Working with Oracle Business Intelligence Applications in EPM Workspace

Purpose

This tutorial covers Oracle® Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (Oracle BI EE) integration with Oracle ® Enterprise Performance Management Workspace (EPM Workspace). You learn how to launch and work with the following applications in EPM Workspace: Oracle® Business Intelligence Publisher (Oracle BI Publisher); Oracle® Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards (Oracle BI Answers, Oracle BI Delivers, and Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards).

Note: Alternatively, you can click an individual icon (or image) associated with each step to view (or hide) the screenshot associated with that step.

Overview

EPM Workspace provides reporting, query, and analysis capabilities for a wide variety of data sources in a single coordinated environment. Oracle BI EE 10.1.3.4 users can launch and use Oracle BI EE applications in EPM Workspace 11.1.1.

Scenario

In this tutorial, you use EPM Workspace to launch Oracle BI EE applications; open, navigate, create and edit content in Oracle repositories and catalogs; set Oracle BI EE preferences and perform administrative tasks.

Prerequisites

Before starting this tutorial, you should:

1.	Have Oracle BI EE 10.1.3 4 installed.
2.	Have EPM Workspace 11.1.1 installed.
3.	Have Oracle BI EE 10.1.3.4 and EPM Workspace 11.1.1 integrated. Refer to the following documentation for the integration steps: Oracle Business Intelligence Publisher Administrator's and Developer's Guide Release 10.1.3.4: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E12844_01/doc/bip.1013/e12188/T421739T514579.htm#5022397 Oracle® Business Intelligence New Features Guide Release 10.1.3.4: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E10415_01/doc/bi.1013/e10416/general_10134.htm#BEHJFJDD

Launching Oracle BI EE from EPM Workspace

You can launch Oracle BI Publisher and Oracle BI Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards from EPM Workspace. To launch an application:

1.	Log on to EPM Workspace.
2.	Click Navigate.
3.	In the drop-down list, select Applications. The list of available applications is displayed.
4.	Select Oracle BI Publisher, Oracle BI Answers, Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards, or Oracle BI Delivers. The selected application opens in a new tab in EPM Workspace.

Working with Oracle BI Answers in EPM Workspace

The following topics demonstrate how to perform common Oracle BI Answers tasks in EPM Workspace:

Creating a Request, Filter or Dashboard Prompt

Oracle BI Answers enables you to explore and visualize information by creating reports, also called requests. After creating a request, you can add a filter to it to restrict the result set, or you can create a dashboard prompt to filter the requests embedded in a dashboard.

To create a request, filter, or dashboard prompt:

1.	Select File > New > Request, Filter, or Dashboard Prompt.
2.	Select a subject area and click OK.
3.	Create a request, filter or dashboard prompt as you would in the native Oracle BI Answers environment. Note: To save an item, select File > Save or click  (Save) on the toolbar.

Opening Oracle BI Answers Items

Items created in Oracle BI Answers are stored in the Oracle BI Presentation Catalog (Presentation Catalog). To open an existing request, filter, or dashboard prompt from the Presentation Catalog:

1.	Select File > Open > Oracle BI catalog.
2.	Select an item and click OK.

Managing the Presentation Catalog

The Presentation Catalog holds the content created with Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards. Use the Manage Catalog feature to edit, rename, set permissions for, and delete folders and items.

To manage the Presentation Catalog:

1.	Select Tools > Manage Catalog.
2.	Manage the catalog as you would in the native Oracle BI Answers environment.

Installing Oracle BI for Microsoft Office

Oracle BI for Microsoft Office is an add-in that enables you to access and run Oracle BI EE requests directly in Microsoft Excel or PowerPoint. To install the add-in:

1.	Select Tools > Install > Oracle BI for Microsoft Office. The File Download > Security Warning dialog box is displayed.
2.	Click Run. Oracle Business Intelligence for Microsoft Office - InstallShield Wizard is displayed.
3.	Click Next and follow the wizard steps to complete the installation.

Working with BI Interactive Dashboards in EPM Workspace

The following topics demonstrate how to perform common Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards tasks in EPM Workspace:

Navigating Among Dashboards

An Oracle BI Interactive Dashboard is a page that displays the results of BI requests and other kinds of content. To navigate among available dashboards:

1.	Select Dashboards and select the dashboard title that you want to view. Note: The dashboard that is currently selected has a check mark.
2.	Click the tabs at the top of the dashboard to navigate between the dashboard pages. Note: if your dashboard has an alert, you see the  icon (Oracle BI Alerts!) on the toolbar. Click the icon to view the alert or select View > Alerts.

Editing Dashboards

Dashboard Editor enables you to edit your dashboards. For example, you can rename and delete dashboard components, or you can add and remove dashboard pages. To display Dashboard Editor:

1.	Select Edit > Edit Dashboard. Dashboard Editor is displayed. Note: Use the other options from the Edit menu to perform appropriate Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards functions.
2.	Edit your dashboard as you would in the native Oracle BI Interactive Dashboards interface.

Working with Oracle BI Delivers in EPM Workspace

The following topics demonstrate how to perform common Oracle BI Delivers tasks in EPM Workspace:

Creating an iBot

EPM Workspace enables you to use Oracle BI Delivers to create alerts, called iBots, based on analytic results. To create an iBot:

1.	Select File > New > iBot.
2.	Continue creating an iBot as you would in the native Oracle BI Delivers interface.
3.	To save an iBot, select File > Save.

Viewing Available iBots

You can view the iBots that you own or are a recipient of. To view available iBots:

Select Favorites > Show iBots Acting on My Behalf. A summary list in the workspace displays details of the iBots you own or are a recipient of. Note: If alerts are available, you can view them by selecting View > Alerts, or by clicking the  icon (Oracle BI Alerts!) on the toolbar.

Working with Oracle BI Publisher in EPM Workspace

The following topics demonstrate how to perform common Oracle BI Publisher tasks in EPM Workspace:

Navigating the Reports Catalog

Oracle BI Publisher content is stored in the BI Publisher catalog. The Oracle BI Publisher welcome page displays the folder that you have access to. To navigate among available Oracle BI Publisher reports:

1.	On the Oracle BI Publisher welcome page, click a folder name (for example, Shared Folders or My Folders). Each folder displays the first three items (reports or folders) contained in the folder.
2	To see additional items contained in a folder, click the folder name or click more. Note: You can use the search feature to perform keyword search for Oracle BI Publisher reports in the reports catalog .

Opening Reports

To open a report:

1.	On the Reports page, navigate to a report.
2.	Click View. The report opens in the default template and output format:

Viewing Reports by Using Various Report Templates and Output Formats

To view a report by using a different layout template and output format:

1.	From the Template drop-down lists, select a template (for example, W2 Form) and an output format (for example, PDF) . Note: A report can have different templates and output formats associated with it. For example, templates and output formats for report A can be different from templates and output formats for report B.
2.	Click View to preview the results.
3.	To export a report by using a selected template and output format, click Export. For example, you can select W2 Form (Partial) and PDF. For the example shown in the screen shot, the W2 form is exported into a PDF document and can be saved locally.
4.	To send the report via email, to a printer, fax, FTP, or a Web folder, click Send.

Accessing Common Oracle BI Publisher Tasks

You can easily switch between common Oracle BI Publisher tasks in EPM Workspace. To do so:

On the EPM Workspace toolbar, select BI Publisher, and then perform one of the following actions: Select History to view the history of scheduled reports. Select Schedules to monitor or delete scheduled reports. Select Admin to perform administrative tasks (for example, set up date sources). Select Reports to go back to Oracle BI Publisher reports. Note: These options correspond to the Reports, Schedules, and Admin tabs in the Oracle BI Publisher native user interface.

Performing Folder and Report Tasks

Oracle BI Publisher folder and report tasks are accessible from the File menu on the EPM Workspace toolbar, or as links inside the folder view. Perform one of the following steps to create a folder or report:

Select File > New > Report or Folder Click Create a new folder or Create a new report

Installing Desktop Tools

You can install the following Oracle BI Publisher desktop tools: Template Builder and Analyzer for Excel. Template Builder is an extension to Microsoft Word for the development of RTF templates. Analyzer for Excel enables you to export formatted data to Excel for further analysis and work with Oracle BI Publisher through the Excel interface. To install desktop tools:

1.	Select Tools > Install.
2.	Select Template Builder or Analyzer for Excel, and follow the wizard installation steps.

Setting Preferences

The following topics demonstrate how to set Oracle BI preferences in EPM Workspace:

	Setting Oracle BI Publisher Preferences
	Setting Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards Preferences

Setting Oracle BI Publisher Preferences

To set Oracle BI Publisher preferences in EPM Workspace:

1.	Select File > Preferences .
2.	Select Oracle BI Publisher. Note: Accessibility Mode and UI Language preferences are inherited from Workspace preference settings and are not updatable from the BI Publisher Preferences dialog. For information on setting these preferences, see the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Workspace, Fusion Edition Release 11.1.1 Administrator's Guide.
3.	Set the preferences as you would in the native Oracle BI Publisher interface.

Setting Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards Preferences

To set Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards preferences in EPM Workspace:

1.	Select File > Preferences .
2.	Select Oracle BI. Note: Locate and User Interface Language preferences are inherited from Workspace preference settings and are not updatable from the BI Publisher Preferences dialog. For information on setting these preferences, see the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Workspace, Fusion Edition Release 11.1.1 Administrator's Guide.
3.	Set the preferences as you would in the native Oracle BI Presentation Services interface.

Performing Administrative Tasks

Administering BI Publisher and Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards

You can administer BI Publisher and Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards through Oracle BI Presentation Services Administration interface in EPM Workspace. For example, you can delete, rename, or set permissions for items in the Presentation Catalog, control access to Interactive Dashboards, and manage BI Publisher users. To perform administrative tasks:

1.	Select Navigate > Administer > BI Presentation Services .
2.	In the Activities section, select the activity.
3.	Perform administrative tasks as you would in the native Presentation Services interface.

Summary

Let's summarize what you have learned in this tutorial:

	Oracle BI EE and EPM Workspace integration enables you to work with BI Publisher; Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Delivers, and Interactive Dashboards in EPM Workspace.
	To launch these applications from EPM Workspace, click Navigate and select the application you want to launch.
	To navigate between open Oracle BI EE applications, click the tabs at the bottom of the EPM Workspace window.
	Select File > Preferences to set BI Publisher, Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Interactive Dashboards, and Delivers preferences.
	Click Navigate > Administer to administer BI Publisher; Oracle Business Intelligence Answers, Interactive Dashboards, and Delivers.