OBIEE 12C NEW UI & FEATURES

Many new features has been added in the OBIEE 12C including new views, new UI level functions, column properties, Powerful visual analyzer tool etc.,

• Let us see some of the new visualizations available in 12C:

• All Views are enhanced in such a way that we can 'right click' on all graphs & other views to sort, drill, keep the column or remove the column from the view.

• Under 'Column Properties'-->Data Format properties--> “Scale for % (x 100)” option is added that  Specifies whether to multiply data by a 100 to display it as a percentage when setting the properties of a column.

New View Added:

• A new View called 'Heat Matrix' view has been included which represents the two-dimensional data. This is well suited for analyzing large amounts of data and identifying outliers.

    You can find the values by 'Roll over' on the cells. Or you can make it as display always.

New UI 'R Analytics' Functions:

• One of the great advantage of OBIEE12C is availability of new set of functions related to 'R Analytics'  added in the 'edit formula' tab.
• 'R' is a programming language and software environment for statistical computing and graphics. The 'R' language is widely used among statisticians and data miners for developing statistical software and data analysis.
• To work with 'R Analytics' functions we have to setup 'R' in the environment.
• The 'R Analytics' function set includes

Cluster, Evaluate Script, Outlier, Regr, Trendline functions.

New Time series Function:

• A new time series function called 'Forecast' has been added.

Adding Your Own Data to Analyses:

• You can include dimensions and measures from external data sources in your analyses. The external data is loaded to the database, but is not part of the BI metadata catalog.
• You can create an analysis that include only data from an external source, or you can blend dimensions and measures from the external data source with dimensions and measures defined in the BI metadata catalog.
• The external data must be stored in a Microsoft Excel format spreadsheet file. You import the data from the spreadsheet file into the BI EE database as an external data source.
• You then add columns from the external data source to your analyses. When the data in spreadsheet file changes, you can refresh the BI EE database with the changes.

• Also we can add external data source like excel file through the 'Add Data Source' option available.

Visual Analyzer

• This is a completely new powerful visualization application introduced in OBIEE12C.
• VA provides greater flexibility to Rapidly create rich analyses through drag-and-drop configuration of new visual grammar.
• Using VA we can build the reports from the sources OBIEE repository and also from external content.

BI Server New Features

• Logical Level Sequence Numbers for Time Dimensions for faster time series calculations. And to improve the query time.
• DISPLAY, SORTKEY Syntax Supported in the SQL ORDER BY Expression
• Oracle Database FAN & Connection Failover Supported by Oracle BI Server

Following New Command Line utilities are added

• Download Repository
• Upload Repository
• List Connection Pool
• Update Connection Pool
• Rename Application Role
• Delete Application Role
• Rename Users
• Delete Users
• List Repository Variables
• Update Repository Variables

Generate Fragmented Aggregates in Aggregate Persistence

• The aggregate persistence functionality has been enhanced to generate fragmented aggregates from a manually written aggregate specification. You can generate fragmented aggregates by adding a Where clause to the Logical SQL query's Create statement.

New Features for Oracle BI System Administrators

• We can Invoke WLST from a Single Location
• Oracle Home location re-defined and there is no middleware home now.
• OPMN is no Longer available in Fusion Middleware
• Oracle Web Cache Not Part of Fusion Middleware
• Moving From Test To Production is Carried Out in a Different Way
• New Commands For Process Control
• Managing Metadata In Business Intelligence Archive Files(BAR File)
• Single Enterprise Install. No separate 'Software only' and 'Simple Install' is available.
• Simplified Configuration
• Managing System Component Instances Using Commands
• Collecting Diagnostic Bundles

Migration from OBIEE 11g to 12c

• We can migrate the Oracle BI 11g metadata to 12c is a two step process, and is carried out by using the BI Migration Script (migration-tool.sh).
• The catalog and WebLogic Security configurations needs to be reconfigured/migrated like in OBIEE 11g.

New Features in Oracle BI Security

• BISystemUser and BISystem are removed.
• User GUIDs Removed
• Database Security Store
• Easier SSL Configuration
• Migrating Catalog Groups to Application Roles

New Features for Oracle BI Publisher 12c

• Generate Explain Plan from SQL Data Set
• Best Practices Information

OBIEE 12c All new features, Improvements

This version is another major release from Oracle after OBIEE 10g and11g. This version has many improvements, Enhancements, and advanced new features in installation, migration, analyses and dashboards, Oracle BI Mobile, Oracle BI Publisher, metadata repository development, system administration, integration and API, and localization.
Download link: http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-enterprise-edition/downloads/business-intelligence-2717951.html
Documentation: http://docs.oracle.com/middleware/1221/biee/index.html

Highlights:

New Features in Presentation Services:

• Visual Analyzer: A brand new powerful visualization application in OBIEE Suite. VA provides greater flexibility to Rapidly create rich analyses through drag-and-drop configuration of new visual grammar. Using VA we can build the reports from the sources OBIEE repository and also from external content.
• Views Enhancements: New context menu (Right Click) on all graphs & other views to sort, drill.
• New Heat Matrix view type to represent the two-dimensional data. This is well suited for analyzing large amounts of data and identifying outliers.
• New Data Format properties “Scale for % (x 100)”: Specify whether to multiply data by a 100 to display it as a percentage when setting the properties of a column

New Features in BI Server:

• Logical Level Sequence Numbers for Time Dimensions for faster time series calculations. And to improve the query time.
• DISPLAY, SORTKEY Syntax Supported in the SQL ORDER BY Expression
• Oracle Database FAN & Connection Failover Supported by Oracle BI Server
• Generate Fragmented Aggregates in Aggregate Persistence
• Following New Command Line utilities are added
  • Download Repository
  • Upload Repository
  • List Connection Pool
  • Update Connection Pool
  • Rename Application Role
  • Delete Application Role
  • Rename Users
  • Delete Users
  • List Repository Variables
  • Update Repository Variables

New Features in Administration:

• Installation: Much faster and straight forward. And mostly, the configurations & folders directories are simple and clean.
• NO more OPMN, all services including OBI System & Java services are managed by WebLogic.
• Migrating from OBIEE 11g to 12c: We can migrate the Oracle BI 11g metadata to 12c is a two step process, and is carried out by using the BI Migration Script (migration-tool.sh). The catalog and WebLogic Security configurations needs to be reconfigured/migrated like in OBIEE 11g.
• BAR (BI Archive file): A new archive format which contains OBIEE Catalog, RPD and Security packaged in one file. The file will be created in current environment and imported in Target environment. The BAR file creation process has following options while creating it.
  • export all: To export everything including users and data sources are the same between two systems.
  • export without user folder content: Migrating the Catalog without the User’s Folders.
  • export without connection pool credentials: Migrating the upgraded RPD from one environment to another without connection Pool information. When Imported the BAR in Target environment, The RPD will be updated the new changed by not changing the Target System Connection Pool Information.
  • Syntax:
    • Creating the BAR File from Current Environment: 
      exportServiceInstance(domainHome, serviceInstanceKey, workDir, exportDir, applicationName=None, applicationDesc=None, applicationVersion=None, includeCatalogRuntimeInfo=false, includeCredentials=None)
    • Importing the BAR file in Target environment:
      importServiceInstance(domainHome, serviceInstanceKey, barfile)

New Features in Security:

• BISystemUser and BISystem Removed, No need to have BISystemUser in LDAP. The system user concept is now deemed “virtual” and is represented by the credential oracle.bi.system/system.user, for which the values are securely randomly generated by the Configuration Assistant.
• User GUIDs Removed: user GUIDs have been removed to make administration easier. GUIDs are replaced with user names. There is no longer any need to refresh GUIDs as part of lifecycle operations
• Database Security Store: Policy & Credential store is configured in database instead of the file System-jazn & etc.
• Easier SSL Configuration: Configuring SSL is much easier than earlier versions.

Adding New Fonts to OBIEE 11.1.1.9

Actually, this has been mentioned from many blogs before but I still get emails regarding this hence I will blog this again.
As an example, I will add two fonts to OBIEE.

1. Calibri
2. Century Gothic

Prerequisite:

You must make sure that you have already installed the font to C:\Windows\Fonts

Step 1:

Go to: ..\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\msgdb\messages
Open file: commonuitemplates.xml
Add the fonts:

Note that this will determine the ordering. So if you like to have it in alphabetical order, you will need to sort it in this step.

Step 2:

Go to: ..\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\schemas
Open file: analysis_formats.xsd
Add the fonts:

Note that this step does not affect the ordering but it is best practice to have step 1 and step 2 both in alphabetical orders.

Step 3:

Restart Presentation Services
In column properties, check and see whether your new fonts is there.

OBIEE 11.1.1.9 – BI Publisher Set Up Fails on Windows Server 2012

The journey of discovery continues. I can report a successful install of Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9 on Microsoft Windows 2012 R2, but I encountered one last bug and set of supplemental instructions worth sharing.
During the Configuration Progress step of the Enterprise Install the “Setting Up BI Publisher” step never completed. From the screenshot below you can see that I let the installer run for quite a while, over 90 minutes, and still no progress. This step normally takes less than a minute so something was definitely wrong.

I opened the log file shown in the screenshot above, but it didn’t include any detail. Fortunately, the related .OUT file (same file name as the .LOG file, but with different extension) held the details about the problem

 updateBIPConfigFiles: Problem invoking WLST - Traceback (innermost last): updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\install\updateBIPConfigFiles.py", line 15, in ? updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/javaos$py.class", line 334, in system updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/popen2.py", line 235, in system updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/popen2.py", line 72, in __init__ updateBIPConfigFiles: File "D:\Middleware\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\jython-modules.jar\Lib/javashell.py", line 64, in execute updateBIPConfigFiles: OSError: (0, 'Failed to execute command ([\'sh\', \'-c\', \'java -classpath D:\\\\Middleware\\\\Oracle_BI1/clients/bipublisher/xdo-server.jar oracle.xdo.install.UpdateConfigFiles 9704 9703 9710 jdbc/mds/owsm D:\\\\Middleware\\\\user_projects\\\\domains\\\\bifoundation_domain\']): java.io.IOException: Cannot run program "sh": CreateProcess error=2, The system cannot find the file specified') updateBIPConfigFiles: java.lang.Exception: WLST Script task failed with status 1

After some digging on Oracle Support I ran across the following Bug Report.

Bug 21187922 : OBIEE 11.1.1.9 INSTALL FAILED AT CONFIGURATION STEP : WINDOWS SERVER 2012

There is no direct solution to this problem, but the following support document points to a workaround. 

OBIEE 11g: Error: “UpdateBIPConfigFiles: Problem invoking WLST – Traceback (innermost last)” BI Publisher Set Up Fails on Windows Server 2012 when Running the Configuration Assistant (Doc ID 1580583.1)

The solution involves updating the javashell.py file within the jython-modules.jar file. To leverage this fix we have to interrupt the Oracle BI installation, modify the appropriate file, then continue the installation. The detailed process is below.

1. Download and install Oracle WebLogic Server 11gR1 (10.3.6) Generic and Coherence [V29856-01]
   1. Step 2 requires that Oracle WebLogic Server be installed in advance
   2. Oracle WebLogic Server 10.3.6 is required for Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9
2. Perform a Software Only Install of Oracle Business Intelligence 11g (11.1.1.9.0) for Microsoft Windows (64-bit) [V76016-01]
3. Update the javashell.py file
   1. Open a Command Prompt
   2. Navigate to the [Middleware Home]\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules directory
   3. Extract the javashell.py file with the following command: [JDK Home]/bin/jar xf jython-modules.jar Lib\javashell.py
   4. Use a text editor to modify the [Middleware Home]\wlserver_10.3\common\wlst\modules\Lib\javashell.py file
      1. Search for the first incidence of _osTypeMap in the file
      2. Add ‘Windows Server 2012’ to the map for “nt” right after ‘Windows 7’ (see below for details)
   5. Import the javashell.py file with the following command: [JDK Home]/bin/jar uf jython-modules.jar Lib\javashell.py
4. Run the Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.9 Configuration Assistant to continue your install as normal

OBIEE 11.1.1.9: New Features for Front-End Developers and Business Users

Search & Sort options inside the Subject Area

There is a new option to search inside the subject area when we create an analysis. If we press the magnifying glass icon in the Subject Areas pane, a search box appears and OBIEE will return all the objects that contains the text that we entered. We can also use the % wildcard.

In addition there is also the option to order the objects inside the subject area sorting the folders and the presentation columns inside them. The default value is showing the objects in the way that are saved in the repository.

Save Calculated Items in the Web Catalog

A very useful feature for business users is the possibility to create calculated items in an analysis and save it in the catalog in order to reuse it in other analyses for the same subject area.
In the Results tab there is a new icon for creating a new measure. The calculation is created in the same way the column formulas are created.

After the new measure is created you can go to the Criteria tab and in the column pop-up menu select the Save Column As option. In this manner you save this new measure as a new object in the catalog to be reused in other analyses. The feature of creating a new calculated measure for tables and pivot tables was included in the 11.1.1.7.10 version but the possibility to save the column in the catalog is a new feature of the OBIEE 11.1.1.9.

You can also change the properties of the new column in the Criteria tab but be aware that conditional formatting and conditional action links for the column are not saved to the catalog. Regular action links are saved for the column as well as the format properties.
The saved column can be edited from the catalog pane and catalog page. All the changes that you make in the catalog are applied to every analysis that used this column. If you modify it inside a particular analysis, these changes are valid only for the analysis that you are working on.

To be able to save new measures as columns you should have the Save Column privilege.

Global Variables

In this version we find a new new type of variables: the Global Variables. Global Variables can be defined in the context of an analysis and can be used in other analysis. Useful to do some intermediate reusable calculations.
To create a new global variable, select the Edit Formula option for the required column. When you press the Variable button in the Formula Editor you will see the new Global option. The Insert Global Variable dialog appears and you can select an existing global variable to be used in the formula, or you can create a new one. To create a new one you need to enter a name, type and value. If you want to use an expression like in the example (Min(Revenue)) as value, the data type should be Text.

To reference a global variable you need to use the fully qualified name including the context: @{global.variables.variablename}.

Also to manage global variables you should have the Manage Global Variables privilege.

New Visualisation: Treemap

There is a new visualisation called Treemap since OBIEE 11.1.1.7.10. Treemap groups the dimensional data that you selected in the analysis in tiles. By default, the tiles size is based in the content of first measure of the analysis and the tiles colour is based in the content of the second measure. If you have only one measure in your analysis, is used for both size and colour.

You can edit it as any other view and change the group by information as well as the measures which affects the size and colour of the tile and the range of colours that you want to use. Also you can choose the style between seeing the information in coloured bins or using continuous colour fill. If you selected the first one you can also select the amount of different coloured bins do you want to use.

New Preview Styles

When you want to preview an analysis in the Results tab, instead of showing immediately how the analysis will look, OBIEE offers you different Styles to see your analysis. These feature was also included since the 11.1.1.7.10 version. In case you want to create a custom style, Oracle recommends to use the new Skyros style as a starting point.

Horizontal Layout for Radio Button and Check Box Dashboard Prompts

Radio button and check box dashboards prompts can be showed horizontally. When you create a new dashboard prompt using check box or radio button under Options, you can select between horizontal or Vertical Layout appears under Options.

Enhancements in Export & Print Options

In this version, you will find more options in the Print and Export Options dialog. You can select if you want to include charts, images and formatting or to specify column properties like the column width and to wrap the text in columns.

In summary, these features are simple but quite useful for business users and front-end developers, and give more flexibility to create better data visualisations.

OBI 11.1.1.9.1 just released

Oracle has released March 10th, 2015 a new version of Oracle Business Intelligence Applications
OBIA 11.1.1.9.1.( Part Number : B81628-01 M).
More to come as we check for the new features or bug fixes in this release.

Here the link to the Release Notes: http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E53672_01/index.htm

OBIEE - Upgrading my Windows 11.1.1.7 to 11.1.1.9 tutorial

OBIEE 11.1.1.9 is available. So I will upgrade my existing installation of 111.1.1.7 to 11.1.1.9. 

Follow Upgrade Guide, chapter 1.7 1.7 Moving from 11.1.1.3, 11.1.1.5, 11.1.1.6, or 11.1.1.7 to 11.1.1.9.   

Note: Out of Place BI Upgrade is NOT supported and the procedure is not documented in the guide. the following is In Place Upgrade.

1. Stop All and stop the service of Node Manager (Oracle WebLogic NodeManager (D_MWHOME_wlserver_10.3) in my case) under services.

2. Backup, Backup, Backup.

3. Run the installer. Select the Software only option and the existing OBIEE folder (my was D:\MWHOME), that was the default. Next accept the weblogic there.

R

4. Run patch Set Assistant (D:\MWHOME\Oracle_BI1\bin\psa.bat) and upgrade the RCU (after backup and version certification - http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi/bi-11gr1certmatrix-11-1-1-9-0-2541437.xls - the 3 RCU entries in the Database sheet).  

5. Start the Node Manager service and Admin Server (D:\MWHOME\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\bin\startWebLogic.cmd on my computer).

6. Run ORACLE_HOME\bin\config.bat (on my computer it's D:\MWHOME\Oracle_BI1\bin\config.bat). Select the Update BI Domain option, fill parameters and run Configure.

7. I had a problem in the "starting the Managed server" phase. So I've run "startManagedWebLogic.cmd bi_server1" manually from D:\MWHOME\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\bin\. I had to run the configuration utility twice, until it worked.

Now it's working :)
 -------------------


 


In the document you can also find the option of running the above in silent mode and a note about the change in users folders behavior; Unlike previous releases 11.1.1.9 users folders are created only when needed and not in advance, they also have a different structure. The guide suggests optional step to alter them.  


The following list shows the structure of the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog for a user before Release 11.1.1.9.0:

/users/<user>
/users/<user>/_delivers
   /users/<user>/_delivers/_deliveries
/users/<user>/_filters
/users/<user>/_portal
/users/<user>/_selections
/users/<user>/_savedcolumns
/users/<user>/_subscriptions
/users/<user>/_thumbnails
/users/<user>/_prefs
   /users/<user>/_prefs/deliveryprofiles
/users/<user>/_prefs/devices

The following list shows the structure of the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog for a user in Release 11.1.1.9.0 and later. Objects previously stored in the "_prefs" and "_subscriptions" folders are moved to the "_internals" folder. The "_deliveries" folder is merged with its parent folder "_delivers".

/users/<user>/_delivers
/users/<user>/_portal
/users/<user>/_filters
/users/<user>/_selections
/users/<user>/_savedcolumns
/users/<user>/_thumbnails
/users/<user>/_internals
   /users/<user>/_internals/subscriptions
      /users/<user>/_internals/subscriptions.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/_deliveryprofile_profile1
      /users/<user>/_internals/_deliveryprofile_profile1.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/_device_device1
      /users/<user>/_internals/_device_device1.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/_favorites
      /users/<user>/_internals/_favorites.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/cacheduserinfo
      /users/<user>/_internals/cacheduserinfo.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/volatileuserdata
      /users/<user>/_internals/volatileuserdata.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/defaultdevices
      /users/<user>/_internals/defaultdevices.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/defaultdeliveryprofile
      /users/<user>/_internals/defaultdeliveryprofile.atr
   /users/<user>/_internals/userprefsxmlstore
      /users/<user>/_internals/userprefsxmlstore.atr

OBIEE 11.1.1.9 New Interface,new features

They say "the god is in the details"; It seems that that god of details, that so often stays in Cupertino, had a visit in Redwood Shores, with the release of OBIEE 11.1.1.9.
You want an example?
 It's the little things some of them nobody bothers to mention in the "New Features" documentations. For example: the "View Properties" option we can access without entering/editing the specific view:

Or the  ability to have much better control in session Manager (Robin Moffatt has more to say about it)

 If you are a printing person:

• The Custom Orientation control for PDF and PPT.
• The marks that specify whether to include charts, images and formatting.
• New option to specify whether to wrap text in columns.
• New option to limit column width.
• Unfortunately the change of default of Print Rows to all, didn't work for me. 

Of course they are cooler features:
Search in analysis metadata is one of the long awaited options:

(I'm personally less excited about the Sort option there).

One more great feature is the Save Column option:

Just the same way we can save filters and use them in various analysis, we can now save columns/formulas. This way complex columns, with variables, calculations... can be used. This is critical for advanced users.

There is one more somewhat similar feature of Global Variables:

In the Global Variable Menu we can press the Plus sign and add a new Global Variable:

There I can select name and paste/type a Value. there is something tricky with the Type, for example the formula 100*"Base Facts"."Revenue"/"Base Facts"."Billed Quantity" the type was text and not number.

Now I can reuse the Variable:

The result is the same as similar formula, of course:

The question is when to use Global Variables and when Save Column, is not clear to me at this point.


One more nice feature is the Treemap:

As all visualizations, you can drill in it etc...

The colors can be binned or continuous and there are sets of colors available:

I will continue with more new features and hidden jams in the next part.