Working with Data Warehouse

Administration Console

Exploring DAC

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 Lesson Objectives

• After completing this lesson, you should be able to:

– Use the tools and views of the Data Warehouse
Administration Console (DAC)
– Describe DAC objects, how they relate to each other, and
their roles in Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse
(OBAW) ETL

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 Data Warehouse Administration Console

• Is a centralized console to design, configure and

execute ETL for loading the Oracle Business Analytics
Warehouse
– Single command and control point for the OBAW
• Provides a framework for managing the entire life cycle
of OBAW implementations
• Provides an ‘easy-to-use’ interface for deploying,
defining, administering and monitoring of Data
warehouse processes

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 Data Warehouse Administration Console

• Simplifies ETL customization and execution

– Define ETL subject areas and execution plans
– Automate configuration of ETL for full and incremental
load of subject areas
– Automatic index management
– Prioritize and load balance ETL workflow execution
– Compile historical tracking of diagnostic ETL logs
– Provide restart of ETL execution from point of failure
– Update database statistics on OBAW tables and indexes

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 DAC User Interface
DAC Server Monitor
Menu bar icon: orange =
Top pane tabs running; red = not
View buttons running; green =
executing ETL

Top pane toolbar

Editable list
Navigation tree

Bottom pane child tabs

Editable form

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 DAC Views

• Are accessed through the View menu or buttons

• Include:
– Design
– Setup
– Execute
Views Tabs Views

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 Design View
• Provides access to view and define Subject Areas,
Tasks, Data Model and related entities
– Specific to the selected source system container
– Top pane contains tabs, each of which represents a component
of the subject area
– Bottom pane contains child tabs that relate to the tab selected
in the top pane

New entities Tabs access

are edited in DAC entities
the lower pane
Subject Area Tasks preceding
execution plan

Editable list Editable list

of tasks of tables

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 Setup View

• Set up DAC system properties, Informatica servers,

database connections, and email notification

Set DAC system properties Register Informatica Servers Set up email recipients

Database type: either

Source or Warehouse

List of ETL
refresh dates

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 Setup View: DAC System Properties

• Properties determine the behavior of the DAC Server

• Examples:

Property
Analyze Frequency (in days)
Analyze Tables
Auto Restart ETL
CreateQueryIndexesAtTheEnd
DropAndCreateIndexes
Description
Number of days before DAC automatically updates
database statistics
If set to True, DAC Server automatically issues statements
to update statistics when a table is truncated and loaded
If set to True, DAC Server, automatically restarts ETL after
a task failure
During ETL, DAC Server drops all query indexes on
targets; if set to True, DAC Server groups all indexes for
creation after ETL is complete
If set to True, DAC Server drops and recreates query
indexes during ETL

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 Setup View: Physical Data Sources Tab
• Physical Data Sources tab is used to define database
connections for transactional and OBAW
• Refresh date last time when data was extracted from a
source or when data was loaded into a target

Date = incremental load

No date = full load

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 Execute View

• Provides access to create, schedule, run, and monitor

execution plans

Select and Schedule ETL

run execution
plans

Successful run of the Review history Manual restart in ETL_PROC_WID

Sales execution plan case of failure

List of tasks Command issued

run as part of to start task
the Sales
execution plan
Task status

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 DAC Source System Containers
• Entities in the DAC repository which define ETL for a
source system.
• Set the context for various
– Examples:
— Siebel CRM
— Oracle eBusiness
• Contain DAC repository objects relevant to the source
system

Container drop-down
in the Design view

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 Source System Containers - Ownership

• Standard Out-of-Box containers are preconfigured and

cannot be modified
• Can be copied to create custom containers
– Changes are tracked in the DAC
– Objects in copied custom containers are referenced from
the copied owner container
— Denoted by green italic font in the DAC Client user interface

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 Source System Containers - Ownership

• Objects in copied custom containers are referenced

from the original owner container
— Denoted by green italic font in the DAC Client user interface
• New Objects can be created in custom Container
— Denoted by black font in the DAC Client user interface
• Referenced Objects can be modified/cloned in custom
Container
— Denoted by blue font in the DAC Client user interface

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 Source System Containers - Ownership
• Reference.
– Opens the Reference dialog box, which allows you to reference objects
from one container to another. The reference function works like a
symbolic link or shortcut.
• Re-Reference.
– You can use this command to import the changes to the referenced
object when changes are made to the original's child objects,.
• Push to References.
– If an original object is changed, you can use this command to push the
changes to all children in other containers.
• De-Clone.
– When you make changes to a referenced object, the new object is called
a clone. This command allows you to revert a cloned object back to its
state as a reference.
• Re-Assign Record.
– This command allows you to reassign an object’s ownership.

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 DAC Objects

• Are stored in the DAC repository in a hierarchical

format that defines a warehouse application
• Are associated with a source system container
– Can be referenced objects in other containers
— Appear in green italic font
– Can be cloned objects in other containers
— Appear in blue standard font
— Represent referenced objects which have been modified

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 DAC Objects

• DAC repository objects stored in a hierarchical format

define a warehouse application

• DAC object hierarchy includes:

– Execution plans
– Subject areas
– Tables
– Task Groups
– Tasks

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 DAC Object Hierarchy

Execution Plans Schedules

Container

Subject Areas

Tables Tasks

Dependencies

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 DAC Object Hierarchy with Examples
Oracle 11.5.10

Container

Complete Monthly Sales

Oracle 11.5.10 Execution Plan
Schedules
Plans

Enterprise
Sales – Order Subject Areas
Lines

SDE_ORA_Sales_
W_SALES_ OrderLinesFact
Tables Tasks
ORDER_LINE_F

Dependencies Extract Fact

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 DAC Objects

• DAC objects include:

– Execution plans
— Contain one or more subject areas
— Derives component tables and tasks from subject areas
— Can be executed manually or scheduled
– Subject areas
— Logical grouping of tables related to a subject or application
context
— Includes tasks associated with tables
— Assigned to execution plans
– Tables
— Physical database tables in the transactional or OBAW
databases
— Can be source, fact, dimension, hierarchy, aggregate, or
staging, among others

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 DAC Objects

• DAC objects include:

– Tasks
— Unique steps executed during ETL
— Related to data transformation or database objects
— Are associated with a set of source and target database
tables,
— Execute Informatica workflows
— Can also execute batch files, call database stored procedures,
execute SQL or XML scripts or operating system commands
— Assigned to subject areas by DAC
– Task Groups
— A group of tasks you define to impose a specific execution
order

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 Tasks

• Tasks are lowest objects in DAC hierarchy that perform

unique ETL steps
— Are typically Informatica workflows associated with a set of
source and target database tables
— Can also be SQL files, database stored procedures, XML
scripts or operating system commands
• Task properties are very critical in ETL design and
execution
– DAC can automatically assemble tasks into subject areas
based on task properties like source and target tables
– Tasks in ETL queue are prioritized by DAC Server based
on task properties like phase, source and target
connections, truncate target table

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 Tasks: Task Definitions

• Task Definitions tab is used to configure tasks

• For example, the Extract for Invoice Fact task extracts
the invoice data

Task name

Folder in
Informatica If there is no refresh date
repository for the source table
during extract, this
Task phase command is issued to
Informatica Server;
otherwise, Command for
Informatica Incremental Load is
task type issued

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 Tasks: Source and Target Tables Child Tabs

• Source Tables and Target Tables tabs are used to

specify source and target tables for tasks
– S_INVOICE is the main source table for Extract for
Invoice Fact task
– W_INVOICE_FS is the main target table for Extract for
Invoice Fact task

Container

Primary source
table

Primary target table

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 Tasks: Build Image

• The Build Image flag invokes the Change Capture process

for the base source tables listed for the task in Siebel CRM
containers
• Change Capture is an internal DAC task that populates image
tables of the corresponding base source tables

Builds image for

S_INVOICE source table

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 Tasks: Phase Dependency Tab

• Task Phase Dependency allows you to change task

execution order
• Manages three properties:
– Action
— The action to be taken in relation to the phase dependency
— Wait: Wait for tasks of a specified phase to complete
— Block: Block all tasks of a specified phase from execution until
the specified task has been executed
– Grain
— For blocks, specifies whether the block affects all tasks of
the specified phase or related tasks for the specified task
— All: Action affects all tasks
— Related:

– Phase
— The phase that applies to the action

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 Tables
• Physical database tables in the transactional or OBAW
databases
• Used for defining the data warehouse data model

Defines
Suffix number of
columns and
any image tables
relationships
between
List of indexes tables

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 Subject Areas

• Logical grouping of tables and tasks

– Extract for Invoice Fact and Load for Invoice Fact tasks
are part of the CRM - Sales subject area for the Siebel 7.8
container

Select New to
create a new
subject area

List of all tables in

the subject area

Automatically added when the

Subject Area is assembled

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 Assembling a Subject Area

• Click Assemble to assemble a subject area

– DAC assembles a subject area, adding autogenerated
and other associated tasks, as well as tables, to it

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 Execution Plans

• Contain one or more subject areas from the same source

system container, defined based on business requirements
– CRM – Sales is a member of the CRM Complete – Siebel 7.8 ETL
execution plan
• Are created and configured in the Execution Plans tab of the
Execute view

Select New to
create a new
subject area

Refresh dates

Preceding tasks include

setting values in internal tables

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 Execution Plan Parameters

• Are used at runtime by DAC in issuing commands to

the Informatica Server using PMCMD
• Are predefined for standard containers
• Must be specified for custom containers

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 Building and Running Execution Plans

• Click Build to build an execution plan

– Creates or updates task dependencies
• Click Run Now to run an execution plan

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 Examining Task Dependencies

• The task dependencies for an Execution Plan are available in

the Ordered Tasks child tab

Source and
target of the
task Task Phase

Level of the
task’s
dependency

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 Resetting the OBAW

• To delete Refresh Dates and run a full load of the

OBAW
– Select Tools > ETL Management > Reset Data Warehouse
– Confirm that you want to perform a full truncate and load

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 Summary

• In this lesson, you should have learned how to:

– Use the basic tools and views of the Data Warehouse
Administration Console (DAC)
– Describe DAC objects, how they relate to each other, and
their roles in Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse
(OBAW) ETL

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 Practice

• This practice covers the following topics:

– Exploring the DAC

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