In the spring of  2009 Sun Microsystems went live with their implementation of OBIEE and presented at the North California Oracle Applications User Group.  The original document is found here,

http://www.norcaloaug.com/seminar_archive/2009_05/Sun_Microsystem_OBIEE_Implementation.pdf

but I have also mirrored the file here,

http://www.artofbi.com/docs/Sun_Microsystem_OBIEE_Implementation.pdf

The document highlights some of the benefits of  bringing OBIEE into the organization along with pros and cons and usage of the BI Meta Data Repository.  At a minimum there are some great bullet-points here that could be leveraged for your next OBIEE presentation.

Searching for some answers to an OBIEE issue a client was having led me through an extremely detailed excursion through the OracleBI andOracleBIData file system folder structures.  I bumped into the folder /OracleBI/Corda50/ which I hadn’t paid much attention to in the past.  This is where things got interesting.  Spelunking through that directory led me to http://www.corda.com, which low and behold is the owner of the PopChart software technology that OBIEE uses to render its charting graphics - all formats of all charts and graphs.

This PopChart technology is the core reason we have the seemingly superfluous Oracle BI Java Host service that we have all come to love/hate.  It is Java based and clearly fits directly into OBIEE’s infrastructure model.  Okay, so now that you now have that tid-bit in your arsenal, here are few questions that one could ask of their dev skills or conjecturing minds:

1. Why do the charts that PopChart show on their website look cooler than what OBIEE offers?  Could one download a trial, rip the new PopChart version binaries, and swap them in the /Corda50/ folder?
2. Why didn’t Oracle throw in the cool Corda mapping chart?  It would beat MapViewer any day.
3. Is PopChart the engine that we should expect to run graphs/charts in OBIEE 11G?
4. What licensing deal did Oracle set-up to get Corda PopChart in OBIEE?  It had to be a sweet deal for Corda.

Next up in the third party tool battery is a tool that Oracle BI leverages in a more ancillary fashion, SQLAnywhere.  If you haven’t heard of it before don’t worry, there’s only 10 Million or so copies in use  : ) .  SQLAnywhere is owned by Sybase. And as far as I know, even though Sybase had a stellar year in 2008 they have not yet been acquired by an larger firm like let’s say…Oracle.  Although Oracle did have Sybase on their acquisition list back in 2004 during the PeopleSoft takeover helmed by a younger Ellison.

For those of us that have actually completed a Oracle BI Disconnected Analytics implementation you will immediately know (well, you should) that SQLAnywhere is the database for disconnected analytics.  When installing Disconnected Anlaytics as part of a client tools install you get a folder within the OracleBI folder structure called SQLAnywhere.  I eventually plan on doing a Disconnected Analytics Tutorial just to show how it works from a client’s laptop, using Briefing Books, connecting to a local dashboard, etc in a later post.  BTW, SQLAnywhere looks for a “.db” extension for its database file. Without the .db file there is nothing in that default folder to query.

Conclusion

This post is about more that just rambling tid-bits.  It seeks to gain insight into the inner workings of OBIEE.  Let’s face the facts, the cost per license seat for Corda PopChart and SQLAnywhere are not cheap.  You can look it up yourself.   What’s more interesting is Oracle’s no to long ago purchase of Sun Microsystems who had purchased MySQL not to long before that.  Will MySQL replace Oracle BI’s use of SQLAnywhere?  I belive so.  MySQL is much more widely adopted and it is still open-source.  And, what about Corda PopChart?  We’ll soon see who gets the chart and graphs rendering job in Oracle BI 11G but I suspect that it won’t be Corda.  Why my suspicion? Just look at the screenshots from the upcoming 11G Answers preview and look at the Corda PopCharts website, if they did get the gig, they must have done some custom work which I would have brought in-house if I was Oracle BI development management.  Plus, there are some nice open source graphing tools out there, just do a Google search to find them.

All in all I think 11G will make us re-think what we know about OBIEE.  It is going to give us bloggers a lot more content to write about that’s for sure.

Credits

Screenshot for OBIEE 11G

• http://debaatobiee.wordpress.com/2009/10/06/obiee-11g-a-gospel-about-whirlpool-in-bi-space/

If you haven’t explored the full depth of OBIEE and all of its majestic glory then you may have not yet seen the 10.1.3.4 sample RPD and web catalog which can integrate with your RPD to track user access statistics, longest running queries, etc. By the way Oracle aptly named this Usage Tracking. This is a fantastic tool and below I have put together the web’s first video tutorial on how to install and configure the basics of the Usage Tracking RPD. In subsequent posts I look to explore Usage Tracking in more detail as well as to show you how to migrate the schema from the basic, dare I say lonely Usage Tracking RPD, and integrate it with a more real world scenario RPD like the one your company runs its supply chain analytics from. The video is below - enjoy.

Remember, the toll for watching this video is simply to leave a comment. If you learn anything from the video then you must leave a comment and praise it heavily. : )

How to Install OBIEE Usage Tracking < 20 min from ArtOf BI on Vimeo.

In my previous post on Essbase Studio Server & OC4J as a Windows Service I mainly tailored that information to Essbase Studio.  I received a bit of feedback on making sure I added the OC4J component in a similar fashion and here it is.  Don’t forget to watch the video tutorial for full disclosure.

Installation

Here is the OC4J Windows Service files download.

I recommend extracting the Zip file to the following root path, ORACLEBI_HOME\server\.

Similar to the Essbase Studio windows service files you will need to update the RegisterService.bat and ServiceRegistration.reg files to point to your installation’s correct OC4J file paths.  Once that has been confirmed execute the _init_BuildAppAsWinServiceWrapper.bat to launch the process.  Click ‘OK’ for all registry update prompts.

Gotchas

There are no gotchas to this solution that I have yet found.  If you spy any please leave a comment and I will seek to provide an update.  The main thing to note is that this solution was developed for the 10.1.3.4 release of OBIEE which is the 10.1.3.1.0 release of OC4J and the Embedded Java Containers.  If you run the following command in a command window you will be able to see the version of OC4J that your machine is running:

• ORACLEBI_HOME\oc4j_bi\bin\oc4j.cmd -version

Conclusion

Again, once one knows how to use the inherent code for Windows Servers it is actually quite straightforward to implement this type of solution.

As promised, based on my previous post regarding setting up Essbase Studio Server and OC4J to run as a Windows Service, I have provided a video to visually assist you with your integration.

Essbase Studio Server & OC4J As a Windows Service from ArtOf BI on Vimeo.

If you have any questions or comments please post them so that everyone can benefit from them.

As you know, the Hyperion 11.1.1.3 release of Essbase Studio Server was not release as a windows service. After my last Essbase Studio implementation project, and being repeatedly asked, “How do we run Essbase Studio as a Windows Service?”, I decided to dig deep into the details and deliver a concrete answer to those that care to read on.  Of course, I was successful in my endeavor, hence this post. Now, I ask, Do you want to see Essbase Studio Server launchable in your services panel like this…?

I keep getting asked “Was the Essbase Studio installation ever provided as a windows service?”. My reply to that now is “Who cares?”. If the Oracle think-tank decided not to make life easier for us with a Windows Service for Essbase Studio upon install then so be it. At least now, I’ve got a great rebuttal and a top-notch solution. Now, no longer must this one piece of the Hyperion BI suite be the outcast with only the startServer.bat file to launch the server.
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In previous, blog posts I’ve talked about the power of Smartview, how it came from Hyperion, and all of that jazz, but today we want to learn how to immediately integrate Smartview and OBIEE.  The burning question is, How can the end-users download smartview to their workstations? We’ll if you’d like to see the option to download Smartview in the “More Products…” menu along with the Oracle BI for Office add-in download, then continue on, you’ll be delighted you did.

Here is what we want the users to see.

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I’ve noticed that some OBIEE developers are still used to the old school methods of moving catalog data from environment to environment with copy and paste tactics, so I thought it would be good to begin a series on the OBIEE Content Accelerator Framework (CAF) that Oracle has provided for about a year now. The CAF provides a means to clone catalog data (via Catalog Manager) from a source and push it to a destination environment (target) using only a few quick steps. It also has the ability to sync up requests, etc. based on a changed Presentation Layer so that manually identifying changes in reports, etc. now becomes much less of a pain-staking process.

This is the first in what I hope to be a more elaborate deep-dive on the topic.  For now, here are the steps (see video) on how to conduct the installation of CAF in your base client environment taken right from the installation guide.  So far the installation of the tool is only certified in Windows XP, however, I have conducted the install in Windows Server 2003 and it functions as designed.

Below, the is the install video from a Windows Server 2003 installation.  Below that are links to get 100% up-to-speed on making your life easier with CAF. Enjoy.
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Anyone who has installed OBIEE in the past few years knows that the default web/application server that comes with the installation binaries is OC4J.  A lot of clients question having the application server and the BI Server on the same box, not only from an infrastructure standpoint but as well as a valid performance concern when implementing a distributed environment.  You have probably heard some performance “red-flag” statements such as “don’t use OC4J if you plan to have more than 200+ users hitting the server”, etc. just like I have.  And, that might be a valid statement, however, I have not personally benchmarked it with any performance testing software but it does make perfect sense once you uncover what OC4J really is.

OC4J is a slimmed down version of Oracle Application Server. For those that have done an OBIEE install, you are familiar with the one installation prompt where you can choose either the standard or advanced option.  If you choose advanced you are prompted to provide Oracle Application Server connection information. Otherwise, you are defaulted to OC4J.  And, this version of OC4J that you get with OBIEE is a pre-packaged “StandAlone” (or, unmanaged) version that only has a little more than the basic functionality that the full-blown Oracle Application Server (OAS) has.  Think of OC4J as OAS-lite.
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Typically I haven’t bumped into this error in the past with OBIEE but the other day it smacked me in the face. 

Problem
I was adding a SQL Server 2005 datamart to my Physical layer and didn’t run the initial check to see that OBIEE could read the data in my view/table objects. Clearly it was able to connect to the server and bring over the pertinent DB objects. However, when I right-click on a table or view object in the physical layer and select “View data…” I get the error prompt above.  The error reads something like ODBC error state: 37000, ODBC error state 50002, [NQODBC][SQL_STATE:HY000]….A general error has occured.

Solution
Figuring this problem out was not that difficult. The error prompt above is actually produced when the “Require fully qualified table names” checkbox is not checked.

To get rid of the error and to allow OBIEE to correctly read the data source in Answers, etc. follow the instructions below.

1. Right-click “Connection Pool” for the database in question.
2. Under the “General’ tab ensure that “Require fully qualified table names” checkbox is checked
3. Click “OK” button and close the window.
4. Right-click any table or view object you previously had a problem with and select “View data…”
5. Enjoy