Special Data Mart Source Related Subjects

This page supplies some information about special subjects related to administration of Data Mart sources.

For more general administration information please refer to Manage Data Mart Sources.

Contents

 

Refresh BI MV Cache

After the installation Data Mart Sources feature will in most cases show available Data Mart sources.

If the feature is empty but there the installation contains Data Mart sources, is necessary to first perform the RMB Refresh BI MV Cache in Data Mart Sources feature header section to refresh the cache containing information about Data Mart sources.

Once the RMB is done, refresh the feature.

Figure 1: Refresh BI MV Cache

Mark Data Mart Sources as Active

During installation all Materialized Views are created with the BUILD DEFERRED clause. Therefore, Materialized Views are not populated with data during the installation. The same goes for incrementally loaded tables, that will be empty until activated.

The state of installed Data Mart sources will be UNUSABLE, displayed with a red indicator.

The standard approach to get started with Materialized Views is:

A Data Mart source can however be marked as being Active. This option is available for a Data Mart source in any state. An Active Data Mart source is considered to be refreshed regardless of state (however a source in state FRESH is never refreshed).
Consequences of the Active option:

Marking Data Mart sources as Active is performed using the RMB option Mark Selected DM Sources as Active in Data Mart Sources feature.

Figure 2: Mark Selected Data Mart Souces as Active

Note: This operation will not refresh the Data Mart sources (populate it with data), it will only specify that the Data Mart sources should be regarded as Active

 

Activate Data Mart Sources

If the state of the Data Mart source is UNUSABLE it will be displayed with a red indicator. This means that the Data Mart source needs to be activated before it can be used. Activating a Data Mart source leads to that the first snapshot is created, i.e. the Data Mart source will be populated with data representing the first snapshot.

Data Mart sources can be activated using the RMB option Activate Selected in Data Mart Sources feature. It is also possible to activate all (non-activated) Data Mart sources with the RMB option Activate All available in the header of the Data Mart Sources feature.

Note: When a Data Mart source is activated it will be marked as Active.

 

Figure 3: Activate Selected BI Data Mart sources

Figure 4: Activate All BI Data Mart sources

Note: Activating all Data Mart sources in a single step is not recommended since it might take a lot of time and require a lot of system resources

 

Manual Refresh of Data Mart Sources

Manual refresh of Data Mart sources is typically performed if the dimensions and facts in use do not display up-to-date information and when manual management is preferred to scheduled management.

Manual Refresh of Data Mart sources is performed using the RMB option Refresh Selected DM Sources in Data Mart Sources feature. 

Note: This option can only be performed on Data Mart sources marked as Active

Figure 5: Refresh Selected Data Mart Sources

Scheduled Refresh of Data Mart Sources

The scheduling of Data Mart sources referenced by an Information Source is handled using pre-defined tasks.

It is important to define a schedule that fits the needs of the customer, for e.g.:

More details...

Note: This option can only be performed on Data Mart source which are marked as Active

Recreate Materialized Views

Note: This option is only available for the Data Mart source Materialized Views

In some situations it is not possible to activate or refresh a particular Materialized View, due to e.g. related source changes.

It is however possible to manually recreate a Materialized View using the RMB option Recreate Selected in the Data Mart Sources feature. The option leads to that the Materialized View is dropped in the database and then an attempt will be made to recreate it using the metadata of the original object in the database.

After recreating the Materialized View it will also be automatically activated, since it was Active before performing the recreate operation.

Figure 6: Recreate BI Materialized Views

Note: This option can only be performed on Active Materialized Views having state/staleness STALE or UNKNOWN

 

Mark Data Mart Sources as Inactive

Use this option to mark one or more Data Mart source as inactive, i.e. as non-Active.

Consequences of this option:

Marking Data Mart source as inactive (non-Active) is performed using the RMB option Mark Selected DM Sources as Inactive in Data Mart Sources feature.

Figure 7: Mark Selected Data Mart sources as Inactive

Note: This operation will only specify that the Data Mart source should be regarded as non-Active, i.e. Inactive

 

Data Mart Refresh Categories

It is possible to add Data Mart sources into different refresh categories. Using refresh categories simplifies the Data Mart source refresh administration by enabling refresh of a group of Data Mart sources at a given time.

The feature Data Mart Refresh Categories in Solution Manager can be used to manage these categories

Figure 8: Data Mart Refresh Categories

The following RMB options are provided:

Figure 9: Data Mart Refresh Category Details

Use the feature to:

Note: It is possible to add a Data Mart source to a refresh category even if it is referenced by other categories. The user will however be notified if a Data Mart source is added to more than one refresh category. Please find more information in the Information Source feature documentation.

Note: The main purpose of this feature is to support scheduled refresh of a number of Data Mart sources. All Active Data Mart sources will be refreshed regardless of state/staleness.
It is also possible to use this feature to activate a number of Data Mart sources. First make sure that all in the category included Data Mart sources are marked as Active. Then a one-time job can be scheduled that will take care of the activation.

 

Pre-Defined Refresh Categories

It is recommended to add Materialized Views belonging to a component to pre-defined refresh categories.

Please refer to Storage Layer Development and to the Data Mart Source Refresh Recommendations page.

Exploring Referenced Data Mart Entities

Data Mart sources can be explored using a Data Mart entity, e.g. a dimension or fact, as the starting point. 

Use the feature Explore Data Mart Sources in Solution Manager.

It is possible to see all Data Mart sources referenced by dimensions or Information Sources. In the following example all Data Mart sources referenced by one specific Information Source are displayed

 

Figure 10: Explore BI Data Mart sources

Note: The below listed RMB options are dynamically added depending on marked Data Mart sources.

The following (complete list of) RMB options are provided in the grid:

 

The feature header also provides some RMB options.

Figure 11:Explore BI Data Mart sources Header Options

The following RMB options are provided:

Data Mart Source Refresh Recommendations

Read more about general recommendations related to refresh of Data Mart sources here.

In-Memory Options

If Oracle Enterprise Edition is used and the In-Memory option is enabled, there will be some extra options available for In-Memory handling of Data Mart sources.

Feature Header Options

The feature header will have the following extra In-Memory options:

Figure 12: In-Memory Options in Header

 

Feature Row Level Options

For selected rows in the feature the following extra In-Memory options will be available:

Figure 13: In-Memory Options for selected rows

Figure 14: In-Memory Options for selected rows