Entering Column Names In Online Mode

This problem with the admin tool is so annoying that I thought I'd mention it on this blog. When you're using the admin tool in online mode, there can be a very long delay when typing in names of new logical columns. When connecting over the Internet (e.g. via VPN) the delay can increase. So you type...and nothing happens...and then you type the same thing again because you don't see anything...and a while later you notice the additional typing was indeed redundant. Then you have to delete...and more delay. And while these delays are going on, your cursor won't appear in the logical table dialog window. You could well conclude that working with the admin tool this way just isn't practical.

Maybe someday Oracle will fix this, if they're not too busy adding new features to fix existing features. (Personally, there aren't many new features I'm dying for. And when I see them, well, they rarely bowl me over, a subject for another post. But polishing existing features would really be nice. "Just saying.")

In the meantime, here's the WORKAROUND I use: type the logical column name in the Description edit box. No delays there! Then copy and paste that into the Name edit box. There aren't any delays when you do that, either. This works great -- until you forget, which you inevitably do.

Oracle, if you're reading this, here's another easy thing to fix: make Ctrl-A (select all) work in every edit box window -- with highest priority on the edit box where you enter the SQL for physical layer SQL objects.

Time Series Functions

BI EE has the time series functions Ago() and ToDate(). Have you ever wondered how these work? The best way to find out is to examine the SQL that is generated when a query includes these functions. The structure of the SQL is determined by the database features supported by the target database. This presentation displays what happens in the case of Oracle 10gR2 (and 11g), which are "best case" databases for these functions: How Time Series Functions Work.

Leaving Oracle

In April, I left Oracle and began working as the BI Strategy Lead for a company that intends to use OBI EE extensively in a SaaS (Software as a Service) model.

Today I deleted all the previous posts on this blog which I put up while I was working for Oracle. So the blog is now a clean slate.

As the universe of OBI EE users grows, there is an ever-increasing amount of activity in the "blogosphere" about the product. When I read these blogs, I have various reactions: some are very good, some information is wrong (even in the very good blogs), some people are writing about OBI EE who seem to have very limited backgrounds with the product. I find some postings to be amusing -- particularly those that frame their information as great insights, but which would have been covered in the first half day of normal OBI EE training. Oh, well.

I intend to keep this blog centered on metadata and modeling techniques, with occasional forays into useful web ui techniques. Also, as a non-Oracle employee, I might feel a little freer about talking about product "idiosyncracies" -- the things about the product that drive me crazy. (Yes, there are some.) We'll see. I was a part of the product team since the very beginning, when the product was still on the drawing board in 1998, and so have a lot of affection for the product and the great group of people that developed it. In my opinion, it's still clearly the best BI platform available by a long shot, and in my new position I'm excited about the possibilities of using it to drive new business for the company I now work for. Whatever insights about the product that I develop while in this capacity, I'll post here. Stay posted.