Obiee Epm Whitepaper

Building Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Dashboards for the Peoplesoft Enterprise Performance Management Warehouse An Oracle White Paper July 2006

Build Oracle BI Enterprise Edition Dashboard with EPM Performance Warehouse

Building Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) Dashboards for the Peoplesoft Enterprise

Performance Management (EPM) Warehouse

EXECUTIVE OVERVIEW This white paper is a technical case study of building Oracle BI Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) dashboards for the PeopleSoft Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Warehouse. It details an example of how to build an OBIEE dashboard on top of PeopleSoft EPM Human Capital Management (HCM) Warehouse. It also discusses integration points for single sign-on (SSO), security synchronization and bi-directional drills between the dashboard and the PeopleSoft HCM applications.

INTRODUCTION PeopleSoft EPM Performance Warehouse has historically relied on 3rd-party BI vendors like Cognos, Business Objects and MicroStrategy to provide a BI reporting solution. Now the EPM Performance Warehouse can leverage the robust dashboarding and ad-hoc reporting capabilities provided by OBIEE to deliver a complete end-to-end BI reporting solution to customers. This will combine the strength of the EPM data model that has matured over a decade and has been validated by hundreds of customer implementations. OBIEE will increase the usability and flexibility of EPM Performance Warehouse, and the single technology stack will reduce customers’ cost of ownership.

BEFORE YOU START This white paper assumes working knowledge of the major components of OBIEE (Repository, Answers, and Dashboard) and the EPM Performance Warehouse.

The following resources are available to prepare you to develop OBIEE dashboards for the PeopleSoft EPM Performance Warehouse.

• Oracle University OBIEE Instructor-led Training (http://Education.oracle.com)

• OBIEE On-line Documentation

• EPM People Books

• EPM Performance Warehouse Data Model (available on Customer Connection)

Now EPM Performance Warehouse can leverage the robust dashboarding and ad-hoc reporting capabilities provided by OBIEE to deliver a complete end-to-end BI reporting solution to customers.


OBIEE DASHBOARD CASE STUDY

Case Study Summary This case study describes steps taken to build an OBIEE Workforce Profile dashboard for the EPM 9.0 HCM Warehouse. It provides an example of how to embed the OBIEE dashboard in the PeopleSoft Enterprise portal and how to embed a context-sensitive salary comparison dashboard portlet within the HCM Job Summary page.

This case study is built upon the following product releases:

• EPM 9.0 HCM Warehouse

• OBIEE 7.8

The following product releases are planned to be certified for OBIEE/EPM integration.

• EPM 8.9, 9.0

• OBIEE 8.0

Steps to Build OBIEE Dashboard for EPM 9.0 HCM Warehouse

There are two major steps in creating an OBIEE Dashboard, first we need to create the data object metadata (.rpd file) in the OBIEE Administration tool. Then, using the OBIEE Web, we create the Answers based on the .rpd file and assemble them in a Dashboard.

Note: The Web metadata for use by Answers, Filters, Dashboard, etc. are stored in the .webcat file.

Steps for creating OBIEE dashboards are:

1. Create the database connection; 2. Create the physical layer by importing the tables from the EPM database; 3. Create the business model layer by creating the dimension attributes,

metrics and hierarchies; 4. Create the presentation layer and then resolve business model inconsistency

errors, if any; 5. Once these tasks are completed, build a dashboard. 6. Publish the repository to the web.

Step 1 - Connect to EPM Data

Connecting to the database using ODBC

An ODBC connection was created to import tables in the OBIEE physical layer from the EPM database.


Creating A New Physical Database

To create a new database, in the Administration tool, right-click on Physical layer. Enter name and choose Oracle 9i/10g as the Database and enter Enterprise Warehouse as the name, as shown below


In this case study, a subset of the HCM data mart tables in EPM were identified and imported in the Physical layer of OBIEE.

Please refer to the section in the OBIEE Server Administration guide titled – ‘Creating and Administering the Physical Layer in a Repository’ for additional information.

Step 2: Create the Physical Layer by Importing EPM Performance Warehouse Metadata

In the Administration tool, go to File->Import from Database to import all the global dimensions in MDW with keys, which will land on a folder representing the physical schema name (PF900V2A). Edit the tables to change the object type to Alias and remove the PS_ prefix from the table name. In the box adjacent to object type, enter the table name with PS_ prefix. This alias feature is used to create a generic object name to accommodate objects from application suites such as EBS, Siebel in future releases. The screenshot below shows the one of the aliases created on a table used in the demo.


After all the tables are saved in a folder named PF900V2A, create a Physical Display folder called Global dimensions and click on Add to launch the Browse window. Select the global dimensions (BU, Day, Time etc.,) and warehouse dimensions (Person, Account, Supplier, Customer, Employee Job etc.,), including the security bridge tables. Objects stored in the display folder appear as links (shortcuts) to objects in the physical schema folder. The screenshot below shows the EPM tables used for the workforce profile dashboards.


Configuring Connection Pools and caching of reports

Click on Connection Pools->Add to launch the Connection Pools dialog box. Enter appropriate user name and password. Provide the tnsnames.ora entry used to connect to the database in the Data Source Name box and save the Connection Pool as MDW Connection Pool. In this case study, an OCI connection was used to connect to the Oracle RDMS while rendering the Dashboard.

Please refer to the section in the OBIEE Server Administration guide titled – ‘Creating and Administering the Physical Layer in a Repository’ and ‘Query Caching in SiebelAnalytics Server’ for additional information.


Creating Table Joins

After importing EPM metadata to create the Physical layer, we now need to identify the key joins for related dimension and fact tables. Right click the ‘Physical’ pane of the OBIEE Administration tool. Select the ‘Physical Diagram->Objects and all joins’ option to launch the ‘Physical Diagram’ window. Create the foreign key joins between the Fact and Dimension tables. The screenshot below shows the physical table joins used for the workforce profile dashboards.


Step 3 - Creating Model Business Logic

After the Physical layer is created, we are now ready to create the Business Model. We are going to create a business model called Enterprise Warehouse and drag all objects from the physical schema folder into this business model. We will rename the tables and columns to give them more meaningful names. Complex joins are recommended in the Business Model layer. However, logical key/foreign key joins that are automatically created when tables are dragged from the physical layer are not recommended to use. Usage of physical joins in the Business Model layer could lead to erroneous results where the logical folder is mapped to multiple physical folders. So, delete the foreign key joins that are copied automatically from the physical layer and re-create table joins manually. Create hierarchies based on global dimensions. All hierarchies should have a single root level but can have multiple branches, each branch representing a drill-path in the tree. Each level in the hierarchy should contain a unique key and all columns in a hierarchy should come from one logical table. Each level should be associated with at least one column, except the Grand Total level. Before creating a hierarchy, we need to first create a logical dimension. Right click on the top-level folder in the business model layer and select ‘New Object->Dimension’.

OBIEE will increase the usability, flexibility of the EPM Performance Warehouse and reduce customers’ total cost of ownership.


Add logical levels to the newly created Department dimension by right clicking on the object and selecting ‘Logical level’. Specify the root level. Repeat the steps to create necessary levels. For this example, the Department dimension has two levels, Department EEO4 Function and Department. Once levels are created, we then need to associate logical columns with logical levels. Select and drag logical table columns to the appropriate level. For each hierarchy level, a level key needs to be defined.

The screenshot below shows the business model diagram between the various tables used in the case study.


The screenshot below shows the business model and mapping layer created for the case study.


Please refer to the section in the OBIEE Server Administration guide titled – ‘Creating and Administering the Business Model and Mapping Layer in a Repository’ for additional information.

Step 4 - Configure User Presentation Layer

By now, we have created the Physical Layer and Business Model. We're now ready to create the Use Presentation Layer. We'll create a presentation catalog called Enterprise Warehouse and drag all objects from the business model Enterprise Warehouse into this presentation catalog. We'll only include the columns needed for business analysis in presentation layer. For example, we will not include the dimensional surrogate keys, columns ending with SID in presentation catalogues. The screenshot below shows the Presentation layer created for the case study.


Please refer to the section in the OBIEE Server Administration guide titled – ‘Creating and Maintaining the Presentation Layer in a Repository’ for additional information. We have now completed the 3 repository layers required to build an OBIEE dashboard. The screenshot below shows all the 3 layers of the repository (.rpd file).

Step 5 - Compose "Workforce Profile" Dashboard

Prior to building the dashboard we need to make sure that the repository file (.RPD file) is consistent and the OBIEE server is able to start. Verify


that the .rpd name is defined in the NQSConfig.INI file in the SiebelAnalytics\Config folder and then start the OBIEE server. The business requirements will drive the dashboard content. A Dashboard is essentially a BI portal whose content is driven by a role (e.g. an Executive or a line manager.) It can have multiple pages, which in turn consists of multiple Answers, Prompts, and hyperlinks to other dashboards or external references. The screenshot below depicts some of the ‘Workforce Profile’ dashboard pages.


In the OBIEE Web, navigate to Answers and choose a Subject Area to create a new Answer. Start adding columns from the left hand pane and add filters. The filters need to have the ‘IS PROMPTED’ clause if they need to be filtered based on a Dashboard Prompt. The screenshot below depicts one of the demo Answers in an edit mode.


The screenshot below depicts the Answers that were developed for the case study.

In the OBIEE Web, navigate to Admin-> Manage Intelligence Dashboards to create a new Dashboard. Start adding ‘Section’ from the left hand panel on a Page. Each of these sections will have an Answer or a Prompt. We typically put the Dashboard Prompt on the top section. The screenshot below depicts the ‘Overview’ Dashboard Page that was developed for the case study.


To Create a Dashboard Prompt navigate to Answers, then click on the ‘Dashboards’ tab on the left hand panel and click on the ‘New Dashboard Prompt’ icon on the top. The screenshot below depicts the Dashboard prompt that was developed for the case study.

Please refer to the OBIEE Web Administration guide for additional information on using Answers and creating Dashboards.


Step 6: Publish Repository to the Web

Once the dashboards are created we are ready to deploy the .rpd file and .webcat file to the OBIEE server. Shutdown the OBIEE services and copy the .rpd file to the ‘SiebelAnalytics\Repository’ folder whereas the .webcat files gets copied to the ‘SiebelAnalyticsData\Web\Catalog’ folder.

Edit the ‘SiebelAnalytics\Config\ NQSConfig.INI’ file to update the .rpd file name in the ‘REPOSITORY’ section. The screenshot below shows the file –

Edit the ‘SiebelAnalyticsData\Web\config\ instanceconfig.xml’ file to update the .webcat filename if it is not named as default .webcat, the screenshot below shows the file –

Start the Web server and the OBIEE services.

Single Sign-On Both Enterprise and OBIEE supports Oracle SSO so single sign-on should work out of the box. Please refer to the SSO docs for Enterprise and OBIEE on the implementation steps.


Security User and group security can be configured in OBIEE. It is recommended that standard group security profiles are set up corresponding to your company roles. Please refer to OBIEE documentation for full instructions on setting up security in this tool.

Integration with PeopleSoft OLTP Applications

Embed Dashboard in Enterprise Portal

To embed the dashboard in PeopleSoft Enterprise Portal, we need to add a reference of the OBIEE dashboard as portal content in People Tools. Go to PeopleTools -> Portal -> Structure and to add a Content Reference for the SBA Dashboard. In our case study, the OBIEE dashboard URL is: http://<OBIEE WEB SERVER>/analytics/saw.dll?PortalPages&PortalPath=/shared/Workforce%20Profile/_Portal/Workforce_Profile&Page=Overview&NQUser=Administrator&NQPassword=


The screenshot below depicts how the Dashboard is rendered on PIA.


Drill-down from the OBIEE Dashboard to the HCM Application

The PS HOME URL for the transaction system was stored in a field called URI in the SRC_SYTEM_TBL in EPM. A field called URI (long datatype with length 0) was added to the SRC_SYTEM_TBL record in the EPM instance and the table was built using the ‘Alter’ option. The URI is dependent on the Source System Id, such as HRMS 8.9 etc. This is a deployment activity as it will change based on a particular PIA installation. Do NOT add a forward slash to the end. SQL update example: Update ps_src_system_tbl set uri = 'http://adntas42.peoplesoft.com:6300/psp/EM_HC890TM1_TS111420' where src_sys_id='HCM' Create a URL Id for the path to the PIA component in the PSURLDEFN table in EPM. Add a forward slash to the beginning of the string. Make sure that all the search key fields are on the string and their parameter values are denoted as :1, :2 etc depending on the number of keys of that component. For example, with 1 parameter. Insert into psurldefn (URL_ID,VERSION,DESCR,URL,ICLIENT_SERVERFLAG,OBJECTOWNERID, LASTUPDDTTM,LASTUPDOPRID,COMMENTS) values ('JOB_SUMMARY','1','Job Summary pia page', '/EMPLOYEE/HRMS/c/ADMINISTER_WORKFORCE_(GBL).JOB_SUMMARY.GBL?EMPL_RCD=0&EMPLID=:1',' ',' ',null,'PPLSOFT',null); In the OBIEE Administration tool, create an Initialization Block and a Session Variable that we will use to create the URL for the source system. We need to create an Init Block. for each drill-down PIA page. For example, the init block SQL to drill to an employee's Job Summary page:

select b.uri||a.url from psurldefn a, ps_src_system_tbl b where a.url_id='JOB_SUMMARY' and b.src_sys_id='HCM'


Create a logical column in the business layer of the SBA admin tool. We will now replace


the :1 with the dynamic field value. For example,

For the case study, a logical column named ‘Person Name Drill’ was created in the Business Model Layer. The definition is given below - '<a href="' || REPLACE( VALUEOF(NQ_SESSION."JOB_SUMMARY_PG"), ':1', "Enterprise Warehouse"."Dimension Person"."Person Id") || '" TARGET=mywin>' || "Enterprise Warehouse"."Dimension Person"."Person Name" || '</a>' Create an Answer including the logical column created above and change the data format for that column as HTML. When it is executed, it will have the correct drill to PIA URL. The screenshot below depicts that:


Context Sensitive Portlet in a PIA page

We will now embed an OBIEE portlet within the Job Summary page to provide a Salary Comparison Analysis. Create an Answer with a prompt on a Key field, for the demo we had used the Jobcode field. For more information, refer to the OBIEE Web Administration guide section named ‘Passing Filters to the Siebel Analytics Web Go URL Through a URL (Navigation)’.

Create a URL definition for the answer in HCM PeopleTools that will


refer to the OBIEE dashboard. For example, SBA_ANSWER_TOP_PERFORMER

http://<OBIEE WEB SERVER>/analytics/saw.dll?Go&Path=/Shared/Workforce+Profile/Salary+Comparison+Analysis&NQUser=Administrator&NQPassword=

Open the drill Page in PeopleTools and add an HTML area


Edit the html area properties and add a derived record with field name HTMLAREA (may be different) with long datatype.

Add PeopleCode to the Rowinit event of the field HTMLAREA in the derived record


The Rowinit PeopleCode is as follows: Local Field &HTMLField; SQLExec("Select URL from PSURLDEFN where url_id =:1", "SBA_ANSWER_TOP_PERFORMER", &url); &url = &url | "&Action=Navigate&P0=1&P1=eq&P2=""Dimension%20Jobcode"".""Jobcode%20Id""&P3=" | JOBCODE_TBL.JOBCODE; &url = &url | "&Options=fdr"; &HTMLField = GetField(); &HTMLField.Value = GetHTMLText(HTML.ADS2, &url); ----------------- For above-code to work, we have also created an HTML object named ADS2.

The code for the HTML object is <div style="position:absolute;height:500px" height="500px"> <iframe style="position:absolute;top:0;left:0;" frameborder=0 width='800px' height='500px' SRC='%bind(:1)'></IFRAME> </div> <p style="margin-bottom:500px">


--------------------------- When the Job Summary page is viewed in PIA, the Salary Comparison Analysis portlet is rendered. It provides peer salary analysis for an employee. This demonstrates how a context sensitive embedded portlet can be implemented in a PeopleSoft PIA page.

Building OBIEE Dashboard with EPM Performance Warehouse July 2006 Authors: Ling Xiang and Amit Kothari Contributing Authors: Carrie Lukatch Oracle Corporation World Headquarters 500 Oracle Parkway Redwood Shores, CA 94065 U.S.A. Worldwide Inquiries: Phone: +1.650.506.7000 Fax: +1.650.506.7200 www.oracle.com Oracle is a registered trademark of Oracle Corporation. Various product and service names referenced herein may be trademarks of Oracle Corporation. All other product and service names mentioned may be trademarks of their respective owners. Copyright © 2001 Oracle Corporation All rights reserved.

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