Ignore for Consolidation and Store

for Data Storage. The By Customer Rating alternative hierarchy will be a stored hierarchy (we need only the (+) Addition consolidation operator, and no member formulas are required).

11. Select all the base members (1001 through 4002) under By Customer

Rating, and click the Shared Member

icon, setting the storage property for

Figure 4: Verifying and saving your outline

many members in one click. VERIFY AND SAVE YOUR OUTLINE

You’ve added dimensions and members and assigned properties. (As with any- thing you’re working on, we recom- mend that you save often.) Now it’s time to verify your outline and make sure you haven’t broken any of the Oracle Essbase rules (for example, every member name and alias must be unique; check out the Oracle Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide for the

complete list). Click the Verify button to do this. Once everything checks out OK, click the Save button to save

Figure 5: Loading the data

the outline back to the Oracle Essbase chies within a single dimension. The

You can also have multiple hierar-

Consolidation.

server, as shown in Figure 4. hierarchies within a dimension can be

3. Click the Next button, set

Other Exp to (–) Subtraction for

all stored or all dynamic or have one

LOAD DATA—LOAD DATA FILE AND CREATE hierarchy stored and the other hier-

Consolidation, and click OK.

4. Right-click Scenario, and select Edit

RULES FILE

archies dynamic. Multiple hierarchies

There are many different ways to load can contain alternative hierarchies with

Member Properties.

data into Oracle Essbase: using Smart shared members or completely differ-

5. Set Data Storage to Label Only.

View Submit, Oracle Essbase Excel ent hierarchies.

6. Set the remaining member properties:

Add-in Spreadsheet lock and send, Set member properties and define

a. Year: Label Only for Data Storage

free-form data loading, data load rules hierarchy types for JWC. Now that you

b. Actual: (~) Ignore for

(against flat files and relational tables), are fully fluent in Oracle Essbase

Consolidation

Oracle Essbase Studio, or Oracle Data member properties and hierarchy

c. Budget: (~) Ignore for

Integrator. The following is an intro- types, let’s update the JWC outline to

Consolidation

duction to data load rules files, which set member properties and hierarchy

7. Right-click Account, and select

are objects containing the instructions types to meet reporting and analysis

Edit Member Properties. Note that

for how Oracle Essbase should load a requirements.

the Hierarchy Information is set to

Dynamic. By default, the Account

source text file (or SQL query result).

1. In preparation, if you have not right-click the Op_Expense member

1. In the Outline Editor for Juggle,

dimension is always set to Dynamic,

already done so, download otn.oracle and select Edit Member Properties.

allowing member formulas and all con-

.com/oramag/oracle/10-jan/o10essbase The Member Properties window will

solidation operators.

.zip and extract the jugact.txt text file. appear (as shown in Figure 3).

8. Right-click Customer, and select

Edit Member Properties.

2. In Administration Services, navigate

2. Select (–) Subtraction for

9. On the Information tab, select

to the Rules Files option under the

52 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

Juggle database. Right-click and select

your source file column:

CONCLUSION

Create Rules File. The Data Prep While you’ve built the most basic Editor will open.

Field 1: Year

of Oracle Essbase databases, you’ve

learned some valuable concepts and browse to and open the jugact.txt text

3. Select File -> Open Data File, and

Field 2: Customer

initial database creation steps you file you downloaded in Step 1.

Field 3: Account

Field 4: Jan

can apply in your own environment.

Next steps include learning ways to Options -> Data Source Properties.

4. Once the datafile is open, select

Field 5: Feb

dynamically build dimensions with The Data Source Properties window will

Field 6: Mar

rules files (do you want to manually open. Data source properties tell Oracle

Field 7: Apr

build a 100,000-customer list?), how to Essbase the datasource delimiters, what

Field 8: May

automate processes, and how to design field edits have been made in the rules

Field 9: Jun

and optimize your ASO databases the file, and what header rows may exist.

Field 10: Jul

Field 11: Aug

“right” way.

You are well on your way to build- and on the Header tab, set the number

5. On the Delimited tab, choose Tab,

Field 12: Sep

ing reporting, analysis, and perfor- of lines to skip to 1. Click OK.

Field 13: Oct

Field 14: Nov

mance management applications that

provide tangible benefits and action- Outline, and the Associate Outline

6. Select Options -> Associate

Field 15: Dec

able information to your organiza- window will open. Choose the Juggle

tion. We’ve covered only the tip of database, and click OK.

5. Select Options -> Validate to vali-

date the rules file (check out the Oracle

the iceberg when it comes to Oracle

Essbase Database Administrator’s Guide Essbase, so we encourage you to deep- Settings, and the Data Load Settings

7. Select Options -> Data Load

dive into Oracle Essbase and learn window will open.

for a complete listing of rules file

about all the features and functions On the Data Load Values tab,

restrictions).

this EPM powerhouse can provide. Go you can define whether this rules file

6. Select File -> Save to save the rules

forth and aggregate. ■ should overwrite, add to, or subtract

file.

We have the datafile; we have the

from existing values or if it should

Tracy McMullen (tmcmullen@interrel.com), perform sign flipping of data values

data load rules file. Let’s load some data!

director, and Edward Roske (eroske@interrel.com), during the load. On the Header

1. Within Administration Services,

CEO, deliver EPM solutions for clients at interRel Definition tab, you define any headers

select the Juggle database and choose

Consulting (www.interrel.com). Winner of the 2008 that may be needed for the source.

Actions -> Load data for “Juggle”

and 2009 Enterprise Performance Management and When data is being loaded, all dimen-

from the menu. The Data Load window

Business Intelligence Solution of the Year Oracle sions must be referenced either in the

will open.

North America Titan Awards, interRel Consulting file or as a header.

2. Choose Overwrite Existing values,

and leave the default values for the

provides consulting, training, infrastructure, support,

and software services for Oracle EPM solutions. Definition tab. Expand Scenario, and

1. For our example, select the Header

other options.

3. Click Find Data File, as shown in

double-click Actual to select it as the

Figure 5, and navigate to the dimen-

header (your datafile contains actual

sion datafile (the text file you just

next STEPS

data, even though the datafile doesn’t

downloaded).

specifically say so). Click OK.

4. Click Find Rules File, and navigate

READ

2. In the Data Prep Editor, select Field

to the data load rules file (the rules file

Oracle Essbase documentation

-> Properties, and the Field Properties

you just created).

download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E12825_01/nav/

window will open. This is where you portal_3.htm 5. Accept the defaults for the Error

will map the columns to dimensions or

File location and name.

Oracle enterprise performance management system documentation

members and identifying data values.

6. Check the Overwrite check box if

otn.oracle.com/documentation/epm.html

3. Next select the Data Load

you want the error file to replace an

Look Smarter Than You Are with Essbase 11:

Properties tab. (Ignore the Dimension An Administrator’s Guide error file that may already exist, and,

www.lulu.com/content/6402010

Build Properties tab, because we are

finally, click OK to load the data.

more Roske

focusing on data loading.) Here you

Congratulations! Thanks to your

looksmarter.blogspot.com

select the dimension that maps to the

fine work, JWC analysts can now

DOWNLOAD

field or select a specific member or

retrieve and analyze data against the

Oracle Essbase

select Data Field or select Ignore field

Juggle database via Smart View or

otn.oracle.com/software/products/bi/performance-

during a data load. management other end-user reporting tools. (Oracle

4. On the Data Load Properties tab,

Essbase ASO cubes require no further

sample data for this article

otn.oracle.com/oramag/oracle/10-jan/o10essbase.zip

set the appropriate field name to match

calculation steps.)

ORACLE MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

BY A RU P N A N DA

Compressing Columns

Compress more with Oracle Exadata Hybrid Columnar Compression.

rganizations are storing increasingly

With Hybrid Columnar Compression, large amounts of data in their data

duced online transaction processing

Oracle Exadata Storage Server in Oracle warehouses to support their businesses,

(OLTP) compression, and that compres-

Exadata V2 creates a column vector for and many government regulations and

sion mechanism replaces a value in a

row with a much smaller symbol, reduc- each column, compresses the column industry mandates require this data

vectors, and stores the column vectors to be archived rather than deleted.

ing the length of the row.

in data blocks. The collection of blocks Unchecked, this exponential explosion

In real-world situations, however,

is called a compression unit. The blocks in active and archived data will

data is more often repeated in columns,

in a compression unit contain all lead to skyrocketing storage costs

the columns for a set of rows, as and slowing query performance as

shown in Figure 2. (In Hybrid

a result of increased I/O. Columnar Compression, a row Fortunately, Hybrid Columnar

typically spans several data blocks.) Compression—a key feature in Oracle Exadata Storage Server

TYPES OF HYBRID COLUMNAR Software in Oracle Exadata

COMPRESSION V2—addresses both the data explo-

Hybrid Columnar Compression sion and potential I/O bottlenecks.

comes in two basic flavors: It minimizes storage requirements

warehouse compression and and significantly improves query

archive compression. performance, by changing how

Warehouse compression. For ware- compressed data is organized.

house compression, the compres- Instead of storing rows of the

sion algorithm has been optimized table together, Hybrid Columnar

for query performance, specifically Compression stores the columns—

for scan-oriented queries used where the data has similar characteristics

heavily in data warehouses. This —together. The new organization and

not rows. For example, here is the data

approach is ideal for tables that will be the similar characteristics of the column

for a simple (abbreviated) table:

queried frequently. data allow a much better compres-

Here is how you create a table with sion ratio. This article explains how to

FIRST_NAME LAST_NAME

warehouse compression: enable and manage Hybrid Columnar

--------------------------- -------------------------

Albert Smith

Compression and examines the storage

Bernie Smith

CREATE TABLE XXX

and performance impact.

Charles Smith

COMPRESS FOR QUERY

David Smith

ROWS VERSUS COLUMNS

SELECT * FROM YYY; Traditionally, database table rows have been stored in blocks, as shown in

John Smith

Archive compression. With archive com- Figure 1. Typically, a row is fully con-

... and so on ...

pression, the compression algorithm has tained in a block, with the columns

been optimized for maximum storage of the row stored next to each other.

The Smith value repeats many times,

savings. This approach is ideal for tables However, when the row becomes too

so a great deal of compression can be

that are infrequently accessed. (Note large to fit into a block, the row over-

achieved by replacing the Smith value

that for compressing or decompressing flows into the next block—a phenom-

with a much smaller symbol. And

data, archive compression may consume enon known as row chaining—but the

because the same symbol can represent

a significant amount of CPU compared organization of the columns being stored

all of the repeated Smith values, fewer

to warehouse compression.) next to each other still remains the same.

unique symbols will need to be stored,

Here is how you create a table with Oracle Database 11g Release 1 intro-

reducing the size of the compressed

data significantly.

archive compression:

TIM WEBB

54 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

CREATE TABLE XXX

and LOC_COMPARCHIGH tables are COMPRESS FOR ARCHIVE

select * from loc_nocomp

created with the query low, query high, AS

archive low, and archive high compression SELECT * FROM YYY;

create table loc_comparchigh

nologging

settings, respectively.

After the tables have been created, we This is all that’s necessary for enabling

compress for archive high

can check the space consumption of the Hybrid Columnar Compression—no

tables by using this query: application changes are necessary. Note

select * from loc_nocomp

that within each of the two Hybrid SELECT SEGMENT_NAME, Columnar Compression flavors, you can

BYTES/1024/1024 MB also set a HIGH or LOW modifier to

We use data from a table called

FROM USER_SEGMENTS control the amount of compression.

LOCATIONS, available from a sample

Oracle E-Business Suite database, and

WHERE SEGMENT_NAME LIKE ‘LOC%’;

Comparing compression performance. then we create one uncompressed table

When a table compressed with Hybrid

SEGMENT_NAME MB Columnar Compression is read, the

and four compressed tables from this

------------------------------------------- --------------- CPU consumption may be higher than

source table, with different compression

clauses. The LOC_COMPQRYLOW, LOC_ LOC_NOCOMP 33020 for an uncompressed table. However,

LOC_COMPQRYLOW 5455 because the number of blocks returned by a query against a compressed table is

COMPQRYHIGH, LOC_COMPARCLOW,

Data Block 2 significantly lower, the logical reads and

Data Block 1

consistent gets are lower as well, often COL4 resulting in a reduction in both CPU

COL2 COL3

COL4 COL1

COL2 COL3 COL4 COL1

consumption and I/O. So, the overall

CPU consumption may actually be lower COL4 for queries against tables compressed

COL2 COL3

ROW5 ROW6

with Hybrid Columnar Compression. Now let’s look at the effects of different

Figure 1: Row-centric data block structure

compression types and settings on performance with an example table. The following syntax creates our compressed tables:

Compression Unit 1

create table loc_nocomp

COL3 COL4

select * from locations

COL3 COL4

create table loc_compqrylow

COL3 COL4

nologging

compress for query low COL4 as

select * from loc_nocomp

Figure 2: A compression unit in Hybrid Columnar Compression

/ create table loc_compqryhigh

Consistent Physical CPU Logical nologging

Compression

Table Size,

Elapsed Query

Setting

Compared to

Time (min:sec) Gets

Reads Utilization Reads

Uncompressed

compress for query high

Table

2,098,606 14,637 2,512,966 select * from loc_nocomp

Query low

220,973 14,783 create table loc_comparclow 401,666 nologging

Query high

185,706 15,966 315,292 compress for archive low

Archive low

Archive high

Table 1: Compression of LOCATIONS table and its effect on query performance

ORACLE MAGAZINE

JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

56 JANUARY/FEBRUARY 2010

ORACLE.COM/ORACLEMAGAZINE

Ignore for Consolidation and Store