Oracle9i Warehouse Builder:

Implementation
Student Guide - Volume 1

D12157GC30
Edition 3.0
September 2003
D38599

Author

Copyright 2003, Oracle. All rights reserved.

Richard Green

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Technical Contributors
and Reviewers
Alan Zhang
Allan Williamson
Benjamin Loper
Daggi Hansen
Harry Penberthy
Jean-Pierre Dijcks
Joel Barkin
Joseph Klein
Julie Curdo
Kasturi Shekhar
Kurt Lysy
Marcelo Manzano
Maribel Renau Perez
Mark van de Wiel
Mauro Storti
Michael Fan
Miguenel Morales
Mugtanim Mubeen
Sarah Spicer
Veena Revanuru

Publisher
Joseph Fernandez

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Contents
Preface
1

Introduction
Lesson Objectives 1-2
Course Objectives 1-3
Agenda: Day 1 1-5
Agenda: Day 2 1-6
Agenda: Day 3 1-7
Agenda: Day 4 1-8
Questions About You 1-9

Warehouse Builder Concepts and Architecture

Objectives 2-2
Business Intelligence: The Old Way 2-3
Business Intelligence: The New Way 2-4
What Is Oracle9i Warehouse Builder? 2-6
OWB in the Oracle9i Business Intelligence Platform 2-7
OWB: Bundled with the Oracle Database 2-8
Process Flow of Design and Deployment 2-9
OWB Design and Run-Time Components 2-10
Design Components 2-11
Run-Time Components 2-14
Loose Coupling of Metadata with Physical Implementations 2-17
Security Infrastructure 2-18
Multiuser Access 2-19
Security Mechanism 2-20
Summary 2-21

Installing and Starting OWB

Objectives 3-2
Installing OWB 3-3
Recommended OWB9i System Requirements 3-4
Supported and Certified Versions of Oracle RDBMS 3-5
Installable Components of OWB 3-6
Installing and Configuring OWB 3-7
Oracle Internet Application Server (9iAS) 3-8
Oracle Enterprise Manager 3-9
Oracle Workflow 3-10
Configuration of Tools for Interoperability 3-11
Three-Tier Configuration 3-13
Two-Tier Configuration 3-14
Creating OWB Users 3-15
Logging On to Oracle Warehouse Builder 3-16
iii

Projects 3-17
Organizing Your Work in Projects 3-18
Concurrent Users Per Project with Object Locking 3-19
Multiple User Access 3-20
Using the Project Console Window 3-21
Objects Within a Project 3-22
Objects Within a Module 3-24
Creating a Project 3-26
Using the New Project Wizard 3-27
Setting Preferences 3-28
Summary 3-31
Guided Practice: Invoking OWB and Opening a Project 3-32
4 Case Study: Vintners Vine
Objectives 4-2
Case Study: Vintners Vine 4-3
Comparison of the Merging Companies 4-4
Data Sources for Vintners Vine 4-5
Source: VintnersVine.com 4-6
Vintners Ltd. Data That Is Already Captured 4-7
Solution: Staging Area, Enterprise Warehouse, and Dependent Data Marts 4-8
Purpose of a Staging Area 4-9
Logical Model Tables 4-10
Dimensional Model of Data Mart 4-11
Data Mart Dimension: Times 4-12
Times Dimension Attributes 4-13
Data Mart Dimension: CHANNELS 4-14
Data Mart Dimension: CUSTOMERS 4-15
Data Mart Dimension: PRODUCTS 4-16
Data Mart Dimension: PROMOTIONS 4-17
Data Mart Cube: SALES 4-18
Summary 4-19
5 Defining Source Metadata
Objectives 5-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 5-3
Defining Source Metadata 5-4
Source Module 5-5
Case Study Data Sources 5-6
Case Study Source Modules 5-7
Differences in Obtaining Relational and Flat-File Source Metadata 5-8
Creating a Source Module 5-9
Using the New Module Wizard 5-10
New Module Wizard: Name 5-11
iv

New Module Wizard: Connection Information 5-12

New Module Wizard: Location 5-13
New Module Wizard: Finish 5-14
Import Metadata Wizard: Welcome 5-15
Importing from Flat Files 5-16
Selecting the Flat Files 5-17
Collecting Channels Metadata Information 5-18
Flat File Sample Wizard: Welcome 5-19
Describing the File 5-20
Record Organization 5-21
File Layout 5-22
Selecting the Format 5-23
Modifying Field Information 5-24
Summary for Channels Metadata Sampling 5-25
Collecting Business Roles Metadata Information 5-26
Selecting Fixed-Length File Format 5-27
Creating Field Breaks 5-28
Modifying Field Names and Data Characteristics 5-29
Collecting Geography Metadata Information from a Multirecord File 5-30
Specifying That the File Contains Multiple Record Types 5-31
Modifying the Record Name 5-32
Modifying the Region Record Type 5-33
Modifying the Country Record Type 5-34
Guided Practice 5-1: Defining a Source Module for Flat Files 5-35
Importing Source Metadata from Oracle Database Tables 5-40
Importing Metadata from Relational Sources 5-41
New Module Wizard: Name 5-42
New Module Wizard: Data Source Information 5-43
New Module Wizard: Connection Information 5-44
Creating a New Database Link 5-45
New Module Wizard: Choosing a Schema 5-46
Database Link Based On Oracle Net Configuration 5-47
New Module Wizard: Location 5-48
Finishing Module Creation and Proceeding to Import 5-49
Two Ways to Invoke Import Metadata Wizard Later 5-50
Filtering the Objects to Import 5-51
Selecting the Wine_Products Table 5-52
Completing the Metadata Import 5-53
Examining the Imported Metadata for the Wine_Products Table 5-54
Importing Source Metadata from Oracle Designer 6i/9i 5-55
Using Advanced Queues 5-56
Summary 5-57
Guided Practice 5-2: Defining a Source Module for a Relational Source 5-58
v

Defining Staging Area Metadata

Objectives 6-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 6-3
Mapping Source to Staging Area 6-4
Purpose of a Staging Area 6-5
Defining Staging Areas In Warehouse Modules 6-6
OWB Mapping 6-7
Mapping New Tables to the Staging Area Warehouse Module 6-8
Examining the Predefined Staging Area Warehouse Module 6-9
Creating a Mapping 6-10
OWB Mapping Editor 6-11
Mapping a New Map_Stg_File_Geography Staging Table 6-12
Choosing the Source Flat File 6-13
Creating a Target Mapping Table 6-14
Creating the Unbound Table Without Attributes 6-15
Mapping Individual Source Columns to the Target 6-16
Using Outbound Reconciliation to Create the Repository Table 6-17
Outbound Reconciliation 6-18
Adding an Attribute 6-19
Adding the Load_Date Attribute 6-20
Minimizing Objects 6-21
Adding a Sys_Date Data Generator for the Load_Date Attribute 6-22
Setting Load Operator to TRUNCATE/INSERT 6-23
Support for MERGE Statement 6-24
Adding Stg_Regions_Rec Mapping Table 6-25
Validating the Mapping 6-26
Warning: No Data File Specified 6-27
Viewing Details for Specifying a Data File 6-28
Accessing the Configuration Dialog Box 6-29
Adding the Source Data File 6-30
Specifying Data File Location and Name 6-31
Successful Validation 6-32
Generate Mapping to See Control Files 6-33
Guided Practice: Adding Tables to the Predefined Staging Area from Flat Files 6-34
Mapping a New Stg_Wine_Products_V Staging Table 6-38
Adding a Transformation for SYSDATE 6-39
Using a Filter 6-40
Using the Expression Builder to Define a Filter Condition 6-41
Using Expression Builder to Define a Filter Condition 6-42
Generate Mapping to See PL/SQL Code 6-43
OWB Automatically Creates a Connector 6-44
Examining the Locations and Connector 6-45

vi

Key Lookup Operator 6-46

Key Lookup Condition 6-47
Set Operation Operator 6-48
Summary 6-49
Guided Practice: Adding a Table to the Staging Area from a Relational Source 6-50
7

Deploying and Populating Staging Area Objects

Objectives 7-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 7-3
Creating the Staging Tables 7-4
Logical Versus Physical 7-5
Physical Implementation 7-6
Configuring for Physical Implementation 7-7
Accessing Configuration Screens 7-8
Creating a Run-Time Repository Connection for Deployment Manager 7-9
Naming the Run-Time Repository Connection 7-10
Specifying Connection Information 7-11
Invoking the Deployment Manager 7-12
Deployment Manager Interface 7-13
Default Action and Generate and Deploy 7-14
Registering Locations 7-15
Predeployment Generation Results 7-16
View Generated Scripts 7-17
Deploy to File System or to Database 7-18
Deploying the Generated Scripts 7-19
Script Generation 7-20
Guided Practice: Generating Code and Creating Tables and Sequences 7-21
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 7-24
Data Extraction and Transformation 7-25
Mappings from Flat Files Generate SQL*Loader Control Files 7-26
Setting Top Directory for Generated Files 7-27
Configuring Mappings 7-28
Generate and Deploy Flat-File Mapping 7-29
Flat-File Mapping Generates a Control File 7-30
Generated Control File Code 7-31
Registering FF_LOC Location 7-32
Deploying Control File 7-33
Results of Control File Deployment 7-34
Executing the Flat-File Mapping 7-35
Flat-File Mapping Loaded Successfully 7-36
Connectors for Multiple Locations 7-37
Deploying a Function That Is Used in a Mapping 7-38
Deploying the Function 7-39

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Viewing Deployment Results 7-40

Deploying the Connector 7-41
Registering the Source Location 7-42
Deploying the Mapping 7-43
Executing the Mapping Scripts 7-44
Mapping Loaded Successfully 7-45
Starting the Runtime Audit Browser 7-46
Connecting to a Run-Time Repository 7-47
Viewing the Deployment Report 7-48
Viewing the Execution Schedule 7-49
Viewing the Execution Report 7-50
Populating the Staging Tables 7-51
Summary 7-52
Guided Practice: Generating and Deploying Scripts and Database Links 7-53
8

Defining and Populating the Enterprise Model Warehouse

Objectives 8-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 8-3
Populating Enterprise Model Tables 8-4
Lesson Topics 8-5
1. Review: Using an Enterprise Model Warehouse 8-6
Review: Purpose of an Enterprise Model 8-7
Enterprise Warehouse Module Is Partially Predefined 8-8
Mapping from the Staging Area to the Enterprise Warehouse Module 8-9
Map_Ent_D2_Geography_UPD 8-10
Map_Ent_D5_Wine_Products_V 8-11
Warehouse Builder Data Quality Features 8-12
Name and Address Cleansing Operator 8-13
Multiple Name and Address Software Providers 8-14
Name and Address Wizard and Operator Properties 8-15
Match-Merge Wizard and Operator Editor 8-16
2. Using Synthetic Keys in the Warehouse 8-17
Using Synthetic Keys in a Warehouse 8-18
Performing Key Rationalization 8-19
Case Study Uses a Predefined Primary Key 8-20
Change Match by Constraint to No Constraints Before Setting Attribute Properties 8-21
Setting Attribute Properties for Synthetic and Natural Keys 8-22
3. Working with Row-Sets 8-23
Row-Sets 8-24
Operators and Transformations 8-25
Avoid Combining Row-Sets of Different Cardinality 8-26
Reducing Row-Set Cardinality with the Join Operator 8-27
Using Display Sets for Visual Display 8-28

viii

Choosing a Display Set 8-29

4. OWB Public Transformations Library 8-30
Using Mapping Transformations 8-31
Adding a Mapping Transformation 8-32
Oracle Library of Transformations 8-33
Transformation Properties Sheet 8-34
Multitable Insert 8-35
Using the Splitter Operator for Multitable Insert 8-36
Pivot and Unpivot Operators 8-37
Wizard-Based Pivot Definition 8-38
Resulting Pivot Code and Mapping 8-39
Using the Table Function Operator 8-40
Guided Practice: Mapping from Staging to Enterprise Model Tables 8-41
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 8-47
Deploying the Mappings 8-48
Invoking Deployment Manager 8-49
Deploying a Sequence Used in a Mapping 8-50
Deploying a Connector Created by the Mapping 8-51
Registering the Location 8-52
Predeployment Registration Results 8-53
Connector Deployment Results 8-54
Connectors for Multiple Locations 8-55
Deploying the Mapping 8-56
Deployment Results for the Mapping 8-57
Executing the Mapping 8-58
Mapping Execution Results 8-59
Deploy and Execute the Other Mapping 8-60
Summary 8-61
Guided Practice: Generating and Deploying Scripts and Database Links 8-62
9

Defining and Populating Data Marts

Objectives 9-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 9-3
Populating Data Mart Tables 9-4
Creating a Module 9-5
Importing Metadata to a Project 9-6
Classifying the Data 9-7
Star Schema 9-8
Dimension Tables 9-9
Determining Granularity 9-10
Creating a Dimension 9-11
Defining the Dimension 9-12
Defining Levels 9-13

ix

Defining Level Attributes 9-14

Defining a Hierarchy of Levels 9-15
Selecting and Ordering the Levels 9-16
Dimension Editor 9-17
Guided Practice: Defining a Data Mart Module and Dimensions 9-18
Cube Tables 9-25
Defining a Cube 9-26
Adding Dimensions by Using Foreign Keys 9-27
Adding Measures 9-28
Cube Editor 9-29
Guided Practice: Defining and Editing the SALES Cube Table 9-30
Create a Database Link to the WH_COMMON Schema 9-32
Reverse-Engineering a Procedure and a Package 9-33
Sharing Transformations 9-34
Creating a Custom Transformation 9-35
Adding Parameters to the Transformation 9-36
Adding Implementation Syntax 9-37
Selected Mappings to the Data Mart 9-38
Map_Dim_D2_Customers 9-39
Map_Dim_D1_Times 9-40
Using OWB Scripts to Create a Project with Sample Time Dimension Mappings 9-41
Map_Dim_D1_Products 9-42
Using External Tables Instead of Staging Tables for Flat-File Sources 9-43
Enabling Parallel SELECT Statements with External Tables 9-44
Map_Dim_D1_Channels 9-45
Map_Fact_D3_Sales 9-46
A Star Is Born 9-47
Populating the Data Mart Tables 9-48
Materialized View 9-49
Materialized View: Query Rewrite Dramatically Improves Query Performance 9-50
Materialized Views: Query Rewrite on SALES_SUMMARY 9-51
Adding a Materialized View 9-52
Summary 9-53
Guided Practice: Import Transformations and Define Data Mart Mappings 9-54
10 Incremental Data Loading
Objectives 10-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 10-3
Initial Versus Incremental Loads 10-4
Updating Data and Metadata 10-5
Preserving History While Updating Fact Data 10-6
Two Ways to Refresh the Fact Table 10-7
Capturing Changed Data for Refresh 10-8

Wholesale Data Replacement 10-9

Comparison of Database Instances 10-10
Time and Date Stamping 10-11
Database Triggers 10-12
Using a Database Log 10-13
Verdict 10-14
Applying the Changes to Data 10-15
Overwriting a Record 10-16
Adding a New Record 10-17
Adding a Current Field 10-18
Maintaining History 10-19
History Preserved 10-20
Three Refresh Scenarios 10-21
Target Uses a Sequence-Generated Key 10-22
Change Match by Constraint to No Constraints 10-23
Setting Attribute Properties for Synthetic Keys 10-24
Setting Loading Properties 10-25
Update Operation Conditions 10-26
Choosing the DML Load Type 10-27
Specifying an Update Target Condition 10-29
Summary 10-30
Guided Practice: Modifying a Mapping for Updating 10-31
11 Sequencing the Workflow of OWB Jobs
Objectives 11-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 11-3
Automating and Scheduling Loads 11-4
Determining the Load Window 11-5
Example of Interdependent Tasks 11-6
Overview of the Relevant Components 11-7
Overview of Functionality 11-8
Process Editor 11-9
Process Flow: Example 11-10
Process Editor Layout 11-11
Birds Eye View 11-12
Visit Child Process 11-13
Activities 11-14
Types of Conditions for Transitions 11-17
Process Packages and Process Modules 11-18
Process Editor Integration with Oracle Workflow 11-19
Process Editor Generates XPDL Code 11-20
Executing Process Flows from Oracle Workflow 11-21
Workflow Components 11-22
Workflow Location Registration 11-23
xi

Workflow Monitor: Activities List Window 11-24

Workflow Monitor: View Diagram Window 11-25
Scheduling a Process 11-26
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings 11-27
Configuring OEM for Use with OWB 11-28
Configuring OEM for Use with OWB: Establishing Preferred Credentials 11-29
Deploy Mappings to the Database and the File System 11-30
Submitting or Scheduling Jobs in OEM 11-31
Reviewing Submitted Jobs in OEM 11-32
Reviewing Submitted Jobs in the OWB Runtime Audit Browser 11-33
Summary 11-34
Guided Practice: Examining and Defining Process Flows 11-35
12 Maintaining the Warehouse and Data Mart Objects
Objectives 12-2
Warehouse Builder Progress Report 12-3
Synchronizing Change 12-4
What Is Reconciliation? 12-5
Life-Cycle Management of OWB Sources, Metadata, and Warehouse Targets 12-6
1. The Source Orders Table Requires Modification 12-7
2. Take Metadata Snapshot Before the Change 12-8
Finish Defining the Snapshot 12-9
3. Add a Column to the Source Table 12-10
4. Reimport the Source Table Metadata 12-11
Reimport Steps 12-12
A. Invoking Import 12-13
B. Filtering Objects 12-14
C. Selecting Objects 12-15
D. Setting Reconciliation Options 12-16
E. Viewing the Import Results Report 12-17
Dangling References: Examples 12-18
Reimport Limitations 12-19
5. Run Impact Analysis Diagram 12-20
6. Modify Related OWB Table Definitions 12-21
7. Inbound Reconcile the Mapping Tables 12-22
8. Take Metadata Snapshot After Change 12-23
Use Change Manager to Compare Snapshots 12-24
Comparison Results 12-25
9. Deploy the Changes 12-26
10. Cancel the Change 12-27
11. Redeploy the Original Version 12-28
Cut/Copy/Paste and Recycle Bin 12-29
Guided Practice: Applying Metadata Changes 12-30

xii

Mapping Debugger 12-34

Connecting to Target Schema 12-35
Warning: Not All Test Data Found 12-36
Test Data Tab Shows Tables Not Found 12-37
Defining Test Data 12-38
Warning: No Data Found 12-39
Define Test Data Dialog Box 12-40
Choose the Schema and Table 12-41
Source Table and Data Are Found 12-42
Define the Other Source Table 12-43
Replace Target with a Debugging Table 12-44
Create a Copy of the Target Table 12-45
Reinitialize the Debug Session 12-46
Continue Reinitializing the Session 12-47
Set Breakpoints and Watch Points 12-48
Guided Practice: Using the Mapping Debugger 12-49
OWB Design Browser 12-54
Setup for Stand-Alone Design Browser 12-55
Creating a Database Access Descriptor 12-56
Navigating to Add a Database Access Descriptor 12-57
Defining the Database Access Descriptor 12-58
Configuring OWB Client for Design Browser 12-59
Starting the Design Browser 12-60
Types of Reports 12-61
Using OWB Reports 12-62
Lineage and Impact Analysis Diagrams 12-63
Lineage Diagram 12-64
Impact Analysis Diagram 12-65
Favorites 12-66
Summary 12-67
Guided Practice: Using the Design Browser 12-68
13 OWB Bridges and OLAP Integration
Objectives 13-2
The Oracle9i OLAP Feature 13-3
Benefits of Oracle9i OLAP 13-4
Enabling Oracle9i OLAP 13-5
1. Creating the OLAP Metadata 13-6
2. Defining a Collection 13-7
Using the Bridges 13-8
Launching the Transfer Wizard in OWB 13-9
3. Deploying the Transfer Wizard 13-10
Transfer Wizard: Source and Target Locations 13-11

xiii

Entering Transfer Parameters 13-12

4. Loading Data into the Analytic Workspace 13-13
Creating Advanced Attribute Sets for Exporting Metadata to Discoverer 13-14
Cube Properties Dialog Box: Attribute Sets Tab 13-15
Advanced Attribute Properties 13-16
Summary 13-17
Appendix A: Approaches to Building a Warehouse
Definition of a Data Warehouse A-2
Typical Data Warehousing Process A-3
Data Warehouse Compared to OLTP A-4
Data Warehouse Compared with Data Mart A-5
Independent Versus Dependent Marts A-6
Independent Data Mart A-7
Dependent Data Mart A-8
Purpose of a Staging Area A-9
Data Staging Area A-10
Remote Staging Model A-11
Onsite Staging Model A-12
Purpose of an Enterprise Model A-13
Extract, Transform, Load (ETL) Processes A-14
ETL Processes A-15
Source Systems A-16
Mappings A-17
Extracting Data A-18
Possible Reasons for ETL Failure A-19
Typical Warehousing Development Tasks A-20
Appendix B: Solution to Practice 9-3, Steps 44, 45
Appendix C: Slowly Changing Dimensions with Oracle9i Warehouse Builder
Appendix D: Installing and Configuring Oracle Enterprise Manager and Oracle Workflow
Overview of Relevant Components D-2
Overview of Functionality D-3
Oracle Management Server D-4
OEM Configuration D-5
Configuration: Example D-6
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings D-7
1. Installing OEM D-8
1.c Installing OEM: Create OEM Repository D-9
1.d Installing OEM: Start Oracle Management Server and Oracle Agents D-10
1.e Installing OEM: Launch OEM Console and Discover Nodes D-11
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings D-12

xiv

2. Configuring OEM for Use with OWB D-13

2. Configuring OEM for Use with OWB: Establish Preferred Credentials D-14
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings D-15
Deployment (Steps 3 and 4) D-16
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings D-17
5. Registering Mappings in OEM D-18
Using OEM to Schedule OWB Mappings D-19
6. Submitting or Scheduling Jobs in OEM D-20
Reviewing the Submitted Jobs in OEM D-21
Reviewing the Submitted Jobs in the OWB Runtime Audit Browser D-22
Tips for Using OEM with OWB D-23
Installing and Preparing Oracle Workflow for Use with OWB D-24
Workflow Components D-25
Debugging OWF Runs D-26
Tips for Using OWF with OWB D-27

xv