BI Presentation Catalog Tables

KashSidd

Hi,

I was looking as to where does the actual Catalog data gets stored (OBIEE 12c - 12.2.1.3.0)? Is it in the database on the app server? Whats the schema name or some table names that houses the presentation catalog data such as:

Subjects Areas

Catalog Folders

Analysis path

Date created

Date modified

I know that the the above information can be pulled by running a report from Catalog Manager but instead I wanted to get to the tables directly so we can automate it.

Thanks,

Charles M

Hi KashSidd,

Those are file system objects, which reside on the application tier. Take a look at: OBIEE 12c: Quick Reference For Architecture, Lifecycle Management and File Locations (Doc ID 2067527.1) -- section: Where are the RPD and catalog located?

Regards,

Charles

Gianni Ceresa

KashSidd wrote:I know that the the above information can be pulled by running a report from Catalog Manager but instead I wanted to get to the tables directly so we can automate it.

Why would one exclude the other? You really need to look at the command line options runcat.sh / runcat.bat has ! (runcat is Catalog Manager)

By command line on runcat you can do more than the graphical interface, including getting reports etc.

If you still don't believe it's doable have a look at the scripts Oracle wrote and provide inside OBIEE SampleApp (https://www.oracle.com/technetwork/middleware/bi-foundation/obiee-samples-167534.html ), there is one doing a full export of the catalog objects and loading into a database table (proving it can definitely be done).

KashSidd

Thank you!

So you are suggesting that the Catalog Metadata and RPD Metadata is stored as mentioned in the (Doc ID 2067527.1) So any Catalog data such as Analysis Names or Catalog Folders are not stored in a physical database?

Gianni Ceresa

KashSidd wrote:Thank you!So any Catalog data such as Analysis Names or Catalog Folders are not stored in a physical database?

There isn't a single piece of the catalog stored in the database in OBIEE. There are packaged solutions which have a list somewhere in a database to provides mappings (can't remember if OBIA is one of those), but it's not something out of the box in OBIEE, it's a different piece of code doing the job.

You could derive a part of the catalog from usage tracking information which is stored in the DB, but wouldn't be reliable.

KashSidd

"There are packaged solutions which have a list somewhere in a database to provides mappings (can't remember if OBIA is one of those), but it's not something out of the box in OBIEE, it's a different piece of code doing the job."

So when you run a report through Catalog Manager, where does it exactly fetches the data from? Do you happened to know?

Gianni Ceresa

KashSidd wrote:So when you run a report through Catalog Manager, where does it exactly fetches the data from? Do you happened to know?

From the catalog itself, stored in the file system.

The catalog is stored in the file system in a very similar way to what you see in your catalog itself: a folder in the catalog is a folder in the file system. There are some differences of course and it must not be manipulated as a bunch of files as they have an application meaning that only Catalog Manager, webservices or the OBIEE interface can understand and maintain.

Informations like names etc. are read from the .atr file which is a binary file (it also has the object type inside and the other things like ACL etc.). .atr are the files which make things "visible" to OBIEE (a folder without a .atr will not be visible in OBIEE).

Try to run "runcat.sh -help" and look what you get back, you will be surprised.

KashSidd

Thanks a bunch!

User_5JLNK

Hi KashSidd,

I am curious to know whether you were able to achieve your task. Were you able to automatically pull the necessary reports? Would be interested to hear any insights from your efforts as I am trying to automatically draw presentation catalog data as well. Any other things to consider?

Best regards

User_5JLNK

Hi,

if you lack some working experience with Oracle BI like me you might find this information useful.

Gianni Ceresa mentioned that the BI SampleApp supplies a dashboard that uses information from the catalog. The dashboard is called "Webcat Overview" and is located within the Shared Folders, 10. Lifecycle and Admin. It's a great dashboard in my opinion and shows the benefits of withdrawing information from the catalog.

The dashboard retrieves the information by using a shell script. In the BI SamepleApp, those scripts are located in /app/oracle/SAScripts.

[Deleted User]

https://community.oracle.com/tech/apps-infra/discussion/comment/16795126#Comment_16795126

The SampleApp contains an amazing wealth of useful tidbits and tricks. It's sorely underutilized.