Vlamis Software Solutions - October 2003 Newsletter

VSS Newsletter October 2003

In this monthly newsletter we inform you about recent and upcoming events in Vlamis Software and the Oracle business intelligence and data warehousing communities. We hope you find this information helpful.

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Analytic Workspace Manager Released

Analytic Workspace Manager (AWM) has just been released on OTN! Go to http://otn.oracle.com/products/bi/olap/olap.html and download Analytic Workspace Manager now.

NOTE: AWM requires the 9.2.0.4.1 OLAP patch mentioned below.

The OLAP option in the Oracle9i Release 2 Database introduced Analytic Workspaces and the true integration of Relational and Multidimensional data types in the same database. Until now, the only way that developers and DBAs could use the Analytic Workspaces was to construct them manually using command-line API calls. With the recent release of AWM we can now make better use of the multidimensional features in the OLAP Option without having to perform complex command-line programming.

AWM provides the following basic functionality:

Integrated Graphical User Interface.
Ability to take a relational OLAP cube, created by OEM or Oracle Warehouse Builder, and move it over to an Analytic Workspace.
Ability to refresh data, dimensions, and facts, directly from a menu selection or from a script generated by AWM.
BI Beans Enabler creates the metadata necessary to view the data using BI Beans.
Discoverer Enabler creates the End User Layer information for Discoverer to access the OLAP data.
SQL OLAP Table Views are created that allows AW data to be viewed with standard SQL.

Vlamis Software Solutions has been working with these patches for the last few months. We are happy to help those companies that need assistance installing the patches and getting started using AWM and Analytic Workspaces. Give us a call, we're ready to help!

9.2.0.4.1 OLAP Patch Released

This patch improves upon 9iOLAP's abilities and seamlessly integrates the OLAP Option into the database. Great strides improving stored procedures, performance, and stability of 9iOLAP have been made. This patch is also required to be able to run the Analytic Workspace Manager (see above).

If you've been on the sidelines, waiting for a 9iOLAP release that fully utilizes Analytic Workspaces or have Express databases that you would like converted to 9iOLAP AW, this is the patch you have been waiting for. A call to CREATE_DB_STDFORM will migrate your Express metatdata to "standard form", ready to be enabled for access from BI Beans.

To download this patch, visit http://metalink.oracle.com and download patch #3084634, or sign into Metalink and then click on this link. In order to apply this patch, you must first update your RDBMS to version 9.2.0.4 using the patch set 3095277 also available on Metalink.

OracleWorld 2003 Highlights

OracleWorld 2003 focused on the upcoming technologies of 10g or Grid Computing. There were several important Business Intelligence announcements, demonstrations, and hands-on exercises. For a full recap of all of the events at OracleWorld, including streaming videos of keynote addresses, downloadable technical presentations and white papers, and photos, visit http://www.oracle.com/oracleworld/online/.

See http://otn.oracle.com/ow2003/ow_bi.html for Business Intelligence related sessions, including our session "Using OWB to Create OLAP Warehouses".

9iOLAP Spreadsheet Add-In

Oracle was demonstrating the Speadsheet add-in for 9iOLAP. Modeled after the Express Spreadsheet Add-In, this new product uses the Oracle Business Intelligence Beans to provide the ability to query 9iOLAP. Using the same Query and Calculation builder interface provided to other BI Beans-based applications, end users will be able to query the 9iOLAP catalog and embed 9iOLAP data into their spreadsheets. In effect, users can use Microsoft Excel to view and analyze 9iOLAP data. It is anticipated that this product will be available by the end of the year.

BusinessObjects Runs on 9iOLAP

BusinessObjects now runs on 9iOLAP using SQL Views that use the OLAP Table function. BusinessObject users are able to use their familiar environment while exploiting the power of 9iOLAP. This is just one example of how SQL views on 9iOLAP data allow any SQL-enabled query and reporting tool to access 9iOLAP data.

For details on how to set up BusinessObjects to access data from Oracle 9iOLAP, see their OracleWorld presentation.

10gOLAP

Yes, even as 9iOLAP is being adopted, 10gOLAP is announced. Several new features and enhancements were presented by Bud Endress of Oracle Corporation. These included:

Enhancements to analytic workspaces including partitioning, multi-write, and larger workspaces.
Query rewrite will access analytic workspaces.
Aggregation from formula.

For more information, see Bud Endress' presentation and white paper titled "Oracle Database 10g: Exciting New Capabilities in the OLAP Option".

10g BI Beans

10g BI Beans (formerly 9.0.5) was demonstrated. This release will significantly enhance the capabilities of the thin client beans including:

Easy to use stoplight formatter
Thin query builder
Thin calculation builder
Drilling on graphs

With this release, HTML-based beans applications will have almost all of the functionality of the thick client beans. These new beans will allow client access via a web browser with little or no additional software needing to be installed.

Keith Laker's presentation and white paper titled "Advanced Analytic Applications with Oracle JDeveloper and Oracle BI Beans" are available to download through the OracleWorld 2003 website.

We are a beta site for this and other Oracle software. Please let us know if you would like us to prototype screens for you or discuss this further.

10g Discoverer

The next release of Oracle Discoverer, Discoverer 10g, code name "Drake", was announced. The demonstration of this new software included ad hoc access to 9iOLAP cubes. Yes, Oracle will be integrating 9iOLAP access into Oracle Discoverer. Discoverer 10g will be utilizing the new 10g Beans to create a new front-end access to 9iOLAP data, including presentations created by other BI Beans applications, such as VSS Business Analyzer. Look for more information about this new release on the Oracle website. It was anticipated that Discoverer 10g would be available early next year.

IOUG Live! 2004 Call for Papers

If you want to present at IOUG Live! 2004, submit your abstracts soon. The abstract submission deadline is October 6, 2003. If your abstract is accepted, in return for presenting, you will receive a free pass to the entire conference. IOUG Live! 2004 will be held in the Metro Toronto Convention Center, Toronto, Canada, April 18 - 22, 2004. To submit your abstract for IOUG Live! visit the IOUG website at http://www.ioug.org/live2004call.

KC Oracle Users Group

Vlamis Software Solutions will be presenting "Oracle's Complete, Integrated Business Intelligence Technologies" at the KCOUG Fall Conference on Monday, October 27. Attendees will be able to se Oracle's latest technology in action for analyzing data warehouses. Contact us if you will be attending or will be in Kansas City.

For more information, visit the KCOUG website http://www.kcoug.org.

Prior Newsletter Articles

We feature breaking news in the "Headline" section of our home page at www.vlamis.com. More news items can be found on our news page at www.vlamis.com/news. An archive of our newsletters going back through 2002 can be found at http://www.vlamis.com/newsletters.

Our September 2003 newsletter featured the following articles:

Our August 2003 newsletter featured the following articles:

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