Advanced Analysis Ad Hoc ExpressFront end lets business users drive Oracle9i OLAPby Paul Dean Continued from Page 1 Graph types include bar, line, area, pie, scatter, bubble, and stock. Each type has several sub-types, providing more than 50 different graphs, each with extensive formatting options. This graphing capability is similar to the Oracle Express Analyzer and Objects client tools.
Custom measures are available for users to create at any time and then use in crosstabs and graphs just like stored measures. Twenty different types of calculations are possible, ranging from basic arithmetic (addition, subtraction, ratio, and so on) to time series (such as moving average and year-to-date). The current view can be switched between a crosstab and a graph. The dual view displays a crosstab and a graph at the same time. The query wizard helps you change the orientation and dimension members displayed. You can select dimension members either from a hierarchical list or using conditions such as exception, ranking, and character matching. Express app users will recognize this capability as the Selector. Selections can get quite complex and have multiple steps. For example, you might have to: (1) select all stores within the Eastern Region; (2) keep those with Widget sales greater than 1,000 last year; (3) keep those with Widget sales equal to zero so far this year. One major improvement over the Express Selector is the ability to edit an individual step of a query without having to start over. For example, you could edit the second and third steps I just listed to change Widgets to Gadgets, or insert an additional step such as restricting to stores greater than a certain size. You can also reorder or temporarily disable steps. Selections can have any number of steps and can be saved and then recalled in other crosstabs or graphs. One unique feature of VSSBA (providing that data is stored in an AW) is the ability for a user to forecast a measure based on history. Currently, the product supports linear, nonlinear, exponential, trend, and Holt-Winters algorithms. Also available is a "best fit" method that will cycle through each algorithm and select the one with the best statistical fit. Once a forecast has been calculated and optionally saved, it can be used in reports and graphs just like any other measure. The online help is complete. New users should be productive within hours. Implementation and DeploymentThe starting point for VSSBA is information about OLAP data defined to the OLAP Catalog. Data storage and administrative tasks such as security (authentication and who can see what) are handled by Oracle9i. VSSBA uses the Java OLAP API to access the OLAP Catalog, and the user doesn't need to be aware of how and where the data is physically stored. VSSBA is designed for read-only analysis and isn't suitable for collaborative read-write applications such as planning and budgeting. VSSBA is a complete application; no need to install or license BI Beans or a Java development environment such as Oracle's JDeveloper. Deployment can be either as a thick Java application (needing desktop installation) or as a thin client with slightly reduced functionality. For example, in the thin client you can manipulate and save existing crosstabs and graphs, but can't create new ones. Additionally, because the BI Beans catalog is accessible by all applications that use BI Beans, crosstabs and graphs created in VSSBA are accessible from other applications such as Oracle Portal. In this way, a handful of power users could use the VSSBA thick client to create objects that could then be accessed by a broader audience using the VSSBA thin client or Oracle Portal. Powerful FrontVSSBA is an intuitive and powerful general-purpose OLAP front end tool. Existing Oracle Express clients looking to migrate their read-only analysis applications to Oracle9i OLAP or companies that will be using Oracle9i OLAP as their BI platform would do well to consider this product. Paul Dean [pldean@sbcglobal.net or 312-636-1980] is an independent consultant providing OLAP implementation and training services.
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