remote Libraries.