1z0-591 Oracle Business Intelligence Foundation Suite 11g Essentials Questions and Answers

Consistency check is one of the process to check whether a repository is yielding proper results in Answer reports. It checks whether;* All logical columns are mapped correctly to physical columns (B).* All logical dimension tables have a logical key.* There are at least two logical tables in the business model; one is a logical fact table, the other is logical dimension table with join condition.* There are no circular logical join relationships.* A presentation catalog exists for the business model.

Security Manager – is used to setup users, groups, synchronize LDAP users and Groups, set access rights for Objects (tables, columns) and to control over when and what data a user can access.

Note: When you open the administration tool, you can reach the security manager by the Menu :

Manage > Security

BIEE 11g Install High level Steps :

Software Required

1. Database (Oracle, IBM DB2 or MS-SQL)

2. Repository Creation Utility (RCU)

3. OBIEE 11g (11.1.1.3 is latest OBIEE as of 30 April 2011)

4. WebLogic 10.3.3 (Optional – Only required for 64 bit machine or IBM AIX)

5. JDK 1.6 64 bit (Optional – Only required for 64 bit machine)

Note 1: There are four types of variables that you can use:

Session

Repository

Presentation

Request

Note 2: Session Variables

A session variable is a variable that is initialized at login time for each user. When a user begins a session, the Oracle BI Server creates a new instance of a session variable and initializes it.

There are as many instances of a session variable as there are active sessions on the Oracle BI Server. Each instance of a session variable could be initialized to a different value.

There are two types of session variables:

System — A session variable that the Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Presentation Services use for specific purposes.

System session variables have reserved names that cannot be used for other kinds of variables (such as static or dynamic repository variables and non-system session variables).

Non-system — A system variable that the administrator creates and names. For example, the administrator might create a SalesRegion non-system variable that initializes the name of a user's sales region.

The administrator creates non-system session variables using the Oracle BI Administration Tool.

B: The Aggregate Persistence Wizard automates the creation and initial population of aggregates, persists them in a back-end database and configures the BI Server metadata layer so that they’re used when appropriate.

C: The wizard then shows me a preview of the script it’s going to generate, and asks me if I want to create any more summaries. Here’s how the preview script looks – note that it’s not SQL, it’s a script language that the BI Server understands and uses as the specification for an aggregation job, which it then turns into separate CREATE TABLE, INSERT … SELECT and so on SQL statements, “optimized” for the particular back-end database platform.

Script example:

"ag_Items"

for "Seminar - Complete"."Items"("Quantity")

at levels ("Seminar - Complete"."Customerdim"."State", "Seminar - Complete"."Productdim"."Category", "Seminar - Complete"."Timedim"."Year")

using connection pool "custdw"."CUSTDW_Pool"

in "custdw".."CUSTDW";

You can specify a Driving table parameter in a complex join.

Driving tables are for use in optimizing the manner in which the Oracle BI Server processes cross-database joins when one table is very small and the other table is very large.

The BI Server will query the driving table (the small one) and will get a list of values. The BI Server will then generate a second SQL using a parameterized IN list with the values from the first query.

Specifying driving tables leads to query optimization only when the number of rows being selected from the driving table is much smaller than the number of rows in the table to which it is being joined.

The “Edit Column Formula” dialog box has a second,

very tiny tab called, “Bins.” You can use this tab to have OBIEE

build a CASE statement for you in a formula (you can also create

a CASE statement yourself by using one of the functions that

appears under “Expressions” if you want). A CASE statement is a

lot like an IF-THEN-ELSE statement, except that it’s a little easier

to read when you have multiple options. Basically, it puts values

in different buckets that you define.

Note:

Figure:

Creating Logical Time Dimensions

Compared to modeling an ordinary dimension, the time dimension requires just two additional steps: selecting the Time option in the Logical Dimension dialog, and designating a chronological key for every level of every dimension hierarchy.

Note: Time dimensions and chronological keys. You can identify a dimension as a time dimension. At least one level of a time dimension must have a chronological key. The following is a list of some guidelines you should use when setting up and using time dimensions:

* At least one level of a time dimension must have a chronological key.

* All time series measures using the AGO, TODATE, and PERIODROLLING functions must be on time levels. AGO, TODATE, and PERIODROLLING aggregates are created as derived logical columns.

You can control the way that the interface for Oracle BI EE is displayed to users by creating skins and styles.

While skins and styles are typically used to customize the look and feel of analyses and dashboards by providing logos, color schemes, fonts, table borders, and other elements, they can also be used to control the position and justification of various elements by including specialized style tags in the relevant style sheet (.css) file.

You can check the directory skin location with a right click on a OBIEE dashboard page, select show source code and search “custom.css”.

If security attributes conflict, a user or group is granted the least restrictive security attribute.

OBIEE - Grain (Level of summarization)

Grain definition in the context of OBIEE.

The following list describes the different grains in navigating a query:

* Aggregation grain. The grain of the aggregate source of from a level based metrics

* Query grain. The grain of the request.

* Time Series grain. The grain at which the time series function aggregation is requested.

* Storage grain. The query in the example can be computed from daily sales or from monthly sales, or from quarterly sales.

Note:

The aggregation grain is defined in the content tab of the logical table source.

When the query grain match the aggregation grain of a logical table source, this one is used to create the physical query.

There are static and dynamic repository variables.

Note:

Variables in the Oracle BI Server can be either repository or session variables, and are defined using the Variable Manager within the Oracle BI Administrator (Manage > Variables).

This brings up the Variable Manager, that divides variables out into repository and session variables, with a further subdivision into static and dynamic repository ones and system and non-system session ones. You can also define variables at the Presentation Server level, these are scoped to individual dashboards and are used amongst other things for setting dashboard prompt values and integrating the dashboard with BI Publisher parameters. Here’s a screenshot of a typical Variable Manager screen.

In a standard OBIEE implementation, we generally want to purge and re-build the cache after every ETL (extract, transform, and load) run.

Modeling Time Series Function in OBIEE

Modeling Time Series Data

Time series functions provide the ability to compare business performance with previous time periods, allowing you to analyze data that spans multiple time periods. For example, time series functions enable comparisons between current sales and sales a year ago, a month ago, and so on.

Because SQL does not provide a direct way to make time comparisons, you must model time series data in the Oracle BI repository. First, set up time dimensions based on the period table in your data warehouse. Then, you can define measures that take advantage of this time dimension to use the AGO, TODATE, and PERIODROLLING functions.

Content Tab

Aggregation Content

You can define the aggregation (ie the group by) of:

by hierarchy level

by logical column

It helps you to define an aggregate navigation

Note: logical table source

Logical table sources define the mappings from a single logical table to one or more physical tables. A logicaltable contains one or more logical table source. The mapping between physical columns and logical columns are done in this element.

The definition of the logical table source is used:

to specify transformations/calculations (in the column mapping tab),

to enable aggregate navigation and fragmentation (in the content tab)

The Content tab of the Logical Table Source is used to define :

any aggregate table content definitions (specify the grain of the physical tables),

fragmented table definitions for the source,

and WHERE clauses (if you want to limit the number of rows returned).

There are two types of session variables:

System — A session variable that the Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Presentation Services use for specific purposes.

System session variables have reserved names that cannot be used for other kinds of variables (such as static or dynamic repository variables and non-system session variables).

Non-system — A system variable that the administrator creates and names. For example, the administrator might create a SalesRegion non-system variable that initializes the name of a user's sales region.

The administrator creates non-system session variables using the Oracle BI Administration Tool.

Note: Session Variables

A session variable is a variable that is initialized at login time for each user. When a user begins a session, the Oracle BI Server creates a new instance of a session variable and initializes it.

There are as many instances of a session variable as there are active sessions on the Oracle BI Server. Each instance of a session variable could be initialized to a different value.

Oracle Business Intelligence Office Plug-In is a Windows application that is an optional feature under the Oracle Business Intelligence Presentation Services. The Plug-In provides a way to browse the Analytics catalog, select a report, and then drop that report into Microsoft Word or Excel.

A: Much of the configuration of OBI that used to be done in the NQSConfig.ini files can now be done using this front end console, which in turns updates the NQSConfig.ini file. Things in the NQSConfig.ini file that are set by EM are noted in the file with '# This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager'. Some things that needs to be setup manually in the NQSConfig.ini file are:

1. Usage Tracking

2. Dynamic Libraries

3. Query Optimization Flags

4. MDX Member Name Cache Section (SAP BW)

5. More specific General Settings where EM doesn't contain the level of detail required

D: Cache Management Techniques include

• Inspecting the cache reports

• Configuring the cache parameters

• Setting caching and cache persistence for tables

• Using the Cache Manager

• Inspecting SQL for cache entries

• Modifying the Cache Manager column display

• Purging the cache entries manually using the Cache Manager

• Purging the cache entries automatically

• Using event polling tables

• Seeding the cache

Example (see step 4 and 5 below): Getting Top-N Sales Reps for Year and Year-1

1. Under the “Business Model and Mapping” Layer, right click the “F1 Revenue” and select “New Object” -> “Logical Column…”

2. In the “Logical Column” Window give for Name: Year Ago Revenue as seen below:

3. Goto the “Column Source” Tab and select “Derived from existing columns using an expression” radio button then click on the “Edit Expression” icon.

4. Enter the following expression in the “Expression Builder” Window by selecting “Functions” in the “Category:” list, “Time Series Functions” in the “Functions:” list then “Ago” “Time Series Functions:” section.

5. Select the “<>” in the “Ago( )” function, then select “Logical Tables” in the “Category:” list, “F1 Revenue” in the “Logical Tables:” list, then double click the “Revenue” in the “Columns:” list.

Etc.

It is asking for Which task (NOT Which Tasks).

Using Administration (not Administrator) link in OBIEE you can go to 'Manage Map Data' and manage map components.

A single query can be performed accessing data from both tables through a join on the columns in the foreign key relation.

A: OBIEE 11g is centred on WebLogic Server as the underlying application server architecture.

B: If you want to scale out this infrastructure, you would typically run the OBIEE 11g installer on a second server, and instead of choosing to do a new install, you’d choose to instead scale out the existing BI domain.

C: OBIEE Clustering – Approach of Oracle BI Server Load balancing/Failover

You have three sort of fragmentation:

Fact-based / Dimension-based fragmentation

Content-based / Value-based fragmentation

Level-based fragmentation / aggregate navigation

You can combine the techniques above to construct powerful design that are known as Complex partitioning / fragmentation. When you fragment a dimension, you are automatically in a complex fragmentation.

Before you can run Oracle Business Intelligence 11g Installer, you must first create

required Oracle Business Intelligence schemas in an unhardened database. You use

a tool called the Repository Creation Utility (RCU) to create these schemas with

the appropriate permissions and data.

Initialization blocks are used to initialize dynamic repository variables, system session variables, and nonsystem session variables.

Security Realms are an Oracle Platform Security Services concept and bring together sets of users, groups, providers and so on for a WebLogic domain.

Initialization blocks are used to initialize dynamic repository variables, system session variables, and nonsystem session variables.

Oracle Essbase developers creating planning and budgeting applications have been keenly aware of the advantages and disadvantages of the two different storage types available to them:

* Block storage option (BSO) databases support a wide range of calculations, including forecasts, allocations, and aggregations through procedural calculation scripts. The results of these calculations can be written back to the database, but applications that use BSO storage are limited to about 10 dimensions and member counts in the low hundreds of thousands.

* Aggregate storage option (ASO) databases can support about 20 dimensions and member counts in the millions. ASO databases use multidimensional functions rather than procedural scripts to perform calculations, but the results of queries cannot be stored back in the database, making ASO unsuitable for most financial management applications.