Changing the placement of currency name

Usually currency symbol is shown before the currency value ($1000) and currency name appears after the value (1200 USD). In OBIEE,currency name/symbol formatting is handled by currency.xml

Have a look at this report.











In my case currency name is INR.

I want INR to be appeared before the AMOUNT_SOLD column value.

Let us go and open the currency.xml and search for the currency name INR.











Edit the highlighted line. Add a tag : format="$ #"

This will look like:







Save the changes. Restart the BI services. Reload the metadata and clear the browser cache.

Now let's look at the result.













Thanks.

Column Format Value Suppression - Change Default Option

Requirement is to change the default option - Suppress in the Column Format Value Suppression to Repeat.
This is with reference to this OTN POST.

Before modification let us see what we have to achieve.

Take any one presentation column and go to column properties->Column Format
The default value of option "Value Suppression" is set to "Suppress"







We have to change this default option to "Repeat"

Edit the java script file formatcolumn.js which is placed at 2 location:

C:\OBIEE11G\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res\b_mozilla\answers 
AND
C:\OBIEE11G\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\analytics_11.1.1\silp1v\war\res\b_mozilla\answers

Change the default value from

var a=XUIGetAttributeString(this.defaultElement.getDefaultFormatting().selectSingleNode
("saw:formatSpec"),"suppress","default");


TO


var a=XUIGetAttributeString(this.defaultElement.getDefaultFormatting().selectSingleNode
("saw:formatSpec"),"repeat","default");


Restart the BI services. Reload the metadata. Refresh the browser.

You will find the default value being changed to "Repeat"

Here it is-









This is the system wide change so remember to take back-up of the files which you are going to modify.

Thank you.



Measure prompt

Hello 
Taking the reference of this OTN Post I thought of playing around prompts and measure columns.
The exercise is based on Sample Sales Lite SA ( XML Based SA )
Environment- OBIEE 11.1.1.6.0 ( Windows 7 -32 bit /Tested on IE 8 ) 

SA- Sample Sales Lite 
Create an analysis of 3 columns namely
1> "Time"."Per Name Year" 
2>"Base Facts"."Revenue"  
3>"Base Facts"."Revenue"
I would rename the columns ( no. 2 & 3 ) as shown in the snapshot below.






Column formula of column no 2












Column formula of column no 3 ( You can have complex calculation - In the given example I have used a very simple one )









Save the report. [R1]

Go back to home page and once again navigate to Sample Sales Lite SA.Take 2 to 3 measures for example in the analysis and capture their names from the respective column formulae.We would need this while creating a dashboard prompt. Look at the below snapshot.










"Base Facts"."Revenue"
 "Base Facts"."Billed Quantity"
   "Base Facts"."Discount Amount"

Now go to dashboard prompt editor.Select the option Variable Prompt.Add the details as shown in the below snapshot.









Save the prompt and pull it on the dashboard with the report R1.

Select the first measure ( Revenue ) and hit apply.You will see the Revenue measure values getting populated in the second column while values of 3rd column would base upon the 2nd column that we select from the prompt.












You may find blogs on changing the column name dynamically.

 I have to test this solution against an SA based on a relational database and perform multiple rounds of testing. Try it out - You may find some even more interesting facts. Good luck.

Thanks.


User Specific UI in OBIEE 11g

Aim - Make the user interface dynamic or user specific. For example user [weblogic] wants to see the background of front end in default blue color while user Mike wants to see it in green color. Let us see how we can achieve this step by step.

Create a folder say CUSTOM_UI. You need to copy the following folders and paste them to CUSTOM_UI.
1) Folder s_blafp from C:\OBIEE11g\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res
2) Folder sk_blafp from C:\OBIEE11g\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res
3) Folder WEB-INF from C:\OBIEE11g\instances\instance1\bifoundation\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1\analyticsRes

I have kept the folder CUSTOM_UI in OBIEE11g home directory. 
Rename the folders s_blafp to s_Mike AND sk_blafp to sk_Mike.











Go to C:\OBIEE11g\CUSTOM_UI\sk_Mike\b_mozilla_4 and search for "custom.css"
Change the background color of the 2 nodes:

 ->.HTMLBody{font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;font-size:11px;background-color:#336600!important;overflow:auto;margin:0;padding-left:5px;}
 ->.HeaderContainer{background-color:#336600;font:11px Tahoma;position:relative;}

Save the changes.

Now login to weblogic console. Press Lock & Edit. Go to deployment and press Install as shown in the snapshot below.










Select the CUSTOM_UI folder using the Browse button and follow the instructions as shown below.












Now just go to tab Target and verify if the AdminServer has been selected.









Click on Save. Now Click on Activate Changes. 
Once it is done - Go to Deployment option and search for our newly deployed application CUSTOM_UI.
Have a look at its state. It will be in "Prepared" state - >











Select the application CUSTOM_UI and press Start [ Servicing All Requests ]















You will now see its status being changed to Active.




Now we are going to create a database table with 3 columns -- Username , UserStyle and UserSkin.
Have a look :














Note that the default style and skin of user weblogic is "blafp" and we have created a new
style and skin named "Mike" for user Mike.

IMPORT THIS table to OBIEE repository. 
Create a SESSION INITIALIZATION BLOCK as shown below.
BLOCK SQL : SELECT USER_STYLE, USER_SKIN  FROM USER_SKIN_STYLE 
WHERE upper(USERNAME)=upper(':USER')
Note : While Creating a variable SKIN - a message will pop up asking if you want to overwrite system variable SKIN. In that case - Say YES. 













Save the changes.
Add the below tags to instanceconfig.xml

<URL> 
<CustomerResourcePhysicalPath>C:\OBIEE11g\CUSTOM_UI</CustomerResourcePhysicalPath> 
<!-- CustomerResourcePhysicalPath is a tag that specifies the actual target directory name --> 
<CustomerResourceVirtualPath>/CUSTOM_UI</CustomerResourceVirtualPath> 
<!-- CustomerResourceVirtualPath provides the URLPrefix that will be added for sourcing all the files --> 
<!-- If we donメt give this tag, BI EE will automatically add analyticsRes (System target directory) --> 
</URL> 
<UI> 
<DefaultStyle>Mike</DefaultStyle> 
<!-- Without the S_ --> 
<DefaultSkin>Mike</DefaultSkin> 
<!-- Without the SK_ --> 
</UI> 









RESTART THE BI SERVICES.

Once the login page comes up :

1] Login with weblogic 
   Note that user weblogic can see the blue background ( default skin : blafp )











Now log out .

2] Login with Mike.
Note that user Mike can see green background. ( Custom Skin : Mike )











Note : Changing the background color was just an example. You can actually change the images,texts and so on. So just play around with that CSS stuff.

Thank you and wish you all the best.

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.4 is available


The Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11.1.1.6.4 patchset has been released and is available to download from My Oracle Support.

The Oracle Business Intelligence 11.1.1.6.4 patchset is comprised of the following patches:

patch 14538078 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (1 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Installer
patch 14538128 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (2 of 7) Oracle Real Time Decisions
patch 14285344 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (3 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher
patch 14538164 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (4 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence ADF Components
patch 14415773 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (5 of 7) Enterprise Performance Management Components Installed from BI Installer 11.1.1.6.x
patch 14405222 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (6 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence
patch 14409674 Patch 11.1.1.6.4 (7 of 7) Oracle Business Intelligence Platform Client Installers and MapViewer

Follow the same process as described in the article :
http://obiee1000.blogspot.com/2012/09/upgrade-obiee-111160-to-111162-patchwork.html


BI Composer - Graph Converted to Pivot View

I am connecting to BI Composer. 

Turn ON the accessibility mode. Select the analysis and any of the subject areas. BI Composer Page will open.




















Open the Testing Subject Area and Select 2 columns ( 1 dimension column say Year and 1 measure for example Amount Sold )










Go next - I would like to select Graph view and would prefer Bar Recommended view.

















Let us preview the results.











Where is the Graph ? Where is it ? It has got converted into Pivot view. 
And look at the title - It says "Graph Converted Pivot Table"

How can i see the Bar graph ?

Just open the main page of your analytics that might have been minimized and TURN OFF the accessibility mode and refresh the Page. Remove cache/Cookies.





















Now go back to BI Composer page and cancel the request and from the left hand corner - click on Create.
Select the same subject area and create one request. 












Now select the Graph view and check if the graph/chart is getting displayed on the BI Composer page.
Play preview.










Yaa !! Graph view is now graphical.

Thank you. 

Wish you good luck.

























Configuring BIComposer

This article explains the configuration of Bi Composer. 
Environment : OBIEE 11g -Windows 7-32bits -Oracle database 11g.
Here we begin.

Stop the BI Services.

Go to Weblogic Configuration wizard. The path is shown below.













Just follow the steps as shown in the series of snaps below.












 





















Now Start the BI Services and Open the Console application as shown below.









Press Lock & Edit button. Go to bifoundation_domain - Services - Data Sources as shown below.
Follow the instructions as shown in the snaps below.












So we have tested the JDBC connection and its successful.
Note : (Look at the snap "Create a new JDBC Data Source" - In the database name I have given the full name orcl.us.deloitte.com. Earlier I had given orcl only but the JDBC connection failed so you may try giving full name )








Click Finish.
Activate the changes as shown below.







Changes have been activated.









Now login to Enterprise Manager and go to Deploy option as shown in the snapshot below.







Follow the onscreen instructions and steps as shown below.
Select the .ear file in the path shown below.











Click on the pencil-shaped button and select mds-bicomposer and press OK.







Partition name : bicomposer - Next.







Deploy.













We will have BiComposer in Application Deployments. Right click and go to System MBean Browser as shown below.







Search for oracle.adf.share.connections and expand it till you get bi-default. 
Edit the username and password as shown below. Apply changes.








Go to ADFConnections - Operations tab - Click on Save button and Invoke.









Add an entry in the instanceconfig file







Now we have to restart the BI services. Clear the browser cache and remove temporary internet files.

Login to OBIEE 11g analytics. Reload the metadata files. Refresh the browser.
Now go to Weblogic-My Account- Make the Accessibility mode ON.







Now go to New - Analysis and select any of the subject areas - for ex - Testing subject area and a new page will open.









This is BI Composer. In the next article we will see how we can make use of this BI Composer to do the analysis.

Note : After you are done with your work with BI Composer and go back to Analytics and turn off the Accessibility mode otherwise next time when you login to analytics you will see limited option being present on the home page ( Administration link would have gone so be careful with that. )

Thank you and good luck.