OAC : Fixing NULL value in prompts

We have been seeing this over the years in many different cases, NULL values appearing in prompts. There are certain workarounds like making the column not nullable etc, but this might impact the actual reporting in many ways.

So, the easy way would be to restrict the workaround to prompts.

We just have that, Just like in OBIEE 12c we have some tags for prompts in instanceconfig.xml

The instanceconfig.xml file is located in below location

[BI_DOMAIN]/config/fmwconfig/biconfig/OBIPS

Add the below tag in the prompts section of ServerInstance

<ServerInstance>
  <Prompts>
    <MaxDropDownValues>256</MaxDropDownValues>
    <ResultRowLimit>65000</ResultRowLimit>
    <AutoApplyDashboardPromptValues>true</AutoApplyDashboardPromptValues>
    <AutoSearchPromptDialogBox>true</AutoSearchPromptDialogBox>
    <AutoCompletePromptDropDowns>
      <SupportAutoComplete>true</SupportAutoComplete>
      <CaseInsensitive>true</CaseInsensitive>
      <MatchingLevel>MatchAll</MatchingLevel>
      <ResultsLimit>50</ResultsLimit>
    </AutoCompletePromptDropDowns>
    <ShowNullValueWhenColumnIsNullable>never</ShowNullValueWhenColumnIsNullable>
  </Prompts>
</ServerInstance>

Save the file and restart the services. Ideally, a restart of the Presentation Services component should be enough, if the changes don't come to effect, do a complete restart.

Provisioning Oracle Database Cloud Service (DBCS)

In the series for Oracle Analytics Cloud introduction, this post will cover one of its prerequisites Oracle Database Cloud Service. As directed in my previous post
Introduction to Oracle Analytics Cloud Series and Pre-requisites one should have valid Cloud account credentials for provisioning services.

Below will be step by step procedure in creating an Oracle Database Cloud Service instance.

• Navigate to webpage https://www.cloud.oracle.com
• Click on Sign In as shown in the below image.

• Enter the Identity Domain as choose during the registration or as received and click on My Services.

• Enter your credentials in the login page and click Sign In

• 
  
•  We will be taken to our Services Dashboard as shown below.

• Click on the symbol on the left top corner of my services dashboard.
• Select the Drop down next to Services and Click Database

• Click Create Instance as shown in the image.

• Give a name to the Database something like DBCS, Software release should be 12c Release 1 as OAC is not certified with 12c release 2. A single instance would suffice

• Give values as shown in the below screenshot. Password chosen here is Admin123#. These will be sufficient for use with an Oracle Analytics Cloud, for using as a Database for tables etc.. you might have to change based on usage. Click Edit next to SSH Public Key. 

• Select 'Create New Key' if you do not have a public key already and click 'Enter'

• Click Download to get the key pair, which will be used for SSH access to the DBCS instance.

• Click Next as shown below

• Click Create.

• It takes around 30 minutes for the instance to provision and once it is done you will see this screen.

Introduction to Oracle Analytics Cloud Series and Pre-requisites

It has been a while since I wrote a post, I have been working on Oracle cloud platform in the areas of Business Analytics and Big Data. As a starting point, I want to write a series of posts around provisioning and usage of Oracle PaaS services targetting areas around Business Analytics.

Oracle Database Cloud Service: This is the first and most popular Oracle Cloud service for GA. As leaders in the Database engine for over 4 decades the cloud service is also efficient like the on-prem. We would require an Oracle Database Cloud Service as a pre-requisite to the Oracle Analytics Cloud service for the purpose of storing metadata, commonly know as RCU schemas. Learn more about DBCS from here

Oracle Storage Cloud Service: This is one of the most common cloud services which you might be already aware of. Storage cloud service is meant for object storage. Everything in the cloud would need storage for the purpose of backup, logs etc. Oracle Analytics Cloud would also require storage of the same purpose of Logs & backups. Learn more about Storage Cloud from here

Oracle Analytics Cloud Service: Analytics cloud service is a combination of Oracle Business Intelligence Cloud Service, Oracle Data Visualization Cloud Service, and Oracle Essbase Cloud Service. So an Oracle Analytics Cloud service would essentially give all these packaged together under one license. Learn more on Analytics Cloud from here

In order to provision an Oracle Analytics Cloud service, below are the pre-requisites.

1. Cloud Account - Identity Domain, Username/Email, Password 
2. Oracle Database Cloud Service - Provisioned and Ready to use
3. Oracle Storage Cloud Service - Either a Container Created or Storage Admin Credentials for creating while provisioning.

In case you do not have a cloud account, you can try the Cloud for free with a promotional account having 400SGD credit for 30 days. Register for a cloud account at https://cloud.oracle.com.