Whitepaper/Info Budgeting/Planning/Writeback via Oracle OLAP DML

Hi,
does anyone know of any whitepaper, manual section, general information regarding writeback, planning, budgeting using Oracle OLAPs DML API? We would like to upgrade our proprietary DataAccess-Layer, which interfaces to Oracle OLAP via the DML-API, to allow writeback.
As said the documentation for this topic seems to be scarce to none.
Just to give an example: it is not possible to write back values to the base measures UNITS_CUBE_SALES/COST/UNITS of the UNITS_CUBE in global AW, since all of them are FORMULA objects. The underlying variable to which you can assign values is in 10g UNITS_CUBE_SALES_STORED, whereas in 11g you would limit the ALL_MEASURES_DIM object to the SALES measure and assign a value to a variable named UNITS_CUBE_STORED. Basically this is information I was fishing out of this forum, but didn't find documented in the Oracle manuals.
Therefor I am wondering, if writeback via the Oracle OLAP DML API is something, which is officially not supported? Or maybe I just didn't look in the right places to find documentation.
BTW: I am looking at this topic from an ISV point of view.
Best regards
Ralf
Edited by: Ralf Steinstraesser on Aug 18, 2009 5:15 AM

hello,
i can only speak about 10 G
There are 2 modes to attach an aw for writing data.
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/olap.102/b14346/dml_x_arcsin011.htm#i1016126
1)In rw mode
Only one user can have an analytic workspace open in read/write at a time
2)in multi mode
A workspace that is attached in multiwriter mode can be accessed simultaneously by several sessions
you find documentation for multi write
http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/B19306_01/olap.102/b14346/dml_appcats003.htm#CHDJFJHD
hope this help you
jean marc

Similar Messages

How do I view data from OLAP DML program or statement?

Hi
I'm struggling to find any information on this topic anywhere on the net:
How to view data produced by an Oracle OLAP DML program or statement.
Background :
I am using the latest AWM to create and maintain dimensions, cubes and measures. However, I've noticed that AWM, Discoverer OLAP, BI Beans, Excel Plug-In et al only provide a fixed set of formula and expressions.
For example, I wanted to created a Standard Deviation (STDEV) on measure. After much searching I learnt that I could do this by creating a custom measure in AWM by importing a measure defined in an XML dcoument as it's not provided by AWM. The output in Discoverer OLAP on the surface seems to give the correct results, however when drilling from high level to lower level of time time dimension hierarchy Discoverer includes the parent value in the calculation and renders the values incorrect.
My alternative is to use OLAP DML, as it provides a richer range of formuale and calculations possibilities and I was hoping to use this functionality to do create the measures. I have the distinct impression, however, that OLAP Worksheet is the only interface out there to do this.
It seems very primitive and limited with regards to data output, almost like SQL*Plus in many ways.
The burning questions I have are :
1) Do I need to write DML programs to perform these custom measure calculations and add them to cubes or do I import the custom measures via AWM and XML?
2) If the answer to question 1 is DML programming, is there a way of viewing the OLAP data output through a GUI interface without embedding the statements in SQL.
3) Has anyone experienced or noticed the same problem with Discoverer OLAP, AWM Viewer that I mentioned above? i,e, statistical functions performed on whole dimension hierarchy rather than lower levels.
I'm hoping someone out there knows what I am trying to do or get at. Keith, any ideas or suggestions?
Thanks
Kind Regards
Greg

Hi Greg,
There are two ways to achieve what you want. Both require the use of custom calculations which cannot be created via the calculation wizard within AWM. To do this the easiest way is step outside of AWM and use the Excel Calculation utility that is on the OLAP OTN home page:
Creating OLAP Calculations using Excel
http://download.oracle.com/otn/java/olap/SpreadsheetCalcs_10203.zip
Readme
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/olap/OLAP_SpreadsheetCalcs.html
(Oracle OLAP DML Reference contains a list of all the OLAP functions that can be used to create a custom calculation. http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/olap/OLAP_DML_10.2.zip)
The Excel tool lets you assign your own formula to a measure and then uploads that measure definition into your AW. It is possible to import a custom calculation template into AWM using the menu option on the Calculated Measure node of each cube, but it is safer to use the Excel Worksheet as this directly uses the public XML API and is always best to use a public API rather than hacking XML templates.
There are two types of custom calculation:
1) Formula: using a formula you can directly call any of the OLAP functions. For example to create a measure that returns the standard deviation for a measure then you would enter the following as the formula for your calculated measure:
stddev(sales_revenue, time)
The easiest way to test if the measure is working as expected is to use the data viewer within AWM.
2) Programs - if the function you need is not provided or you want to do special processing to return a result you can create an OLAP DML program which can return a result. To do this use OLAP Worksheet to define the program and add a datatype to the DEFINE statement, such as :
DEFINE PRG_SD_SALES PROGRAM DECIMAL
In the program return the value you have calculated within your program. Within the program you can do just about anything but be aware that your program is going to fire for every cell within your virtual cube so it must be efficient and fast to execute. For a measure then you would enter the following as the formula for your calculated measure:
prg_sd_sales(time, products, geographies, channels).
The actual program code would look something like this:
DEFINE PRG_SD_REVENUE PROGRAM DECIMAL
PROGRAM
argument T_TIME TIME
argument T_PRODUCT PRODUCTS
argument T_GEOGRAPHY GEOGRAPHIES
argument T_CHANNEL CHANNELS
variable D_RETURN decimal
TEMPSTAT TIME, PRODUCTS, GEOGRAPHIES, CHANNELS
do
limit PRODUCTS to T_PRODUCT
limit CHANNELS to T_CHANNEL
limit GEOGRAPHIES to T_GEOGRAPHY
limit TIME to T_TIME
limit TIME add descendants using TIME_PARENTREL
limit TIME keep TIME_LEVELREL 'CAL_MONTH'
D_RETURN = stddev(SALES_REVENUE)
doend
return D_RETURN
END
This code computes a standard deviation the all months within the specified time range, at year level for all 12 months, at quarter level for the three months within the quarter ans returns NA at the month level.
As the code executes within a implicit loop you can only change the status fo dimensions that for part of that implicit by using the TEMPSTAT command. To test the program at the command line use the OLAP Worksheet and the SHOW command to just return one cell of data, DO NOT SIMPLY USE THE RPR COMMAND because you will have to wait for the whole cube to be returned. If you want to use the RPR command make sure you limit your base dimensions first! You can use PRGTRACE to debug your program code it is not working as expected. Again, the easiest way to test if the measure is working as expected is to use the data viewer within AWM, although this will not return debug information so send all your debug output to a file to capture any errors and/or trace the execution flow.
Hope this helps
Keith Laker
Oracle EMEA Consulting
BI Blog: http://oraclebi.blogspot.com/
DM Blog: http://oracledmt.blogspot.com/
BI on Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/bi/
BI on OTN: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/
BI Samples: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/samples/

Updated OLAP DML Reference 10.2 posted to OTN

The Oracle OLAP DML Reference has been updated with corrections for Oracle Database 10.2. As you may not be aware, this document corresponds to the OHJ Help for Analytic Workspace Manager. You can find the revised doc at :
http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/olap/OLAP_DML_10.2.zip
NOTES :
* The part number is same as the original 10.2 version, however it has an October 2005 date on it.
* Once AWM 10.2.0.2 is released, it will contain the updated, corresponding OHJ Help. AWM 10.2.0.1.0 and 10.2.0.1.0A contain the original 10.2 OHJ Help.

I'm thinking I don't have a real operational problem here, but I do like to tie up any loose ends and keep things as clean as possible.
Ditto....we had many more invalid objects after the upgrade than before and they were all OLAP related. As we weren't using OLAP we did the cleanup to avoid any future issues.
It seems odd to me that if one selects to install Standard Edition One, it would still install EE options at all ..... just to have DBUA choke on them later.
Our Oracle support guy was a bit confused as to why the OLAP removal scripts didn't exist on our server. This was expected for Standard Edition but not Enterprise Edition. Something has probably happened during some migration/upgrade to cause this. In any case removing the objects manually including the public OLAP synonyms resolved our issues.

OLAP DML

Hi!
Does anybody know where can I get information about OLAP DML Language besides Oracle OLAP DML Reference ??
This document is not very "easy going" .
Thanks a lot

I am guessing you know how to use AWM. If you dont, please see the downloads on the right hand side of this web page.
(http://www.oracle.com/technology/tech/bi/index.html)
Login to the AW using AWM, then go to Tools--> Olap Worksheet in the menu. This is sort of SQLPlus for OLAP.
Let me know more details about where u are if you need any more clarity.
Swapan.
null

OLAP DML: How to specify multidimensional QDR(qualified data ref) for Model

Hello,
I'm discovering Oracle OLAP DML and having a hard time understanding how to formulate multidimensional expressions in models.
In a setting with a solution variable (eg. result), I can do:
LIMIT account TO sales.internal
result = result(account '3xxx', consolidation 'internal')
but what to do within a model?
DIMENSION account consolidation
sales.internal = ??? (QDR to limit account to '3xxx' and consolidation to 'internal')
No examples in the OLAP DML doc use multidimensional QDRs in models, and I get a syntax error trying with (account '3xxx', consolidation 'internal').
Any suggestions?
Regards, Hans Henrik

It should look something like this :
MODEL
result(account 'sales.internal') = result(account '3xxx' consolidation 'internal')
END
No dimension statement is needed for variable equation.

Oracle OLAP and Writeback

In reading through the introductory documents and the OLAP Java API and the fact that the article on cell level writeback ( http://oracleolap.blogspot.com/2010/10/cell-level-write-back-via-plsql.html ) in the comments at the end explains that the feature is actually undocumented, I need to ask about writeback.
We are interested in a multi-dimensional solution that will allow top down planners and bottom up planners to create, analyze, publish, and track their plans. This requires writeback capabilities at multiple levels of the various hierarchies.
In looking at the Java API it seems that writeback is not really supported other than through OLAP DML - if it is otherwise supported, I can not find the appropriate API. IT seems to be covered under allocation, unless I am misunderstanding.
It also appears, from another posting in this forum, that AWM does not directly support allocation nor write back, which is fine because we'd probably write our own UI for that. But it does help raise the general writeback question.
In the oracleolap blogspot posting mentioned able, there is a nice article on an undocumented feature that allows for cell level writeback.
So given all this, I am led to wonder if Oracle OLAP really supports writeback as a first class feature or if it really doesn't fit into the overall product offering.
Thanks for any help you can provide
Bob

Full write back capabilities are also available in Escendo Analytics along with a full conversion utility from OFA/OSA to Oracle OLAP and Escendo Analytics.
www.escendo.com for details and demonstrations

How to create a link to base oracle olap express(ODBC DATA source Name)

hello,
How can I create a datasource name, because I want to connect to Express base with Business Objects.
thank you for your help

Express does not support ODBC access, it only supports a proprietary interface called SNAPI. There was a way to connect and pass data backwards and forwards using VB but that was about it. No ODBC connectivity.
If you want to access multi-dimensional data using Business Objects I would recommend upgrading from Express to Oracle OLAP 10gR2. There might be licensing issues here so I would talk to your Oracle account manager first because I am not sure customers can migrate from Express to Oracle OLAP for free.
Once you have moved your data from Express to OLAP 10gR2 (the steps to do this are all in the manual and it should be a painless process) then you can use a utility from Business Objects to create the required relational views over your OLAP cubes and dimensions. This will allow you to access your multi-dimensional data via BO's Webi client. I think the utility to create the views can be provided free of charge from BO, however, I think you need to have access to their support website to download it. But check with your BO account manager.
Hope this helps
Keith

Cube in Oracle Olap 10g

Hi,
We are planning to make a migration of an Existing Cube to Oracle Olap 10g.
Can anybody tell me the complete process to load a OLAP cube, Is it possible to load Cube data from a multi-dimensional variable ?
or, if anyone has a previous experience in this kind of migration and want to share expertice/advice/knoledge.
Where do I get Analitical Workspace Manager?
Is the cube managed like an object?
Thanks

Hi,
This is not the forum for Analytic Workspace Manager. I would suggest to try the oracle olap forum for your questions.
OLAP
Regards,
Ben

How to create a scenario in Oracle OLAP

Hi,
I am new to Oracle OLAP.
I have a requirement where in we need two values 'Vs LY' and 'Vs Plan' which are scenarios to be placed in a dimension.
According to the scenario selected measure values should change.
For example:
Vs LY and Vs Plan are values in scenario dimension and measure should have fomrula
case when Scenario.Member='Vs Plan' then Sales - Planned Sales
when Scenario.Member='Vs LY' the Sales - LY Sales
else
Sales
end
Could you please let me know how to achieve this scenario dimension.
Thanks

Thank you all for your inputs.
If we need to have Foriegn Key for scenario dimension in the measure we will have to duplicate the measure data for each scenario.
If the number of scenarios increase the data increases in the fact table.
Is there any way we can avoid this duplication.

Latest News on MDX and Oracle OLAP (from Simba Technologies)

[http://blogs.simba.com/simba_technologies_ceo_co/2009/05/mdx-query-language-for-oracle-11g-olap-update.html|http://blogs.simba.com/simba_technologies_ceo_co/2009/05/mdx-query-language-for-oracle-11g-olap-update.html]
Excerpt from above Simba Technologies CEO blog*
One interesting thing we found from some of the Beta customers is that they thought this was an Excel only solution. Yes, we are focusing all the efforts for v1 on Excel, but this is planned to be a full blown MDX provider for Oracle OLAP*. Therefore, you will get the entire MDX query language and this interface will be similar to what you have with Microsoft Analysis Services or SAP Business Warehouse. Although v1 will be ODBO only, we are planning to support XMLA in future versions. The priorities for what we support and when will be customer driven. One question I have is after Excel, which MDX application do you think we should test with and support next:
1. SAP Business Objects Crystal Reports
2. SAP Business Objects Voyager
3. MicroStrategy 9
4. Microsoft Reporting Services
5. Microsoft SharePoint BI
6. IBM Cognos Business Intelligence 8
7. Panorama NovaView
.

Thanks very much for your response. Pls find the details as requested. You can reach me in [email protected]
Environment Details
- BO XI 3.1 SP4 Enterprise Premium (incl Voyager) on Win2008 R2 [Tomcat Flavour]
- Oracle 11.2.0.1 Enterprise Edition with OLAP on AIX 6.1
- Simbha MDXProviderForOracleOLAP v2.1.0.23 on Win2008 R2
Cubes are built using AWM 11.2.0.2A.
To be more specific, the issue occurs when we attempt put a filter on the dimension (or select members of the dimension) both in the existing workspaces or when we try to create a new workspace in Voyager. Attaching the screenshot of the error message.
Kindly let us know incase you would require further information. Also, if you would like to have a webex session where I can show the issue, I am happy to do the same.
Edited by: user1572606 on Jan 4, 2012 9:00 PM

Archived Invoices (on separate DB) need to be accessed via Oracle Apps

Hi there,
Our organization is currently on Apps 11.5.10.2 and have acquired a new company which has been moved onto Oracle. However this new company has lots of old invoices that we do not wish to migrate to Oracle as we wish to keep the Apps database lean and fast and this data is used very rarely.
Our plan is to move this data into a separate DB/ Warehouse and build a custom application (using Oracle Forms and Reports) to query the data and print reports.
However, we need to add some sort of link / menu item within Oracle Apps to call this new application when the user wishes to query this archived data.
Is this possible? If so, how can this be achieved? How do we create the link from Apps to another database?
Any help will be much appreciated?
TIA.
Ashika.

Duplicate post.
Archived Invoices to be accessed via Oracle Apps
Re: Archived Invoices to be accessed via Oracle Apps

Hyperion OLAP model vs. Oracle OLAP

Hi, I have a question re: how to properly model stuff in Hyperion OLAP. I know the basics of Essbase, but I've never found out how to do this...
In Oracle OLAP, I can define a set of dimensions, and then create cubes that use any subset of those dimensions.
In Essbase, if I define a set of dimensions, there is only one cube - and it is forced to share ALL of the dimensions.
So I'm always at a loss how to model something that would be pretty simple in Oracle OLAP, like:
Sales cube - dimensioned by time, store, product, customer
Local tax rate cube - dimensioned by time, store (but not product or customer)
Sales goal cube - dimensioned by time, store, product (but not customer)
etc.
What's the best way to handle this in Essbase?
p.s. after these cubes are done, I'll also want to do some formulas like local taxes = sales cube * local tax rate, etc.
Thx,
Scott

Essbase basically has two different design approaches. One you build a cube via Admin services and or load rules, the other is via Integration Services. When using Integration Services, it fits the more traditional build methodology you are familiar with. Via Integration Services you would define a star schema with a fact table and dimensions. You would then build a meta-outline layer where you would define how you want the cube to be built. You could "publish" a cube with all dimensions, or you can have multiple versions of your meta-outline, some that use certain dimensions and others that do not. Within that model you could go one step further and apply filters so you could build two cubes with the same dimensions but filter groups of members out of the dimension in one cube that you allows to flow through in the other cube, or maybe only allow it to build down to a certain level. The options get pretty broad. I think EIS will will get you to what you are familiar with and make a lot more sense. Go to the download site and you can download the docs on EIS to start to get a better idea.

BIB-9505 Oracle OLAP did not create cursor

Hi, I am in New Presentation Wizard trying to create a new Cross tab and receive these error messages:
oracle.dss.dataSource.common.QueryRuntimeException: BIB-9509 Oracle OLAP did not create cursor.
oracle.express.ExpressServerExceptionError class: OLAPI
Server error descriptions:
INI: Error creating a definition manager, Generic at TxsOqConnection::createDefinitionManager
SEL: Unable to generate an execution plan for the query, Generic at TxsOqExecutionPlanGenerator::generate(TxsOqSourceSnapshot*)
SEL: Not Yet Implemented, Generic at TxsOqSQLPersistentExecutionPlanGenerator::generate
oracle.dss.dataSource.common.OLAPException: BIB-9509 Oracle OLAP did not create cursor.
oracle.express.ExpressServerExceptionError class: OLAPI
Server error descriptions:
INI: Error creating a definition manager, Generic at TxsOqConnection::createDefinitionManager
SEL: Unable to generate an execution plan for the query, Generic at TxsOqExecutionPlanGenerator::generate(TxsOqSourceSnapshot*)
SEL: Not Yet Implemented, Generic at TxsOqSQLPersistentExecutionPlanGenerator::generate
oracle.express.ExpressServerExceptionError class: OLAPI
Server error descriptions:
INI: Error creating a definition manager, Generic at TxsOqConnection::crea[i]Long postings are being truncated to ~1 kB at this time.

Actually I am following the example downloaded from www.iafsoft.com (http://www.iafsoft.com/downloads/index.htm presentation number 32106). The example involves only a one dimensional and one measure simple cube which resides in Analytic Workspace. It was demonstrated in one of the Oracle OpenWorld sessions in SF back in November 02. So I trust that it will work.
The environment I have is
Oracle 9.2.0.2.1 (Enterprise Edition)
JDeveloper 9.0.3
Windows 2000 (SP2)
256M memory
(all these run on the same laptop)
In this environment JDeveloper can connect to the database, can access the catalog owned by BIBCAT, can display cubes owned by BIBDEMO, can query data residing in AW through OLAP_TABLE, and can also see the dimension and measure that reside in AW from the presentation wizard. So all this convinces me that installation is ok.
Here's how the error occurs: In the presentation wizard, I select the measure from the left window and move to the right window. I then click the "Next" button to display the layout editor. Then when I click the "Next" button, the wizard won't go to the next step. If I click the "Finish" button instead, the error message will show up.
I am really stumped (for the last several days already) as to w[i]Long postings are being truncated to ~1 kB at this time.

Oracle OLAP:Same member values across dimensions

We had an enquiry from a client which mentions:
Per Essbase the same dimension member value cannot exist across multiple dimensions. e.g. if we have a account dimension with member 1001 , it is not possible to have product dimension with same member value 1001. This is essentially because Essbase implements it like a shared member. Apparently Essbase Excel-addin will not know what dimension to search for if both have same values.
As per our understanding there is no such limitation in Oracle OLAP both during cube build or querying via Excel Add-in. i.e we can have account dimension with member 1001 and same member value can exist in a product dimension. Please advise and if anybody has any reference to any documentation in this regard please let us know.

Hi there,
You are correct - there is no such limitation in Oracle OLAP.
A dimension value must be unique in any given dimension but can be repeated in other dimensions.
I do not have any documentation but this is really easy to prove using the OLAP worksheet in AWM, eg:
aw create test
define dim1 dimension text
maintain dim1 add 'MEMBER1'
report dim1
define dim2 dimension text
maintain dim2 add 'MEMBER1'
report dim2
aw detach test
aw delete testI hope this helps
Thanks,
Stuart Bunby
OLAP Blog: http://oracleOLAP.blogspot.com
OLAP Wiki: http://wiki.oracle.com/page/Oracle+OLAP+Option
OLAP on OTN: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/olap/index.html
DW on OTN : http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/db/11g/index.html

Does Oracle OLAP comes with Oracle Database 10g ?

1.Does Oracle OLAP comes with Oracle Database 10g or do we need seperate software to have this ?.
2.If I create a Cube with Analytic work space manager the cube is going to be stored in the Database ( meaning the in the table space where OLAP is Stored).
3. What is the difference between Analtyic work space manager and discoverer For Olap.
Help is higly appreciated ..
Thanks, Prasad

One thing to point out : The OLAP option is a costed database option, so while this is automatically installed and part of your database you do have to purchase additional licenses to use this feature. You will need to check with your Oracle account manager to see if you are actually licensed to use this feature.
If you have existing 9i OLAP cubes these can be quickly and easily migrated to 10g OLAP and the documentation explains how to do this. However, there are many new features that are part of 10g OLAP that will improve the performance of your data model that will not be enabled as part of a migration process. Based on my experiences it would be quicker and easier (depending on the size of your existing 9i OLAP cubes) to consider rebuilding your data model using these new 10g features. You should be able to export all the dimensions to XML templates from 9i OLAP and import the templates into the 10g schema and reload your dimensions.
For the cubes you will probably want to consider using partitioning, composites and compression to provide maximum flexibility and performance for your new data model. There is more information on these features within the OLAP documentation and in the many whitepapers and presentations on the OLAP home page on OTN.
For moving data from SQL Server to 10g OLAP much depends on the nature of the data transfer. If it is a one-off bulk data load then you could consider using the normal MS command line tools to dump the data out and transfer it to Oracle. Alternatively, you could consider using Oracle Data Integrator to manage the extraction of the SQL Server data and the data load process into Oracle 10g relational tables. If you decide to use Data Integrator this will require additional licenses.
If you can extract the data from SQL Server to flat files you can use Oracle Warehouse Builder (basic ETL is free as part of the 10g database license) to load that flat file data via external tables. Warehouse Builder can also be used to define your OLAP data model (think of Warehouse Builder as a more powerful version of Analytic Workspace Manager) and provides tools to load the data directly into your OLAP dimensions and cubes. You can get more information on managing OLAP data models with Warehouse Builder the Warehouse Builder home page on OTN.
There are no facilities to modify Discoverer Viewer to add customisations. You can add company logos, modify certain colors and/or hide certain features but it is not possible to add additional features. You may want to consider using BI Beans to provide this type of environment. BI Beans is the development framework used to create Discoverer Viewer. You can create customised JSP pages that look identical to Discoverer Viewer pages with the added benefit of providing your own specific features. You can get more information on the BI Beans home page on OTN.
Keith Laker
Oracle EMEA Consulting
BI Blog: http://oraclebi.blogspot.com/
DM Blog: http://oracledmt.blogspot.com/
BI on Oracle: http://www.oracle.com/bi/
BI on OTN: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/
BI Samples: http://www.oracle.com/technology/products/bi/samples/

Whitepaper/Info Budgeting/Planning/Writeback via Oracle OLAP DML

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