3 Introduction to OMB*Plus

Launching OMB*Plus

To launch the OMB*Plus console, follow the instructions specific to your operating system.

• UNIX: At the command prompt, enter:

  <OWB_HOME>/owb/bin/unix/OMBPlus.sh
  

• Windows: From Start, navigate to Warehouse Builder, located within Oracle-OUI. Select OMB Plus from the list of menu items.

  Alternatively, you can also launch OMB*Plus from the Warehouse Builder Design Center. To do this, from the main menu, select View, and then OMB*Plus.

Connecting to a Repository

From the OMB*Plus console, enter:

OMBCONNECT <repos>/<password>@<host>:<port>:<service_name> USE WORKSPACE '<wokspace_name>'

In this expression, <repos> is the name of the design-time repository, <host> is the machine on which the repository is installed, <servicename> is the name of the database that contains the repository, and <workspace_name> is the name of the workspace. Note that the workspace name must be provided within single quotes (').

If the workspace and repository names are same, then you do not have to specify the workspace name. You can use the command:

OMBCONNECT <repos>/<password>@<host>:<port>:<service_name>

Getting Help for OMB*Plus Commands

Use the OMBHELP command to display help on Warehouse Builder commands. The help describes the purpose of the command, the syntax in BNF format, and each of the keywords or options.

For details and an example on how to use OMBHELP, see OMBHELP.

Specifying Values

You can set the value of a Boolean configuration property, for example the NOT_NULL property in the example, using any one of the following values: TRUE, FALSE, YES, NO, 1, or 0. When you set the value to TRUE, FALSE, YES, or NO, enclose the value in single quotes.

For example:

OMBCREATE TABLE 'EMP' \
ADD COLUMN 'EMPNO' SET PROPERTIES (NOT_NULL) VALUES (1)

Or

OMBCREATE TABLE 'EMP' \
ADD COLUMN 'EMPNO' SET PROPERTIES (NOT_NULL) VALUES ('true')

When you specify numeric values for a configuration property, do not enclose the values in single quotes.

Special Characters

Do not use a number sign (#) in the middle of an OMB*Plus command.

Do not use an exclamation point (!) because it is an illegal character.

Tcl interprets several special characters differently than Warehouse Builder and the Oracle database. Review this and subsequent sections to learn how to properly use the following characters in OMB*Plus: dollar sign ($), backslash (\), bracket ([ ), and semicolon (;).

Dollar sign ($): The dollar sign identifies Tcl variables in Tcl but has no special meaning in Warehouse Builder. Therefore, if you include $ in the name of a Warehouse Builder object, OMB*Plus uses the Tcl convention and displays the $ inside curly brackets such that name$ displays as name{$}. This prevents the name from being misinterpreted as a variable.

Backslash (\): Tcl uses the backward slash to indicate the end of a line in a command that spans multiple lines. Therefore, in a multiple line OMB*Plus command, use only a backslash (\) at the end of each line. This interpretation of the backslash has implications on how you specify full paths in OMB*Plus, as described in "Specifying Paths".

Tcl also uses the backslash as the least preferred method for escaping special characters. Use curly braces as the preferred method as described in "Escaping Special Characters and Writing Complex Arguments".

Semicolon(;): The semicolon separates two commands in Tcl. Using a semicolon in a quoted string results in an error. As a work around, escape the semicolon character by putting a backward slash (\) in front of the semicolon. For example,

OMBCREATE FLATFILE 'FF_DSR_RLE' \
SET PROPERTIES(DATA_FILE_NAME,IS_DEMILITED,CHARACTER_SET,RECORD_DELIMITER,\
FIELD_DELIMITER,FIELD_LEFT_ENCLOSURE,FIELD_RIGHT_ENCLOSURE) \
VALUES('DSR_RLE.dat','TRUE','WE8MSWIN1252','\n','\;','""','""')

Escaping Special Characters and Writing Complex Arguments

Tcl uses curly braces ({) and (}) as preferred method for escaping special characters and writing valid, complex arguments. For the following situations, you can enclose the element in braces and leave the contents alone:

• The element contains embedded spaces.

• The element contains one of the Special Characters.

• The element starts with a brace or double-quote.

• There are no characters in the element.

To escape single quote marks in elements, consider using the procedure OMBToSettableString described in "Predefined Tcl Procedures".

You should consider using the backslash for escaping only in the limited situations that using curly braces results in unmatched braces, the last character of the argument is a backslash, or the element contains a backslash followed by another backslash indicating a new line.

Specifying Paths

Do not use a backward slash (\) when you specify the full path for the commands that use the full path, such as, OMBIMPORT, OMBVALIDATE, OMBLOG, and so on. For example, in the following commands are invalid and the log file is not created:

set OMBLOG c:\my_project\omb_logfile.log (On Windows)
set OMBLOG \home\my_project\omb_logfile.log (On Unix)

On Unix, use a forward slash as the path separator. For example, the following command creates a log file.

set OMBLOG /home/my_project/omb_logfile.log

On Windows, you can use either a forward slash(/) or two backward slashes (\\) as a path separator. Alternately, you can use a backward slash in the path, but in this case, enclose the entire filename in curly braces. The following are examples of commands that you can use to create a log file.

set OMBLOG c:/my_project/omb_logfile.log
set OMBLOG c:\\my_project\\omb_logfile.log
set OMBLOG {c:\my_project\omb_logfile.log}

Predefined Tcl Procedures

You can use the predefined Tcl procedures in OMB*Plus:

• OMBToSettableString: Use this procedure when setting string values that contain single quotes that need to be escaped. The input for this procedure is a Tcl string and the output is a Tcl string with all single-quotes escaped.

• OMBToTypeObjListString: This procedure converts an input two-dimensional list to a comma-delimited string. For example, the procedure converts input in the form of

  {{<object_type> <name>} ... }
  

  to

  "<object_type> <name>,...".
  

• OMBPageBreak: This procedure displays the input string as a sequence of pages, with a pause after each page. When the output of a command is more than the page height, it may be difficult for screen reading software (used for accessibility) to read the whole text. This procedure may be used to break the output of a command into pages.

  The two inputs to the OMBPageBreak command are the number of lines to be displayed in a page and the string that is to be split into pages. The string may be the output of an OMB*Plus command. For example, the following command displays the output of the OMBHELP OMBCREATE command with 10 lines in a page.

  OMBPageBreak 10 [OMBHELP OMBCREATE]
  

  To display the next 10 lines of the output, press <Enter> on your keyboard.

  The OMPageBreak procedure is available for every OMB*Plus session.

Locating Errors in Scripts and Multi-line Commands

OMB*Plus reports only the first error it encounters while executing a command. As soon as it encounters the first error, it stops processing the command and exits after reporting the error.

When an error occurs during the execution a multi-line OMB*Plus command, the error message that is displayed does not specify the exact line at which the error occurred. To determine the line at which the error occurred, use the following command immediately after you encounter an error:

OMB+> puts $errorInfo

OMBCREATE <fco_type> <fco_name> ( [ rename_clause ] [ properties_clause ] [ [ sco_add_clause_for_alter ] | [ sco_modify_clause ] | [ sco_delete_clause ] ]* )1
rename_clause ::= RENAME TO <new_name>
sco_add_clause_for_alter ::= ADD <sco_type> <sco_name> [ OF parent_sco_clause ] [ AT POSITION <position> ] [ properties_clause ] [ references_clause ]* 
sco_modify_clause ::= MODIFY <sco_type> <sco_name> [ OF parent_sco_clause ] ( [ rename_clause ] [ move_to_clause ] [ properties_clause ] [ references_clause ]* )1
move_to_clause ::= MOVE TO POSITION <position>
sco_delete_clause ::= DELETE <sco_type> <sco_name> [ OF parent_sco_clause ] 

OMBRETRIEVE VIEW 'V1' COLUMN 'COL1' \
GET PROPERTIES (DATATYPE, LENGTH)

/<project_name>/<module_name>/<fco_name> 

../<module_name> <fco_name>

Warehouse Builder Metadata Objects

Use OMB*Plus to access and manipulate the following Warehouse Builder objects, also known as first class objects:

Activity TemplatesActivity Template FoldersAdvanced QueuesAlternative Sort OrdersBusiness AreasBusiness Definition ModulesOBIEE Business Definition ModulesBusiness Presentation ModulesCalendarsCalendar ModulesCMI DefinitionsCMI ModulesCollectionsConfigurationsConnectorsControl CentersCubesData AuditorsData ProfilesData RulesData Rule ModulesDeployments Deployment Action PlansDimensionsDrill PathsDrills To DetailExpertsExpert ModulesExternal TablesFlat FilesFlat File ModulesFoldersFunctionsGateway ModulesIconsetsItem FoldersCTsCT FoldersLists Of ValuesLocationsMappingsMaterialized ViewsNested TablesObject TypesOracle ModulesPackagesPLSQL Record TypesPLSQL Ref Cursor TypesPLSQL Table TypesPluggable MappingsPluggable Mapping LibrariesPresentation TemplatesProceduresProcess FlowsProcess Flow ModulesProcess Flow PackagesProjectsQueue PropagationsQueue TablesReal Time MappingsRegistered FunctionsRolesSAP ModulesSequencesSnapshotsStreams Capture ProcessesStreams QueuesTablesTable FunctionsTime DimensionsTransformation ModulesTransportable ModulesUsersVarying Arrays

For Oracle Modules, you can access only those Oracle modules designated as warehouse modules. You cannot access Oracle source modules using OMB*Plus.

OMBHELP

Use the OMBHELP command to display help on Warehouse Builder commands. The help describes the purpose of the command, the syntax in BNF format, and each of the keywords or options. For complex commands, such as OMBCREATE, OMBALTER, and OMBRETRIEVE, you can specify an optional fco_type parameter. OMBHELP then displays the detailed syntax for that particular parameter type. Each command also provides specific options that enable you to display sub-sections of the help page.

The syntax for OMBHELP is:

help ::= OMBHELP <command_name> [ <command_specific_options> ] [DETAIL]

For example, OMBHELP OMBCONNECT displays the following:

OMBCONNECT
Purpose
To connect to OWB repository.
Syntax
OMBCONNECT <user>/<password>@<host:port:SID>
 where 
   <user> is the OWB repository user name
   <password> is the OWB repository user password
   <host> is the name or IP address of the OWB repository host machine
   <port> is the numeric port for OWB repository database listener 
   <SID> is the unique database identifier for OWB repository database
Notes:
   The connection to OWB repository will be established in single user mode.

If you type OMBHELP <command_ name> followed by [DETAIL], OMB*Plus displays the command purpose, prerequisites, syntax, descriptions for each keyword and parameter, and examples of how to use the command.

The OMBHELP command synchronizes only the only the FCO that you are currently working on.

OMBENV

The syntax for OMBENV is:

environment ::= OMBENV

This command lists the values for all Warehouse Builder-specific environment variables. Table 3-2 lists the environmental variables. To set an environmental variable, use the Tcl set command. Use unset to unset an environmental variable.

OMBCC

This command enables users to change context Up and Down the Warehouse Builder navigation tree. For example, when you type ... the current context changes to the parent context. However, if the current context is a modified project, an error message prompts you to commit or rollback your changes. For example, to switch from the current project to another, use the command:

OMBCC '/PROJECT_NAME'

For example, if the name of the project is MATERIALS, then the command is:

OMBCC '/MATERIALS'

OMBDCC

This command shows you the current context and the context type. The syntax for OMBDCC is:

display_current_context ::= OMBDCC

OMBLIST

The child first class objects for folders are listed under OMBLIST. Using this command on folders describes only the folder properties. Note also that the list command allows name matching by regular expression. If you do not include the regular expression, then OMBLIST displays all objects sorted alphabetically.

The generic syntax for OMBLIST in a folder context is:

list_folder ::= OMBLIST ( <child_type1_plural> | …| <child_typeN_plural> ) [ name_in_regexp ] 

The name_in_regexp parameter represents a name in regular expression.

For example, under the root context you have:

list_root ::= OMBLIST PROJECTS [ name_in_regexp ]

The OMBLIST command synchronizes all parent-child relations in the navigation tree.

Synchronizing Cached Data with Repository Objects

When you start an OMB*Plus session, data about the objects is fetched from the OWB repository and cached in the OMB*Plus session. The cached data is synchronized with the data from the repository at certain predefined intervals.

To synchronize the objects in the repository and the OMB*Plus environment at any point of time, change to the parent context using OMBCC, and then use the command OMBLIST to refresh the objects within that context. For example, to refresh the tables within the parent context, use the command OMBLIST TABLES.

The extent to which the objects are synchronized depends on the OMB*Plus command that you execute. For example, some commands synchronize all the parent-child relationships in the navigation tree, whereas some commands synchronize only the first class object that they are currently working on.

• The OMBLIST command synchronizes all the parent-child relationships in the navigation tree.

• The OMBCREATE and OMBRETRIEVE commands synchronize only the first class object that they are currently working on.

• The OMBCREATE command synchronizes only the parent folder.

Consider the following example on synchronization of cached data. You open anOMB*Plus session and a Design Center session. In the Design Center, you delete a flat file module called FFM1. You then undelete FFM1 and commit the changes. In the OMB*Plus session, you perform the sequence of operations listed. The details of the result of the operation and the logic behind the result is explained:

1. OMBCC FFM1

   The context is changed to the module FFM1.

2. OMBCREATE FLATFILE

   The flat file is not created because OMBCREATE synchronizes the parent folder. When the synchronization is performed, the parent folder is not found in the cache.

3. OMBLIST FLAT_FILE_MODULE

   FFM1 is listed as one of the modules. This is because OMBLIST synchronizes all the parent-child relationships in the navigation tree.

4. OMBCREATE FLATFILE

   The flat file is created. This is because the undelete is now reflected in the cache because of the OMBLIST command.

Changing the User Mode

When you connect to a repository, Warehouse Builder by default connects in the multiple user mode. To switch to single user mode, use the command OMBSWITCHMODE SINGLE_USER_MODE. If however, you are connected to the control center (OMBCONNECT CONTROL_CENTER), then you cannot switch to the single user mode.

If you have long running jobs, for example from process flows, then you might get an error message while trying to connect in single user mode. This is likely to occur when process flows are waiting for user intervention, or when the control center is restarted while process flows are running.

When you are unable to log into the single user mode, run the following script to obtain a list of pending deployment and execution requests for a particular workspace:

owb/rtp/sql/list_requests <WORKSPACE_NAME>

Based on this list, you can decide to either expedite the execution requests or abort those execution requests that need not be run currently.

To expedite execution requests, run the script:

owb/rtp/sql/expedite_exec_request <AUDIT_ID> <WORKSPACE_NAME>

To abort execution requests, run the script:

owb/rtp/sql/abort_exec_request <AUDIT_ID> <RETURN_NO> <RETURN_CODE> <WORKSPACE_NAME>

Once you expedite or abort the pending execution requests, you will be able to log into the single user mode.