OBIEE VariablesVariables:A variable is a symbolic name given to some known or unknown quantity or information, for the purpose of allowing the name to be used independently of the information it represents. A variable name in computer source code is usually associated with a data storage location and thus also its contents and these may change during the course of program execution. OBIEE Variables: It contains values in memory that are used by OBI Server during processing. It is created and managed using the variable manager feature in the Administration tool. The Variable Manager allows you to define variables. The Variable Manager Dialog box has two panes. The left pane displays a tree that shows variables and initialization blocks, and the right pane displays details of the item you select in the left pane.

There are two classes of variables in OBIEE: 1. Repository Variable 2. Session Variable Repository Variable: A repository variable has a single value at any point in time. Repository variables can be used instead of literals or constants in expression builders in the Administration Tool. The Oracle BI Server will substitute the value of the repository variable for the variable itself in the metadata. There are two types of repository variables: 1. static and 2. Dynamic. Repository variables are represented by a question mark icon. Static Repository Variable: The value of a static repository value is initialized in the Variable dialog box. This value persists, and does not change until an Oracle BI Administrator decides to change it. EX: Suppose you want to create an expression to group times of day into different day segments. If Prime Time were one of those segments and corresponded to the hours between 5:00 PM and 10:00 PM, you could create a CASE statement like the following:

CASE WHEN "Hour" >= 17 AND "Hour" < 23 THEN 'Prime Time' WHEN... ELSE...END where Hour is a logical column, perhaps mapped to a timestamp physical column using the date-and-time Hour() function. Rather than entering the numbers 17 and 23 into this expression as constants, you could use the Variable tab of the Variable dialog box to set up a static repository variable named prime_begin and initialize it to a value of 17, and create another variable named prime_end and initialize it to a value of 23. After created, variables are available for use in expression builders. In an expression builder, click on the Repository Variables folder in the left pane to display all repository variables (both static and dynamic) in the middle pane by name. Variables should be used as arguments of the function VALUEOF ( ). For example, the following CASE statement is identical to the one explained in the preceding example except that variables have been substituted for the constants. CASE WHEN "Hour" >= VALUEOF ("prime_begin") AND "Hour" < VALUEOF ("prime_end") THEN 'Prime Time' WHEN ... ELSE...END. Step by step process of creating repository variable: 1. From the Administration Tool menu bar, choose Manage > Variables.

2. In the Variable Manager Dialog box, from the menu bar, choose Action>New>Repository>Variable.

3. In the Variable dialog box, type a Variable name. Names for all variables should be unique. The names of system session variables are reserved and cannot be used for other types of variables.

In the Variables dialog box, select the type of variable: Static or Dynamic. And set the default value for the variable where the spaces available for Default Initialization then click OK.

Where can we use repository variables in obiee: y In BI Server. y In BI Presentation Services. y In BI Delivers. Dynamic Repository Variables: Dynamic repository variables are very useful for defining the content of logical table sources. The values are refreshed by data returned from queries. When defining a dynamic repository variable, you will create an initialization block or use a pre-existing one that contains a SQL query. When the value of a dynamic repository variable changes, all cache entries associated with a business model that reference the value of that variable will be purged automatically.

Step by step process of creating repository variable: y From the Administration Tool menu bar, choose Manage > Variables. y In the Variable Manager Dialog box, from the menu bar, choose Action > New > Session > Variable. y In the Session Variable dialog box, type a variable name. y In the Variables dialog box, select the type of variable: Static or Dynamic.

(Dynamic repository variables) Use the Initialization Block drop-down list to select an existing initialization block that will be used to refresh the value on a continuing basis. y (Dynamic or static variables) To add a Default initialize value, perform one of the following steps: y To use the Expression Builder, click the ellipsis button to the right of the Default initialize work space. Type the value into the Default initialize text box. o For static repository variables, the value you specify in the Default initializer window persists. It will not change unless you change it. If you initialize a variable using a character string, enclose the string in single quotes ( ' ). y Click OK.

Step By Step to create Initialization Block: To create an initialization block variables perform the following steps: for the session

1.On the administration page Click on manage>>Variables>>to open the variable manager.

2.Click On the Session in left pane>>Initialization Block

3.Right click on the whitespace on the right and select >> New Initialization block

4.In the session variable initialization block dialog box type the variable name in the name field.

5.Click the Edit Data Source button to open the session variable initialization block Data Source dialog box

6.Click on the Browse button and select Connection Pool in the select connection pool dialog box.

7.Double click on the connection pool or click the select button to add the connection pool to the session variable initialization block data source dialog box.

8.In the Default initialization string field type the initialization Query to initialize variable.

9.Click ok to choose the session variable initialization block data source dialog box. The initialization string is available is visible in the session variable initialization block dialog box.

10.Then click on the Edit Data Target to open the session variable initialization block variable target dialog box.

11.Click New to open the session variable dialog box .

12.In the name field type the Variable name.

13. Click ok to Close the Session Variable Dialog box. 14.Click yes when prompted about the user session variable having a special purpose. 15.The newly created variable added to the session variable initialization block variable target dialog box.

Session Variable: Session variables are like dynamic repository variables in that they obtain their values from initialization blocks. Unlike dynamic repository variables, however, the initialization of session variables is not scheduled. When a user begins a session, the Siebel Analytics Server creates new instances of session variables and initializes them. Unlike a repository variable, there are as many instances of a session variable as there are active sessions on the Siebel Analytics Server. Each instance of a session variable could be initialized to a different value.

Syntax for referencing session variables The syntax for referencing session variables is as follows: @ {NQ_SESSION.VariableName} For example, @ {NQ_SESSION.USER} NQ_SESSION - indicates that this item references a session variable. Variable Name - a reference to an object available in the current session context. For example: USER. Session variables are variables that the Oracle BI Server and Oracle BI Presentation Services use for specific purposes. Session variables have reserved names that cannot be used for other kinds of variables. For Example, if we want to pass the current login Managers id to the dashboard, we can set the session variable as NQ_SESSION.USER_DETAILS as the filter condition in the report. Session variables are like dynamic repository variables in that they obtain their values from initialization blocks. Unlike dynamic repository variables, however, the initialization of session variables is not scheduled. When a user begins a session, the Siebel Analytics Server creates new instances of session variables and initializes them. Unlike a repository variable, there are as many instances of a session variable as there are active sessions on the Siebel Analytics Server. Each instance of a session variable could be initialized to a different value.

Session variables are primarily used when authenticating users against external sources such as

database tables or LDAP servers. If a user is authenticated successfully, session variables can be used to set filters and permissions for that session. For a discussion of the use of session variables in setting up security, see Security in Siebel Analytics.

System session variables: System session variables are session variables that the Siebel Analytics Server and Siebel Analytics Web Server use for specific purposes. System session variables have reserved names that cannot be used for other kinds of variables (such as static or dynamic repository variables and non system session variables). For information about using the GROUP system session variable in conjunction with the SA System subject area to provide group membership and external email addresses to Siebel Delivers, see Setting up the Repository to Work with Siebel Delivers. NOTE: When you use these variables for Siebel Analytics Web, preface their names with NQ_SESSION. For example, to filter a column on the value of the variable LOGLEVEL set the filter to the Variable NQ_SESSION.LOGLEVEL. USER holds the value the user enters as his or her logon name. GROUP Contains the groups that the user belongs to. These are used by both the Siebel Analytics Server and Siebel

Analytics Web Server. When a user belongs to multiple groups, separate the group names with semicolons. Do not delimit text (for example, do not surround the text with single or double quotes). Use a Varchar column in a database table to contain the group memberships. For example, if a user belonged to groups called Sales US, Sales UK, QA and Dev, and Doc, the text entered into a Varchar data type column in a database table would be: Sales US; Sales UK;QA and Dev; Doc Note: The Siebel Analytics Web administrator needs to make sure that the names of Web groups are different from any user IDs who will log on to Siebel Analytics Web. If a user and a Web group share the same name, the user will receive an Invalid Account message when attempting to log on to Siebel Analytics Web. DISPLAYNAME Used for Siebel Analytics Web. It contains the name that will be displayed to the user in the greeting in the Web interface. It is also saved as the author field for catalog objects. For internal Siebel Analytics Server repository users (non database users), this variable is populated with the user's full name. PORTALPATH Used for Siebel Analytics Web. It identifies the default dashboard the user sees when logging in (the user can override this preference after logged on).

LOGLEVEL The value of LOGLEVEL (a number between 0 and 5) determines the Logging level that the Siebel Analytics Server will use for the user's queries. This system session variable overrides a variable defined in the Users object. If the Administrators Users object has a Logging level defined as 4 and the session variable LOGLEVEL defined in the repository has a default value of 0 (zero), the value of 0 applies. WEBGROUPS Specifies additional groups specific to Siebel Analytics Web, if any. The use of Web groups provides a mechanism for more granular Web content control. REQUESTKEY Used for Siebel Analytics Web. Any users with the same nonblank request key will share the same Web cache entries. This tells Siebel Analytics Web that these users have identical content filters and security in the Siebel Analytics Server. Sharing Web cache entries is a way to minimize unnecessary communication with the server. SKIN Determines certain elements of the look and feel of the Siebel Analytics Web interface. The user can alter some elements of the user interface by picking a style when logged on to the Web. The SKIN variable points to a Siebel Analytics Web folder that contains the non alterable elements (for example, graphics such as GIF files). Such directories begin with sk_. For example, if a folder were

called sk_companyx, the SKIN variable would be set to companyx. EMAIL Contains the user's default email address for use with Siebel Answers. If the delivery feature of Siebel Answers is enabled, an email device using this address will be created for the user upon first log in. Users can override this address by changing their account settings in Siebel Analytics Web. Non System Session Variable: Non-system variables are application-specific variables created by an Administrator. System and non system variables are represented by a question mark icon in the Variable Manager. To initialize non system session variable Create a new initialization block or else use initialization block which you were created before. To create new initialization block follow the steps in which I have created early in this blog.