42365 section 4 introduction to oracle bi answers dashboards

8/2/2019 42365 Section 4 Introduction to Oracle BI Answers Dashboards

1/13

Orac le Bus iness I n t e l l i gence (OBI EE) : I n t e ract i v e Dashboards &

A n s w e r s by Sideris Courseware Corporation

Sideris. (c) 2009. Copying Prohibited.

Reprinted for Leela Mohan Gongunta, Cognizant Technology Solutions

[email protected]

Reprinted with permission as a subscription benefit ofSk i l l po r t ,

http://skillport.books24x7.com/

All rights reserved. Reproduction and/or distribution in whole or in part in electronic,paper or

other forms without written permission is prohibited.
http://skillport.books24x7.com/


2/13

Section 4: Introduction To Oracle BI Answers & Dashboards

Section Overview

The purpose of this section is to introduce you to the Oracle BI Answers and Dashboard component of Oracle BI and howit fits into the broader Oracle BI and data warehouse architecture. Included in this section are these topics:

n Snapshot of the Oracle BI architecture

n BI Presentation Services and the Presentation Catalog

n BI repository layers

n Launch BI Presentation Services

n Logging on and logging off

n Basic navigation through the BI interface

Oracle BI Architecture

Oracle BI Presentation Services

Users interact with the Oracle BI platform through a component known as BI Presentation Services. These are the primary

services delivered via this component:

n Answers allows one to build reports, in the form of data requests, which when executed produce the resulting

analytic answers.

n Interactive Dashboards allows one to interactively view KPIs, dashboards, scorecards and other analytic measures

generated from Answers.

Roles Of Answers & Dashboards Users

Those who build requests within Answers are often known as reports developers. The Answers interface is powerfulenough so that even those who are not information technology (IT) professionals can build sophisticated reports. At thesame time, Answers is flexible enough to offer database programming and web publishing features which are useful toadvanced IT professionals.

Those who incorporate Answers results into personalized Dashboards are considered to be the consumerof the request.

Such consumers may also be known as end-usersor simply users. The most complex dashboards might also be built by

Answers developers, although such expertise is not necessarily required.

Dashboards may be customized and one may select the content to appear on a dashboard and its presentation. While onemay not be a developer of reports, generally one will be able to be a designerof their own dashboard presentation.

Other resources such a documents, images, web resources and the like can be incorporated into personalized dashboards

along with results from Answers.

The Presentation Catalog

The Presentation Catalog allows Dashboard objects, Answers requests, and other elements which support these productsto be stored in folders. This allows collaboration and sharing between BI users. Sub-foldersmay be created within higher

level folders to provide a hierarchical storage scheme.

Oracle Business Intelligence (OBIEE): Interactive Dashboards & Answers

Reprinted for CTS/298798, Cognizant Technology Solutions Sideris, Sideris Courseware Corporation (c) 2009, Copying Prohibited

Page 2 / 13


3/13

The Catalog tab is primarily used to manage Answers requests and supporting objects, such as promptsand filters. This

portion of the Catalog is organized as follows:

My Folders Answers objects which are owned by the current developer are generally stored within this area.Primarily these would be requests.

Shared Folders The owner of objects stored within their personal My Folders area may choose to move or copytheir work into the Shared Folders area. Other developers may then be granted access into a shared folder, allowing

reuse and collaboration between developers.

My Filters, Shared Filters Filters offer a means by which unneeded data may be pruned from the results of arequest. Similar to the storage of requests, filters may be stored within the My Filters private area for reuse by a singledeveloper, or they may be stored within the Shared Filters area for reuse by other developers.

Conversely, the Dashboards tab is used by consumers of Answers results for the storage of their dashboard designs. TheMy Dashboard folder is used for private storage for a single user while shared folders may be created, allowing other usersto access dashboards already built by others.

Oracle BI Repository Presentation Layer



Page 3 / 13


4/13

When users and developers invoke the BI Presentation Services component they require access to data stored within thedata warehouse or perhaps transactional databases. The description or metadata for these data structures is stored withinthe Oracle BI Repository. The repository consists of several layers, with the highest-level conceptual layer accessible tothe Presentation Services being called, appropriately enough, the Presentation layer.

Within this layer one will find business descriptions of Subject Areas containing available columns found within fact tablesand dimension tables.

Oracle BI Repository Lower Level Layers

Below the Presentation layer is the Business layer. This contains the dimensional schema which represents the star



Page 4 / 13


5/13

schema data model upon which the Oracle BI framework is based.

The lowest layer of the repository framework is the Physical layerwhich contains the necessary internal database objects

and descriptions.

Additional Components

Additional components within the architecture may be summarized as follows:

n Publisher supports custom-coding and enterprise reporting requirements for database developers.

n Delivers uses database scheduling services to analyze measures and proactively alert appropriate users. One need

not run reports or peruse dashboards looking for important metrics, but can be automatically alerted when these arise.

n Briefing Books while Dashboards and the results of database requests which they display are dynamic, at times one

may need to carry away static copies of such data for offline reference. A briefing book is a logical storage object whichcan contain a static snapshot of a dashboard or request results which may be referenced when one is disconnectedfrom the Oracle BI platform.

n Administration Repository administrators have an environment within which they can maintain all the layers of the

repository data. They do so using a tool known as the BI Administration Tool.

Launch BI Presentation Services

The Answers and Dashboard interface is available from BI Presentation Services. You may launch BI PresentationServices by any of these means:

n From the MS Windows desktop Start menu

n From a web browser using an appropriate URL

n Possibly from a Portal or other interface which supplies the URL

From The Start Menu

BI Presentation Services launches the Dashboard and Answers interface. A local installation of BI on an MS Windowsdesktop will provide a program shortcut for Presentation Services.

To access the shortcut from the Start menu, select the Windows menu item Start Oracle Business IntelligencePresentation Services. This shortcut launches the default browser and issues the appropriate URL to launch BIPresentation Services.

From A Web Browser

From a remote machine which does not have Oracle BI installed one may manually launch a browser and enter the same



Page 5 / 13


6/13

URL as an alternative. The URL will follow this general format:

http://host:port/analytics

For example, consider the following URL based upon the configuration of Oracle BI within the Sideris labs:

http://siderislab5:9704/analytics

The components of the URL may vary from one installation to another. So it will be useful for you to understand what theseare and how these may change as your local configuration changes. Note the following breakdown along with theaccompanying illustration:

n http:// protocol (possibly a secure protocol using https:// may be available)

n siderislab5 BI Presentation Services host (a different production host may be used)

n 9740 port to access the desired web service

n /analytics web service for BI Presentation Dashboards and Answers

Log On

The URL you entered to launch Oracle BI is redirected and modified to a slightly different URL. You need not beconcerned about the revised URL shown in the browser window once the interface has started.

Note This sample URL shown above is for demonstration purposes only. You will need to consult your local systemsadministrator or local Oracle BI configuration instructions for the exact URL appropriate for your own installation.



Page 6 / 13
http://siderislab5:9704/analytics


7/13

Enter the Oracle BI user credentials you have been provided for your local installation and then click the Log In button.

From this starting point one can create or modify reports built within Answers, and then use those reports withinDashboards. Other support functions are available from this starting point as well. By default, the first page of the defaultDashboard is shown.

Note Alternately, you might find in your local installation that the corporate security directory has been integrated withOracle BI. If so, you may be redirected to the corporate single sign-on (SSO) server and bypass the default OracleBI logon screen shown here. In any case, once you have signed-on, Oracle BI will perform the same regardless ofthe sign-on configuration.



Page 7 / 13


8/13

As you can imagine, initially the Dashboard page will be empty. One will design the dashboard by including contentavailable from the Presentation Catalog and other organizational resources.

Basic Navigation

Once the starting page for Oracle BI Presentation Services has been raised, one will navigate to the desired work area.

Consider the basic navigation available from the links shown on this page:

n Within this course one will primarily toggle between Dashboards and Answers links. As explained earlier, usingAnswers one will create requests and then Dashboards will be built which consume the results of those requests.

n The More Products menu provides links to other components within the Oracle BI platform. These might includeDelivers, Publisher and Disconnected Analytics.

n The My Account link provides access to account personalization options. Depending upon the privileges assigned toyour ID, this link may be called Settings, with both a My Account and an Administration link available from this point.

n The Log Out link will terminate the session connection to Oracle BI Presentation services.

n The Page Options menu provides access to the Edit Dashboard menu item, allowing one to modify content on thecurrent dashboard.

Log Out



Page 8 / 13


9/13

When one presses the Log Out link, the session to the Oracle BI Presentation Services component is terminated. One may

see the default Log Out screen which includes a link to log back in once again.

Or, in an integrated SSO configuration the SSO login screen may be presented instead, allowing one to log back in usingthat means.

Access Dashboards

Click on the Dashboards link to navigate through dashboard contents and the current dashboard design.

Access Answers



Page 9 / 13


10/13

Click on the Answers link to navigate through Answers content. Clicking on an Answers object will render that object similarto what was shown for a Dashboard. The root node will display available Subject Areas available for the creation of newAnswers content.

Subject Areas are effectively data marts. These contain targeted data models within the broader enterprise datawarehouse. Click on the appropriate subject area to access the sample data model for the workshops of this course. Youmay or may not have other subject areas also accessible from your installation.

Within the Subject Area, the objects representing the star schema data model are listed. One will find both fact and



Page 10 / 13


11/13

dimension tables. The data elements or columnswithin these tables will form the basis for the reports to be built.

Data security schemes may be in place to limit which rows of data will be returned when a report is executed. This is basedupon access rights and roles assigned to the user ID

Workshop SectionIntroduction To Oracle BI Answers & Dashboards

Exercises and Solutions

What You Will Do In This Workshop

Within this workshop you will:

n Confirm that you can connect to BI Presentation Services on your local installation.

n Confirm that you have access to the BI Repository and the Presentation layer of the Equities subject area.

Answers

INTRODUCTION-1

q Launch a browser and sign-on to your local installation of Oracle BI Presentation Services.

?

INTRODUCTION-2

q Although you will not yet create any objects within the Presentation Catalog, it would be good to becomefamiliar with the basic look-and-feel of the interface. Try some of these tasks:

n Toggle between the Answers and Dashboards start pages.

n Locate the list of columns available from the Equities subject area and relate these to the discussionof the star schema data model earlier in this course.

?

INTRODUCTION-1

The exact URL required for your local configuration is installation-specific and you will need to consult your instructor orlocal systems administrator. But the general format of the URL to be entered is as follows, with appropriate local valuesfor HOST and PORT:

http://host:port/analytics

Also your Oracle BI user ID and password should be available from these same individuals.



Page 11 / 13


12/13

Once you are logged on, you should be able to see the Equities subject area, perhaps along with some others. Youmay or may not have any objects at present within the My Folders folder in the Presentation Catalog, but you will createobjects there throughout this course.

INTRODUCTION-2

You may return to the BI Presentation Services start page at any time by clicking the Oracle Answers link at the left-sideof the screen.

You may toggle between the Dashboards and Answers start pages by clicking on the Dashboards and Answers linksrespectively at the top of the screen.

To navigate through the columns available from the Equities subject area, follow these steps:1. Click on the Answers link at the top of the screen.

2. Click on the Equities subject area link.

3. Navigate through the columns using the Expand and Collapse icons listed from the subject area column listpane.



Page 12 / 13


13/13



Page 13 / 13

42365 section 4 introduction to oracle bi answers dashboards

Documents