Use nqcmd to Test and Refine the Repository
When your repository is complete, you can run sample queries against it to test that it's created properly.
Correct any problems you find and test again, repeating this process until you're satisfied with the results.
You can use the Oracle BI Server utility nqcmd
to run test queries against the repository. The utility connects using an Oracle BI Server ODBC DSN. The Oracle BI Server must be running to use nqcmd
.
The nqcmd
utility is available on Windows and Linux systems.
This utility is intended for sanity testing. For heavier load testing, use Answers or another client. Queries with many thousands of rows don't work with nqcmd
.
Although you can use nqcmd
to run queries against other ODBC data sources, this section only describes how to use this utility to query the Oracle BI Server.
Tip:
On Windows, you can see the available local ODBC data source names in Data Sources (ODBC) available in Administrative Tools. The System DSN tab displays a list of the available DSNs, for example, AnalyticsWeb_coreapplications.
You can pass a text file with SQL statements to the utility (script mode), or you can enter SQL at the command line (interactive mode). Queries are run against the default subject area, unless the object names used in the query are fully qualified.
nqcmd Command Line Arguments
Review the table to learn about the valid the command-line arguments for nqcmd
.
If you run nqcmd
in interactive mode rather than script mode, that is, if you don't pass a SQL input file, nqcmd
shows a menu of options after you provide the data source name and user credentials. Although many options are shown, you only use Q, T, and C against the Oracle BI Server.
Use Q
to type a query at the command line. You must enter the query on a single line, and you can't use a semicolon as a delimiter. Pressing Enter sends the SQL to the Oracle BI Server.
Use T
to browse presentation tables, or C
to browse presentation columns. The utility prompts you for catalog pattern, user pattern, table pattern, and table type pattern before returning results.
For catalog pattern, enter the subject area that contains the tables you want to see. For table pattern, enter the specific table. You can enter percent (%) to see all subject areas or all tables, use %
with other characters to replace a set of characters, or use underscore (_
) with other characters to replace a single character.
User pattern and table type pattern aren't used in queries against the Oracle BI Server, use %
for these options.
You can use D
to view a static list of data types supported by the Oracle BI Server.
The arguments, -C
, -R
, -f
, -H
, -q
, and -NoFetch
are listed by the utility as available arguments, these options aren't used.
Argument | Description |
---|---|
-? |
Lists the available command-line arguments. |
|
Specifies the ODBC data source name for the targetOracle BI Server. If you omit this parameter, you're prompted at the command line to enter the data source name (DSN). |
|
Specifies a valid Oracle Analytics Server user name. |
|
Specifies the corresponding Oracle Analytics Server user password. The password argument is optional. If you don't provide a password argument, you're prompted to enter a password when you run the command. To minimize the risk of security breaches, Oracle recommends that you don't provide a password argument either on the command line or in scripts. The password argument is supported for backward compatibility only. For scripting purposes, you can pass the password through standard input. |
|
The name and path of a text file that includes your test SQL queries. |
|
The name and path of a file where the utility writes the query results. This option is only used with |
|
The delimiter used in the SQL input file, for example, semicolon (;) or colon (:). This option is only used with |
|
Enables asynchronous processing. This option is typically used with |
|
Enables UTF8 output instead of ANSI Code Page (ACP) in the output result file. You might need to include this option to display international characters in query results. |
|
Enables UTF16 instead of ACP for communication between You might need to include this option to display international characters in query results. |
|
Disables the ODBC forward only cursor. Including this argument overrides the setting specified in the ODBC DSN. |
|
Displays the version of the |
|
Includes the specified session variable and sets it to the specified value. |