OTBI Report Automation - Upload .catalog file

Question

This might be repetition of the question -  Is it possible to upload a BIP report .catalog object using the SOAP web services? - Oracle

In order to enforce change control and git actions, we are automating the BIP Report upload process. To keep things consistent for FRS, BIP, OTBI reports, we are going to ask developer to upload .catalog file and use WebCatalogService Service - writeObjects method.

I am attaching the payload to upload the data model (.catalog) file. However, it generates an empty object (data model). Am I missing something here?

XAL Dump_DM.zip

writeObjectsToUploadCatalogFile.xml

RVohra · Answer

@SabajiNaikSkechers , Welcome to the Oracle Analytics and AI Community and asking the question!

As per my understanding, using WebCatalogService → writeObjects  can upload catalog objects, but it works best for catalog metadata objects (folders, analyses, dashboards, report definitions, shortcuts, etc.).

For BI Publisher Data Models / Reports, a .catalog  file alone is often not sufficient, because the actual BI Publisher artifacts may also require:

*  .xdo report definition
* .xdm data model XML
* layout templates - .rtf etc
* permissions / ownership metadata
* proper binary encoding

If only the .catalog  object is uploaded, Oracle may create the object shell in catalog but with empty content, which matches what you’re experiencing.

Hope it helps!

JohnW-Oracle · Answer

Hello @SabajiNaikSkechers

If this is a OTBI specific question you can ask it here:

https://community.oracle.com/products/oracleanalytics/categories/otbi

Regards,

John