Best Practices or

Oracle Business Intelligence

Discoerer Plus OLAP
Version 10.1.2.2

.v Oracte !bite Paer
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OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 2
Best Practices or Oracle Business Intelligence
Discoerer Plus OLAP Version 10.1.2.2
Introduction ....................................................................................................... 4
Using Discoerer Plus OLAP ......................................................................... 4
Designing the Organization o \orkbooks and \orksheets ................ 4
Share a New \orkbook.......................................................................... 4
Share an Lxisting \orkbook.................................................................. 5
Reduce the Number o Crosstab Columns .......................................... 5
Keep the Number o \orksheets in a \orkbook to a Minimum.... 5
Maximize the \orksheet \indow ........................................................ 6
Understand Options or Creating Saed Selections............................ 6
Use the Lxit Command to Lxit a Discoerer Plus OLAP Session .. 6
Capture Diagnostic Inormation............................................................ 6
Designing Indiidual \orksheets .............................................................. 6
Use lierarchical Conditions in Place o Very Long Lists o
Dimension Members ...............................................................................
1ry to Create Dimension Selections with as lew Steps as Possible.
Make the Criteria as Precise as Possible................................................
Limit the Use o Null and Zero Value Settings ................................... 8
Limit the Use o Manual Sort................................................................. 8
Coniguring Discoerer Plus OLAP .............................................................. 8
Run Custom Code at Startup...................................................................... 8
Pre-conigure Connections.......................................................................... 9
Use URL Parameters to Start Discoerer Plus OLAP............................ 9
Change the Discoerer Plus OLAP Look and leel............................... 10
Understand low to Change Settings in the configuration.xml
lile................................................................................................................. 10
Adjust the OLAP Buer Size............................................................... 10
Change the Behaior o Alphabetical Sorting.................................... 11
Select the Aailable lormats Copied to the \indows Clipboard... 11
Conigure the Jaa-Client Memory Setting............................................. 11
Identiy Discoerer Plus OLAP Database Sessions .............................. 12
Conigure Database Connection 1imeout .............................................. 13
Managing the Discoerer Catalog................................................................. 13
Use the Discoerer Administration 1ools rom the Command Line. 13
Lnsure that Users Lxist in the 1arget Lnironment Prior to Importing
Discoerer Catalogs.................................................................................... 14
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Use the BI Beans Administration 1ool to Perorm line-Grained
Import and Lxports o \orkbooks......................................................... 15
Setting up the Analytic \orkspace............................................................... 15
Assign Attributes to the lierarchies to \hich 1hey Apply................. 15
Make lormula Lquations Perormant..................................................... 15
Implement Dimension Value Orderings Using an Alternate lierarchy
or a Dimension Attribute .......................................................................... 15
Implement Dimension Value Selections Using Attributes Deined in
the Analytic \orkspace ............................................................................. 16
1uning 1ips or the RDBMS with the OLAP Option.............................. 16
Know \our System.................................................................................... 16
Increase Size o Redo Logs ....................................................................... 1
Set the SGA_1ARGL1, PGA_AGGRLGA1L_1ARGL1,
DB_CAClL_SIZL, and OLAP_PAGL_POOL_SIZL Parameters to
Recommended Values................................................................................ 18
Set Parameters or Analytic \orkspace Build Jobs............................... 19
Reerences ........................................................................................................ 20


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Best Practices or Oracle Business Intelligence
Discoerer Plus OLAP Version 10.1.2.2
INTRODUCTION
Oracle Business Intelligence Discoerer Plus OLAP ,Discoerer Plus OLAP, is a
powerul Business Intelligence tool that enables ad hoc query and analysis o data
stored in the Oracle Database OLAP option. An intuitie wizard allows the user to
quickly create queries to get insight into their data. 1he results o this analysis can
be published on the Internet or corporate intranet using Discoerer Viewer or by
taking adantage o Discoerer's natie integration with Oracle Portal. 1his white
paper describes best practices or query creation and worksheet design to optimize
perormance and make the process o analysis easier or end users. Also included
are sections that contain tips or optimum system coniguration.
1his document applies to Discoerer Plus OLAP 10g Release 2 ,10.1.2.2, and is
intended or end users, administrators, application implementers, and Oracle
database administrators.
USING DISCOVERER PLUS OLAP
As an end user designing workbooks and worksheets in Discoerer Plus OLAP,
you can use arious techniques to optimize the execution o these workbooks. 1he
ollowing sections describe what you can do.
Designing the Organization of Workbooks and Worksheets
1he ollowing sections describe best practices to consider when designing the
organization o workbooks and worksheets.
Share a New Workbook
I you plan to share a new workbook with others, ollow these steps:
1. Sae the new workbook in the Shared,v.ervave older as opposed to
the Users,v.ervave older. 1he Shared,v.ervave older is conigured
such that you can proide access to other users.
2. Change the access priileges or other users using the Manage Catalog
dialog to open the Properties dialog o the workbook.
3. Lnsure that saed selections or calculations that this shared workbook
uses exist in the Shared,v.ervave older. Moe the objects there i they
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 5
are located somewhere else, do not copy them. Gie other users the same
access to these objects as or the workbook. I you cannot change the
priileges, ask the Discoerer Administrator to change the priileges or
you.
Note: 1he sharing o saed selections and calculations is a eature that is
likely to be enhanced in a uture release o Discoerer Plus OLAP.
Share an Existing Workbook
I you plan to share an existing workbook with others, then ollow these steps:
1. Copy the workbook to the Shared,v.ervave older, i it is not already
located there.
2. Change the access priileges or other users using the Manage Catalog
dialog to open the Properties dialog o the workbook.
3. Lnsure that saed selections or calculations that this shared workbook
uses exist in the Shared,v.ervave older. Moe the objects there i they
are located somewhere else, do not copy them. Gie other users the same
access to these objects as or the workbook. I you cannot change the
priileges, ask the Discoerer Administrator to change the priileges or
you.
Note: 1he sharing o saed selections and calculations is a eature that is
likely to be enhanced in a uture release o Discoerer Plus OLAP.
Reduce the Number of Crosstab CoIumns
In general, Discoerer Plus OLAP optimizes access to the multidimensional result
set when there are ewer crosstab columns and more crosstab rows. Consider
putting additional dimension selections on the page edge, or hiding dimensions that
are not critical or your analysis. lidden dimensions appear on the lidden
Dimensions panel along with the members o the dimensions to use in the
ealuation o the query.
Keep the Number of Worksheets in a Workbook to a Minimum
Discoerer Plus OLAP workbooks are a conenient way to organize multiple
worksheets. \hen an end user enters a worksheet or the irst time during a
Discoerer or OLAP session, the underlying query is executed and the
corresponding RDBMS resources are cached while the workbook is open. 1his can
aect the oerall system perormance i there are many concurrent users working
with large workbooks that contain many worksheets. 1hereore, keep the number
o worksheets in a workbook to a minimum. In particular, reiew any saed
workbooks and determine whether they contain obsolete worksheets that you can
delete.
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Maximize the Worksheet Window
Discoerer Plus OLAP supports iewing multiple worksheets at once within
separate sub-windows. 1his can be ery useul, but it requires that att underlying
queries be executed when the parent workbook is opened. I the workbook
contains many worksheets with long-running queries, keep the worksheet window
maximized so that only the current worksheet query is executed when the
workbook is reopened.
Understand Options for Creating Saved SeIections
\hen creating a saed selection, you can use one o two options in the Sae
Selection As dialog:
1. \hen you choose the Save Steps option, the saed selection is
reealuated eery time it is reerenced in a worksheet. 1his ery powerul
eature can aect perormance i the dimension selection consists o many
complex steps such as data-based exceptions, top v alues, and so on.
2. \hen you choose the Save Members option, the saed selection is
ealuated only at the time o the sae operation. \hen this saed selection
is reerenced in a worksheet, it always reers to the same ixed set o
dimension members. 1his option is less lexible ,or example, dimension
members added to the database later on will not be included,, but it will
sometimes result in aster execution times.
Use the Exit Command to Exit a Discoverer PIus OLAP Session
\hen shutting down a Discoerer Plus OLAP session, encourage end users to
always use the Lxit command rom the lile menu. 1he use o this command
ensures that the RDBMS connection is closed in a timely manner and that shared
RDBMS resources are released. Simply closing the browser window without
shutting down the application will cause RDBMS resources to be held until the
underlying connection times out.
Capture Diagnostic Information
I you encounter errors while using Discoerer Plus OLAP, then capture any error
messages that are displayed. In addition, launch the Diagnose Connection dialog
rom the lelp menu in order to capture details about the Discoerer Plus OLAP
enironment. Options are aailable to run Quick and Lxtensie diagnoses and to
sae the results to a ile. Reer to the low to inspect the database schema and
connection` lelp topic or additional inormation.
Designing IndividuaI Worksheets
1he ollowing sections describe best practices to consider when designing
indiidual worksheets.
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Use HierarchicaI Conditions in PIace of Very Long Lists of Dimension Members
I you ind yoursel expanding the Members tab in the Discoerer Plus OLAP
Naigator and dragging all the members o a dimension ,or an entire branch o the
hierarchy sub-tree,, then consider using the Query \izard to create a hierarchical
condition that reerences the same set o dimension members. \ou can easily create
conditions based upon:
o Parent-child relationships ,children, siblings, descendents, and so on,
o lierarchical relationships relatie to a speciied leel
o All dimension members at a speciied leel
o All dimension members across all leels
Try to Create Dimension SeIections with as Few Steps as PossibIe
1he Discoerer Plus OLAP model or describing dimension selections through a
series o step-by-step reinements is ery powerul and easy to use. loweer, when
designing a worksheet that will be accessed by many users oer an extended period
o time, take extra care to reduce the number o query steps or each dimension
selection.
1he ollowing list proides examples o reducing the number o query steps:
o Collapse multiple match conditions into a single condition. lor example,
instead o a dimension selection that looks like this:
Start with: Products containing Audio
Then Add: Products containing Video
Then Add: Products containing Game
Consider creating a single match condition with a comma-delimited set o
criteria:
Start with: Products containing Audio,Video,Game
o Ask the database administrator to create additional attributes to
characterize complex ,but common, sets o dimension members. lor
example, i you ind that you must speciy multiple steps to obtain all the
members o an Account dimension that represent expense items, then ask
the administrator to create an Lxpense attribute or Account ,with alues
o \LS or NO,, so that you can reerence all expense items with a single
match condition. Alternatiely, the administrator can create a generic Item
1ype attribute and proide a List o Values ,LOV, that consists o
multiple types.
Make the Criteria as Precise as PossibIe
Gie criteria as much precision as you can. lor example, when creating a match
condition, you will see slightly better perormance i you speciy a particular label
type. Also, i you are conident o capitalization, then check the Match Case box.
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Limit the Use of NuII and Zero VaIue Settings
Discoerer Plus OLAP worksheets expose properties or hiding rows or columns
that contain only null alues or only null alues and zeroes. Setting these properties
can be ery useul, but the use o this eature can be detrimental to query execution
perormance, particularly when the underlying data is ery sparse.
Limit the Use of ManuaI Sort
Discoerer Plus OLAP supports precise control o how dimension members are
ordered. Lxamples o sort order include:
o Moe Z irst
o Moe B beore A
o Drag and drop o dimension members in the Members tab
1his eature is ery powerul but does aect worksheet perormance. I you ind
that you create precise sort criteria on a regular basis, then consider asking the
database administrator to create additional metadata to make this easier. Options
that are aailable to the administrator include:
o Creating alternate hierarchies with custom sort orders
o Creating new attributes or measures to be used within sort criteria
CONFIGURING DISCOVERER PLUS OLAP
As an administrator who conigures Discoerer Plus OLAP, you can use arious
techniques to manage the application. 1he ollowing sections describe what you can
do.
Run Custom Code at Startup
Discoerer Plus OLAP allows you to run PL,SQL code at the start o the
application. lor example, you can run custom PL,SQL at startup to log the
number o times that the application is started, to pre-attach an analytic workspace,
to turn on SQL 1race, and so on.
1o register a custom action, you need to create a procedure called
D4O_AU1OGO in the D4OS\S schema.
User Logging Lxample: 1hese steps describe how to use the D4O_AU1OGO
program to log the number o times that the application is started:
1. Create the D4O_LOG table deinition, which will contain the login
entries:
CREATE TABLE D4O_LOG (USERNAME VARCHAR(32), WHEN TIMESTAMP);
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2. Create the D4O_AU1OGO procedure:
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE D4O_AUTOGO(user IN varchar) AS
BEGIN
INSERT INTO D4O_LOG VALUES(user, sysdate);
COMMIT;
END;
3. Query recent user sessions:
SELECT * FROM D4O_LOG ORDER BY WHEN DESC;
Note: \ou can also execute OLAP DML commands using the PL,SQL package
DBMS_A\.LXLCU1L command.
Pre-configure Connections
I you associate the OracleBI Discoerer installation with an Oracle Application
Serer ,OracleAS, Inrastructure instance, then users can sae their own
connections. 1his allows end users to start Discoerer Plus OLAP without haing
to speciy the connection inormation and their user IDs. lor security reasons, they
must speciy their passwords.
I OracleAS Single Sign-On ,SSO, is enabled, then Discoerer end users can be
authenticated by OracleAS Single Sign-On and can select a connection without
conirming their passwords.
lor inormation on associating a Discoerer installation with an OracleAS
Inrastructure, see Chapter 2, About Oracle Business Intelligence installations and
OracleAS Inrastructures` in the Oracte v.ive.. vtettigevce Di.corerer Covfigvratiov
Cviae.
lor more inormation on Connections and SSO, see Chapter 4, Managing
OracleBI Discoerer connections` in the Oracte v.ive.. vtettigevce Di.corerer
Covfigvratiov Cviae.
Use URL Parameters to Start Discoverer PIus OLAP
\ou can use URL parameters to start Discoerer Plus OLAP. lor example, i you
use URL parameters to speciy that the workbook and worksheet be opened by
deault along with preconigured connections, then users can create \eb pages
with links that immediately launch Discoerer Plus OLAP ava automatically open
speciied worksheets.
1he ollowing sample URL launches Discoerer Plus OLAP and ater the user
enters an appropriate password, automatically opens a workbook named linance
and a worksheet named Proit:
http://discoolap1.us.oracle.com/discoverer/plus?workbookname=
Users/<user>/Finance&sheet=Profit
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lor a list o the Discoerer Plus OLAP URL parameters, see the URL parameters
or the Discoerer Plus OLAP Serlet` topic in the Oracte v.ive.. vtettigevce
Di.corerer Covfigvratiov Cviae.
Change the Discoverer PIus OLAP Look and FeeI
\ou can change the look and eel o Discoerer Plus OLAP. 1here are our look
and eel options rom which you can choose:
o plastic ,deault,
o system ,which gies a more natie operating system-like look and eel,
o browser
o oracle
1o change the look and eel, use the Oracle Application Serer Control or the URL
parameter lookandeelname. lor inormation on using the Oracle Application
Serer Control or the URL parameter lookandeelname to change the look and eel,
see the Oracte v.ive.. vtettigevce Di.corerer Covfigvratiov Cviae.
Understand How to Change Settings in the configuration.xml FiIe
\ou can adjust a small set o coniguration options by directly editing the
configuration.xml ile in the <IAS_HOME>/discoverer/config directory on the
host machine where Discoerer is installed. I it does not already exist, then you
must add a new <D4O> element ,just beore the </plus> tag, and include one or
more o these coniguration options as attributes within that single <D4O> element.
Adjust the OLAP Buffer Size
By deault, data is etched rom the RDBMS into the Discoerer Plus OLAP client
in increments o 1000 records. I the majority o worksheets in the installation are
ery large ,or example, greater than 100 columns, and i end users complain about
the resulting perormance ,particularly during scrolling,, then consider adjusting the
deault OLAP buer size.
Use the OlapBuerSize attribute to speciy a new deault OLAP buer size. lor
example, to change the deault OLAP buer size to 10,000 records, add the
ollowing to the <D4O> element:
<D4O OlapBufferSize="10000" />
In order to actiate the setting or existing workbooks ,that is, existing beore the
OlapBuerSize setting was added,, you must open and sae all workbooks again to
enable the setting.
Increasing the deault OLAP buer size can improe scrolling perormance within
large worksheets, but at the expense o degrading perormance when the workbook
is irst opened and the additional data is etched rom the RDBMS. 1hereore,
experiment with dierent settings to ind the right balance or your installation.
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Change the Behavior of AIphabeticaI Sorting
By deault, sort criteria are ealuated relatie to the implicit order as speciied by
the hierarchy o the selection. lor example, when sorting Products alphabetically
rom A to Z, the deault behaior sorts all siblings alphabetically in ascending order,
but retains them under their hierarchical parent.
Many installations that work extensiely with alue-based hierarchies ,that is,
parent-child hierarchies without named leels, preer alphabetical sorting to be
ealuated uniormly across the selection results, without regard to the implicit
hierarchy order. I that is the case, then change the deault behaior o alphabetical
sorting or selections on alue-based hierarchies with the
AlphabeticalSortingBetweenLeels attribute. Valid alues or this attribute are
alse` ,the deault, or true`. lor example, to change the deault behaior so that
alphabetical sorting or selections is ealuated without regard to the implicit
alue-based hierarchy order, add the ollowing to the <D4O> element:
<D4O AlphabeticalSortingBetweenLevels="true" />
Important: 1o change the alphabetical sorting behaior o an existing workbook,
you must delete and re-create the corresponding Sort Criteria, then resae the
workbook.
SeIect the AvaiIabIe Formats Copied to the Windows CIipboard
By deault, data copied rom a Discoerer Plus OLAP worksheet is placed on the
\indows Clipboard in both Lxcel ,l1ML, ormat ,which includes all ont and
style inormation, and in tab-delimited ormat ,which does not include any ont or
style inormation,. I end users require only one o these ormats, then you can
restrict the aailable ormats copied to the \indows Clipboard with the
CopyDatallaor attribute. Valid alues or this attribute are both` ,the deault,,
excel`, or text`. lor example, to change the deault behaior so that worksheet
data is copied to the \indows Clipboard only as tab-delimited text, add the
ollowing to the <D4O> element:
<D4O CopyDataFlavor="text" />
An added adantage o restricting the aailable ormats that are copied to the
\indows Clipboard is improed perormance o copy and paste operations.
Configure the Java-CIient Memory Setting
Both Discoerer Plus Relational and Discoerer Plus OLAP run as Jaa applets in a
browser. 1he maximum amount o memory that these programs are allowed to use
is controlled by the Jaa runtime enironment that is installed or the browser. 1his
enironment is generally either the Sun Jaa Plug-in or the Oracle JInitiator Plug-in.
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Both the Sun Jaa Plug-in and the Oracle JInitiator Plug-in allocate a maximum o
64Mb o memory to an indiidual applet. In some cases, this amount o memory is
insuicient, especially when using larger workbooks, or i running large print or
export jobs. \ou might see an Insuicient memory` error message or ery slow
perormance.
1o preent insuicient memory errors, increase the amount o memory that the
applet can use. Neer increase this amount beyond 5 o the physical memory on
the machine. 1he ollowing examples describe how to increase the memory to
256Mb.
Lxample J: Changing the memory setting or the Sun Jaa Plug-in to 256 Mb. 1he
steps in this procedure can ary depending on the Sun Jaa ersion:
1. Launch the \indows Control Panel by selecting Start, Settings, Control
Panel.
2. Launch the Sun Jaa Plug-in control rom within \indows Control Panel.
3. On the Jaa tab, click the Jaa application runtime settings and type the
ollowing in the Jaa runtime parameters column:
-Xmx256m
Lxample 2: Changing the memory setting or the Oracle JInitiator Plug-in to 256
Mb
1. Launch the \indows Control Panel by selecting Start, Settings, Control
Panel.
2. Launch the Oracle JInitiator Plug-in control rom within \indows
Control Panel.
3. On the Basic tab, type the ollowing in the Jaa runtime parameters ield:
-Xmx256m
Identify Discoverer PIus OLAP Database Sessions
I you ,or your Oracle database administrator, want to monitor the Discoerer Plus
OLAP database sessions using, or example, SQLPlus, you can identiy the
database sessions by iltering on the session property client_ino` to display only
the Discoerer Plus OLAP sessions. All Discoerer Plus OLAP client sessions
hae Discoerer Plus OLAP` as the alue or this property.
1o see all the Discoerer Plus OLAP sessions, enter the ollowing SQL command:
SELECT SID FROM SYS.V_$SESSION WHERE CLIENT_INFO ='DISCOVERER PLUS
OLAP';
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Configure Database Connection Timeout
Lnd users might leae their sessions open too long or might close Discoerer Plus
OLAP with the x` button in the upper-right corner o the window instead o
choosing Lxit rom the lile menu. ,See the section Use the Lxit Command to
Lxit a Discoerer Plus OLAP Session.`, 1o improe perormance under these
conditions, use a database setting to orce inactie sessions to time out
automatically.
1he ollowing steps describe how to set the database time-out period rom
SQLPlus. Alternatiely you can use the Database Resource Manager in Database
Control.
1. Lnable resource limits dynamically with the AL1LR S\S1LM statement
and the RLSOURCL_LIMI1 initialization parameter.
SQL>CONNECT SYS AS SYSDBA;
SQL>ALTER SYSTEM SET RESOURCE_LIMIT=TRUE SCOPE=BOTH;
2. Create a proile using the CRLA1L PROlILL statement. Include the
IDLL_1IML resource parameter in the CRLA1L PROlILL or AL1LR
PROlILL SQL statements to speciy the permitted periods o continuous
inactie time during a database session, expressed in minutes. \hen the
inactiity o the session exceeds the IDLL_1IML limit, the session is
rolled back. Long-running queries and other operations are not subject to
this limit.
1he ollowing example code deines the database time-out limit as 120
minutes.
SQL>CREATE PROFILE d4ouser1_profile LIMIT IDLE_TIME 120;
3. Assign the proile to the Discoerer Plus OLAP user with the CRLA1L
USLR or AL1LR USLR statement.
SQL> ALTER USER d4ouser1 PROFILE d4ouser1_profile;
I the user tries to access the session ater the IDLL_1IML limit is exceeded, then
an error such as the ollowing one is displayed or the user and in the error stack:
ORA-02396: exceeded maximum idle time, please connect again
MANAGING THE DISCOVERER CATALOG
As an administrator, you can use arious techniques to manage the Discoerer
Catalog ,a ery powerul and lexible content store or workbooks, calculations, and
saed selections,. 1he ollowing sections describe what you can do.
Use the Discoverer Administration TooIs from the Command Line
Discoerer Plus OLAP includes a command-line utility or perorming
administratie unctions. 1his utility is called d4o.jar and it resides in the directory
<IAS_HOME>\sysman\webapps\emd\WEB-INF\lib.
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1he syntax o this utility is as ollows:
java -classpath d4o.jar oracle.dss.d4o.administration.D4OCommand -h
<host> -po <port> -sid <sid> -p <d4osys-password> <subcommand>
where:
o <host> is the IP address or host name o the machine on which
Discoerer Plus OLAP is installed.
o <port> is the port number on which Discoerer Plus OLAP is installed.
o <sid> is the SID o the database on which the Discoer Catalog is
running.
o <d4osys-password> is the database password or the D4OS\S database
account. D4OS\S contains the Discoerer Catalog schema.
o <subcommand> is the D4OCommand to execute. Some o these commands
are listed here:
o users: Lists the authorized Discoerer users.
o ersion: Displayed the Discoerer Catalog ersion number.
o allUsers: Lists all the users in the database.
o export - fitevave: Lxports the contents o the Discoerer
Catalog to the speciied ile.
o import - fitevave: Imports the contents rom the speciied ile.
o authorize -u v.ervave - Authorizes the speciied database
user.
o install: Installs the Discoerer Catalog.
o deinstall: Remoes the Discoerer Catalog.
Obtain a list o all aailable commands by entering the ollowing command:
java -classpath d4o.jar oracle.dss.d4o.administration.D4OCommand
Ensure that Users Exist in the Target Environment Prior to Importing
Discoverer CataIogs
\hen you import catalog contents rom one Discoerer Catalog to another, all
path names o the exported objects ,workbooks, calculations, and saed selections,
are presered in the catalog. Because most objects are stored in the
Users,v.ervave older or the Shared,v.ervave older, it is important that
these olders exist. 1hereore, to acilitate a successul import, ensure that all users
exist in the target enironment prior to the import.
lor any users that do not exist in the target enironment, you must create them
with the database administration tools and authorize them using the Discoerer
administration tools.
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Use the BI Beans Administration TooI to Perform Fine-Grained Import
and Exports of Workbooks
\ou might want to moe only a small number o workbooks rom one Discoerer
Catalog to another. 1o do so, use the Oracle Business Intelligence Beans ,BI
Beans, command-line utilities, which allow more ine-grained export and import
options. \hen you export a workbook, all objects on which it depends, such as
saed selections and calculations, are also exported.
1he command to export a single workbook is as ollows
java -classpath d4o.jar oracle.dss.persistence.administration.Export
-h <host> -po <port> -sid <sid> -j thin -c jdbc -u D4OSYS -p
<d4osys-password> -lu D4OSYS export.xml Users/<user>/myworkbook
1he command to import a single workbook is as ollows:
java -classpath d4o.jar oracle.dss.persistence.administration.Import
-h <host> -po <port> -sid <sid> -j thin -c jdbc -u D4OSYS -p
<d4osys-password> -lu D4OSYS export.xml Users/<user>/myworkbook
SETTING UP THE ANALYTIC WORKSPACE
As an application implementer who is setting up a standard orm analytic
workspace that is accessed by end-user tools, you can use arious techniques to
optimize analytic workspace perormance. 1he ollowing sections describe what
you can do.
Assign Attributes to the Hierarchies to Which They AppIy
I you add new dimension attributes, then ensure that they are assigned ovt, to the
hierarchy or hierarchies to which they apply. 1o do so, in Analytic \orkspace
Manager, use the Apply Attributes 1o area toward the bottom o the General tab
when creating or modiying a dimension attribute. Alternatiely, you can use the
Oracle OLAP Analytic \orkspace Jaa API.
Make FormuIa Equations Performant
I you modiy standard orm measure ormula equations, then ensure that they are
as perormant as possible.
OLAP Applied Lngineering is aailable to reiew any modiied ormula equations
or good practice. Contact your account team to request a reiew by OLAP
Applied Lngineering.
ImpIement Dimension VaIue Orderings Using an AIternate Hierarchy or
a Dimension Attribute
\ou can implement dimension alue orderings that are used requently in end-user
reports using an alternate hierarchy with that ordering or by using a dimension
attribute o type text. 1o establish these structures, use Analytic \orkspace
Manager or the Analytic \orkspace Jaa API.
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 16
lor more inormation about Analytic \orkspace Manager or the Analytic
\orkspace Jaa API, see Oracte O.P .ticatiov Deretoer. Cviae.
ImpIement Dimension VaIue SeIections Using Attributes Defined in the
AnaIytic Workspace
\ou can implement dimension alue selections or Discoerer Plus OLAP users
using attributes that are deined in the analytic workspace. Implement these
attributes as analytic workspace relations, check the Index box on the Create
Attribute screen in Analytic \orkspace Manager or perorm the equialent
operation using the Analytic \orkspace Jaa API.
TUNING TIPS FOR THE RDBMS WITH THE OLAP OPTION
As an Oracle DBA tuning the RDBMS, you can use arious techniques to optimize
perormance.
Note: Database tuning is a complex task. 1he suggestions presented in this section
are airly general in nature. \ou can contact an Oracle OLAP tuning expert through
your account team who can discuss speciic issues or who can perorm a thorough
analysis o your Oracle database system.
lor any discussions with an Oracle OLAP tuning expert, hae detailed hardware
speciications on CPU, memory, disk I,O, and a list o the current database
parameter settings. Also create an Automatic Database Diagnostic Management
Report, as described in the next section.
Know Your System
I the database instance or Discoerer Plus OLAP is not on a dedicated machine,
then you should establish a baseline resource utilization record or your system to
determine resource aailability or Oracle OLAP.
1o analyze database resource use either or a baseline determination or or
measurement during Oracle OLAP usage, perorm the ollowing steps:
o During peak load and at reasonable time interals, take workload
snapshots to establish resource utilization records or your system.
1o take a snapshot, use this command:
exec dbms_workload_repository.create_snapshot();
1o identiy all the Automatic \orkload Repository ,A\R, Snapshots that
hae been taken, use this script:
set lines 110 pages 1000
col SNAP heading "Snap"
col BEGIN heading "Begin"
col END heading "End"
col LVL format 9999 heading "Level"
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 17
select snap_id snap, to_char(begin_interval_time, 'DD-MON-YYYY
HH24:MI:SS') as begin,
to_char(end_interval_time, 'DD-MON-YYYY HH24:MI:SS') as end,
snap_level lvl
from dba_hist_snapshot where end_interval_time > systimestamp-
5/24;
Lxample: A\R Snapshots that occurred oer the last 5 hours
Snap Begin End Level
---------- -------------------- -------------------- -----
508 08-AUG-2006 11:00:59 08-AUG-2006 12:00:12 1
509 08-AUG-2006 12:00:12 08-AUG-2006 13:00:25 1
510 08-AUG-2006 13:00:25 08-AUG-2006 14:00:38 1
511 08-AUG-2006 14:00:38 08-AUG-2006 15:00:50 1
507 08-AUG-2006 10:00:46 08-AUG-2006 11:00:59 1
o Run reports.
1o run the Automatic \orkload Repository Report, use this command
@ <path>\rdbms\admin\awrrpt.sql
1o run the Automatic Database Diagnostic Management Report, use this
command:
@ <path>\rdbms\admin\addmrpt.sql
1he snapshots and reports will help you understand what resources are aailable
and proide inormation on techniques to reach your perormance goal with Oracle
OLAP.
Lnsure that the hardware on which the RDBMS is installed is balanced so that no
one aspect causes perormance bottlenecks. Automatic Database Diagnostic
Monitor ,ADDM, is a ery useul tool or this task. laster CPUs, increased system
memory, and aster and better-balanced I,O all contribute to better perormance
when kept in balance.
O the arious choices or disk data access, Automatic Storage Management ,ASM,
is the recommended choice as it proides good perormance with conenient
storage management.
lor more inormation on ADDM, see the article A Closer Look at ADDM,`
which you can ind here:
www.oracle.com/technology/oramag/oracle/04may/o34tech_talking.html
Increase Size of Redo Logs
Check the alert log or the requency o switching to output redo logs. I this
switching occurs more requently than approximately eery 10 minutes, then
increase the size o the redo logs. A size o 500Mb to 1Gb generally works well.
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 18
Set the SGA_TARGET, PGA_AGGREGATE_TARGET, DB_CACHE_SIZE,
and OLAP_PAGE_POOL_SIZE Parameters to Recommended VaIues
Set the PGA_AGGRLGA1L_1ARGL1 and SGA_1ARGL1 parameters to 35
o aailable memory each as a starting point. Check the ADDM output periodically
to see i these settings should be changed. By deault, the components o the SGA
,System Global Area, are controlled automatically, which is recommended.
1he PGA_AGGRLGA1L_1ARGL1 setting indirectly controls two important
memory areas used by Oracle OLAP:
o 1he database cache
Set the DB_CAClL_SIZL to 0 ,the deault, to engage automatic memory
allocation.
o 1he Oracle OLAP page pool
o Set the OLAP_PAGL_POOL_SIZL parameter to 0 ,the
deault,, which engages the automatic and dynamic sizing o the
Oracle OLAP page pool.
o Set the _OLAP_PAGL_POOL_lI parameter, which controls
the maximum amount o OLAP page pool allocated to any one
user, to its deault o 50. 1his allows a user to get up to 50 o
the PGA_AGGRLGA1L_1ARGL1 alue. lor large user
communities, it may be desirable to set this parameter to a lower
alue.
\ou can learn the ollowing inormation or each user who accesses analytic
workspaces:
o 1he amount o PGA ,Program Global Area, that is in use and that is the
maximum size.
o 1he size o the Oracle OLAP page pool.
o 1he hit,miss ratio or Oracle OLAP pages.
1o learn this inormation, use the ollowing script:
set lines 110 pages 500
col usn format a24 heading "User (SID,SERIAL#)"
col pga_used format 9,990.9 heading "PGA Use|MB"
col pga_max format 9,990.9 heading "PGA Max|MB"
col olap_pp format 9,990.9 heading "OLAP|Pg Pool|MB"
col aw_cnt format 999 heading "AW|CNT"
col olap_hrate format 99.9 heading "OLAP|Hit|Rate"
bre on REPORT;
comp avg lab Average of aw_cnt on REPORT;
comp avg lab Average of olap_hrate on REPORT;
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 19
comp avg lab Average of pga_used on REPORT;
comp avg lab Average of pga_max on REPORT;
comp avg lab Average of olap_pp on REPORT;
select vs.username||' ('||vs.sid||','||vs.serial#||')' usn,
round(sum(pga_used_mem)/1024/1024,1) pga_used,
round(sum(pga_max_mem)/1024/1024,1) pga_max,
round(sum(pool_size)/1024/1024,1) olap_pp,
round(100*(sum(pool_hits)/(sum(pool_hits)+sum(pool_misses))),1)
olap_hrate,
count(aw_number) aw_cnt
from v$process vp, v$session vs, v$aw_calc va, v$aw_olap vo
where va.session_id=vs.sid and vo.session_id=va.session_id and addr =
paddr
group by vs.username, vs.sid, vs.serial#
order by vs.username, vs.sid, vs.serial#;
Lxample: 1he ollowing report shows the PGA ,in use and maximum,, Page Pool
size, and Pages lit,Miss Ratio numbers or the SCO11 and ADAM users. 1he
OLAP A\ CN1` column contains the number o analytic workspaces that each
user attached.
OLAP OLAP
PGA Use PGA Max PG Pool Hit AW
User (SID,SERIAL#) MB MB MB Rate CNT
------------------------ -------- -------- -------- ----- ----
SCOTT (140,62) 283.1 562.3 18.5 99.8 3
ADAM (138,24) 56.5 77.3 26.6 99.3 3
-------- -------- -------- ----- ----
Average 169.8 319.8 22.6 99.6 3
Set Parameters for AnaIytic Workspace BuiId Jobs
Single process analytic workspace builds can use parallel updating processes when
the analytic workspace is updated with the UPDA1L command in the OLAP
DML. 1his can increase the speed o the updating process signiicantly.
1o turn on parallel update or analytic workspaces, use the ollowing commands:
alter session set "_olap_parallel_update_threshold"=1000 scope=spfile;
alter session set "_olap_parallel_update_small_threshold"=1000
scope=spfile;
I an analytic workspace build uses concurrent processes, then do not use parallel
updating processes.
1o turn o parallel update or analytic workspaces, use the ollowing commands:
OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Best Practices Page 20
alter system set "_olap_parallel_update_threshold"=2147483647
scope=spfile;
alter system set "_olap_parallel_update_small_threshold"=2147483647
scope=spfile;
REFERENCES
1o learn more about Discoerer Plus OLAP, consult the ollowing resources:
o Discoerer Documentation on the Oracle 1echnology Network
\ou can ind this documentation here:
http:,,www.oracle.com,technology,documentation,discoerer.html
o Discoerer Plus OLAP help system
Click the lelp button or press l1 in any Discoerer Plus OLAP dialog to
display context sensitie help, or choose lelp | lelp 1opics to see a list
o the topics in the help system.
1o ind a topic in the help system, use the:
o Contents tab to see a structured list o the topics in the help
system
o Index tab to search the help system using pre-deined keywords
and phrases
o Search tab to search the help system or keywords and phrases
that you deine
o Oracle By Lxample ,OBL, Series
\ou can ind this series here:
http:,,www.oracle.com,technology,obe,obe_bi,bi_10122,index.html
o Oracle BI Samples
\ou can ind these samples here:
http:,,www.oracle.com,technology,products,bi,samples,index.html




Best Practices for OracIe Business InteIIigence Discoverer PIus OLAP Version 10.1.2.2
January 2007

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