Date Dimensions anybody?

Here is some sample code for creating a date dimension, It's been out there before, My colleague Dave posted this on his blog at one point. I'd like to take a moment and maybe look at how Oracle implements their date dim with the OWB date dimension wizard....hmmmm!

SELECT TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYYMMDD') date_id,
      dt date_value,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'MM/DD/YYYY') date_formatted_name,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'Mon DD, YYYY') date_name,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') year_num,
      TRUNC (dt, 'YYYY') year_start_date,
      ADD_MONTHS (TRUNC (dt, 'YYYY'), 12) - 1 year_end_date,
      TO_NUMBER (TO_CHAR (dt, 'Q')) quarter_num,
      'Q' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'Q') quarter_name,
      TRUNC (dt, 'Q') quarter_start_date,
      ADD_MONTHS (TRUNC (dt, 'Q'), 3) - 1 quarter_end_date,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || '-' || 'Q' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'Q') year_quarter_name,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'MM') month_num,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'Mon') month_short_name,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'Month') month_long_name,
      TRUNC (dt, 'MM') month_start_date,
      LAST_DAY (dt) month_end_date,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || '-' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'Mon') year_month_name_1,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || '-' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'MM') year_month_num_1,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'Mon') || ' ' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') year_month_name_2,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || TO_CHAR (dt, 'MM') year_month_num_2,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'WW') week_of_year_num,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'W') week_of_month_num,
      TRUNC (dt, 'W') week_start_date,
      TRUNC (dt, 'W') + 6 week_end_date,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || TO_CHAR (dt, 'WW') year_week_num,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'YYYY') || '-' || TO_CHAR (dt, 'WW') year_week_name,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'D') weekday_num,
      TO_CHAR (dt, 'Day') weekday_name
 FROM (SELECT     TO_DATE (:start_date) + ROWNUM dt
             FROM DUAL
       CONNECT BY TO_DATE (:start_date) + ROWNUM <= TO_DATE(:end_date));

Metadata reporting on the OWB 11gR1 repository- options?

There are quite a few clients, coworkers and managers I've met with that feel the documentation capabilities of OWB are, shall we say....lacking a bit. Sure, there is the OWB online repository browser which is quite handy and gives you a lot of information. There is the metadata lineage and impact analysis diagramming which again is quite handy. There are various tricks one can do with OMB*PLUS or experts to whip up some simple documentation. Of course when you want to get specific, then it becomes a challenge.

Say you want a report, with minimal work, that is in a CSV or excel spreadsheet showing all sorts of values that you figure you can grab from the repository somehow. Again, you can accomplish some great things with OMB and experts, and I have done this, but many times it is too time intensive and overkill. Sometimes you might consider UDOs (User Defined Objects) which can be created with OMB scripting, which give you additional fields and properties to use on your objects. This can make things easy when you are in the beginning of a project and you can tackle documenting things as you go along.

What if you're 50% or even 90% done with your project, and someone demands something - fast. I say, look at the repository quickly, write some SQL, and get it out there fast.

Well in OWB 11gR1, the repository is broken down into things called workspaces. These workspaces have separate owners, and they have users themselves. So if you want to access the OWBSYS schema's many views that hold important metadata, you'll need to set some context for the user accessing the data- namely the various workspace owners. Below are a few steps that have been published in forums and the owb blog as well that outline what you should do if you cannot see any data in OWBSYS's views.....

First read this.

Then....


THEN, here are 2 sample scripts that are in the oracle forums as well. These should get you started, and get your mind thinking i terms of what other views you'd like to look at, and what other columns are you interested in...as well as the various ways to join the views!


--This script focuses more on mapping contents...
select
distinct 'TARGET',
comp.map_name,
comp.data_entity_name,
comp.operator_type
from
all_iv_xform_map_components comp,
all_iv_xform_map_parameters param
where
lower(operator_type)
in ('table', 'view', 'dimension', 'cube')
and param.map_component_id = comp.map_component_id
and param.source_parameter_id is not null
UNION
select
distinct 'SOURCE',
t1.c1,
t1.c2,
t1.c3
from
(select
comp.map_name c1,
comp.data_entity_name c2,
comp.operator_type c3,
max(param.source_parameter_id) c4
from
all_iv_xform_map_components comp,
all_iv_xform_map_parameters param
where
lower(operator_type) in
('table', 'view', 'dimension', 'cube')
and param.map_component_id = comp.map_component_id
group by
comp.map_name, comp.data_entity_name, comp.operator_type) t1
where t1.c4 is null
order by 2,1

--This script focuses more on source to target tables and column mappings

SELECT
S_TBL_LOC ,
S_TBL_name,
S_FLD_name,
T_TBL_LOC ,
T_TBL_name,
T_FLD_name
FROM
(
SELECT
parms.map_component_id S_COMP_id ,
parms.parameter_id S_PARM_id ,
colms.entity_name S_TBL_name ,
colms.column_name S_FLD_name ,
tbls.schema_name S_TBL_LOC
FROM
all_iv_xform_map_parameters PARMS,
all_iv_xform_map_components COMPS,
all_iv_columns COLMS ,
all_iv_tables TBLS
WHERE
source_parameter_id IS NULL
AND parms.map_component_id = comps.map_component_id
AND UPPER(comps.operator_type) IN ('TABLE','DIMENSION')
AND parms.data_item_id =colms.column_id
AND colms.entity_id =tbls.table_id
)
,
(
SELECT
parms.map_component_id T_COMP_id ,
parms.parameter_id T_PARM_id ,
parms.source_parameter_id T_Sid ,
colms.entity_name T_TBL_name ,
colms.column_name T_FLD_name ,
tbls.schema_name T_TBL_LOC
FROM
all_iv_xform_map_parameters PARMS,
all_iv_xform_map_components COMPS,
all_iv_columns COLMS ,
all_iv_tables TBLS
WHERE
source_parameter_id IS NOT NULL
AND parms.map_component_id = comps.map_component_id
AND UPPER(comps.operator_type) IN ('TABLE','DIMENSION')
AND parms.data_item_id =colms.column_id
AND colms.entity_id =tbls.table_id
)
WHERE
S_PARM_id=T_Sid

Gartner's take on oracle- quite positive.

see article here

Data Warehousing Training

I just got done custom creating an advanced data warehousing class, along with updating our beginner course to utilize Oracle 11g technologies. Whew, talk about a lot of work and only a short time to get it done! To summarize, the course that I teach is a full 5 day class on the following topics:

-Beginner Course Topics-
Beginning Data Warehousing
Dimensional Modeling
Oracle 11g Database options for Data Warehousing
Oracle Warehouse Builder OWB 11gR1 introduction
OWB11g Architecture and Installation
OWB11g and OWB 10gR2 differences, similarities
Exploring OWB11g Interface
Common setup of typical scenarios with remote machines and schemas
Building ETL Mappings from source to staging to target
Deep-Dive into OWB Mapping best practices and tips with the operators
Understanding Data Quality
Data Profiling and Data Rules Option within OWB11g
Advanced operators- Match & Merge, pre-post mapping operators, table functions, etc.
Understanding Workflow installation and Process Flow Basics

-Advanced Course Topics-
Oracle OLAP
Understanding Oracle's Position on OLAP & Hyperio Essbase
How to use OWB to construct full MOLAP cubes and how it differs from ROLAP
Extensive ETL Lab (2-3 hour lab encompassing many advanced techniques)
Pluggable Mappings
The Metadata Manager (Impact, Dependency, and Propagation)
Lifecycle Management (MDLs, Snapshots, Signatures, importation, exportation, comparison of
snapshots, etc.)
Security in OWB
Extra detail on Process Flows and Scheduling
OMB*PLUS scripting
OWB Experts
Advanced Tips and Tricks for project management, and high Performance


...and that's all. I built out about 90% of this class and taught it recently to pretty good reviews... Let's hope there's more students in store as I prepare to build out a new offering to my students!

Cheers
-Greg

Avatar, the movie

I haven't blogged in quite a while. I apologize to any readers that come here either for discussion or to learn something. I have (for better or worse) been summoned to jury duty here in the U.S. For those that are unfamiliar, in the U.S. anybody that registers a vehicle or registers to vote will eventually be called upon to do their civic duty. Jury duty is a process where you might be selected by a lawyer to serve as one of the jurors on a case that is tried in court with a Judge and jury. I not only was summoned for duty, but I was also selected to be on the actual jury. During this time, we're asked to have as little interaction with the 'real' world as is possible, and to never talk about the case. Now that it is over, after 2 whole trying weeks, I can feel more comfortable blogging and such.

This post is going to be a review of a movie I saw this past Christmas Eve (Dec 24th), called Avatar. Most people in the world now should have at least heard of it since it cost over 240 million US dollars to produce, and another 140 million dollars was spent marketing it. Those figures may even be higher in reality. What can I say about it?

Simply Incredible!!!!!!

This has to be one of the most amazing movies I have ever seen, period. Not since the epic Lord of the Rings movies have I felt so enthralled, emotional, and pulled into a movie as deeply as this. I also should mention I saw it in 3D. They offer it in 3D and regular formats. I think seeing it in 3D was even more impressive. I could go on and on about this movie, but I won't. I will see it again for sure. My fiance and I were completely stunned with the movies grand scope and awesome graphics and environment. You completely forget that what you are looking at most of the time does NOT exist! It is graphics! The characters are realistic, and believable.

Again, this is easily in my top 10 movies I have ever seen, and I recommend it as highly as I can.

Please feel free to drop a comment on this. P.S.- I have read all the critic articles about how this movie has an underlying theme such as anti-American, anti-African native, feminist, non-feminist, anti-human, you name it. Sure, there are many themes here that pull on your emotions, but please see the move for what it is first, and then delve deeply into your own subliminal interpretations afterward. One thing is for sure, it makes me think about human irresponsibility and greed and the slow destruction of our own planet...and to this most of us are guilty.