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Practice 1-1: Exploring an Oracle BI Repository

Goal Scenario To explore the three layers of an Oracle BI repository Before beginning the development of a repository, you use the Administration Tool to explore an existing repository to get a better understanding of its three layers and how the layers relate to one another, and to understand the link between physical data sources and the information presented in the Oracle BI Answers user interface. 1520 minutes

Time

Instructions
1. Stop the Oracle Business Intelligence Server service. a. Double-click the Services icon on your desktop. b. Right-click the Oracle BI Server service and click Stop. c. Ensure that the status is blank, that is, the service is stopped. d. Minimize the Services window. 2. Copy the repository for this practice to the appropriate directory. a. Navigate to D:\Labs. b. Copy the ClassStart.rpd file. c. Paste the file in D:\OracleBI\server\Repository. 3. Start the Oracle BI Administration Tool and open the ClassStart repository in offline mode. a. Select Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Administration. b. Select File > Open > Offline. c. In the Open dialog box, double-click ClassStart.rpd. d. Log in as Administrator; no password needed. 4. Examine the properties of the ORCL database object. a. In the Physical layer, double-click the ORCL database object to view its properties. b. Click the General tab. c. What is the database platform type for this database?

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d. Click the Features tab. Each database comes with a set of features that determine the SQL Oracle BI Server will issue for this database. Features can have a Boolean value (on or off), integer value, or a string value. Scroll to the right to view the Value and Default columns. The features are specified in the DBFeatures.ini file located in the D:\OracleBI\server\Config directory. If the Default check box is selected, the default SQL features are identified. Default SQL features that are supported by the database type of the data source are automatically selected. e. Click the Connection Pools tab. This tab identifies all the connection pools associated with this database. f. Click the Display Folders tab. Physical layer objects can be organized into display folders. When there are display folders in the Physical layer, they are listed here. g. Click Cancel to close the Properties dialog box. 5. Explore the properties of a connection pool object. a. In the Physical layer, expand the ORCL database object. b. Double-click the SUPPLIER CP connection pool object. c. What is the call interface type for this connection pool?

The call interface is the application programming interface (API) used to access the data source. Some databases may be accessed using native APIs, some using ODBC. d. What is the data source name for this connection pool?

The data source is accessed by Oracle Call Interface (OCI). The data source name, ORCL, is a tnsnames.ora entry. e. Click Cancel. 6. Examine the properties of a physical schema and its physical table objects. a. Expand the SUPPLIER2 schema folder to display the physical table objects in the Physical layer. These physical table objects map to tables in the physical database.

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There are more tables in the physical database. The tables displayed here are the tables that have been imported into the Physical layer. You learn more about importing tables in the lesson titled Building the Physical Layer of a Repository. b. Expand D1_ORDERS2 to view the physical columns for this table. D1_ORDERS2 is the fact table in this business model. These columns correspond to the columns in the physical database.

c. Right-click D1_ORDERS2 and select View Data. The first 100 rows of data for this table are displayed.

d. Click Close.

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e. Double-click the D1_ORDERS2 table object to view its properties. f. Click the Columns tab to view the columns in this table. This is another way to create, view, and modify physical columns. g. Click the Foreign Keys tab. h. Which tables have join relationships with D1_ORDERS2?

i. Double-click one of the foreign keys. The Physical Foreign Key dialog box opens and displays the join relationship in the Expression field.

j. Click Cancel to close the Physical Foreign Key dialog box. k. Click Cancel to close the Physical Table dialog box. l. Right-click D1_ORDERS2 and select Physical Diagram > Object(s) and Direct Joins. The Physical Diagram opens and displays the physical join

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m. Double-click the connector between D1_CUSTOMER2 and D1_ORDERS2. The Physical Foreign Key dialog box opens and displays the join relationship in the Expression field. This is another way to view, build, and modify joins between tables in the Physical layer. n. Click Cancel. o. Close the Physical Diagram.

7. Examine the properties of a physical column object. a. Expand the D1_CUSTOMER2 table object. b. Double-click the Address physical column to view the properties. c. Can this column object have null values?

d. Click Cancel. 8. Examine the properties of a logical table in the SupplierSales business model. a. If necessary, expand the SupplierSales business model in the Business Model and Mapping layer. b. What are the logical table objects in the SupplierSales business model?

c. Expand the SalesFacts logical table to view the logical columns for this table. SalesFacts is the logical fact table in this business model. These columns

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map to columns in the Physical layer.

d. Double-click the SalesFacts logical table object. e. Click the General tab. Note that the logical columns and their corresponding properties are listed. On this tab you can change the name of the logical table, reorder the columns, and add, edit, or remove a column. f. Click the Sources tab. The source for this logical table is the D1_ORDERS2 table that you explored in the Physical layer. In a more complex business model, there may be many physical sources for a logical table. g. Click the Keys tab. Typically, there are no keys defined for a logical fact table. h. Click the Foreign Keys tab. Foreign key joins are typically not used in the Business Model and Mapping layer. All joins in the Business Model and Mapping layer are logical joins. i. Click Cancel to close the Logical Table properties dialog box. j. Right-click SalesFacts and select Business Model Diagram > Whole Diagram. The Logical Table Diagram opens and displays the logical join relationships.

k. Double-click the connector between Customers and SalesFacts. The Logical Join dialog box opens. Note that there is no join expression in the Expression field and that there is a one-to-many relationship between the Customers logical dimension table and the SalesFacts logical fact table. You learn more about complex logical joins in the lesson titled Building the Business Model

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and Mapping Layer of a Repository.

l. Click Cancel to close the Logical Join dialog box. m. Close the Logical Table Diagram.

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9. Examine the logical table source for the SalesFacts logical table. a. Expand the Sources folder for the SalesFacts table to display the D1_ORDERS2 logical table source for this logical table. In this example, there is only one logical table source. It is, however, possible to have many logical table sources for a single logical table. b. Double-click the D1_ORDERS2 logical table source to view the properties. c. Click the General tab. d. Which physical table does the D1_ORDERS2 logical table source map to?

e. Click the Column Mapping tab. f. If necessary, scroll to the right to view the Physical Table column. Do all columns in the SalesFacts logical table map to the same physical table?

g. Which physical column does the Dollars logical column map to?

h. Explain why some logical columns have names that are different from the physical columns to which they map.

i. Click the Content tab. Currently, there is no information on the tab. Later in this course, you learn how to use this tab to identify aggregation content and fragmentation content. j. Click Cancel to close the Logical Table Source dialog box. 10. Examine the properties of a logical column in the SalesFacts logical table. a. Double-click the Dollars logical column to open the properties window. Dollars is a measure in this business model. b. Click the General tab. This tab provides general information about the column, like the column name, the table it belongs to, and a description of the column. c. Click the Data Type tab. d. Which physical table and physical column does the Dollars logical column map to?

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e. Which logical table source does the Dollars logical column belong to?

f. Double-click the D1_ORDERS2 logical table source in this dialog box. Note that this is another way to access the Logical Table Source properties dialog box. g. Click Cancel to close the Logical Table Source properties dialog box. h. Which aggregation rule is applied to the Dollars logical column?

i. Click the Aggregation tab. Note that the default aggregation rule is set to Sum. It is common to apply aggregation rules to measures in business models. Open the aggregation rule drop-down list to see the other available aggregation rules.

j. Make sure that the Sum aggregation rule is selected and click Cancel to close the Logical Column dialog box. 11. Examine the properties of the SupplierSales presentation catalog object. a. In the Presentation layer, double-click the SupplierSales presentation catalog to open the Presentation Catalog properties dialog box. b. Click the General tab. Note that the presentation catalog name is the same as the business model name. This is because the presentation catalog was created

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c.

d. e.

f.

g.

by dragging the business model from the Business Model and Mapping layer to the Presentation layer. If desired, you could use this tab to change the name of the presentation catalog. The description appears in the Answers user interface. Click Permissions to open the Permissions dialog box. This shows the permissions for all users and groups in the repository. Currently, there are no users and groups defined, so the default is to give everyone read permission for this presentation catalog. You learn more about setting up security in the lesson titled Security. Click Cancel to close the Permissions dialog box. Click the Presentation Tables tab to display a list of presentation tables. You can use this tab to add, remove, edit, or change the display order of the presentation tables. Click the Aliases tab. If you change the name of a presentation catalog, the tool automatically creates an alias using the previous name. You can use this tab to specify or delete an alias for a presentation folder. Click Cancel to close the Presentation Catalog dialog box.

12. Examine the properties of a presentation table in the SupplierSales presentation catalog. a. In the Presentation layer, expand SupplierSales to view the presentation tables. b. Double-click the SalesFacts table to view the properties. c. Click the General tab. You can use this tab to change the name of the presentation table. A description would appear as a tool tip in the Answers user interface. d. Click the Columns tab to see a list of columns in the SalesFacts presentation table. You can use this tab to add, remove, edit, or change the display order of the presentation columns. e. Which logical table and logical column in the Business Model and Mapping layer does the Dollars presentation column map to?

f. Double-click Dollars to open the Presentation Column properties dialog box. This is one method for viewing and modifying presentation column properties. g. Click Cancel to close the Presentation Column properties dialog box. h. Click Cancel to close the Presentation Table properties dialog box. i. Double-click the SupplierSalesDM presentation catalog. j. Click the General tab. Note that this presentation catalog also maps to the SupplierSales business model. Many presentation catalogs can map to a single business model, but each presentation catalog can map to only one business model. k. Click Cancel to close the Presentation Catalog dialog box.

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13. Examine the properties of a presentation column in the SalesFacts table. a. Expand the SalesFacts presentation table. b. Double-click Dollars to open the Presentation Column properties dialog box. Note that this is the same dialog box you saw earlier. This is another method for viewing and modifying presentation column properties. c. Click Cancel to close the Presentation Column properties dialog box. d. Click File > Close to close the repository without saving any changes. e. Leave the Administration Tool open. 14. Modify the NQSConfig.ini file to load the ClassStart repository on Oracle BI Server startup. a. Navigate to D:\OracleBI\server\Config. b. Double-click NQSConfig.ini to open the file. c. Scroll to the REPOSITORY section. d. Modify the file to load the ClassStart repository. Your file should look similar to this:

e. Save and close NQSConfig.ini. 15. Start the Oracle BI Server service. a. Return to the Services window. b. Right-click the Oracle BI Server service and select Start. c. Wait until the status displays as Started. d. Minimize the Services window. e. Navigate to D:\OracleBI\server\Log. f. Open NQServer.log. This log file contains information about Oracle BI Server. It is useful in diagnosing and troubleshooting Oracle BI Server startup and shutdown issues. g. Ensure that you see the message Oracle BI Server started. It may be necessary to scroll to the bottom of the file. h. Close NQServer.log. 16. Examine the relationship between the columns in the Presentation layer and the columns displayed in Oracle BI Answers. a. In the Administration Tool, select File > Open > Offline. b. Double-click ClassStart.rpd. c. Click Yes to open as read-only. d. Click OK to log in as Administrator; no password needed.

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e. Select Start > Programs > Oracle Business Intelligence > Presentation Services. f. Log in as Administrator; no password needed. g. Click the Answers link to navigate to the Answers start page. h. What are the names of the subject areas listed on the Answers start page?

i. Which object in the repository corresponds to the SupplierSales subject area in Answers?

j. Size the windows of Answers and the Administration Tool so you can see the two applications side-by-side. k. Click the SupplierSales subject area link on the Answers start page. l. Expand the Facts table in Answers to see the nested SalesFacts table. m. Expand the SupplierSales presentation catalog in the Administration Tool. Note that the SupplierSales tables listed in Oracle BI Answers have the same names as the tables listed in the Presentation layer in the Administration Tool. n. Expand the SalesFacts table in Answers. o. Expand the SalesFacts table in the Presentation layer in the Administration Tool. Note that the column names in the Presentation layer of the Administration Tool are the same as the columns listed for the SalesFacts table in Answers. p. Do some more exploration on your own. Examine tables and columns of the SupplierSales subject area in Answers and note how they correspond to the Presentation layer. The key point to understand is this: What you see in Answers is driven by what is defined in the repository in the Administration Tool. 17. Create a simple request. a. In Answers, expand the Customers table and select the Region column to add it to the request criteria in the right pane. b. Expand Facts > SalesFacts and select the Dollars column to add it to the request.

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c. Click the Results tab. The table displays the total dollars (sales) for each region.

18. Log out of Oracle Business Intelligence. 19. Close the browser. 20. In the Administration Tool, close the repository. 21. Select File > Exit to close the Administration Tool.

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Solutions 1-1: Exploring an Oracle BI Repository

Answers
4.c. 5.c. 5.d. 6.h. What is the database platform type for this database? Oracle 10gR1 What is the call interface type for this connection pool? Default (OCI 10g) What is the data source name for this connection pool? ORCL Which tables have join relationships with D1_ORDERS2? D1_CUSTOMER2, D1_PRODUCTS, D1_CALENDAR2 Can this column object have null values? Yes What are the logical table objects in the SupplierSales business model? Customers, Periods, Products, SalesFacts Which physical table does the D1_ORDERS2 logical table source map to? D1_ORDERS2 Scroll to the right to view the Physical Table column. Do all columns in the SalesFacts logical table map to the same physical table? Yes Which physical column does the Dollars logical column map to? ACTLEXTND Explain why some logical columns have names that are different from the physical columns to which they map. Because the names were changed in the logical (BMM) layer Which physical table and physical column does the Dollars logical column map to? D1_ORDERS2.ACTLEXTND Which logical table source does the Dollars logical column belong to? D1_ORDERS2

7.c. 8.b. 9.d. 9.f.

9.g. 9.h.

10.d.

10.e.

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Which aggregation rule is applied to the Dollars logical column? Sum Which logical table and logical column in the Business Model and Mapping layer does the Dollars presentation column map to? SalesFacts.Dollars What are the names of the subject areas listed on the Answers start page? SupplierSales, SupplierSalesDM Which object in the repository corresponds to the SupplierSales subject area in Answers? SupplierSales presentation catalog

16.h. 16.i.

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