15Managing Objects in the OBI Presentation Catalog

Managing Objects in the OBI Presentation Catalog

Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Catalog

Presentation Catalog

The Oracle BI Presentation Catalog (the catalog) stores business intelligence objects and provides an interface where users create, access, and manage objects, and perform specific object-based tasks (for example, export, print, and edit). The catalog is organized into folders that are either shared or personal.

Catalog Users

Within Oracle BI, there are three primary users: content consumers, content designers, and catalog administrators. Each user performs different tasks within the catalog, and, therefore, each user sees a different version of the catalog interface. Functionality that is available for one user might not be available for another. Furthermore, the catalog functionality and objects that are available to a user depend upon the privileges that are specified by the Presentation Services Administrator and the object's individual permissions, which are usually set by the content designer.

Content consumers can use the Catalog page to view the business intelligence objects that are necessary to perform their day-to-day tasks. For example, a sales manager must access an analysis that monitors the weekly sales of a specific brand of beverage in the Central and Eastern regions. The permissions that are set by the content designer and catalog administrator determine what tasks the content consumers can perform both on an individual piece of content and within the catalog. For example, content consumers at Company A can search for, view, and interact with only those objects that have been assigned to them, but content consumers at Company B can search for and interact with content as well as create content and store it to their personal folders.

Content designers are the individuals who create the content for the content consumers. Content designers need broader access to the catalog to efficiently create, edit, test, and troubleshoot objects. Their access to the catalog's functionality is more comprehensive than that of the content consumers. However, like the content consumer, the content designer's permissions are set by the administrator. For example, a content designer must store content in and retrieve content from the public folders for the Sales functional area, but not the Operations functional area. Or a content designer must be assigned to several groups so that the content designer can sign in to Presentation Services as different users to test the new or revised content.

Administrators need the most comprehensive access to the catalog; however, their access is still determined by the privileges that are assigned to their role by the Presentation Services administrator. In general, the catalog tasks that the administrator performs include setting permissions on catalog objects and folders, archiving the catalog, creating and managing directory structures, and managing system and user data.

Saving a Business Intelligence Object

1. Create or edit a business intelligence object and click Save or Save As from the editor's toolbar. The Save As dialog is displayed.

2. Select the catalog location to which you want to save the object. Note the following items:

   • You can create sub-folders for storage within your My Folders folder or within the system folder for which you have the permissions to modify.

   • Oracle BI enables you to save any type of business intelligence object to any location within the catalog. However, for some object types, Oracle BI's Save As dialog suggests the best catalog location. For example, if you are creating a named filter, then it should be saved to a subject area folder (/My Folders/Subject Area Contents/Paint) so that it is available when you create an analysis using the same subject area and to which you want to add the saved filter.

   • You can save the following objects to any location within the catalog: actions, agents, analyses, BI Publisher objects, briefing books, conditions, KPIs, and prompts.

   • Oracle recommends that you save the following objects to the subject area folder: calculated items, custom groups, and filters. If a subject area folder does not exist in your /My Folders folder or within the /Shared Folders folder, then Oracle BI EE creates a subject area folder and the Save As dialog defaults a save path to /My Folders/Subject Area Contents/<subject area>. Saving these objects to the subject area folders ensures that they are available when you build an analysis for the same subject area.

   • Dashboards can be saved to any catalog location. However, if you want the dashboard to display in the global header's Dashboards menu, then you must save the dashboard to a first level dashboard folder. For example, save the dashboard to the following location to include the dashboard in the Dashboard menu: /Shared Folders/Sales Projections/Dashboards. Save the dashboard to the following location to exclude the dashboard from the Dashboard menu: /Shared Folders/Sales Projections/Dashboards/Design Time. For more information about saving dashboards, see "Saving Dashboards By Other Names and In Other Locations"

3. Click OK.

Creating a Folder or Sub-folder

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. On the "Catalog page", go to the desired location in the "Folders pane".

2. In the catalog toolbar, click New and select Folder. The New Folder dialog is displayed.

3. Enter the folder name and click OK.

Object-Specific Tasks

The tasks that you can perform for an object that you select from the "Catalog pane" are determined by both the selected object's type (for example, a dashboard or KPI) and the permissions that were set for the object. The list of available tasks is displayed in the "Tasks pane", which is located within the "Catalog page" or from the object's More link.

In most cases, you can open or copy an object. However, if you selected an analysis, then you can create an agent for the analysis or export the analysis. If you selected a dashboard, then you can publish the dashboard or archive it, depending upon the permissions that were assigned to the object.

Favorites

The favorites functionality allows you to bookmark as favorites the catalog objects that you view regularly or want to view again at another time. After you flag objects as favorites, you can use the "Manage Favorites dialog" to organize your favorites by creating categories and rearrange your favorites into the order that you find most intuitive. You can access a list of the objects that you marked as favorites and any categories that you created by clicking Favorites in the global header.

Adding an Object to Favorites List from Home Page or Catalog Page

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. Go to the "Home page" or "Catalog page" and browse for the object that you want to add to your favorites list.

2. Click the More link, and then click Add to Favorites. The object is added to your favorites list.

Adding an Object to Favorites List while Viewing or Editing the Object

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. Open the object in its designated viewer or editor.

2. In the global header, hover over Favorites and click Add to Favorites. The object is added to your favorites list.

Accessing Your Favorites List

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, hover over the Favorites menu. The list of the objects that you marked as favorites displays.

2. Scroll through the list of objects and categories to find a specific object. Click the object to select it.

   Oracle BI EE displays the selected object based on your permissions. For example, if you open an analysis to which you have write permission, then Oracle BI EE opens the object in the "Analysis editor".

Organizing your Favorites List

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, hover over the Favorites menu. The list of the objects that you marked as favorites displays.

2. Click Manage Favorites. The "Manage Favorites dialog" displays.

3. In the Category Tree area, browse to the location where you want to add a new category. When you select a category in the Category Tree, any subcategories or favorite objects nested in that category display in the Selected Category area.

4. On the toolbar, click New Category. The "New Category dialog" displays.

5. Enter a unique name for the category. Click OK.

6. The new category displays in the Category Tree.

Rearranging your Favorite Objects

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, hover over the Favorites menu. The list of the objects that you marked as favorites displays.

2. Click Manage Favorites. The "Manage Favorites dialog" displays.

3. In the Category Tree area, browse to the location of the categories or objects that you want to rearrange. When you select a category in the Category Tree, any subcategories or favorite objects nested in that category display in the Selected Category area. You can perform any of the following actions to rearrange your favorites.

   • Select an object or category and click the move buttons to move the object up or down in your favorites list.

   • Drag and drop objects into categories. Drag and drop categories into other categories to nest them. Note that depending on how you want to nest categories, you can drag and drop categories within the Category Tree or the Selected Category area.

   • Copy objects or categories from one location and paste them into another location.

   • Rename categories.

   • Sort the selected categories or objects within a category by ascending or descending alphabetic order.

   For more information, see the "Manage Favorites dialog".

4. Click OK. Your rearranged objects and categories are saved and display in your favorites list.

Removing an Object from your Favorites List using the Home Page or Catalog Page

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. Go to the "Home page" or "Catalog page" and browse for the object that you want to remove from your favorites list.

2. Click the More link, and then click Remove from Favorites. The object is removed from your favorites list.

Removing an Object from your Favorites List while Viewing or Editing the Object

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. Open the object in its designated viewer or editor.

2. In the global header, hover over the Favorites menu. The list of the objects that you marked as favorites displays.

3. Click Remove from Favorites. The object is removed from your favorites list.

Removing an Object from your Favorites List by Using Manage Favorites Dialog

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, hover over the Favorites menu. The list of the objects that you marked as favorites displays.

2. Click Manage Favorites. The "Manage Favorites dialog" displays.

3. Browse for and select the object that you want to remove.

4. Click Delete.

5. Click OK. The object is removed from the list.

Exporting a KPI or Analysis Prompt Data

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Consumer

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, click Catalog. The "Catalog page" is displayed.

2. Search for the object to export. For more information about searching, see "Searching with the Basic Search or Fully Integrated Full-Text Search".

3. In the "Folders pane", select the object to export.

4. Select the object and perform a task:

   • Below the document, select More and then Export

   • Select the Export button in the "Tasks pane".

5. Select the format. Note that the Data list contains the CSV Format, Tab delimited Format, and XML Format options.

Accessing Properties

Administrative users can access the properties of any object or folder to perform tasks such as view system information or change access levels. Users can access and modify the properties of the objects that they create or own.

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, click Catalog. The "Catalog page" is displayed.

2. Search for the object to which you want to assign properties.

3. In the "Folders pane", select an object or folder.

4. Perform a task:

   • Below the document, select More and then Properties

   • Click the Properties button in the "Tasks pane"

5. Review or change the settings displayed in the "Properties dialog".

Levels of Oracle BI Security

Oracle BI EE supports security mechanisms that allow users to access only the data for which they are authorized. The following types of security are typical:

• Subject Area security. This security mechanism controls access to objects, such as subject areas, folders, and columns. For example, content designers in a particular department can view only the subject areas that belong to their department when using the Analysis editor.

• Catalog object security. This security mechanism provides security for objects that are stored in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog, such as dashboards, dashboard pages, folders, and analyses. Users can view only the objects for which they are authorized. For example, a mid-level manager might not be granted access to a dashboard that contains summary information for an entire department. For more information about catalog object security, see "What Are Permissions?"

• Data level security. This security mechanism controls the type and amount of data that is available in analyses. When multiple users run the same analysis, the results that are returned to each user depend on their access rights and roles in the company. For example, a sales vice president sees results for all regions, while a sales representative for a particular region sees only data for that region.

Archiving

Archiving enables you to bundle specific folders, or multi-component objects (for example, scorecards) as a .catalog file and upload the .catalog file to unarchive the data to another location in the catalog. This process enables you to transfer specific data across environments. For example, you can use this feature to transfer data from a staging environment to a production environment.

If you have the necessary privileges, then you can use the Oracle BI Catalog Manager to archive and unarchive catalog objects and perform other Catalog maintenance tasks.

Archiving Objects

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. In the global header, click Catalog. The "Catalog page" is displayed.

2. Search for the objects to archive.

3. Go to the "Folders pane" to select the object.

4. Select More, then Archive below the object. The "Archive dialog" is displayed.

5. Specify to maintain or omit the permissions and timestamps for the folder or object. For more information, see the "Archive dialog".

6. Click OK.

Unarchiving Objects

You must have one of the following user type permissions:

• BI Author Limited

• BI Author Developer

• BI Tenant Administrator

You cannot save objects from a catalog file if you cannot create the object.

Note:

When archiving and unarchiving, the integrity of the folder structure is important. If child objects have moved parent objects may need to be reconfigured to find child objects and work properly.

Home > Oracle Business Intelligence

1. Locate the archive file to upload. The archive file contains the.catalog extension (for example, _portal.catalog).

2. Go to the "Folders pane" and select the location where you want to upload the archive file.

3. Go to the Tasks pane and click Unarchive. The "Unarchive dialog" is displayed.

4. Enter the name of the archive file or browse for the archive file. Select the archive file.

5. Click OK.