Download Data values do not match report output

OBIEE Version 10.1.3.3.1 had a bug that when user download data (export to CSV) from dashboard, the server actually reruns the report instead of downloading the output. The issue not only leads to delayed response time as query has to be rerun, it lead to incorrect results if the report uses session or presentation variables.

Apparently this issue is fixed in 10.1.3.4 although the release notes does not say so.

Random

Very good way to duplicate test data is using random function. Syntax for the same is as below:

select dbms_random.value from dual

Changing log level for LDAP users

We use LDAP server to authenticate BI users. One of the user was having problem with a report which no one else had. In order to track this issue, we wanted to increase log level for only one user to 5. However we could not do this on a per user bases for LDAP.

Looking at session variables I found a work around for this. Navigate to system session variables, right click and create a 'New LOGLEVEL'. You can give default value of 2, or any other which will get applied to all users.

Next, create a session Initialization block loglevel and select any database as datasource. In the query, you can specify following:

select case when (':USER') = 'user1' then to_number('5',0) else to_number('2',0) end from dual

Select target variable as LOGLEVEL. Doing this will make log level of 5 for user1 but it will remain as 2 for all others.

Also, although valid log level value is upto 7, actual value in current version is only upto 5. Values 6 and 7 is reserved for future use.

First Blog

Thank you for visiting my blog. I will use this space to share new findings and technical issues faced while working on Oracle Business Intelligence. Currently I am working on OBIEE 10.1.3.3.3 version. There are many issues that are not addressed in Administration and User guides for which I find there is a work around. I will post most of those issues with solutions here, and hope to make someone life easier.