Large PDF Export Issues in OBIEE 11.1.1.7.x

During my latest frenzy of patches to fix issues in OBIEE 11.1.1.7.x I found that in the README files with the patches it states to edit the config.xml file, which is located under directory
$INSTANCE_HOME\config\OracleBIJavaHostComponent\coreapplication_obijh1 to the following:

<XMLP>
 <InputStreamLimitInKB>0</InputStreamLimitInKB>
 <ReadRequestBeforeProcessing>false</ReadRequestBeforeProcessing>
</XMLP>

Now comes my experience part, if you have large PDF exports that your are running out of OBIEE make sure you use the following settings in that same above config file:

<XMLP>
 <InputStreamLimitInKB>0</InputStreamLimitInKB>
 <ReadRequestBeforeProcessing>true</ReadRequestBeforeProcessing>
</XMLP>

If you don't you will get errors on the PDF exports and will be looking at the patch as the culprit.

Issues with Outer Joins not working in OBI 11.1.1.7.1

Recently had been posed with a issue from an RPD developer where Outer Joins had been replace with Inner Joins when using two Unconformed Dimensions. So off to Oracle Support site to find any Bug/Doc on such; no luck so I open a SR and Oracle responded with the following doc: Setting Fact to Total Level Of Hierarchy No Longer Forces Outer Join (Doc ID 1601703.1). I have tested the fix in this doc and it does fix the issue we were experiencing. There is two approaches int he doc one for RPD level (environment wide) and one for reports only.

It involves setting a session variable FOJ_GRAND_TOTAL_LBM=1.  

Disabling interactions in OBI 11g Table Views

Recently had a issue with client wanting to globally disable certain interactions that user can use within OBI 11g globally not on a per report basis, found that by editing the instanceconfig.xml and add the following you can toggle those interaction globally. Below is the settings you would need to add to instanceconfig.xml make sure you add them between the correct tags. Make backup of instanceconfig.xml first then restart OBIEE services after you have made the necessary changes.

<ServerInstance>
<Analysis>
<InteractionProperties>
<InteractionPropertyAddRemoveValues>false</InteractionPropertyAddRemoveValues>
<InteractionPropertyCalcItemOperations>false</InteractionPropertyCalcItemOperations>
<InteractionPropertyDrill>false</InteractionPropertyDrill>
<InteractionPropertyGroupOperations>false</InteractionPropertyGroupOperations>
<InteractionPropertyInclExclColumns>false</InteractionPropertyInclExclColumns>
<InteractionPropertyMoveColumns>false</InteractionPropertyMoveColumns>
<InteractionPropertyRunningSum>false</InteractionPropertyRunningSum>
<InteractionPropertyShowHideSubTotal>false</InteractionPropertyShowHideSubTotal>
<InteractionPropertySortColumns>false</InteractionPropertySortColumns>
</InteractionProperties>
</Analysis>
</ServerInstance>

Setting up OBI 11g AdminServer and bi_server1 as Windows services

Recently worked to setup the AdminServer and the bi_server as Windows services and hit a few snags working through a SR with Oracle was shared this very helpful post by Ahmed Awan from Oracle.Very helpful though would be worth posting.


https://blogs.oracle.com/pa/entry/obiee_11_1_1_how3

OBI 11g Freeze Column Header Feature not supported on IE7/8

I recently ran into a issue with a user complaining that when they look at a report on a Dashboard page that the "freeze" column headers wasn't working.....weird since I logged in the same test account and I see then and the functionality. After some investigation the user was using IE8. Ok so of too the land of Oracle Support to find out the answer. Put in SR; after looking around and this is the response from Oracle Support. Good to know when accessing the client's environment during discovery phase.

"In IE 7 and IE 8 the Freeze Header is intentionally disabled. If you click the help button on the table properties dialogue you will see the help page contains the following:
...
Note:
Tables and pivot tables that use the scrolling method to browse data do not render properly in Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser version 7 or 8. As a result, when Microsoft's Internet Explorer browser version 7 or 8 is detected, the table or pivot table will be rendered using paging controls instead...."

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.x + "Excelish" Freeze Column Headers

Recently had a client as for the freeze column heading feature in OBIEE 11g turned on. They stated "You know like Excel". So off on another stroll through the documentation and found the following:

1. Stop the Presentation Services. 

2. Open instanceconfig.xml at <MiddlewareHome>\instances\<YourOBIInstance>\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1

3. Locate closing tag for </Views>; which should be at the end of the file. 

4. Add below entry before </Views> and save: 
<GridViews>
<DefaultScrollingEnabled>true</DefaultScrollingEnabled>
<DefaultRowFetchSlicesCount>500</DefaultRowFetchSlicesCount>
<DefaultColumnFetchSlicesCount>300</DefaultColumnFetchSlicesCount>
<DefaultFreezeHeadersClientRowBlockSize>60</DefaultFreezeHeadersClientRowBlockSize>
<DefaultFreezeHeadersClientColumnBlockSize>15</DefaultFreezeHeadersClientColumnBlockSize>
</GridViews> 


5. Save the file and start the Presentation Services back up 

Porting GoURL parameters from 10g to 11g

During a recent port from an existing 10g environment to an 11g environment ran into a  issue where the Go URL was being used to link to OBI from another application but there were more parameters that were defined in the Go URL for security. So the config in 10g was the following in the instanceconfig.xml file:

<Auth>
<UserIdPassword enabled="true">
<ParamList>
<Param name="NQ_SESSION.securityVariable"
source="url"
nameInSource="securityVariable"/>
</ParamList>
</UserIdPassword>
</Auth>


Alright so I look to see if 11g has the same instanceconfig.xml tags...nope. Adding these into 11g config caused the Presentation Service not to start....so after some research I found that those Parameters have to be placed in a totally different file details of my finding below:

a.) Went to authenticationschemas.xml file located in
C:<MW_HOME>\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\display

b.) Made copy of authenticationschemas.xml file

c.) Look for line <!-- Group for HTTP POST login -->

d.) Found the <AuthenticationSchemaGroup> right under the above.

e.) You would be 3 xml lines as below.
<RequestVariable source="url" type="auth" nameInSource="NQUser" biVariableName="UID" options="trim" /><RequestVariable source="url" type="auth" nameInSource="NQPassword" biVariableName="PWD" options="secure"/><RequestVariable source="url" type="proxyUserAuth" nameInSource="RUNAS" biVariableName="NQ_SESSION.RUNAS" />

f.) Added the new line below with the existing configs : Saved the file
<RequestVariable source="url" type="auth" nameInSource="securityVariable" biVariableName="NQ_SESSION.securityVariable"/>

g.) Restarted all the OBI Services and the world is right again.

Date Error Message Customization

During a recent OBIEE 11g project the user requested a more "descriptive" date format error; huh; how did they get to that. After some Q&A with the user found out that they put in 2123/2013 as the date under a date prompt at that OBIEE sent a nice red error back stating "2123/2013 is not a valid date value" user issue was it didn't say what was acceptable. So my job was to make that more descriptive. So I found that in the following path: "OracleBIHome"\OracleBI_1\bifoundation\web\msgdb\l_en\messages\uicmsgs that there is a file called obiprp.propmtcomponents.xml which houses several of the messages around Date/Time errors. I modified (after taking a backup of the original file) in particular the WebMessage named "kmsgPromptRunTimeInvalidDateErrorMsgFormatStr" to a more descriptive error with a suggested format, saved the file, restarted the BI Suite and The message was more to the user's liking. There are several other messages based on Date/Time within this file as well so if you need to change a differnt one that is where I would start.

IE 7/8 Slowness Issues with OBIEE 11g

Recently I have been working on a issue with slowness with IE 7/8 and OBIEE 11g (11.1.1.6.2 BP1) before you say it yes I know IE 7/8 is NOT on the compatibility matrix for supported browsers for this version but client had the older versions as their standard with no room for upgrade to IE9. So I worked with Oracle via Sev 1 SR and they supplied a patch which worked nicely and I have come to find that it is now available in the 11.1.1.6.6 patch set which is available at Oracle support. Just search: "OBIEE 11g 11.1.1.6.6 is Available For BI Enterprise and Exalytics [ID 1508519.1]"

OBIEE 11.1.1.6.4 Patch Set Released

Oracle has released OBIEE Patch Set version 11.1.1..6.4 see link below:

https://support.oracle.com/epmos/faces/ui/km/DocumentDisplay.jspx?_afrLoop=475184249870602&id=1493687.1&_afrWindowMode=0&_adf.ctrl-state=7a125ti03_57

OBI 11g Agent Message:DEVICE (DASHBOARD) IS NOT SET IN (USER) DELIVERY PROFILE

After upgrading 10.1.3.4.1 environment to 11.1.1.6.1 when I was running any Agent I got this following warning when the Agent ran: DEVICE (DASHBOARD) IS NOT SET IN (USER) DELIVERY PROFILE

so after talking to support via a SR it was determined that this was fixed in 11.1.1.6.2. BP1; that is a big negatory Ghost Rider you have to get the following patch to fix the issue: Patch # 13972011. Only caveat is you have to have patch 13867143 before you can install it. And Patch 13867143 is the # 6 of 7 patches for 11.1.1.6.2 BP1. So update to 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 then apply this patch.

Charts and Graphs stop displaying after 11.1.6.2 BP1 Upgrade

I was very excited to see that Oracle released the 11.1.1.6.2. BP1 patch for OBIEE. And I had the opportunity to install the patches to fix some bugs I had seen in one of our environments. After the upgrade some of out charts and graphs stopped displaying. Man two steps forward one step back....Took a stroll through Oracle Support and found out that there is a extra step some user have to do if they are using custom styles/skins. More in on steps at Oracle support search for Doc ID 1474605.1. Below is a snapshot of the steps to fix the issues taken directly from the Oracle doc:

Section 6: Post-Installation Instructions

-----------------------------------------

Section 6.1: Copying BIChart.swf To Custom Directories

The Oracle white paper "Customizing Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition 11g" describes how to customize BI Presentation Services by storing custom skins, styles, and messages in a custom directory.

If the BI System has been customized as described in the white paper and custom skins are stored in one or more custom directories, follow the additional instructions below to complete the 11.1.1.6.2 BP1 patchset installation:

1. Go to the following directory:
   <Oracle BI Home>\bifoundation\web\app\res\sk_blafp\dvt
2. Verify that the BIChart.swf file in that directory:
      - has a size of 457KB (466,944 bytes)
      - has a date of 6/4/2012
3. Copy the BIChart.swf file to each custom directory in the BI System, replacing the existing file of that name:
   For example, on Windows, you might copy the BIChart.swf into the following custom directory:
      c:\prod_mwhome\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1\analyticsRes\sk_mylookandfeel\dvt
4. Stop and restart the BI Presentation Services system components.
   
   
5. Clear the browser cache.

Issues with "Hide Column" Feature in OBI 11.1.1.6.1

There a issue in OBIEE 11.1.1.6.1 release around using the "hide" column feature, issue was when you clicked to hide a column it hid the one beside it. As in lets say you have three columns A/B/C you click to hide column B and it hides column A. There was a Bug logged as BUG 13963768. Found that the fix for this was in 11.1.1.6.2 BP1; more precisely the patch folder 6 of 7 in the list of 7. I have verified it is fixed in the .2 BP1 release. Love it when a patch actually fixes a issue...

Freeze Frames in OBI 11.1.1.6.x

Finally we have the "freeze pane" option that many users have asked for for years.......Below is the changes needed in instanceconfig.xml:

<Views>

<GridViews>

<DefaultScrollingEnabled>true</DefaultScrollingEnabled>
<DefaultRowFetchSlicesCount>500</DefaultRowFetchSlicesCount>
<DefaultColumnFetchSlicesCount>50</DefaultColumnFetchSlicesCount>
<DefaultFreezeHeadersClientRowBlockSize>40</DefaultFreezeHeadersClientRowBlockSize>
<DefaultFreezeHeadersClientColumnBlockSize>30</DefaultFreezeHeadersClientColumnBlockSize>
</GridViews>
</Views>

Details on what each item means:


DefaultScrollingEnabled - Turns on or off scrolling for all pivot or table views.
DefaultRowFetchSlicesCount - Set the "up to" how many rows to fetch server side for determining the scrollbar height for freeze headers.
DefaultColumnFetchSlicesCount -  Set the "up to" how many columns to fetch server side for determining the scrollbar (across) width for freeze headers.
DefaultFreezeHeadersClientRowBlockSize - Sets how many rows to fetch in one block for freeze headers.
DefaultFreezeHeadersClientColumnBlockSize - Sets how many columns to fetch in one block for freeze headers.

There is a post on OTN with the same:

https://forums.oracle.com/forums/thread.jspa?threadID=2395998&tstart=165

Case Insensitivity in OBIEE 11g prompts

Had a request to turn on the case insensitive searching in OBIEE 11g today here is how you do it:

1. Add the following entry in instanceconfig.xml: located at

\<MW Home>\instances\<yourinstancename>\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1
<QueryManager>
<CaseInsensitiveMode>true</CaseInsensitiveMode>
</QueryManager>

Save Instanceconfig.xml file.

2. Open the NQSConfig.ini located in \<MW Home>\instances\<yourinstancename>\config\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis1 and search for CASE_SENSITIVE_CHARACTER_COMPARISON and change this values to OFF as shown below.
CASE_SENSITIVE_CHARACTER_COMPARISON = OFF;
Save NQSconfig.ini file.

3. Restart All OBIEE services.
4.Verify setting has taken affect.

NQSConfig.ini Error "EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL "

Working on OBIEE 11.1.1.6.1 today and got the following error on a dashboard "[nQSError: 43113] Message returned from OBIS. EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL inside NQSConfig.INI is not set to support EVALUATE. (HY000)" What in the world? So I go do a search in the NQSConfig.ini and Wow! Where did this config addition come from:


# EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL:
# 1: evaluate is supported for users with manageRepositories permssion
# 2: evaluate is supported for any user.
# other: evaluate is not supported if the value is anything else.

EVALUATE_SUPPORT_LEVEL = 0;

Changed setting to = "2" and all is fine, now off to figure out where that came from and what it is doing in the NQSConfig now..

* Just as a note this setting came in with 10.1.3.4.2....Guess I never had the issue with SampleApp...ugh.

OBIEE Connection Pool Change Utility for 11.1.1.6.0/.1/.2

Thanks to Robin Moffatt for tweeting this little tidbit which would be very useful for changing OBIEE 111.1.6.0/.2g Connection Pool passwords:

http://docs.oracle.com/html/E14770_36/biee.htm#CHDEEFFA

OBIEE 11g Table View Limts

Issue today were in OBIEE 11g the number of rows brought back initially in a table view were low (25) and the user wanted the 10g (view all rows) functionality "unlike the OOTB 11g settings where it only showed up to 500" . So off to Oracle docs I was to find the solution.I have found the following setting that need to be made depending on what you are wanting to set the behavior to (be careful of some of these setting and do not set them too high or it could cause issues on BI server as well as Data Warehouse. Cahnges made to your instanceconfig.xml file located at:

<YourMiddlewarehome>\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1

<Views>
<Pivot>
<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->
<DefaultRowsDisplayedInDelivery>75</DefaultRowsDisplayedInDelivery>
<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->
<DefaultRowsDisplayedInDownload>5000</DefaultRowsDisplayedInDownload>
<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->
<DisableAutoPreview>false</DisableAutoPreview>
<MaxVisibleColumns>5000</MaxVisibleColumns>
<MaxVisiblePages>2000</MaxVisiblePages>
<MaxVisibleRows>100000</MaxVisibleRows>
<MaxVisibleSections>2500</MaxVisibleSections>
</Pivot>
<Table>
<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->
<DefaultRowsDisplayedInDelivery>75</DefaultRowsDisplayedInDelivery>
<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->
<DefaultRowsDisplayedInDownload>2500</DefaultRowsDisplayedInDownload>
<MaxVisiblePages>2500</MaxVisiblePages>
<MaxVisibleRows>500000</MaxVisibleRows>
<MaxVisibleSections>5000</MaxVisibleSections>
</Table>
</Views>
Restart Presentation Server within EM, verify via export and table run on dashboard.

*Any setting preceded with  "<!--This Configuration setting is managed by Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Manager-->" will need to be set in EM as if you change it in the instanceconfig.xml will get overridden as soon as the presentation server is restarted.


**Note the new elements added are the following to both <Pivot> and <Table>; depending on which you want to modify.

OBIEE 11g on IIS 7.0+

I have compiled a list of the helpful post from Oracle that will aid you in deploying OBIEE 11g WLS plugin to IIS 6/7 as well as some helpful posts on setting up Compression and Caching of static files.

http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E23943_01/web.1111/e16435/isapi.htm#BGBBCFID

https://blogs.oracle.com/pa/entry/obiee_11_1_1_how1

https://blogs.oracle.com/pa/entry/obiee_11_1_1_how

OBIEE 11.1.1.6..1 Patch Released

Oracle has release 11.1.1.6.1 patch set; just login to support and search for: 13742915.