From the File menu, select Compare. In the Open Offline dialog, enter the repository password and click OK.

16 Managing Oracle BI Repository Files 16-1 16 Managing Oracle BI Repository Files This chapter provides information about topics related to managing your repository files, including comparing and merging repositories, equalizing objects, and querying and managing metadata. This chapter contains the following topics: ■ Comparing Repositories ■ Equalizing Objects ■ Merging Repositories ■ Querying and Managing Repository Metadata ■ Changing the Repository Password Comparing Repositories This section explains how to use the Compare repositories dialog in the Administration Tool. This feature enables you to compare all repository objects in two different repositories. If you are using an Oracle BI Applications repository and have customized its content, you can use this option to compare your customized repository to a new version of the repository received with Oracle BI Applications. See Merging Repositories for more information about merging your customized Oracle BI Applications repository with a new version of the repository. To compare two repositories: 1. In the Administration Tool, open a repository in offline mode. The repository that you open in this step is referred to as the current repository. See Using Online and Offline Repository Modes for instructions on opening a repository.

2. From the File menu, select Compare.

3. In the Select Original Repository dialog, select the repository you want to compare to the open repository.

4. In the Open Offline dialog, enter the repository password and click OK.

5. Use the Compare repositories dialog to review the differences between the two repositories. Figure 16–1 shows the Compare repositories dialog. 16-2 Metadata Repository Builders Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition Figure 16–1 Compare Repositories Dialog Table 16–1 lists and describes the values in the Change column. Table 16–2 lists and describes some of the buttons in the Compare repositories dialog. Table 16–1 Compare Repositories Dialog: Change Column Change Description Created Object was created in the current repository and does not exist in the original repository. Deleted Object exists in the original repository but has been deleted from the current repository. Modified Object exists in the original repository but has been modified in the current repository. Table 16–2 Compare Repositories Dialog: Buttons Button Description Filter Opens the Comparison Filter dialog to enable you to filter the objects that appear in the Compare repositories dialog by type of change and type of object. You can specify what you want to appear and what you want to be hidden. If you select Group created and deleted objects , the tool filters out the child objects of created and deleted objects, so that only the parent objects are shown. By default, all items are shown. Find Search by an object Name and Type such as Initialization Block. Managing Oracle BI Repository Files 16-3 Turning Off Compare Mode This option enables you to remove marks applied to objects while using the Compare Repositories and Merge Repositories options. The Turn off Compare Mode option is only available after you have clicked Mark during the File Compare action. If no repository object is marked, this option is not available. To enable the Turn off Compare Mode option: ■ In the Administration Tool, select File, then select Turn off Compare Mode. Equalizing Objects If you have objects in two repositories that have the same name but different upgrade IDs, you may want to treat them as the same object. To accomplish this, you can use the equalizerpds utility to equalize the objects by giving them both the same upgrade ID. Alternatively, you can equalize objects as part of the merge process. You can also use the Equalize Objects dialog available from the Compare repositories dialog to preview what the repository will look like after you run the equalizerpds utility. This section contains the following topics: ■ About Equalizing Objects ■ Using the Equalize Objects Dialog ■ Using the equalizerpds Utility About Equalizing Objects Objects may need to be equalized because the Administration Tool tracks the history of each repository object using the upgrade ID of the object. The upgrade ID is a Select Enables you to select a repository to compare with the current repository. Find Again Search again for the most recent Find value. Diff Differences between the current repository and the original repository. Save Saves a list of the differences between the two repositories. Stats Provides the number of changes by Change type. View 1 Opens an object in the original repository in read-only mode. Edit 2 Opens an object in the current repository in readwrite mode. Equalize Opens the Equalize Objects dialog so that you can model changes to the upgrade ID of the objects. See Equalizing Objects for more information. Create Patch Creates a patch file that contains the differences between the repositories. See Performing Patch Merges for more information. Mark Marks the object you select. Boxes appear around created and modified objects. To remove marks, from the File menu, choose Turn off Compare Mode. Table 16–2 Cont. Compare Repositories Dialog: Buttons Button Description 16-4 Metadata Repository Builders Guide for Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition unique identifier for each object. Sometimes, the upgrade ID can change because of user actions or during merge. When this occurs, and a subsequent comparison is done, the Administration Tool treats the new upgrade ID as a new object, and the missing original upgrade ID as a deleted object. For example, assume you have two identical repositories. In one repository, delete a presentation column, then re-create it again. When you compare the two repositories using the Compare repositories dialog, there are two entries for the presentation column: one that shows the old object as deleted, and one that shows the new object as created. Without using the Compare repositories dialog, it is hard to tell that this action occurred, because the Administration Tool typically shows only the object name and properties, not the underlying upgrade ID. It is very useful run the equalizerpds utility on your repositories before merging them to equalize your changes. Equalizing any opposing changes such as a column that has been duplicated, and then renamed cleans up the underlying upgrade IDs and prevents unintended renaming during the merge. When you equalize objects, you can lose track of object renames because legitimate object renames become different objects. In other words, intentional renames you did in the repository might be changed to different upgrade IDs, so subsequent merges erroneously treat the renamed object as a new object. To avoid this situation, enter the before and after names of intentionally renamed objects in a rename map file that you then pass to the utility. The equalizerpds utility uses the information in the file to ensure that the original IDs are used in the renamed current objects. Using the Equalize Objects Dialog The Equalize Objects dialog gives you a preview of what your repository will look like if you run the equalizerpds utility on it. The Equalize Objects dialog provides a convenient way to compare changes related to objects that have the same name, but it does not persist any of the changes. Note that using the Equalize Objects dialog can be a very slow process for larger repositories. To view and use the Equalize Objects dialog: 1. In the Administration Tool, open your repository in offline mode.

2. From the File menu, select Compare.