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Merging/Importing Objects from Different Repositories using Oracle BI Administration

Tool

Purpose

This tutorial covers how to merge/import objects from different repositories using the BI Administration tool.
The three­way merge technique is discussed in various scenarios — such as three way with common parent
(also called standard three-way merge), three-way merge with no common parent (sometimes called as
two-way merge).

Note: This tutorial is intended for learners who are already familiar with Oracle BI Administration tool, and
have completed the Oracle by Example tutorial "Creating a Repository using Oracle Business Intelligence
Administration Tool." Also it is recommended that the learners also go through the OBE "Setting Up
Multi-User Development Environment (MUDE) Using Oracle BI Administration Tool" to understand how the
merging is done in a multiuser environment.

Time to Complete

Approximately 30-40 minutes.

Topics
This tutorial covers the following topics:

Overview
Scenario
Prerequisites
Overview of Three Way Merge: Scenarios
Merging the Objects from Different Repositories with a Common Parent (The Standard 3-Way Merge)
Merging/Importing Objects from Different Repositories With No Common Parent
Summary
Related Information

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Overview

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This tutorial covers how to merge/import objects from different repositories using the BI Administration tool.
You will be guided to merge/import the objects in different scenarios — such as three way with common
parent (also called standard three-way merge), three-way merge with no common parent (sometimes called
as two-way merge). This tutorial also covers the concepts of Web Catalog migration for archiving and
unarchiving repository objects with an example.

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Scenario

You should be familiar with the functionality of the BI Administration tool. This tutorial uses Sales History
repository (SH.rpd), and the rpd file along with the instructions to set up the same are provided in the
Prerequisites section.

So, to continue with the steps listed in the topics, you should have installed the required software, and
performed the setup for SH.rpd repository, and other steps as mentioned in the Prerequisites section.

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Prerequisites
Before starting this tutorial, you should:

1. Have access to or have installed Oracle Database 10g (preferably version 10.2)

2. Have access to or have installed the sample schemas (specifically SH)

3. Have installed Oracle BI Enterprise Edition 10.1.3.3.

4. Have completed the tutorial"Creating a Repository using Oracle Business Intelligence

Administration Tool." It is also recommended that you complete the tutorial "Setting Up
Multi-User Development Environment using Oracle BI Administration Tool."

5. Have set up the Sales History (SH.rpd) repository following the instructions given here:

1. Click Start > All Programs > Administrative Tools > Services.
2. In the Services dialog box, select the Oracle BI Presentation Server and select Action >
Stop to stop the service. Also, stop the Oracle BI Server. These services can be stopped
in any order.
3. Create a directory named SetupFiles under <InstallDrive>. Download and extract the
SH.zip file from here to this directory named SetupFiles.
4. Using Windows Explorer, navigate to the SetupFiles folder and copy the sh folder and its
contents to <InstallDrive>:\OracleBIData\web\catalog. This is a backup of the
Presentation Catalog corresponding to the Sales History content.

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5. Open <InstallDrive>:\OracleBIData\web\config\instanceconfig.xml in Notepad and

edit the CatalogPath section to point to the directory you just copied (as shown in the
screen below). The path should be: <InstallDrive>:/OracleBIData/web/catalog/sh

6. Navigate to the SetupFiles folder and Copy sh.rpd to <InstallDrive>:\OracleBI\server

\Repository.
7. Open <InstallDrive>:\OracleBI\server\Config\NQSConfig.ini in Notepad and edit the
repository name to point to the sh.rpd repository you just copied. In the Repository
section, enter # before "Star" to comment out any other repository name entry. Then,
below that entry, create a new line and enter Star = sh.rpd, DEFAULT; to point to your
repository (as shown in screen below):

Note: NQSConfig.ini is the initialization file read by the Business Intelligence Server when
it starts up. It contains a number of parameters that control server settings and behavior. In
this step, you have set up the parameter that tells the server to read sh.rpd metadata
repository.
8. Now go back to the Services dialog box, and start the Oracle BI Server, and the Oracle
BI Presentation Server services.

Note: Screen captures for this tutorial were taken in a Windows XP environment. Therefore, the
Start menu options may vary slightly if you are using any other Windows environment.

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Overview of Three-Way Merge: Scenarios

You can set up and work in a multiuser development environment (MUDE) and finally merge the changes
made by multiple developers/users into a repository using the BI Administration tool. The Oracle BI
repository development process adheres to the classic Software Configuration Management (SCM) process,
which utilizes a three-way merge to manage concurrent development. Changes are managed by merge and
reconciliation. Most of the merging process is automatic, and changes do not conflict. In case of any
conflicts, developers can resolve them. This is covered in the OBE "Setting Up Multi-User Development
Environment (MUDE) using Oracle BI Administration Tool."

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However, as an administrator you may want to manually merge the changes from multiple repositories or
import objects from different repositories outside of MUDE. Oracle BI Enterprise Edition offers inherent
support for the classic 3 Way merge in both the multiuser development (MUD) and outside the MUD
environments. The two main scenarios (outside of MUDE) are discussed in this tutorial:

The Standard 3 Way Merge (3 Way Merge with Common Parent) :

This merge is useful when you have a common parent repository and
two derived repositories. For example, you may have a development and
a production repository, both derived from a common parent repository.
You may want to import/merge the changes from the development
repository to the production repository. The three-way merge process in
this case is indicated in the diagram on the left where there is a Parent
RPD, and two derived RPDs — RPD A, and RPD B. After the merge, a
4th merged repository file ( Merged RPD in the diagram) is created.
(Modified or new objects are listed with asterisk '*' beside them ). In
RPD A, the object Obj1 is modified, and a new object NewObjX is
created. Similarly, a new object NewObjB is created in RPD B. When
these two repositories are merged, note that the merged repository
contains the obj1 (inherited from parent, and modified in RPD A), and also contains the new objects
(NewObjX , NewObjB ) from both the repositories.

3 Way Merge with No Common Parent: This is a special case of

merge where you are merging objects from two different repositories
with no common parent (sometimes referred to as 2 way merge). For
example, as an administrator, you may want to import objects (such as
subject areas, folders) from a different repository into your current or
working repository. In this case the repositories to be merged do not
have a common parent. This scenario is depicted in the diagram (on the
right). In this case both the repositories are treated as different and
conflicting object names are duplicated (with a suffix #N, N- number) while merging or importing. The
diagram indicates this scenario of no common parent, where RPD A and RPD B are treated as separate
repositories and are compared to a blank repository. The merging process in this case will not overwrite
Obj1; instead both copies of Obj1 (Obj1, Obj1#1*) from RPD A and RPD B are retained in the merged
repository. Also, note that new objects from both the repositories (NewObjB*, NewObjX*) are created in the
merged repository .

In this tutorial you are guided through the steps to perform the 3 way merge with and also without a common
parent repository. Web Catalog migration concepts are also covered. The base repository that you will be
using in this tutorial is SH.rpd (which you have installed by performing the steps in the Prerequisites
section).

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Merging the Objects from Different Repositories With a Common Parent (The Standard 3- Way
Merge)

In this topic a simple scenario of standard 3 way merge is discussed. For example, you may have a
development or current repository that you are working on, and also a modified repository in which the
changes are made (both repositories derived from the same parent). Now you can compare these two
repositories with an original repository and merge changes to create a fourth merged repository file. This
scenario is simulated in this topic.

Follow the steps listed below:

1. Navigate to <Install Drive>:\OracleBI\server\Repository. (Close any instances of the BI

Administration tool.)

Make three copies of sh.rpd and rename them as sh_original.rpd, sh_current.rpd, and
sh_modified.rpd. The folder now should look like the screen below:

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Note: All the three repository copies are identical as of now, but you will make modifications
and merge the changes later.

2. Now open the sh_modified.rpd offline in the BI Administration tool.

From the Windows All Programs menu, select Oracle Business Intelligence > Administration.
In BI Administration tool select File > Open > Offline. Select the sh_modified.rpd file to open
this repository in offline mode. (Note that you will be making the changes to this repository).

Log in as Administrator (password Administrator).

3. Now you'll make modifications to the repository.

Expand the SH node in the Presentation layer of the BI Administration tool.

Make the following changes:

Expand the Products node.

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4. Double-click Prod Category to change the properties. The Presentation Column- Prod
Category dialog appears. Click Edit.

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Enter Product Category in the Name field to change the display name of the column. Click
OK.

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Click OK again to close the dialog.

Similarly, change the names of the columns Prod Subcategory and Prod Name to Product
Subcategory, and Product Name respectively in the Products table of the Presentation Layer.

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5. Also make some more changes to the repository as follows:

Delete the Promotions table from the Presentation layer. Right-click Promotions and select
Delete.

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Click Yes in the confirmation dialog to delete this object.

6. Now save this modified repository. Select File > Save to save the changes to the repository file.

When prompted to check for global consistency, click No.

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Note that we are simulating a scenario of a modified repository. In the real-time scenario it may
be advisable to check the global consistency, as this would validate the consistency of the
metadata repository.
For example, if you click Yes in the above case to check the Global Consistency, the following
warnings are displayed in the Consistency Check Manager.

Select File > Close to close the sh_modified repository.

7. Now open the sh_current.rpd in offline mode as Administrator in BI Administration tool.

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Note that none of the changes you made before to the other repository are reflected in this, as
you haven't merged the changes from the modified repository.

8. Now, make the following changes in the current repository:

Right-click Demographics in the Presentation layer and select Delete to delete this object.

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Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

9. Now you have a current /working repository (sh_current. rpd), and you have a modified
repository (sh_modified.rpd) derived from the same parent repository (sh_original.rpd). The
next step is to merge the changes.

Select File > Merge in BI Administration window where you have the sh_current repository
open.

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10. The Select Original Repository dialog appears, select sh_original.rpd as the original
repository for the merge. Click Open.
When prompted for the password for Administrator, enter Administrator as the password, and
click OK.

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11 The Merge Repositories window appears. Note that the sh_orginal.rpd repository is reflected
in the Original repository field. Also, note that the changes made to the current repository are
listed.

Click the Select button beside the Modified repository field to select the modified rpd file.

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Select sh_modified.rpd file and click Open.

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When prompted to enter the password for Administrator, enter Administrator as the password.

12. Now click the Select button beside the Save merged repository as field, to give a different
name than the default name for the merged repository which will be created as a result of this
merge process.

Enter sh_merged.rpd as the file name and click Save.

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13. This takes you back to the Merge Repositories window. Select the Show Qualified Names
check box, and click the record in the log that is displayed below this option. All the three
repositories are displayed with the changes made reflected. Observe the highlighted portions of
the screen below:

Click Stats to see the statistics:

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Also click the button to see the details:

14. Now you have to make the decision to select the changes in the current repository or modified
repository. Select the record that shows the deletion of the Demographics table in the current
repository. Scroll to the right to see the Decision column, and select Modified (A) from the drop
down list.

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Note: This option retains the changes in the modified repository over the current repository with
reference to the Demographics table. You can also select Current option from the drop-down
list, and that will retain the changes in the current repository over the modified repository with
reference to Demographics.

15. After the decision options are selected, you can see that the Merge option is enabled. Click
Merge.

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When prompted to check the global consistency , click No.

16. The sh_merged repository is opened in the BI Administration tool. Note that the changes made
to the modified repository are reflected in the merged repository. That is, the Promotions table
does not exist in the merged repository Presentation layer, and also the names of the columns are
changed in the Products table. However, note that the Demographics table still appears in the
merged repository because you have selected Modified (A) option over the Current option in
the Decision drop-down list when merging the repositories.

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Also note that a simple example is discussed here, and there can be many scenarios for the
Standard 3 Way Merge.

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Merging/Importing the Objects from Different Repositories With No Common Parent

There can be various scenarios for this technique. In this topic, a simple scenario of importing new objects
from different repositories is discussed. That is, the objects in both the repositories don't conflict. This
scenario is simulated here. First you create a blank repository, and then merge the objects from two different
repositories — SH.rpd, and UsageTracking .rpd.

Note: You can find the UsageTracking.rpd file with the product samples in the path: <Install
Drive>:\OracleBI\server\Sample\usagetracking

Follow the steps listed below:

1. First you need to create a blank rpd in the BI Administration tool. (This is a one-time process
and can be used for future imports too if required).

From the Windows All Programs menu, select Oracle Business Intelligence> Administration.

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In the BI Administration tool select File> New (or click New icon).

Enter Blank. rpd as the name of this new repository and click Save.

You can see that a blank repository is opened in the BI Administration tool. Select File > Close
and close the
Blank. rpd.

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2. Now open the sh.rpd in offline mode as Administrator. (This will be the source repository.)

In the BI Administration tool select File > Open > Offline. Select the sh.rpd file to open this
repository in offline mode. (Note that you will be making the changes to this repository).

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Log in as Administrator (password Administrator).

3. Select File > Merge.

This opens the Select Original Repository dialog. Select Blank.rpd as the original repository,
and click Open.

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If prompted for the Administrator's password, do not enter any password, and click OK.

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4. The Merge Repositories window opens with the Blank.rpd selected as the Original
Repository.
Click the Select button next to the Modified Repository field to select a different repository to
merge the objects from.

Select the Modified Repository dialog that appears.

Navigate to the path <Install Drive>:\OracleBI\server\Sample\usagetracking, select
UsageTracking.rpd.
Click Open.

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If prompted to enter the password for Administrator user, do not enter any password and click
OK.

5. Now, click the Select button beside the Save the merged repository as field to give a different
name than the default one. Enter a suitable name such as sh_merged_no_CP.rpd (to indicate
that this is the destination/merged repository when there is no common parent).

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6. Now you have to make the decision to select the changes in the current repository or modified
repository.
Select the record that shows SH.rpd. Scroll to the right to see the Decision column, and select
Modified (D) from the drop-down list. Now click Merge to merge the two repositories:

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When prompted to check for global consistency, click No.

Note that we are simulating a scenario of a merge with no common parent. In the real-time
scenario it may be advisable to check the global consistency, as this would validate the
consistency of the metadata repository.

7. The sh_merged_no_CP.rpd is opened in the BI Administration tool after the merge. Observe
that the Usage Tracking subject area is imported into this merged repository which was not
originally present in the sh. rpd.

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Observe the new objects that are imported into the Presentation, Business Model and Mapping,
and also the Physical layer as a result of this merge.

Note: However, there can potentially be another scenario of importing the objects with no common parent
when a repository has modified or conflicting objects too. This approach is slightly different as you are
merging the changes into the same repository that you are working on, and if an object being imported
already exists in the repository, it is compared to the existing object and the one with the latest modifications
is kept in the merged repository.

Summary

In this tutorial, you learned how to:

Merge objects from different repositories with common parent

Merge/Import objects from different repositories with no common parent

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Related Information

To learn more about Oracle Business Intelligence, you can refer to:

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Additional OBEs on BI EE on the OTN Web site.

The OBE on Setting Up Multiuser Development Environment.

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Place the cursor over this icon to hide all screenshots.

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