Set Up Your System for Repository Development Under Source Control Management
To set up your system for repository development under source control management, you must set up an SCM configuration file with commands specific to your SCM system, and generate an MDS XML repository and check it into your SCM system.
This section contains the following topics:
Create an SCM Configuration File
To integrate the Model Administration Tool with your source control management system (SCM), you must create an XML configuration file based on your specific SCM system.
The configuration file contains the SCM system commands for adding, deleting, checking out, and renaming files. The Model Administration Tool issues these commands to the SCM system when repository objects are created or updated, resulting in corresponding new or changed MDS XML files. The Model Administration Tool doesn't commit the changes to the SCM system. The repository developer must always check the files into the SCM system directly. The separate check-in in the SCM system facilitates viewing any conflicts or implementing merge decisions in the SCM environment rather than the Model Administration Tool environment.
If you create or edit an SCM configuration file while an MDS XML repository is open, you must ensure that Use Source Control is selected to enable the New or Edit buttons.
The default location for SCM configuration files is Oracle_Home/user_projects/domains/bi/config/fmwconfig/biconfig/OBIS
.
You shouldn't store security-sensitive environment variables in the configuration file. If security-sensitive variables are required by your SCM system, to avoid the security risk, you can launch the Model Administration Tool from Windows Command Prompt with any security-sensitive variables already set.
Create an MDS XML Repository and Check In Files to the SCM System
To integrate with an SCM system, you must convert your Oracle BI repository to MDS XML format.
Use one of the following options to create an MDS XML repository and check it into your source control system:
Save an Existing Repository File in MDS XML Format
If you've an existing repository file, use these steps for initial import to convert it to MDS XML.
You can also use the biserverxmlgen
utility with the -M
and -D
options to generate MDS XML from an existing Oracle BI repository. See Generating MDS XML from an Existing RPD Using a Command-Line Utility in the XML Schema Reference for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition.
Create a New Repository in MDS XML Format
Use these steps to create a new repository in MDS XML format.
- Open the Model Administration Tool and select File, then select New Repository to open the Create New Repository Wizard.
- Select the MDS XML Documents option in the wizard. Complete the other wizard steps.
- Perform the necessary steps in your source control management system to add and check in the files. For large repositories, use the specialized commands for bulk file import for your SCM system.
Don't create a new MDS XML-format repository, add objects, and then select Link to Source Control. This method doesn't work, and SCM commands aren't generated.
Link to Source Control Files to Convert Your Repository (Small Repositories Only)
For very small repositories, you can use the Link to Source Control files method to convert a binary Oracle BI repository file to MDS XML format.
Using the Link to Source Control Files method to initially import your repository is only recommended for very small repositories. This method is too slow for large repositories, tens of thousands of files, because the Model Administration Tool imports the files one at a time using the standard add file
command, rather than using specialized commands for bulk file import.
The repeated invocation of the add file
command might increase the chances of transient errors. If these occur, you might need to restart the process a few times before all files are successfully imported to source control.