OBIEE 11g : Knowing the Metadata Files

OBIEE 11g works with lots of components and files but there are two important files which are the key in performing reporting or analytics. These files are

• Repository
• Catalog

These files are so important that any issue related to these files can cause severe issues like errors in reporting views to unavailability of service (downtime). A regular backup of these files along with the configuration files related is recommended as a contingency.

Repository

Repository file stores all the metadata related to data and the joins, priorities, aggregations etc. It’s the central spoc to the BI server where the query generation happens and is fired against a database whose details are also saved in repository.

Oracle BI server is owner of this file and the settings of BI server are maintained using NQSConfig.INI file

The repository file exists in the below location

[MIDDLEWARE_HOME]\instances\instance1\bifoundation\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis1\repository

There can be many files available in the above repository folder but only file will be loaded when you start the BI server and that file name is available in the NQSConfig.INI file.

The NQSConfig.INI file is located in below location

[MIDDLEWARE_HOME]\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIServerComponent\coreapplication_obis1

Repository file contain these below data and can be maintained by BI Administration tool

• Metadata ( Table Information, Information about DATA)
• Connection Pool ( Database Information)
• Joins ( Physical as well as logical complex)
• Variables (Session & Repository)
• Cache Information
• Log level information
• Alias Tables
• Lookup Tables
• Logical table Sources
• Hierarchies
• Level based Measures
• Time Series Functions 

Catalog

This is generally called as Web catalog and can be present any where either on the server or a network share. It is a place or a folder structure where users create and save their analysis or reporting work.

And can only be accessed using the OBIEE analytics URL. The catalog can be viewed or maintained by using Catalog Manager.

Oracle Presentation Services is the owner of catalog and the settings of Oracle PS including the location of Catalog are maintained by instanceconfig.xml file.

Instanceconfig.xml file is located in the below location

[MIDDLEWARE_HOME]\instances\instance1\config\OracleBIPresentationServicesComponent\coreapplication_obips1

Webcatalog contains the below information

• Saved Analysis
• Saved Dashboards
• Saved Agents
• User Folders 
• Shared Reports
• Webcatalog Groups
• Folder Permissions
• User Preferences (timezone , Home Page etc)