Oracle Essbase 9 Implementation Guide- P29 pdf

Chapter 4 [ 125 ] Relational databases We have saved the best for last! Without the time or expense of writing complicated interfacing programs, Essbase allows you to create a data load rule that automatically connects directly to an external relational database such as, Teradata or SQL Server, just to name a few. Using a load rule with connection information specied, you actually write an SQL query using the source database's own Structured Query Language (SQL) commands. You can use this data source to build the outline itself or to load the data values. By now, you should be telling yourself just how cool you think Essbase is and what did you ever do before you learned about it. Data load methods We have discussed the types of data you can load into your Essbase database. We have also discussed how these types of data can be loaded as just the data values themselves, or that they can be used to build your Essbase database outline by dynamically adding dimension members and then loading the data values. Here, we will discuss some of the various methods you can use to load data into your Essbase database. Data le freeform (no load rule) This method is quite possibly the most worry free and easy way to load data into an Essbase database. When you have a properly formatted (Essbase-friendly) data le, all you need to do is drag-and-drop the le onto the EssCmd/MaxL executable les or their desktop shortcuts. Essbase will automatically determine what delimiter you are using and correctly load the data. Here are just a few words of caution on using this data load method. The reason it is so easy at the load step is because the harder work has already been done at the front of this process to create an Essbase-friendly data source. If you were to create such a program, it would need to construct your data source le in such a way as to match the structure of the database outline. Each eld, in every row of data in the le, would need to contain a representative member from every dimension in the Essbase database outline. The data in the le would also need to be ordered in the same order as the members in the outline from top to bottom. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Loading Data into Essbase [ 126 ] Without a load rule, you do run the risk of either having an invalid character in one of your data elds or an incorrect or missing member name included in a row of data. When this happens, Essbase will successfully load the data le up until it reaches the invalid row. At this time, the load will halt without loading the remainder of the data, leaving you with an incomplete load. To be honest, the best time to use this no load rule method of data loading is when your data source le is created from an Essbase database data export. Essbase export and import (no load rule) This method is fantastic for extracting data from your Essbase cube and loading it into another cube or just plain saving it off for backup. Start off with the EAS tool and right-click on your database and select the Export… option to begin the export of the desired data from the database. Upon selecting the Export… option, you will be presented with a small Export Database screen (seen in the next screenshot). On this screen, you have options on how you want to export your data from the database. There are many reasons why you will need to export data from your Essbase database (backup, send downstream). However, in this case, the data is exported so that you can import the data into another database or even into the same database at a later date. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Chapter 4 [ 127 ] Because of this reason, you will do the following: 1. Give a name to your export le including an extension. When loading the data, Essbase will only look for a le with a .txt extension, so it is always best to add it now. Also, when exporting your data, Essbase will only build les upto 2GB each. If your database is larger than 2GB, Essbase will automatically create new les with the name you have chosen and append the number of the le to each one, for example, EssCar01.txt, EssCar02. txt , EssCar03.txt, and so on. Finally, very important, remember that Essbase object names must be upto 8 characters. This means your le name in this example must be upto 6 characters before Essbase appends the number to it. 2. Next, your export options are self explanatory. Select the level of the data you wish to export. If you are exporting the data for a complete restore, then obviously you will select the All data option. 3. Finally, the Export in column format option is very important. If you select this option, Essbase will export the data in a format compatible with spreadsheet applications using eld delimiters. If you do not select this option, Essbase will export your data into a format that it will easily recognize and will be able to load back into the database without a rules le. The Export in column format is not supported in ASO cubes. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Loading Data into Essbase [ 128 ] Okay, that should get your data exported quite nicely. When you are ready to import your data back into your database or into another database with a similar database outline you will do the following: 1. On the selection screen provided, when you right-click on the database in Essbase Administration Services, you will choose Load data… instead of the Export… option you were instructed to choose earlier. 2. Once you have selected the Load data… option, you will be presented with the following screen. It is in this screen that you dene to Essbase how to load a particular data le. 3. To load your newly exported data les, simply select the Data les radio button, then select the Load data and Interactive checkboxes. 4. Next, click on the Find Data File button which will open a le selection dialog box (seen in the following screenshot). Along the top, you will see tabs that allow you to choose from locating your le in the server le system or the analytic server le system. The data les can be on your local machine or on the Essbase server. If your le is on the server and it is stored in the Application|Database path, you should see this le in the Essbase Server tab. If the le is on your local PC, you need to click on the File System tab and search for the data le. Even if your data les are loaded onto the Analytic server (Essbase server), it is best to use the File System tab and select your data les through the operating systems le system. This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com Chapter 4 [ 129 ] 5. Once you have located and selected your le(s), you can click OK to return to the previous screen. If you hold down the Ctrl key, you can select multiple data les in one operation. 6. In this case, we are not using a rules le, so there is no need to select the Use rules checkbox. If you were to use a rules le (and this is a great method to manually test load rules les), you would check the Use rules checkbox. This in turn would allow you to click on the Find Rules File button, which will open another le selection dialog box exactly like the one for data les including the same choices and actions. You can add one or more data les at the same time. Simply click on the Insert button to add another row like the one shown here: This material is copyright and is licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 2009 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 79423 Download at Boykma.Com . licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 20 09 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 794 23 Download at Boykma.Com Loading Data into Essbase [ 126 ] Without a load rule, you do run the risk. data source le is created from an Essbase database data export. Essbase export and import (no load rule) This method is fantastic for extracting data from your Essbase cube and loading it into. licensed for the sole use by Paul Corcorran on 5th July 20 09 8601 ave. p #1, , lubbock, , 794 23 Download at Boykma.Com Loading Data into Essbase [ 128 ] Okay, that should get your data exported