Doubts regarding Subject Areas

Question

Hi all,

OBIEE....: 12.2.1.0.0

I am entering this new world of OBIEE and some doubts are starting to appear. Here are some of my doubts that i would like to "share" with the most experienced OBIEE experts:

1) For me to create an Analysis, i first need to create Subject Areas? I mean, is it mandatory? For example, can i create an Analysis directly using a custom query?

2) A Subject Area, logically speaking, represents several table in a relational database? For example,  have a Sales department, and in my database, i have 10 tables related to Sales, to my Subject Area "SALES" would have 10 folders. This relation is correct?

Thanks in advance for the patience and attention.

[Deleted User] · Answer

Yes the Admin Tool is what creates and manages the RPD (repository file) containing all metadata definitions pertaining to your Subject Areas which are based on your business models which are based on your data sources.

Fabricio_Jorge · Answer

Thank you all for the help.

For me to create a Subject area in OBIEE, must i use Oracle BI Administration tool only? I couldn't find any option to create a Subject area in the Analytics tool. When i try to create a analisys, it prompts me to choose a subject area, only.

Thanks again for the patience.

Thomas Dodds · Answer

1) You can send in direct SQL - BUT you circumvent the investment made in the BI stack from Oracle AND you have limited functionality with this approach.  Not recommended.

2) A subject Area is a representation of the logical (business rules and relationships) model which is based on the physical data model.  So no, just because you have 10 tables has no reflection on Subject Area layout.  Subject Areas should be roughly 'mapped' to a business function or analytical area.

In short if you are thinking or considering that OBIEE is a query writer it most certainly isn't (though it does write SQL).  OBIEE is built on the premise of a star schema (data warehousing) and functions best when physical and logical models are built to those standards.

@rmoff beat me to it ...