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Importing excel files into Obiee 12c

3546356

Hi,

I am personnel in a small goverment organization responsible for do reporting related to our operations. Our data come from different sources. So, we've got obiee. We have only 1 IT person who could manage setting up the database and import data from other souces. We designed the dashboards, etc. I am not an IT personnel, so If I do not use proper IT jargon, please bear with me. I have to find a solution for our problem because no one else seems to feel obliged to do it. But if you explain it the way only IT person could understand, that's fine. I can take it to our DBA to perform it.

Since we have 1 person who could partially work for our obiee needs, we, the non-IT personnel, need to do most of the work ourself, including importing external data, and have to do it without creating repositories or writing scripts/codes. The data in external databases we need to import cannot be connected to repositories but have to be downloaded from the internet as excel files and, now and then, have to be refreshed.

As you may well know, 12c lets you import excel files according to oracle's own tutorials like here:

http://www.oracle.com/webfolder/technetwork/tutorials/obe/fmw/bi/bi1221/cad/cad12c.html

I also found other sources claming it can be done. I tried it but our "add data source" button does not work. It works as" add subject area" and won't let me choose external data but only subject area. Other sources claim that this function comes withe the sample database. It is already installed but still we cannot use this function. We tried other suggestions and now every view looks like a subject area. I was able to import excel files in visual analizer but not in analysis. The fist picture is from the tutorials while the second is from our obiee.

I forgot to mention that the bussiness partner of oracle in my city claimed that it cannot be done, despite the fact that I had sent them the Oracle tutorials explaining the impoting of external sources.

So, can somebody tell me if excel files can be imported into our analysis? If it can be done, can somebody tell me how to do it? Again "our add data source" only works as "add subject area" button.

Kind Regards,

Ahmet.

Button in our obiee.PNG

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[Deleted User]

It could be done but no longer., It was exposed inadvertently.

https://rmoff.net/2016/05/27/obiee-12c-add-data-source-in-answers/

asim cholas

Please check the below URL, It has all info

3 Adding External Data to Analyses

whatever the data files we have added to the visual analyzer will be displayed in OBIEE subject area as well.

asim cholas

The option to choose from analysis may not work in new version.s

Gianni Ceresa

And if you don't have VA/DV licenses you are now up to pay tons of $$$ to Oracle as you used VA to upload the Excel !

@959d5b3b-a2b6-4462-ad3b-972dc9237eb3 : before to use VA to upload your Excel as posted by Asim make sure you are legally allowed to use it (= you have a license for it).

asim cholas

Robert Angel

Hi Christian,

this might just be me but data in spreadsheets is rarely rigorous.

I would trust BI more based on well defined data feeds going through sound API and then being restructured by well designed and implemented ETL processes.

What non-IT professionals see as a 'fast win' should usually be put against a wall and shot as being a sub-optimal solution which will often product spurious results and invariably drives considerable cost within the end user community.

See also Qlikview and others like it....

Ahmet / 959d5b3b-a2b6-4462-ad3b-972dc9237eb3 - you had a lucky escape the functionality not being there!

[Deleted User]

Yes but an analytical tool without this functionality is worthless to business users nowadays. Excel rules supreme.

Also: You still have the possibility to use the built-in data wrangling capabilities to put the data in shape while you load it into the system.

Robert Angel

'Excel rules supreme'.

Yes, and Trump is the democratically elected President of America.

Just because it is popular does not make it right ;-)

[Deleted User]

But it makes it a reality we have to work with

3546356

Thank you all for your valuable inputs. Importing excel files may not be a good solution for big businesses, but for small organizations who have limited IT personnel and don't care for the millisecond speed performance, it is priceless. Besides, the data we have, have to be downloaded in excel files and have to be refreshed frequently. We cannot keep the only dBA person to do it for us. Maybe we have to go another way. The tech personnel from the Oracle business partner mentioned a method, not as practical as this one.

I should not give my oppinion about excel in a community full of IT professional, but I will anyways. Yes excel is so helpful in so many ways as long as you use it for its intended purposes. It could be used as a data source, but for dBase operations, it is not designed for it, and not practical to use for that purpose. If you have no other means, Excel may get things done fast and simple. If you have better ways, Excel will suck, and I have no other means .