Purglng the Cuche uslng lBots

on Tuesduy, 19 August 2008

As you cun creute (seed) the cuche uslng lBots, you cun ulso purge lt uslng the lBots. When you dont huve optlon of
the EVENT POLLING tubles thls optlon ls reully helpful.

Whlle creutlng the lBot, you cun schedule the lBot us per your requlrement of when you need to purge the cuche.
Now ln the Advunced tub, you cun Add Actlon under sectlon Execute these uctlons when lBot condltlons ure
sutlsfled. Select Custom Scrlpt optlon ln thls Add Actlon menu und speclfy the |uvuscrlpt fllenume whlch contulns
the scrlpt to purge the cuche.

Followlng ls the sumple |uvuscrlpt whlch needs to be pluced ut followlng locutlon;
{drlve}\OrucleBI\server\Scrlpts\Common

// purgeSASCache.js
//
// Purges the cache on SAS.
// Parameter(0) - The user name to pass in to NQCMD.
// Parameter(1) - The password for the aforementioned user.
/////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// The full path to nqcmd.exe
var nqCmd = "C:\\OracleBI\\server\\Bin\\nQCmd.exe";
// The data source name
var dsn = "AnalyticsWeb";
// The user to execute the queries
var user = "Administrator";
// The password of the aforementioned user
var pswd = "Administrator";
// The ODBC procedure call for purging the cache
var sqlStatement = "{call SAPurgeAllCache()};";
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Returns a string from the file name
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
function GetOutput(fso, fileName)
{
var outStream = fso.OpenTextFile(fileName, 1);
var output = outStream.ReadAll();

outStream.Close();
return output;
}
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Get WshShell object and run nqCmd. Capture the output
// so that we can handle erroneous conditions.
var wshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
// Create a temp file to input the SQL statement.
var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var tempFolder = fso.GetSpecialFolder(2);
var tempInFileName = fso.GetTempName();
var tempOutFileName = fso.GetTempName();
tempInFileName = tempFolder + "\\" + tempInFileName;
tempOutFileName = tempFolder + "\\" + tempOutFileName;
var tempInFile = fso.CreateTextFile(tempInFileName, true);
tempInFile.WriteLine(sqlStatement);
tempInFile.Close();
try
{
// execute
var dosCmd = nqCmd + " -d \"" + dsn + "\" -u \"" + user
+ "\" -p \"" + pswd + "\" -s \"" + tempInFileName + "\"" +
" -o \"" + tempOutFileName + "\"";
wshShell.Run(dosCmd, 0, true);
var output = GetOutput(fso, tempOutFileName);
// Remove the temp files
fso.DeleteFile(tempInFileName);
if (fso.FileExists(tempOutFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempOutFileName);
}
// Check the output for any errors
if (output.indexOf("Processed: 1 queries") == -1) {
ExitCode = -1;
Message = output;
}
else if (output.indexOf("Encountered") != -1) {
ExitCode = -2;
Message = output;
}
else {
ExitCode = 0;
}
} catch (e) {

if (fso.FileExists(tempInFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempInFileName);
}
if (fso.FileExists(tempOutFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempOutFileName);
}
throw e;
}




OBI EE Automated Cache Purging and iBots Trigger
Filed under: OBI EE dipayansengupta @ 10:25 AM
OBI EE Cache Purging is time based. There is no direct way to automate the cache purging
depending on the ETL completion. So the way around to achieve is to write a shell scripts and
purge the cache once the ETL process is completed and then immediately run the iBots.
The Script Logic is mentioned below:
1.Check the CTRL table (where data loading completion is logged) /ETL Metadata table every 15-
20 mins
2. If the table is loaded than purge the cache only for that table
Call SAPurgeCacheByTable( DBName, CatName, SchName, TabName );
3. Once the cache is purged run only those iBots which are using the table using the below
command.
./saschinvoke -u userid/password -j $jobid
Automating cache purging without using OBIEE Scheduler
My team had a requirement to automate cache purging feature in OBIEE without using
Scheduler services.
I will tell you why this scenario came.
We had around 100 iBots scheduled in Test environment. Developers did not want to make the
scheduler services up as it would send wrong results to users. And we did not want to disable all
the iBots by opening it one by one manually so that we can make the scheduler services up.
So I had to schedule the cache purging feature without using scheduler feature of OBIEE.
Now, I am gonna tell you how we can do this by using windows scheduler feature.
1. Go to Control Panel> System and Security> Administrative tools> Schedule tasks

2. Click on Schedule tasks. It will open Task Scheduler window.

3. On the right hand side, click on Create task. It will open a new window to create task.

4. Now give the name of the task. Go to the triggers tab. Click on New button to get New Trigger
window.

5. Depending on your choice, you can change the trigger setting. Here I have done repeat task
every 1 hour.
6. Go to Actions tab. Click on New button to get New Action window. Select the .exe file which
you want to schedule. Here we will select nQcmd.exe which is present in c:\oraclebi\server\Bin
folder. Add the arguments which is required to open nQcmd.exe and purge the cache. Here the
arguments are :
-d AnalyticsWeb -u Administrator -p Administrator -s c:\oraclebi\server\Bin\SQL.txt
-d is for Data Source Name i.e AnalyticsWeb.
-u is user name i.e Administrator
-p is Password i.e Administrator
-s is File path where the purge cache command is writtent.
Create a file SQL.txt and write the purge command:
{call SAPurgeAllCache()};
Place the file in Bin folder

7. Now in the conditions tab, you can give the condition as per your choice.

8. Now once you finish this task, your scheduled task will appear on Task Scheduler library. And
it will trigger autmatically and purge the cache in OBIEE.

I would like to thank my friend Diptesh for helping me in this scenario.
OBIEE iBot Tracking
Posted on December 2, 2010 by John Lamont Watson
We have Delivers functionality in obiee to schedule report delivery; and we also have a
model provided for tracking application usage. What we dont seem to have is a model
for tracking iBot usage.
I have a requirement to deliver an email to an Administrative group once the daily data
load is complete, or an error report should the load fail. This is fine, out of the box
Delivers functionality. However, the client does not want to recieve the report more
than once per day; we can do this as a conditinoal request, but how do we know whether
a report has already been emailed out today.
Below are the steps that I have completed in order to provide a Subject Area for Usage
Tracking iBots. I make no effort to cover out of the box usage tracking or out of the
box Delivers functionality; this information is alreadys available in abundance, but
please ask if you are unsure.
In The Physical Layer
If you have already deployed Usage Tracking then the following tables will be available
from your database; import them in the physical layer.
S_NQ_JOB
S_NQ_JOB_PARAM
S_NQ_INSTANCE
These tables are shown below, among others. Create an Alias for each of these tables to
represent your dimensions. Create an additional Alias for the table
S_NQ_INSTANCE to represent your fact table.
Please ignore the table and alias for S_NQ_ERR_MSG; it is not necessary for my
requirement; but, an optional extra.

Create the following Physical Tables and Alias'
Primary Keys for these Alias Tables should be created as below.
Dim_S_NA_JOB=JOB_ID
Dim_S_NQ_JOB_PARAM=JOB_ID
Dim_S_NQ_INSTANCE=JOB_ID, INSTANCE_ID
Fact_S_NQ_INSTANCE=JOB_ID, INSTANCE_ID
The Screenshot below shows how these Alias tables should relate to one another. The
Joins themselves are listed below the screenshot.

Create physical Joins as shown
Dim_S_NQ_JOB.JOB_ID = Fact_S_NQ_INSTANCE.JOB_ID
Dim_S_NQ_JOB.JOB_ID = Dim_S_NQ_JOB_PARAM.JOB_ID
Dim_S_NQ_INSTANCE.INSTANCE_ID =
Fact_S_NQ_INSTANCE.INSTANCE_ID AND Dim_S_NQ_INSTANCE.JOB_ID
= Fact_S_NQ_INSTANCE.JOB_ID
In The Logical Layer
we have two dimensions to create and one fact table. Ill go through these three tables
individually below; if a change is not detailed then you dont need to make it.
Dim iBot Agent
Well start with the Job Dimension. Drag the Alias Dim_S_NQ_JOB into the Usage
Tracking Business Model and open the table source for this logical table; edit it as
below. Create Job Dimension Table Source as shown
You can see that we have added an Inner Join to the Alias Dim_S_NQ_JOB_PARAM.
And thats it. We can now map the columns that we need as below. Please remove all
other columns for logical table.
You can see that we have added an Inner Join to the Alias Dim_S_NQ_JOB_PARAM.
And thats it. We can now map the columns that we need as below. Please remove all
other columns for logical table.

Map the Columns as shown
We also need to restrict the rows returned by this table; navigate to the Content Tab.
Particularly we are restricting S_NQ_JOB and S_NQ_JOB_PARAM to a 1:1 mapping.

Configure the Where Clause for the table
Dim iBot Instance
I have called this dimension Dim iBot Instance. Drag the Alias
Dim_S_NQ_INSTANCE into the Usage Tracking Business Model. This Logical Table
requires only a single source, we can move straight to the Column Mapping tab. Please
map the columns as below and remove all other columns.

Map Columns as shown
Again, we need to restrict the rows returned for this logical table; navigate to the
Content tab and complete as below.

Add the Where Clause to the table
I found it useful to add four additional columns to this dimension. Below I will show the
expressions that I used for these columns.
Dim iBot Instance: Additional Start Date Column

Start Date column is useful
Dim iBot Instance: Additional End Date Column

As is this one
Dim iBot Instance: Amend Status Column

Make the Status Column more useful
Dim iBot Instance: Additional Action Flag Column

'Y' If Email Sent, 'N' Otherwise
Fact iBot Instances
The fact table uses a single source; drag the Alias Fact_S_NQ_INSTANCE into the
Usage Tracking Business Model; navigate to the Column Mapping tab and configure the
Facts. No where clause need be added to this Logical Table.

Map the Fact Columns
I have added a Fact measure for the Elapsed Execution Time of an iBot; the expression
for the column is shown in the screenshot. The column as aggregates as a sum.

This additional fact column is likely to be useful
In The Presentation Layer
In the Presentation Layer I have exposed the majority of columns that exist in the logical
layer. I have added a couple more columns other than those detailed above; and no
doubt you will come up with your own useful additions.

Create your Presentation Catalog
The End Report
Thats about it for the RPD. In my case I finished up creating the report below. I add
this report as a condition for an iBot; only send an email if this report shows no results.
This should mean that the iBot only sends the email once per day.

Create your condition Report
There are lots of extensions to this schema that could enhance it greatly. I have thought
of a couple this morning, but as its not required Ill not have the time to implement.
Hopefully, you found this helpfull/interesting; let me know if you extend it in an
interesting way. Good Luck!


OBIEE: Seeding the Dashboards for End Users and Purging on Nightly Basis
Many dashboards on most systems can be seeded with an iBot that runs overnight and caches the reports to the
dashboards for quick access and less queries to the database. We created a series of iBots that are triggered by an
initial iBot the purges the old Cache and starts the process of reseeding the data. First we created the iBot Purge
Cache:



This iBot is run at 5:00am every night after the ETL completion by the Administrator user. The delivery content is the
first report we needed to cache. The destination for the iBot is the Oracle BI Server Cache.



Notice in the Advanced section the javascript purgeSASCache.js, Below are the parameters that were set in the
Advanced tab.



The javascript purgeSASCache.js should be placed in the folder OracleBI/Server/Scripts/Common
The below is the javascript file:

outStream.Close();
return output;
}
//////////////////////////////////////////////////////////
// Get WshShell object and run nqCmd. Capture the output
// so that we can handle erroneous conditions.
var wshShell = new ActiveXObject("WScript.Shell");
// Create a temp file to input the SQL statement.
var fso = new ActiveXObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject");
var tempFolder = fso.GetSpecialFolder(2);
var tempInFileName = fso.GetTempName();
var tempOutFileName = fso.GetTempName();
tempInFileName = tempFolder + "\\" + tempInFileName;
tempOutFileName = tempFolder + "\\" + tempOutFileName;
var tempInFile = fso.CreateTextFile(tempInFileName, true);
tempInFile.WriteLine(sqlStatement);
tempInFile.Close();
try
{
// execute
var dosCmd = nqCmd + " -d \"" + dsn + "\" -u \"" + user
+ "\" -p \"" + pswd + "\" -s \"" + tempInFileName + "\"" +
" -o \"" + tempOutFileName + "\"";
wshShell.Run(dosCmd, 0, true);
var output = GetOutput(fso, tempOutFileName);
// Remove the temp files
fso.DeleteFile(tempInFileName);
if (fso.FileExists(tempOutFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempOutFileName);
}
// Check the output for any errors
if (output.indexOf("Processed: 1 queries") == -1) {
ExitCode = -1;
Message = output;
}
else if (output.indexOf("Encountered") != -1) {
ExitCode = -2;
Message = output;
}
else {
ExitCode = 0;
}
} catch (e) {

if (fso.FileExists(tempInFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempInFileName);
}
if (fso.FileExists(tempOutFileName)) {
fso.DeleteFile(tempOutFileName);
}
throw e;
}
OBIEE Multi User Development
Posted on February 2, 2011 by John Lamont Watson
The concept of the MUDE, or Multi User Development Environment, was introduced
way back with Siebel Analytics 7.7. In theory it is really quite simple; in practice,
although useful, it can be tedious.
Setting up the MUD
Set up is very easy. Primarily all you need is a shared folder on a filesystem, accessible to
all of the relevant developers.
Open the Administration Tool
Select Options from the Tools Menu, as in the screenshot below.

Select Options from Tools Menu
Select the Multi-User Tab
Browse to the Folder containing your Multi User RPD File
Enter your Name and Click OK

Complete the Options' Multiuser tab
And actually thats it; youre setup. Each developer that requires access must follow the
same process.
Using the MUD
For the rest of this article we will use the samplesales.rpd file as an example. The RPD is
organized into 2 Projects. When we want to work on the RPD in a shared environment
we check out the project that we want to work on; make our changes; merge our code
back into the shared repository and then, once totally happy, publish our merged
repository to replace the current version.
Checking Out a Project
Select Multiuser, Checkout from the File MenuSelect Multiuser Checkout from the
File Menu
You will be prompted for a Username and Password for the MUD RPD

Provide Username and Password
From the Project List, select the Project(s) that you would like to Checkout and
Click OK

Select Project(s) to Checkout
A subset of the Current Repository will be created locally, containing only the
project(s) selected. Choose a name and location for the file; I would just accept
defaults; and click Save.

Save your Modified, or subset, Repository File
The subset Repository, known as the Modified version, is now stored locally and should
be open in the Admin Tool. This is the point at which you should generally make
changes.
Merging the Project back into the MUDE
Select Multiuser, Merge Local Changes from the File Menu

Select Multiuser Merge Local Changes from the File Menu
You should receive a request for Lock information, as below. If you dont you will
probably receive Information that the Repository is already locked. The
information may tell you when it is likely to be available, or you may have to
contact the person currently locking it. You dont need to Complete the Lock
Information, but it may help your fellow developers. Click OK.

Enter Lock Information and Click OK
You will get a Merge Repositories Dialog Box. Any conflicts between your
Modified RPD and the Current RPD will be detailed here; for each conflict you
must specify which specify which RPD is correct; the Merge button will not be
available until all conflicts are resolved. Resolve any conflicts and click Merge.
Note: When you Checkout, a copy of the project(s) checked out will be contained in your Modified Repository, stored locally; this
will contain any changes that you have made during Checkout. At the point of Checkout a copy of the whole MUD Repository is also
taken and this is referred to as the Original Repository. The Current Repository is the MUD, containing any changes made since
your Checkout. The 3 versions of the RPD are required for the 3 Way Merge.
At this point you should check Consistency of the Merged Repository, Click Yes

Click Yes to Check Consistency
All going well, you should recieve a blank sheet as below; click to Close the
Consistency Check

Click to Close the Consistency Check
You should now have a copy of the Current Repository with your changes merged. At
this point we have not committed to the merge; we can still Discard Local Changes;
although we would lose our changes, we would not impact the MUD. We have also
locked the MUD so no other changes can be made until we do either discard these
changes or publish them to overwrite the Current Repository.
Publishing the Merged Repository
Select Multiuser, Publish to Network from the File Menu

Select Multiuser - Publish to Network
At this point you will be asked again whether you would like a Consistency Check. If you
have made no further changes since the Merge then there is no reason to. However, you
are able to make changes post merge, whilst the Repository is still locked; this second
Consistency Check should be used in this case.
When to Configure the Merged RPD
We should configure a locked RPD, post Merge, when our changes could be considered
global to the RPD; such as changing the Administrator password. It is not necessary,
but may be useful for example if we introduced a new Dimension that joins to every
Fact. And as you start to use the MUD you will come to learn there are a couple of
strange features that can be overcome by editing in the locked RPD.
You should remember that this is not a risky approach as you are not committed until
you Publish your changes; but locking the RPD for longer periods may impact other
developers.
OBIEE Project Management
So far Ive not mentioned how you organize your RPD into Projects, but you will need to
know how to do this and how to make changes. You can manage projects in either the
Checked Out or Locked RPD.
Select Projects from the Manage Menu

Select Project from the Manage Menu
The Project Manager will open; double click to view or edit an existing Project

Double Click on an existing Project to View it
Note: To Create a new Project Select NewProject from the Action Menu
In the Project Definition Window the applet on the left shows Objects available in
the RPD and the applet on the right shows those Objects included in this Project.
Use the Add and Remove buttons to manage the Objects contained withint this
Project and click OK.

Choose the Objects contained in the Project
Note: An object can be contained in more than one Project; and indeed the same Project can be checked out by many different users
at the same time.
The next time you Checkout, any new projects should be displayed; and edited projects
should reflect any changes made.
the Oracle BI Server Event Polling Table
The Oracle BI Server does not populate the event polling table. The event table is
populated by inserting rows into it each time that a table is updated. This process is
normally configured by the database administrator, who typically modifies the load
process to insert a row into the polling table each time a table is modified. This can be
done from the load script, using database triggers (in databases that support triggers),
from an application, or manually. If the process of populating the event table is not
done correctly, then the Oracle BI Server cache purging is affected, because the server
assumes the information in the polling table is correct and up to date.