Select dashboard from the drop down list in OBIEE 11g

I have 2 main dashboards namely "Quickstart" and "Testdashboard". 
User doesn't want to see them lying horizontally on the Home/main page of the OBIEE11g.
He further wants a drop down listing all the dashboards. Here we go.




Firstly from the Home page of OBIEE11g - I opened the dashboard "Quickstart" and copied the URL and kept it aside.  


Similarly  from the Home page of OBIEE11g - I opened the dashboard "TestDashboard" and copied the URL and kept it aside.


Observe carefully the below code:



<html> 
<body> 
<script type="text/javascript"> 
</script> 
<table bgcolor="#A52A2A">
<tr>
<td>
<font color="#FFFFFF">
<h3>Select dashboard from the drop down list.<h3></font>
</td>
</tr>
</table>
</br>
<FORM> 
<SELECT NAME="url" onchange="document.getElementById('myframe'). src=this.value"> <OPTION VALUE="None" style="font-family:arial;color:red;font-size:90px;">Select a dashboard 

<OPTION VALUE="http://usblrnmehandal1:7001/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard&PortalPath=%2Fshared%2FSample%20Lite%2F_portal%2FQuickStart&page=Readme">Quickstart

<OPTION VALUE="http://usblrnmehandal1:7001/analytics/saw.dll?Dashboard&PortalPath=%2Fshared%2FTesting%2F_portal%2FTestDashboard&page=Test1">Testdashboard

</SELECT> 
</br></br></br>
</FORM> 
<iframe id="myframe" height="1500" width="1500" src="about:blank"></iframe> 
</body> 
</html>

I have created an empty dashboard - "All Dshboards" 

Use Text object and insert the above code. Select the HTML option. Change the color of the dashboard column to Lemon Chiffon (#FFF8C6)


We can set this "All Dashboard" as a default dashboard from the My account.
Now whenever you log in to the OBIEE 11g front end you will get to see - this one -














Select Quickstart dashboard -














Select Testdashboard -














Remember whenever you create a new DASHBOARD - add the URL of the dashboard to the code . Observe the Option value tag.


Thanks


Have a nice day !!!

Stop BI Service : No prompting for UserId and Password : OBIEE 11g

Thanks to oracle support for this solution I am sharing here with you.
 While stopping the BI services - We are asked to type User Id and Password.














We wanted this process to happen automatically.The way suggested by Oracle Support is --

Change in the 
..\instances\instance1\bifoundation\OracleBIApplication\coreapplication\StartStopServices.xml

<condition property="should.get.credentials">
          <or>
              <isset property="should.create.credentials"/>
              <isset property="is.stop.all"/>
          </or>


to

<condition property="should.get.credentials">
          <or>
              <isset property="should.create.credentials"/>
              <isset property="should.create.credentials"/>
          </or>
      </condition>



Save the changes and test.
This time we were not asked to type user id and password.














I am sharing here the StartStopServices.xml


StartStopServices.xml

You have to put it inside


C:\OBIEE\instances\instance1\bifoundation\OracleBIApplication\coreapplication


[Note: Take the backup of existing StartStopServices and rename it StartStopServices_1]


Thanks.

Creating shortcuts of Enterprise manager and web logic console

You will find a shortcut to presentation service in case of OBIEE 10g in the Start menu-All Programs-Oracle Business Intelligence folder.





In case of Oracle 11g - The front end page will open by itself once the OBI services are started successfully.
In order to open the web logic console or enterprise manager we manually have to type the URL.

I took 2 copies of the shortcut of Presentation services of OBIEE 10g and changed the names and URLs in their properties and put those in the OBIEE 11g folder.
























So I can now start the console and enterprise manager from the shortcuts.

Thanks.



Failed to open connection to SMTP server : OBI11g Scheduler error

Sometime back I had configured a scheduler in OBIEE 11g and everything was perfect. I was able to catch alerts on the dashboard but I had not been able to send mails even though mail configuration was seemed to be correct. In the scheduler log I kept getting an SMTP kind of error.
"Failed to open connection to SMTP server"

At first I thought there was a problem with SMTP server name and the port. So I decided to run the Telnet session using the given SMTP server and port and it worked. Hence it confirmed that SMTP server name and the port number was all right.

After some research I found that the Antivirus ( McAfee in my case ) was blocking the SMTP port 25 and the SMTP server  did not want the username and password to get authenticated. So I did the following and I could receive the mails.


Step 1: Go to All programs ->McAfee->VirusScan Console and click on Access Protection and uncheck the do the following as shown in the snap below.








Apply the changes and say OK.

OR Right click on Access Protection and check Disabled.

Step 2:  Log in to Enterprise manager. You have to remove the mail.server key. 
Follow the steps as shown below.



Delete the key mail.server









Check your mail tab in the Deployment: Username and Password would have gone.














Step 3:
Restart all the OBI services.















Once done-log in to the OBIEE front end. Clear the browser cache-Refresh metadata.
Run the agent.





















You will receive a mail.










Thanks and 

Have a nice day !!!



Change the border around the title of the report in the dashboard - OBIEE 11g

This exercise has been carried out on OBIEE 11g front end application and tested in IE.









We are going to change the border around the report title "Hidden Report Prompt".


Make change in CSS files at 2 places. 


C:\OBIEE\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res\s_blafp\b_mozilla_4\views.css


AND


C:\OBIEE\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\
analytics_11.1.1\silp1v\war\res\s_blafp\b_mozilla_4\views.css


Update the class .TitleTable



.TitleTable
{font-family:Tahoma,sans-serif;
width:50%;
border-style:groove;
border-color:#a3bed8;}

Save the changes.


Restart the OBI services. Log in to OBI application.Delete the browser cookies and cache. Reload the metadata.


Observe the change in the border











Thanks.

Header on the measures - OBIEE pivot table view

Note that this exercise has been carried out using OBIEE 10g version on Paint subject area and Workaround is tested only in IE.


Aim is to put the Customized Header on the measures.


Let us start with simple Paint analysis. Look at the pivot table view. See the NOTE.

























Now in the MICROSOFT PAINT TOOL - I am going to create one customized header with the help of the pivot view shown above. 


















( Note :  Single border - Black , BgColor- RGB(207,224,241), Verticle Separation line - Blue)


( In your case you will have to adjust the width of this header. You can customize the background if you want to. )  


So this is our Header. ( IMG1.png)








I have put this image (IMG1.png) at 2 places.


C:\OracleBI\web\app\res\s_oracle10\images\IMG1.png   


AND


C:\OracleBI\oc4j_bi\j2ee\home\applications\analytics\analytics\res\s_oracle10\images\IMG1.png


  
Restart the OBI services. Log in to OBIEE application. Refresh the metadata. Clean the IE Browser cache. 


Go to the criteria of the pivot table view. 
AND ADD ANY TEXT COLUMN to the report. Here I have added column "Region" -->


Edit its column formula as shown below. 
























Now click on the column properties of column Region and go to data format - Click on custom text format.


@[html]<img src="res/s_oracle10/images/IMG1.png"></img>


( In your case image name may be different ) 








































OK OK SAVE the changes. :-)


Open the Pivot table view and put the column Region to the "Column" section. 
Also add the border to this column - ( I am using Thick - purple colored border -- )


Do look at the position of column Region - It is placed above the "Measure Lebels"






OK.


Look at the report.






















Thanks. 


Have a nice day !!!

Hide the "Get Started" section from the Home page of OBIEE 11g

Note that this change is tested in IE. Take backup of the files which you are going to modify.


Aim to to hide the Get Started section from the Home page of OBIEE 11g.














Step 1 :

 We have removed the message Get Started .... 
        <WebMessage name="kmsgGetStartedSectionHeader"><TEXT></TEXT>
   from the file >>
        C:\OBIEE\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\msgdb\l_en\messages\bieehomemessages.xml



Step 2 : 


We have make changes in 2 CSS files. 


C:\OBIEE\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res\sk_blafp\b_mozilla_4\home.css


AND


C:\OBIEE\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\analytics_11.1.1\silp1v\war\res\sk_blafp\b_mozilla_4\home.css




I have added display:none; property in the following classes.



.BIHGetStartedLink,A.BIHGetStartedLink:link,A.BIHGetStartedLink:visited
{display:none;
text-decoration:none;}


A.BIHGetStartedLink:link,A.BIHGetStartedLink:hover
{display:none;
color:#039;}


A.BIHGetStartedLink:visited
{display:none;
color:#72007C;}


.BIHGetStartedLink span
{display:none;
display:table-cell;e
display:inline-block;
cursor:pointer;}


.BIHGetStartedLinkspan:hover
{display:none;
text-decoration:underline;}


.BIHGetStartedLink img:first-child
{width:32px;
height:32px;
display:none;}

Save the changes properly. Make sure that you have not added any extra characters nor remove any existing things from those files.

Restart the OBI services. Refresh the metadata. Clear the browser cache.

Check the Get Started section is gone ..!!



Thanks.


Have a nice day !!!!

Adjusting the scrolling of check box prompt

Look at the Address Prompt :










The horizontal scrolling is actually not required. We can increase the width of Horizontal scroll bar so that it will easier to look at the prompt values and user is not required to scroll away to see the full address.


Change the width to 200 px.
















Save the changes.












Thanks.

Disable section border in the dashboard

Look at the requirement 
























It was asked to remove the border around the report 222.


Solution : Go to the section where the report 222 is placed.
























Go to properties- Format Section- Custom css style options (HTML) and edit it as shown in the below snapshot.
























Save the changes and run the dashboard.







Customize the Subject Area container - OBIEE 11g

Look at the snapshot below :












We are going to change the color and font weight of Subject area container ( Left hand panel )

We have to change the 2 CSS files.

C:\OBIEE\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\analytics_11.1.1\silp1v\war\res\s_blafp\uicomponents\obips.Tree\obips.Tree.css

AND

C:\OBIEE\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res\s_blafp\uicomponents\obips.Tree\obips.Tree.css


Update the class .treeLine as follows:


.treeLine
{white-space:nowrap;
word-wrap:normal;
color:#B00306;
cursor:default;
font-family:Tahoma;
font-size:11px;
font-weight:bold;}

Restart the OBI services and refresh the metadata. Clear the browser cache.

Note : I have tested this change in IE ( As of now I have no idea if it will work in other browsers )


















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


Make a change in common.css file at 2 locations. 


C:\OBIEE\user_projects\domains\bifoundation_domain\servers\AdminServer\tmp\_WL_user\analytics_11.1.1\silp1v\war\res\sk_blafp\b_mozilla_4\common.css

AND

C:\OBIEE\Oracle_BI1\bifoundation\web\app\res\sk_blafp\b_mozilla_4\common.css


This is the change ->
.SubjectAreaBaseLink,.SubjectAreaBaseLink:link,.SubjectAreaBaseLink:visited,.SubjectAreaBaseLink:hover

  background-repeat:no-repeat;
  color:#52882C;
  display:block;
   min-height:16px;
   padding-left:20px;
   padding-top:2px;
   text-decoration:none;
   white-space:nowrap;
   width:280px;
}

Restart the OBI services.


























Thanks.