Metadata Dictionary in OBIEE 10.1.3.4.1

Metadata Dictionary in OBIEE 10.1.3.4.1

I wanted to try out the new feature ‘Metadata Dictionary ’and expose them in Answers. This could be a real useful entity for Power Users of OBIEE who could trace down a Presentation Column in Answers till the Database Column.

Steps:

1. Logon to the RPD in Offline mode and generate the metadata using Tools->Utilities->Generate Metadata Dictionary. Specify a directory when Prompted to store the dictionary. A folder named ‘dictionary’ will be created in the specified location. The ‘dictionary’ folder will contain a sub-folder with name =
2. Go to your Analytics Virtual Directory and place the ‘dictionary’ folder generated in step 1 inside it. If you are using OC4J, the virtual Directory would be C:\OracleBI\oc4j_bi\j2ee\home\applications\analytics\analytics\res
3. Restart your Servers and Go to Answers. You will see a new Icon to the right of every Subject Area. The same Icon will also appear besides each folder.
   
4. 
5. Click on the Icon and a new window will open displaying the metadata. The URL should look like

http://localhost:9704/analytics/res/dictionary/OracleBIAnalyticsApps/PresentationCatalog/PRCAT_Loyalty___Financials0313.xml

OBIEE and Ubuntu

OBIEE Supports only Redhat, Oracle Linux and Suse.However I wanted to try if it works for Ubuntu

Ubuntu

Downloaded Ubuntu 9 Desktop Edition from Internet.
The downloaded file is a .iso file.
Burn this file to a blank CD. Burn Image feature has to be used.
Once burnt, make sure its burnt properly. If you see a single .iso file , then its not correct.We should be seeing multiple files and directories in the CD.
Go to the setup of your desktop and change the option to boot from CD Drive.
Put the CD onto the drive and restart the computer.
Computer boots form CD
There will be an option displayed to check the integrity of the burnt CD. Click that.
If the CD is OKAYed in the above step, proceed to install.
If you are going to use multiple OS, then select a partition in which you will be installing Ubuntu.Select File system . I selected Ext4.
Start the Install.
Success :-)

OBIEE

Logon to your Ubuntu OS
Download the OBIEE latest version for Linux from Oracle.com.
Unzip and Untar the file and keep it ready.
Make sure you have the GCC C++ Complier already Installed. It should be available by default in Ubuntu Desktop Edition.If installed, the GCC C++ runtime version 3.4.3 libraries are in one of the following locations:
■ /usr/lib/libstdc++.so.6
■ /lib/libstdc++.so.6
Go to Console.
CD to /home/joseph/Desktop/Media/RH_Linux/Server/Oracle_Business_Intelligence. <<>>
Type sh setup.sh
This will start the Installation Window.
Mention your options like Location for JDK, OC4j password etc and click next, next,next.
This was the last place that I could reach. The window shows 100% for a very long time. I even waited for a full night. Its dead.

OBIEE is not compatible with Ubuntu. I would be happy if somebody could prove otherwise.

URLs to call OBI Reports and Dashboards

The need to call OBI Reports from other websites is a much useful and widely used feature in recent BI projects. This post will show you some basic URLs which can be used to call an Answers Request or Dashboard from a Portal page or website.

1. URL to call a dashboard

http://localhost:9704/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard&PortalPath=/shared/Sample%20Sales/_portal/Test&nquser=Administrator&nqpassword=Administrator

The above URL is very simple and self-explanatory. Anyways Let me divide and explain each part

http://localhost:9704/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard //the basic URL to access your default dashboard. Replace localhost with the exact web server if the Presentation Services is running on a different web server.

PortalPath=/shared/Sample%20Sales/_portal/Test // specifies the path of the dashboard. %20 denotes a single space character in 'Sample Sales' - the group folder. You can ignore this and simply use PortalPath=/shared/Sample Sales/_portal/Test

nquser=Administrator&nqpassword=Administrator // specifies the UserId and Password for an RPD user