Subject areas can be built by dragging Facts
and Dimensions from Business Models. Many
Subject Areas can be built from a Business
Model, but each Subject Area can only be from
one and only one Business Model.
A Consistency Check is performed by default
when a Repository is saved. Consistency Check
will ensure there are no errors in the Repository.
Consistency check can also be performed
manually, File Menu Check Global
Consistency for the entire Repository or Right-
Click on the Business Model to check just the
Model.
Locks on a Repository File during save can be
released, by shutdown and re-start of the BI
Server service.
Security Management
Authentication – Provides application Access.
Supports Lightweight Directory Access Protocol
(LDAP), Siebel Analytics Repository
authentication (Default method used for
authentication), Microsoft Active Directory
(ADSI), and External Database authentication.
Authorization provides permissions and
privileges to view Reports, Data, create Folders,
iBots, Manage Privileges, Create Views, etc.
Security is enforced on two levels:
Object-level security controls access to
Metadata Repository objects (configured in
Administrator Tool), and Web Catalog objects
such as Folders, Filters, and Dashboards, etc.
(configured in BI Answers Web Application).
Data-level security controls access to content
and data in end-user Reports and Dashboards
(configured in Administrator Tool).
Administrator Tool Manage Menu item
Security Manager is used to define Users and
User Groups and define Repository permissions.
Data-level permissions can be set to above
Groups and Users from the Presentation Table
properties dialog box of each Subject area.
BI Answers Web Page, Settings Menu
Administration, to view and administer privileges
associated with various components of the
Answers Web application.
Bypassing Security
In the security section of the NQSConfig.ini file,
Oracle Business Intelligence
uncomment Enterprise Edition Plus (OBIEE)
AUTHENTICATION_TYPE=BYPASS_NQS
save, re-start BI Server service.
Server Architecture
Setting Query Limits
Administrator Manage Security Manager
Groups Permissions Query Limits tab.
Options:
Enable: Enforces restriction and cancels the
query
Warn: Logs message in NQServer.log and
NQQuery.log if row limit is reached
Ignore: Limits will be inherited from the parent
groups. If there is no row limit to inherit, does not
enforce limit
Disabling Query Functionality
Administrator Manage Security Manager –
Groups Permissions Query Limits tab
Restrict box (for production tasks & updates).
Recommended Books and Related Sites
The Data Warehouse Lifecycle Toolkit by Ralph
Kimball, Margy Ross, Warren Thornthwaite
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/b
i_ee.html - Documentation site for OBIEE
http://www.oracle.com/technology/obe/obe_bi/bi_e
e_1013/index.html - OBIEE Tutorial
http://www.oracle.com/technology/documentation/b
i_apps.html - Oracle BI Applications
Revision 200709
Dimensional Modeling
Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition
Plus (OBIEE) strictly adheres to Dimensional
Modeling AKA Star-Schema for logical
repository design, for use by BI Answers and
Interactive Dashboards. Alternative to OLTP, it
is pioneered by Ralph Kimball to support OLAP,
simplified end-user reporting, query performance
etc., contains Fact tables (measures) and
Dimension tables (attributes of the measure) as
the companion tables to each Fact table.
Relationship between Dimensions and Facts is
always a 1:M or 1:1
Architecture
Three main server components:
BI Server (BIS) – SQL generator for queries, can
perform database functions to merge data from
multiple sources, handles security etc.
Presentation Server (PS) – Reports and
dashboards, also contains a folder like structure
called WebCatalog to store report definitions,
dashboards, folders, filters, etc.
Scheduler – Manage scheduled tasks, including
Delivers
BI PS runs along with HTTP server. It
communicates to BIS via an ODBC driver called
‘Analytics Web’, installed on the server.
UI components such as BI Answers, Interactive
Dashboards, iBots/Delivers, BI Publisher, etc.,
are all part of BI PS.
Installation Requirements
Java SDK 1.5.0 (JESE5.0) or higher must be
installed prior to OBIEE server and client tool
installations.
Web Server, such as IIS must be installed for
Windows, and Oracle Application Server must
be installed for Linux/Unix based installs. For
Linux, OBIEE is a component of OAS 10gR3, its
deployed in a separate server or on the same
Applications Tier under a separate home
($BI_HOME). After the installation, two
directories get created, one for Server files and
the other for Data files.
Files and Folders for reference
BI Server
$BI_HOME/server/config/NQSConfig.INI -
Config file
$BI_HOME/server/repository/*.rpd - Metadata
Repository File
$BI_HOME/server/log/NQServer.log
NQQuery.log, and NQScheduler.log - Log files
BI Presentation Server
$BI_HOME/data/web/config/instanceconfig.xml -
Main Config file
$BI_HOME/data/web/catalog – Web Catalog
file. This folder is identified in instanceconfig.xml
$BI_HOME/data/web/log/sawlog0.log - Siebel
Analytics log file
OBIEE Administrator
Windows based client tool to develop and
manage Metadata repository.
Repository changes can be done in either online
or offline mode. Online mode is when BI Server
is actively reading the repository file (when a
user is logged in). Offline is when BI Server is
idle. Best practice is to develop in Offline mode.
Minor changes can be made when in online
mode.
Administrator uses ODBC connectivity to
connect to physical data sources, uses Native
Drivers for Oracle and DB2.
OBIEE defines three layers of abstraction.
Physical Layer – connections to physical data
sources (OLTP, OLAP, Flat Files, Oracle,
SQL*Server, Teradata, etc.).
Business Model Layer – Brings together data
elements from Physical sources into a logical
Star-Schema representation. This is where
business rules and definitions are setup.
Presentation Layer – An abstraction from the
Business Model, defines exactly how users will
see tables and fields.
Connection Pool is a connection to a Physical
data source. Multiple connection pools can be
created to the same source to improve end-user
query performance.
All tables in the Physical layer must have a
Primary Key column. Column properties can be
edited to set the Primary Key.
Physical joins need to be established between
tables, using Foreign Keys and Primary Keys.
Right-click on Connection pool to create the
Physical diagram joins.
A Business Model can be created by drag and
drop of objects from the Physical Layer. It’s a
logical Star-Schema representation of the
Physical objects. Tables from different sources
can be merged to form one Logical table. These
sources are called Logical Table Sources.
Logical Fact tables hold Metrics; every Metric
must have an aggregation rule.
Hierarchies can be setup on dimensions for drill-
down functionality.
It is important to join logical Facts and
Dimensions together, much like the Physical
Diagram. Right-click on Model, click Business
Model Diagram to create joins. Use Complex
joins in the Business Model.
Presentation Layer is exactly what End-Users
will see in BI Answers, contains multiple Subject
Areas that answer specific Business questions.
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