8 Set Up Database Objects and Connection Pools

This chapter describes the properties of the database and connection pool objects in the Physical layer.

Properties for database objects and connection pools are set automatically when you import metadata from your data sources. You might want to adjust database or connection pool settings, or create a database object or connection pool manually.

This chapter contains the following sections:

Set Up Database Objects

Importing metadata from a data source automatically creates a database object for the schema, but you may need to adjust or view the database properties.

The following sections provide information about how to create, edit, or view properties for database objects in the Physical layer:

About Database Types in the Physical Layer

If you import the physical schema into the Physical layer, the Model Administration Tool usually assigns database type automatically.

The following list contains additional information about automatic assignment of database types:

  • Relational data sources

    During the import process, ODBC drivers provide the Oracle BI Server with the database type. If the server can't determine the database type, an approximate ODBC type is assigned to the database object. Replace the ODBC type with the closest matching entry from the Database list.

  • Multidimensional data sources

    Microsoft Analysis Services are the only supported XMLA-compliant data sources currently available. After you import metadata from a multidimensional data source, check the database object and update the appropriate database type and version if necessary.

Create a Database Object Manually in the Physical Layer

When you create a database object manually, you must also manually set up an associated connection pool.

For multidimensional data sources, if you create the physical schema in the Physical layer of the repository, you need to create one database in the physical layer for each cube, or set of cubes, that are in the same catalog (database) in the data source. A physical database can have more than one cube. The cubes must belong to the same catalog in the data source. To learn the properties to specify and their values when creating a database, see Database General Properties Reference.

Important:

Oracle strongly recommends importing your physical schema.

  1. In the Model Administration Tool, in the Physical layer without any objects selected, right-click and select New Database.
  2. In the Database dialog on the General tab, type a Name for the database.
  3. In Data source definition, from the Database Type list, select Database as the value.
  4. Optional: Select CRM metadata tables only for relational data sources and legacy Siebel Systems sources.
  5. Optional: Select Virtual Private Database to identify the physical database source as a virtual private database (VPD).

    Always select Virtual Private Database for Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, and Hyperion Planning data sources that are configured for SSO in the corresponding connection pool.

  6. Optional: Select Allow populate queries by default to give users the ability to populate the database.
  7. Optional: Select Allow direct database requests by default to allow users to run queries.
Database General Properties Reference

Review the database properties in the table to learn which properties to configure and when you can or should specify values.

Option Description

Data source definition: Database

The database type for your database.

CRM metadata tables

When selected, indicates that the definition of physical tables and columns for Siebel CRM tables was derived from the Siebel metadata dictionary.

Data source definition: Virtual Private Database

Identifies the physical database source as a virtual private database (VPD). When a VPD is used, returned data results are contingent on the user's authorization credentials. Therefore, it's important to identify these sources. These data results affect the validity of the query result set that's used with caching.

Always select this option for Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, and Hyperion Planning data sources that are configured for SSO in the corresponding connection pool.

If you select this option, you also should select the Security Sensitive option in the Session Variable dialog.

Persist connection pool

To use a persistent connection pool, you must set up a temporary table first.

Allow populate queries by default

When selected, allows everyone to run POPULATE SQL. If you want most, but not all, users to be able to run POPULATE SQL, select this option and then limit queries for specific users or groups.

Allow direct database requests by default

When selected, allows all users to run physical queries. The Oracle BI Server sends unprocessed, user-entered, physical SQL directly to an underlying database. The returned results set can be rendered in Oracle BI Server, and then charted, rendered in a dashboard, and treated as an Oracle Analytics Server request.

If you want most, but not all, users to be able to run physical queries, select this option and then limit queries for specific users or groups.

When to Allow Direct Database Requests by Default

The property, Allow direct database requests by default, provides the ability for users to run physical queries.

If configured incorrectly, it can expose sensitive data to an unintended audience.

Use the following recommended guidelines when setting this database property:

  • The Oracle BI Server should be configured to accept connection requests only from a computer on which the Oracle BI Server, Oracle BI Presentation Services, or Oracle BI Scheduler are running. This restriction should be established at the TCP/IP level using the Oracle BI Server IP address. This allows only a TCP/IP connection from the IP address of Oracle BI Server.

  • To prevent users from running nqcmd, a utility that runs SQL scripts, by logging in remotely to this computer, you should disallow access by the following to the computer on which you installed Oracle BI Presentation Services:

    • TELNET

    • Remote shells

    • Remote desktops

    • Teleconferencing software such as Windows NetMeeting

    If necessary, you might want to make an exception for users with administrator permissions.

  • Only users with administrator permissions should be allowed to perform the following tasks:

    • TELNET into the Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Presentation Services computers to perform tasks such as running nqcmd for cache seeding.

    • Access the advanced SQL page of Answers to create requests.

  • Set up group/user-based permissions on Oracle BI Presentation Services to control access to editing, preconfigured to allow access by Oracle BI Presentation Services administrators, and processing, preconfigured to not allow access by anyone, direct database requests.

SQL Features Supported by a Data Source

When you import metadata or specify a database type in the General tab of the Database dialog, the set of SQL features for that database object is automatically populated with default values appropriate for the database type.

The Oracle BI Server uses the supported SQL features with the specified data source.

When a feature is marked as supported, checked in the Default column on the Features tab of the Database dialog, the Oracle BI Server pushes the function or calculation down to the data source for improved performance. When a function or feature isn't supported in the data source, the calculation or processing is performed in the Oracle BI Server.

The supported features list uses the defaults defined in the DBFeatures.defaults file, located in ORACLE_HOME/bi/bifoundation/server/bin. You shouldn't modify this file. You can review the DBFeatures.defaults file to compare the features supported by different data source types.

You can tailor the query features for a data source such as when upgrading to a new version of a data source to see if the updated feature is reflected in the Oracle BI Server defaults. When the supported feature isn't shown in the Features tab, you can update the settings in the Features tab to reflect the actual features supported by the new version of the data source. If a data source supports a particular feature such as left outer join queries but you want to prohibit the Oracle BI Server from sending such queries to a particular data source, you can change this default setting in the Features tab. If you've federated data sources that run functions differently, to ensure that query results are consistent, you can disable the appropriate functions on the Features tab so that the calculations are performed in a consistent manner in the Oracle BI Server.

Important:

If you enable SQL features that the data source doesn't support, your query may return errors and unexpected results. If you disable supported SQL features, the server could issue less efficient SQL to the data source.

In most cases, you should keep the default values. If you do change the defaults to mark a feature as supported in the Features tab, make sure that the feature is actually supported by the data source.

Note:

Don't change the OPTIMIZE_MDX_FILTER_QUALIFICATION value.

See Review Supported Database Features.

The table lists the options available on the Features tab of the Database dialog.

Option Description

Feature

The name of the database feature, such as COUNT_DISTINCT_SUPPORTED.

Value

Shows the current value for the given feature. Selected indicates that the feature is supported in the data source, and that the function or feature should be performed in the data source rather than in the Oracle BI Server.

Some features show a default value in the Value column rather than selected/not selected, such as 10 for MAX_ENTRIES_PER_IN_LIST.

It's strongly recommended that you keep the default selections and default values.

Default

Shows the default value for the given feature. The defaults listed in this column are specified in the file DBFeatures.defaults.

Find

Searches for a feature in the list.

Find Again

This option becomes available after you click Find. It lets you perform multiple searches for the same string.

Query DBMS

Use Query DBMS only when you're installing and querying a data source that has no set of feature defaults in the Oracle BI Server. Query DBMS enables querying the type of data source for Feature table entries so that you can find out which SQL features are supported. You can then change the entries that appear in the Features tab based on your query results. Query DBMS isn't available if you're using an XML or a multidimensional data source.

The Query DBMS feature results aren't always an accurate reflection of the SQL features actually supported by the data source. When using this feature, you should verify that the list of supported features in the Features tab matches the actual features supported by your data source. Refer to the documentation for your data source for details.

Reset to defaults

This button restores the default values for this data source type from the DBFeatures.defaults file.

View Database Properties

You can extend the Physical layer metadata for some data sources.

For example, for Oracle ADF data sources, you can view custom database properties that are passed to the Model Administration Tool from Oracle ADF BI view objects. These properties aren't usually edited.

The table shows examples of custom properties.

Category Key Name Value Description

FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM

BIObject_FLEX_TREE_VS_COST_CENTER_LABEL_VI

Dim - Cost Center

FLEX_TREE_VS_COST_CENTER_LABEL_VI view object needs to map to the Dim - Cost Center logical dimension.

FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM

BIFlexfieldViewUsage

FLEX_BI_AcctKff_VI

FLEX_BI_AcctKff_VI is the CCID view object for FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM.

FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM

EnforceCustomDataType_FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM

"Segment 1":"VARCHAR"; "Segment ID":"DOUBLE"

For FscmTopModelAM.AccountBIAM view objects, the data type of some physical columns, the values are overridden with values passed in the property.

Review Supported Database Features

In the Model Administration Tool, you can review the features supported by databases and data sources. You can use Database Features when trying to troubleshoot a query or other operation that isn't working as expected.

Features are the SQL expressions, statements, function, operations, and other features that you can run against the database such as a query that uses an ISDESCENDANT statement, operations such as ADD or SQRT (square root) operations are supported. If a check displays in the Value or Default columns, the feature is supported. For specific information about the Value or Default columns, see SQL Features Supported by a Data Source.

  1. Open the Model Administration Tool.
  2. From the File menu, select Online Mode or Offline Mode.
  3. In the Open Repository dialog, select a repository, and click Open.
  4. In the Physical column, right-click a database or data source, and select Properties.
  5. In Database Properties, click the Features tab to review the supported features for the specific database or data source.

About Connection Pools

The connection pool is an object in the Physical layer that describes access to the data source.

The connection pool contains information about the connection between the Oracle BI Server and that data source.

The Physical layer in the BI Server contains at least one connection pool for each database. When you create the Physical layer by importing a schema for a data source, the connection pool is created automatically. You can configure multiple connection pools for a database. Connection pools allow multiple concurrent data source requests (queries) to share a single database connection, reducing the overhead of connecting to a database. It's recommended that you create a dedicated connection pool for initialization blocks. See About Connection Pools for Initialization Blocks.

For each connection pool, you must specify the maximum number of concurrent connections allowed. After this limit is reached, the connection request waits until a connection becomes available.

Increasing the allowed number of concurrent connections can potentially increase the load on the underlying database accessed by the connection pool. Test and consult with your DBA to make sure the data source can handle the number of connections specified in the connection pool. Also, if the data sources have a charge back system based on the number of connections, you might want to limit the number of concurrent connections to keep the charge-back costs down.

In addition to the potential load and costs associated with the database resources, the Oracle BI Server allocates shared memory for each connection upon server startup. This raises the number of connections and increases Oracle BI Server memory usage.

About Connection Pools for Initialization Blocks

You should create a dedicated connection pool for initialization blocks.

Don't use this connection pool for queries.

You should isolate the connections pools for different types of initialization blocks. By isolating the connection pools, you can ensure that authentication and login-specific initialization blocks don't slow down the login process. The following types of initialization blocks should have separate connection pools:

  • All initialization blocks that set session variables.

  • All initialization blocks that set repository variables. Run initialization blocks that set repository variables using credentials with administrator privileges.

    Be aware of the number of these initialization blocks, their scheduled refresh rate, and when they're scheduled to run. It would take an extreme case for this scenario to affect resources. For example, refresh rates set in minutes, greater than 15 initialization blocks that refresh concurrently, and a situation in which either of these scenarios could occur during prime user access time frames.

You should design initialization blocks to set the maximum number of Oracle BI Server variables for each block. For example, if you've five variables, it's more efficient and less resource intensive to construct a single initialization block containing all five variables. When using one initialization block, the values are resolved with one call to the back end tables using the initialization string. Constructing five initialization blocks, one for each variable, would result in five calls to the back end tables for assignment.

If an initialization block fails for a particular connection pool during Oracle BI Server start-up, no more initialization blocks using that connection pool are processed. Instead, the connection pool is blocklisted and subsequent initialization blocks for that connection pool are skipped. This behavior ensures that the Oracle BI Server starts in a timely manner, even when a connection pool has a large number of associated initialization blocks or variables.

If this occurs, a message similar to the following appears in the server log: 

[OracleBIServerComponent] [ERROR:1] [43143] Blacklisted connection pool 
name_of_connection_pool

If you see this error, check the initialization blocks for the given connection pool to ensure they're correct.

Create or Change Connection Pools

If you didn't import physical schemas, you must create a database object before you create a connection pool.

Database objects and connection pools are created automatically when you import physical schemas, for both relational and multidimensional data sources.

You create or change a connection pool in the Physical layer of the Model Administration Tool.

To modify more than one connection pool, use the List Connection Pool Command and the Update Connection Pool Command.

If you've already defined an existing database and connection pool, you can right-click the connection pool in the Physical layer and select Import Metadata to import metadata for this data source. The Import Metadata Wizard appears with the information on the Select Data Source screen pre-filled. See Import Metadata and Working with Data Sources.

To automate connection pool changes for use in a process such as production migration, consider using the XML API. See About the Oracle BI Server XML API in Managing Security for Oracle Analytics Server.

Note: Oracle Analytics doesn’t support the variables :user and :password in data source connection credentials.

  1. In the Physical layer of the Model Administration Tool, right-click a database, select New Object, and then select Connection Pool.
  2. Specify or adjust the properties as needed, then click OK.

Set Connection Pool Properties in the General Tab

You can learn about the properties in the General tab of the Connection Pool dialog.

The properties listed in the General tab vary according to the data source type. For example, XMLA data sources have a connection pool property for URL, while relational and XML data sources have the option Require fully qualified table names.

  • In the Connection Pool dialog, click the General tab, and then complete the fields.
Common Connection Pool Properties in the General Tab

The topic describes connection pool properties in the General tab that are common among most data source types.

The table describes the properties in the General tab of the Connection Pool dialog that are common for different data source types.

Property Description

Name

The name for the connection pool. The name is assigned automatically for connection pools created on import.

Permissions

Use this option to assign permissions for individual users or application roles to access the connection pool. For example, you can set up a privileged group of users to have its own connection pool.

These permissions aren't intended for use as data access security. For example, connection pool permissions don't protect cache entries.

See Apply Data Access Security to Repository Objects.

Call interface

Identifies the application programming interface (API) to access the data source. You can access some databases using native APIs, using ODBC, or with APIs and ODBC together. Java data sources are accessed using JDBC/JNDI.

If the call interface is XML, the XML tab is displayed for you to update the applicable properties.

Maximum connections

The maximum number of connections allowed for this connection pool. The default is 10. You can determined the value by the database make and model and the configuration of the hardware for the computer on which the database runs, as well as the number of concurrent users who require access.

For Microsoft Analysis Services data sources, you might encounter 503 Service Not Available errors if the Max Connections setting in the connection pool (default 10) is greater than the XMLA MaxThreadsPerClient setting configured in Analysis Services (default 4). To avoid these errors, increase the MaxThreadsPerClient setting in the msmdpump.ini file, or reduce the Max Connections setting in the repository connection pool.

See Improve Use of System Memory Resources with TimesTen Data Sources.

For deployments with Oracle Analytics Interactive Dashboards pages, consider estimating this value at 10% to 20% of the number of simultaneous users multiplied by the number of requests on a dashboard. You can adjust the number based on usage. Define the total number of all connections in the repository to less than 800. To estimate the maximum connections needed for a connection pool dedicated to an initialization block, you might use the number of users concurrently logged on during initialization block processing.

Require fully qualified table names

Select this option if the database or database configuration requires fully qualified table names. This option isn't available for some data source types.

When this option is selected, all requests sent from the connection pool use fully qualified names to query the underlying database. The fully qualified names are based on the physical object names in the repository. If you're querying the same tables from which the Physical layer metadata was imported, you can safely select this option. If you've migrated your repository from one physical database to another physical database that has different database and schema names, the fully qualified names are invalid in the newly migrated database. In this case, if you don't select this option, the queries succeed against the new database objects.

For some data sources, fully qualified names are a safer because they guarantee that the queries are directed to the desired tables in the desired database. For example, if the RDBMS supports a master database concept, a query against a table named Customer first looks for that table in the master database, and then looks for it in the specified database. If the table named Customer exists in the master database, that table is queried, not the table named Customer in the specified database.

It's sometimes necessary to select this option when you're using an Oracle Database, and you're accessing the database with a user that isn't the owner of the schema containing the tables. When the Oracle Database interprets table names in SQL, it assumes that the user that made the query is the owner if the table name isn't fully qualified in the query. This can result in an incorrect qualified name.

For example, if the user SAMPLE creates a table called CUSTOMER, the fully qualified table name is SAMPLE.CUSTOMER. When the SAMPLE user references the CUSTOMER table in a query, the Oracle Database assumes the fully qualified table name is SAMPLE.CUSTOMER, and the access is successful. However, if the JANEDOE user references the CUSTOMER table in a query, the Oracle Database assumes the fully qualified table name is JANEDOE.CUSTOMER, and a Table or view not found error can result. To enable access for JANEDOE, you must select Require fully qualified table names in the connection pool so that the Oracle BI Server specifies SAMPLE.CUSTOMER in all queries.

Data source name

The name of the data source to which you want this connection pool to connect and send physical queries. The value you enter in this field depends on the selected call interface:

  • If the call interface is OCI, enter a full connect string or a net service name from the tnsnames.ora file you set up within the Oracle Analytics Server environment, in BI_DOMAIN/bidata/components/core/serviceinstances/ssi/oracledb.

  • If you're using a native interface for a different database, enter the name of the database for that system.

  • If the call interface is ODBC, the data source name field displays a list containing all the User and System DSNs defined for ODBC on the local computer. Select the correct one for the data source to which you want connect.

Shared logon

When selected, all users whose queries use the connection pool to access the underlying database use the same user name and password.

If this option is selected, then all connections to the database that use the connection pool use the user name and password specified in the connection pool, even if the user has specified a database user name and password in the DSN or in user configuration.

If this option isn't selected, connections through the connection pool use the database user ID and password specified in the DSN or in the user profile.

When you use Oracle Call Interface (OCI) to connect to the database, you can deselect the Shared logon property of a connection pool for the Oracle database. OCI gets the credentials of the user in the repository.

The Shared logon option is enabled by default in Essbase connection pools. You can't disable Shared logon for Essbase connection pools..

Enable connection pooling

When selected, allows a single database connection to remain open for the specified time for use by future query requests. Connection pooling saves the overhead of opening and closing a new connection for every query. If you don't select this option, each query sent to the database opens a new connection.

Timeout

Specify the amount of time and in what increment such as minutes that a connection to the data source remains open after a request completes. During this time, new requests use this connection rather than open a new one, up to the number specified for the maximum connections. The time is reset after each completed connection request.

If you're using an ADF data source and the call interface is OracleADF_HTTP and the query mode is SQLBypass, then Timeout specifies the maximum processing time before the connection is canceled.

Use multithreaded connections

When this option is selected, the Oracle BI Server terminates idle physical queries (threads). When not selected, one thread is tied to one database connection, number of threads = maximum connections. Even if threads are idle, they consume memory.

The parameter DB_GATEWAY_THREAD_RANGE in the Server section of NQSConfig.ini establishes when the Oracle BI Server terminates idle threads. The lower number in the range is the number of threads that are kept open before the Oracle BI Server takes action. If the number of open threads exceeds the low point in the range, the Oracle BI Server terminates idle threads. For example, if DB_GATEWAY_THREAD_RANGE is set to 40-200 and 75 threads are open, the Oracle BI Server terminates any idle threads.

Parameters supported

If this option isn't selected, and the database features table supports parameters, special code runs that allows the Oracle BI Server to push filters (or calculations) with parameters to the database. The Oracle BI Server does this by simulating parameter support within the gateway/adapter layer by sending extra SQLPrepare calls to the database.

Isolation level

For ODBC gateways only. The value sets the transaction isolation level on each connection to the back-end database. The isolation level setting controls the default transaction locking behavior for all statements issued by a connection. You can only set one at a time. It remains set for that connection until it's explicitly changed.

The following options are available:

Dirty read. Implements dirty read, isolation level 0 locking. This is the least restrictive isolation level. When this option is set, it's possible to read uncommitted or dirty data, change values in the data, and have rows appear or disappear in the data set before the end of the transaction.

Dirty data is data to clean before running a query to obtain correct results, for example, duplicate records, records with inconsistent naming conventions, or records with incompatible data types.

Committed read. Specifies that shared locks are held while the data is read to avoid dirty reads. You can change the data before the end of the transaction, resulting in non-repeatable reads or phantom data.

Repeatable read. Places locks on all data that's used in a query, preventing other users from updating the data. You can insert new phantom rows into the data set by another user and are included in later reads in the current transaction.

Serializable. Places a range lock on the data set, preventing other users from updating or inserting rows into the data set until the transaction is complete. This is the most restrictive of the four isolation levels. Because concurrency is lower, use this option only if necessary.

Multidimensional Connection Pool Properties in the General Tab

Learn how to use the connection pool properties.

The table describes the properties in the General tab of the Connection Pool dialog that are specific to multidimensional data sources. Some properties only appear for certain types of multidimensional data sources.

  • URL

    This property is only displayed for XMLA data sources. Specify the URL to connect to the XMLA provider. This URL points to the XMLA virtual directory of the computer hosting the cube. This virtual directory must be associated with msxisapi.dll, part of the Microsoft XML for Analysis SDK installation. For example, the URL might look like the following:

    http://SDCDL360i101/xmla/msxisap.dll

  • Essbase Server

    This property is only displayed for Essbase data sources. Specify the host name of the computer where the Essbase Server is running.

    You can import metadata from an Essbase cluster, but you must still specify an individual Essbase Server host name and port number in the Essbase Server field.

    If the Essbase Server is running on a non-default port, or if it's part of an Essbase Cluster, you must include the port number in the Essbase Server field, in the format hostname:port.

  • SSO

    This property is only displayed for Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, and Hyperion Planning data sources.

    For Essbase, select this option if you want Essbase to be able to enforce security policies that provide different cube access or member-level access to different users. If you select this option then you must also select the Shared logon option.

    Don't select this option if all users are expected to have the same access to the Essbase cube. In this case, all the users have the same access to the cube based on the shared credentials specified in the connection pool. If you don't select this option then you must also select the Shared logon option.

    For Hyperion Financial Management or Hyperion Planning, select this option and be sure that the Shared logon option is unchecked to authenticate against Hyperion Financial Management or Hyperion Planning using a shared token, rather than using a set of shared credentials in the connection pool.

    If you select this option, you should also select Virtual Private Database in the corresponding database object to protect cache entries.

    For Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, and Hyperion Planning data sources installed with the EPM System Installer, preconfiguration is required before you select this option. See Configure SSO for Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, or Hyperion Planning Data Sources.

  • Shared logon

    This property is only displayed for Essbase, Hyperion Financial Management, and Hyperion Planning data sources.

    For all Essbase data sources, it's required that you select this option. See Configure Essbase to Use a Shared Logon.

    For Hyperion Financial Management or Hyperion Planning, you set this option based on how you set the SSO property.

    • If you checked the SSO property, then don't check this option. Not checking this option causes authentication against Hyperion Financial Management or Hyperion Planning using a shared token, rather than using a set of shared credentials in the connection pool.

    • If you didn't check the SSO property, then check this option to enable the Oracle BI Server to use the same shared logon credentials to connect to the data source for all Oracle BI users. All users share the same access to the data source.

  • Data Source

    Specify the vendor-specific information used to connect to the multidimensional data source. Consult your multidimensional data source administrator for setup instructions because specifications can change. For example, if you use v 1.0 of the XML for Analysis SDK, then use the value Provider-MSOLAP;Data Source-local. If you use v 1.1, use the value, Local Analysis Server.

  • Catalog

    Specify the list of catalogs available, if you imported data from your data source. The cube tables correspond to the catalog you use in the connection pool.

  • Use session

    This property is only displayed for XMLA data sources. An option that controls whether queries go through a common session. Consult your multidimensional data source administrator to determine whether this option is enabled. Default is Off, not selected.

Set Connection Pool Properties in the Connection Scripts Tab

You can create connection scripts and set the scripts to run before the connection is established, before a query is run, after a query is run, or after the connection is disconnected.

For example, you can create a connection script that, on connect, inserts the name of the user and the connection time into a table.

This topic describes the properties in the Connection Scripts tab of the Connection Pool dialog. The Connection Scripts tab is available for ODBC, OCI, Oracle OLAP, and ADF data sources.

Connection scripts can contain any commands accepted by the database, such as a command to turn on quoted identifiers. This enables mainframe environments to maintain security in one central location.

Because the connection script is sent directly to the data source, the script should use native SQL or another language understood by the data source, not Oracle BI Server Logical SQL.

  • In the Connection Pool dialog, click the Connection Scripts tab, and then complete the fields using the information in the following table.

    To enter a new connection script, click New next to the appropriate script type. Then, enter or paste the SQL statements for the script and click OK.

    You can edit existing scripts by clicking the ellipsis button to launch the Physical SQL window. Use the Up Arrow and Down Arrow buttons to reorder existing scripts.

    Click Delete to remove a script.

The table describes the properties in the Connection Scripts tab of the Connection Pool dialog.

Property Description

Execute on connect

Contains SQL queries that are run before the connection is established.

Execute before query

Contains SQL queries that are run before the query is run.

Execute after query

Contains SQL queries that are run after the query is run.

Execute on disconnect

Contains SQL queries that are run after the connection is closed.

Set Connection Pool Properties in the XML Tab

Use the Connection Pool Properties in the XML tab to set properties for XML data sources.

The XML tab in the Connection Pool dialog provides the same functionality as the XML tab of the Physical Table dialog. The properties in the XML tab of the Physical Table dialog override the corresponding settings in the Connection Pool dialog.

  • In the Connection Pool dialog, click the XML tab, and then complete the fields using the information in the table that follows.

The table describes the properties in the XML tab of the Connection Pool dialog.

Property Description

Connection method:

Search script

This property is only displayed for XML Server data sources. Click Browse to select the search script file you want to use to locate the XML Server data source.

Connection properties:

URL refresh interval

This property is used for XML data sources and isn't available for XML Server data sources. The refresh interval is analogous to setting cache persistence for database tables. The URL refresh interval is the time interval after which the XML data source is queried again directly rather than using results in cache. The default setting is infinite, meaning the XML data source is never refreshed.

If you specified a URL to access the data source, set the URL refresh interval.

  • Select a value from the list (Infinite, Days, Hours, Minutes or Seconds).

  • Specify a whole number as the numeric portion of the interval.

Connection properties:

URL loading time-out

The timeout interval for queries. The default is 15 minutes.

If you specified a URL to access the data source, set the URL loading time-out as follows:

  • Select a value from the list (Infinite, Days, Hours, Minutes or Seconds).

  • Specify a whole number as the numeric portion of the interval.

Connection properties:

Maximum connections

The maximum number of connections. The default is 10.

Query input supplements:

Header file/Trailer file

This property is only displayed for XML Server data sources. Click Browse to locate the header and trailer files.

Query output format

For XML data sources, choose only XML.

Other output formats are available for XML Server data sources.
Search Script Example

Use this search script example to create a search script for XML data source.

Example 8-1 Search Script

<ConnectionPool name="Connection Pool" parentName="&quot;Stock Quotes&quot;" parentId="3023:3037" parentUid="80000557-0bcf-0000-714b-e31d00000000" id="3029:3046" uid="8000055b-0bd5-0000-714b-e31d00000000" password="E3130008E1C4CAD47041E4AE68B048E6 7C2E35213306F12832914CBE7A9DD95561D771DED06484112B1FC6F27B6D0D58" timeout="4294967295" maxConnDiff="10" maxConn="32" dataSource="http://www.host.net/stockquote.asmx" type="Default" reqQualifedTableName="false" isSharedLogin="true" isConcurrentQueriesInConnection="false" isCloseAfterEveryRequest="true" xmlRefreshInterval="4294967295" scriptPath="java.exe -Dhttp.proxyHost=www-proxy.us.example.com -Dhttp.proxyPort=80 -classpath \analytics\server\Query\Execution\DbGateway\DbGatewayXML\Test\stocktick_webservices -jar \analytics\server\Query\Execution\DbGateway\DbGatewayXML\Test\stocktick_webservices\XMLServiceAdapter.jar" outputType="xml" gwDelim="," ignoreFirstLine="false" bulkInsertBufferSize="0" transactionBoundary="0" xmlaUseSession="false" xmlHeaderPath="C:\orahome_2015\biclient\oraclebi\orainst\config\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication\NQSQueryHeader.xml" trailerPath="C:\orahome_2015\biclient\oraclebi\orainst\config\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication\NQSQueryTrailer.xml" supportParams="false" isSiebelJDBSecured="false">
</ConnectionPool>

Set Connection Pool Properties in the Write Back Tab

Use the Write Back tab to set write back properties for ODBC, OCI, Oracle OLAP, and ADF data sources.

  • In the Connection Pool dialog, click the Write Back tab, and then complete the fields using the information in the table.

See About Setting the Buffer Size and Transaction Boundary.

The table describes the properties in the Write Back tab of the Connection Pool dialog.

Property Description

Temporary table:

Prefix

When the Oracle BI Server creates a temporary table, these are the first two characters in the temporary table name. The default value is TT.

Temporary table:

Owner

Table owner name used to qualify a temporary table name in a SQL statement, for example to create the table owner.tablename. If left blank, the user name specified in the writeable connection pool is used to qualify the table name. Set the Shared logon field on the General tab.

Temporary table:

Database name

Database where the temporary table is created. This property applies only to IBM OS/390 because IBM OS/390 requires database name qualifier as part of the CREATE TABLE statement. If left blank, OS/390 defaults the target database to a system database for which the users may not have Create Table privileges.

Temporary table:

Tablespace name

Tablespace where the temporary table is created. This property applies to OS/390 only as OS/390 requires tablespace name qualifier as part of the CREATE TABLE statement. If left blank, OS/390 defaults the target database to a system database for which the users may not have Create Table privileges.

Bulk insert:

Buffer size (KB)

Used for limiting the number of bytes each time data is inserted in a database table. For optimum performance, consider setting this parameter to 128.

Bulk insert:

Transaction boundary

Controls the batch size for an insert in a database table. For optimum performance, consider setting this parameter to 1000.

Unicode database type

Select this option when working with columns of an explicit Unicode data type, such as NCHAR, in a Unicode database. This makes sure that the binding is correct and that data is inserted correctly. Different database vendors provide different character data types and different levels of Unicode support. Use the following general guidelines to determine when to set this option:

  • On a database where CHAR data type supports Unicode and there isn't a separate NCHAR data type, don't select this option.

  • On a database where NCHAR data type is available, it's recommended to select this option.

  • On a database where CHAR and NCHAR data type are configured to support Unicode, selecting this option is optional.

Unicode and non-Unicode data types can't coexist in a single non-Unicode database. For example, mixing the CHAR and NCHAR data types in a single non-Unicode database environment isn't supported.

Connection Pool Properties in the Miscellaneous Tab

Use the Miscellaneous tab of the Connection Pool dialog to set application properties for ADF, JDBC, and JNDI data sources.

To set application properties, see Specify Application Properties for JDBC (Direct Driver) or JDBC (JNDI) Data Sources.

The table describes the properties in the Miscellaneous tab of the Connection Pool dialog.

Property Description

AppModule Definition

The fully qualified Java package name of the Root Application Module to which you want to connect, such as oracle.apps.fii.receivables.model.RootAppModule.

AppModule Config

Determines which application configuration is used in the connection, such as RootAppModuleShared.

URL

The URL to the Oracle Analytics Server broker servlet, in the format: 

http://host:port/APP_DEPLOYMENT_NAME/obieebroker

For example:

http://localhost:7001/SnowflakeSalesApp/obieebroker

The URL is case-sensitive.

SQL Bypass Database

(Optional) The name of the SQL Bypass database. The SQL Bypass database must be a physical database in the Physical layer of the repository. The database object for the SQL Bypass database must have a valid connection pool, with connection information that points to the same database that's being used by the JDBC Data source defined in the Oracle WebLogic Server.

The SQL Bypass database doesn't need to have any tables under it. After a valid database name is supplied, the SQL Bypass feature is enabled for all queries.

The SQL Bypass feature directly queries the database so that aggregations and other transformations are pushed down where possible, reducing the amount of data streamed and worked on in Oracle Analytics Server. See About Specifying a SQL Bypass Database.

Specify Application Properties for JDBC (Direct Driver) or JDBC (JNDI) Data Sources

Use the steps to set application properties for JDBC (Direct Driver) or JDBC (JNDI) data sources.

  1. In the Model Administration Tool, double-click the physical database to set application properties for JDBC (Direct Driver) or JDBC (JNDI) data sources.
  2. In Properties, click the Connection Pools tab.
  3. Select the Connection and click Edit to open the Connection Pool dialog.
  4. In the Connection Pool dialog, click the Miscellaneous tab.
  5. Complete the fields using the following information:

    • Required Cartridge Version defaults to 12.1.

    • Use SQL Over HTTP for JDBC (JNDI) call interface, only. If you're using Oracle BI Cloud Service, set this field to false to use HTTP to communicate between networks. For example, set this field to false if the Oracle BI Server and the data source you're accessing reside on different Oracle clouds.

    • Javads Server URL for JDBC (Direct Driver) call interface, only. The field is populated with the hostname and port that was specified in the Connect to Java Datasource Server dialog. The Javads Server URL is the URL for the Java Datasource server that supplies the Java metadata into the Physical layer.

    • Driver Class for JDBC (Direct Driver) call interface, only. Specify the driver to connect to the database. You must select a driver that's deployed in Oracle WebLogic Server.

      By default the Oracle JDBC driver, oracle.jdbc.OracleDriver, is available in Oracle WebLogic Server.

EXECUTE PHYSICAL DATABASE

Use EXECUTE PHYSICAL DATABASE statement to send physical SQL to the Oracle BI Server to connect to data sources.

The EXECUTE PHYSICAL DATABASE statement enables processing physical queries from the client without knowing the connection pool information.

Syntax

EXECUTE PHYSICAL DATABASE DatabaseName/*add a valid SQL statement

Set Up Persist Connection Pools

A persist connection pool is a database property used for specific types of queries such as queries used to support Marketing.

In some queries, all of the logical query can't be sent to the transactional database because that database might not support all of the functions in the query. This issue might be solved by temporarily constructing a physical table in the database and rewriting the Oracle BI Server query to reference the new temporary physical table.

You can use the persist connection pool in the following situations:

  • Populate stored procedures. Use to rewrite the Logical SQL result set to a managed table. Typically used by Oracle's Siebel Marketing Server to write segmentation cache result sets.

  • Perform a generalized subquery. Stores a nonfunction subquery in a temporary table, and then rewrites the original subquery result against this table. Reduces data movement between the Oracle BI Server and the database, supports unlimited IN list values, and might result in improved performance.

    In these situations, the user issuing the Logical SQL query must have been granted the Populate privilege on the target database.

The persist connection pool functionality designates a connection pool with write-back capabilities for processing this type of query. You can assign one connection pool in a single database as a persist connection pool. If this functionality is enabled, the user name specified in the connection pool must have the privileges to create DDL (Data Definition Language) and DML (Data Manipulation Language) in the database.

See Set Connection Pool Properties in the Write Back Tab.

  1. In the Physical layer of the Model Administration Tool, double-click the database object for which you want to assign a persist connection pool.
  2. In the Database dialog, click the General tab.
  3. In the Persist connection pool area, click Clear.

    The database name is replaced by not assigned in the Persist connection pool field.

  4. If there are multiple connection pools, in the Browse dialog, select the appropriate connection pool, and then click OK.
    The selected connection pool name appears in the Persist connection pool field.
  5. Optional: (Optional) click the Connection Pools tab to set write-back properties.
  6. In the connection pool list, double-click the connection pool.
  7. In the Connection Pool dialog, click the Write Back tab.
  8. Click OK, then click OK again to save the persist connection pool.

Remove the Persist Connection Pool Property

Use these steps to remove the Persist Connection Pool property.

  1. In the Physical layer of the Model Administration Tool, double-click the database object that contains the persist connection pool you want to remove.
  2. In the Database dialog, click the General tab
  3. In the Persist connection pool area, click Clear.
    The database name is replaced by not assigned in the Persist connection pool field.
  4. Click OK.

About Setting the Buffer Size and Transaction Boundary

If each row size in a result set is 1 KB and the buffer size is 20 KB, then the maximum array size is 20 KB.

If there are 120 rows, there are 6 batches with each batch size limited to 20 rows.

If you set Transaction boundary to 3, the server commits twice. The first time, the server commits after row 60 (3 * 20). The second time, the server commits after row 120. If there is a failure when the server commits, the server only rolls back the current transaction. For example, if there are two commits and the first commit succeeds but the second commit fails, the server only rolls back the second commit.

For optimum performance, consider setting the buffer size to 128 and the transaction boundary to 1000.