Category: Data Governance

How to generate detailed Oracle BI (OBIEE) Repository Documentation

In this post, I will show the steps for using the OBIEE “Repository Documentation” utility to generate repository (RPD) lineage information.  I will also provide a couple example of how this documentation (output file) can be used.

To access and run the Repository Documentation utility,  from the BI Admin Tool menu, select Tools -> Utilities.

biadmintool_menu_tools_utilities

From the Utilities dialog, select “Repository Documentation”, and click “Execute…”

utilitiesdialog

In the “Save As” dialog, select the destination and enter the name you would like for the output file.

saverepositorydocumentationdialog

When it finishes, it will generate the output csv file.  Note  – this will likely be a large file.  It will contain all your repository objects.

obieerepositoryoutputfile

The RPD documentation file will contain the following columns:
Subject Area, Presentation Table, Presentation Column, Description – Presentation Column, Business Model, Derived logical table, Derived logical column, Description – Derived Logical Column, Expression, Logical Table, Logical Column, Description – Logical Column, Logical Table Source, Expression, Initialization Block, Variable, Database, Physical Catalog, Physical Schema, Physical Table, Alias, Physical Column, Description – Physical Column

You can use this file to quickly track lineage from physical sources to the logical columns to the presentation columns and identify all the logic and variables in between.
You can also use it to identify where and how much a specified table, column, variable, etc. is used which will help you to identify dependencies and know the effect of making changes or deleting elements.

Development, Data Governance, and Quality Assurance teams may find this information useful in this format.

Oracle EBS Payables Data Flow and Data Model

This post gives a quick overview of Oracle Payables data flow and data model for some of the most used tables in the module. This is not a complete coverage of the topic but aims to give a general idea of how records are stored in and moves through the module.

OraclePayablesDataflowDataModel

In Oracle Payables, before an AP transaction can be generated, a supplier must exist in the system.  When suppliers are created, records are created in AP_SUPPLIERS and AP_SUPPLIER_SITES.  Invoices are saved in AP_INVOICES (invoice header records) and AP_INVOICE_LINES (invoice lines records).

Payments generate records in AP_INVOICE_PAYMENTS and AP_PAYMENTS_SCHEDULE.  These tables will have 1 record for an invoice if the invoice is paid using a single payment, but will have multiple records for an invoice if the invoice is paid in installments or with more than one payment.

When an invoice is approved and when it is paid, accounting transactions are generated.  These transactions make their way to the GL_INTERFACE table via Payables Transfer to GL process.  In addition to interfacing with GL, Payables also interfaces with many other Oracle modules, such as, Purchasing, Assets, Projects, Inventory, and others (but will not be covered in this post).

Invoices can be entered into Oracle Payables from external systems via the AP_INVOICE_INTERFACE and AP_INVOICES_LINES_INTERFACE tables.  When the Payables Open Interface Import program is run, the records are brought into the regular header and lines tables (AP_INVOICE and AP_INVOICE_LINES).

When payments are made, the information about the payment is recorded in AP_CHECKS.

These are some of the sources for the star-schemas (dimension and fact tables) used in Oracle Business Intelligence Applications (OBIA) Financials module, and in particular, the Payables dashboard and analyses.

Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) List of Flexfields

This post is simply a table listing of the Key Flexfields (KFFs) in Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) (aka Oracle Applications). The table contains the flexfields, along with their Code, Owning Application and base table. 

Flexfields are commonly used in OBIEE reporting for EBS source systems. Flexfields are also an integral part of the Oracle Business Analytics Warehouse (OBAW) data model. It is worthwhile to be familiar with them.

  Name Code Owning Application Table Name
1 Account Aliases MDSP Oracle Inventory MTL_GENERIC_DISPOSITIONS
2 Accounting Flexfield GL# Oracle General Ledger GL_CODE_COMBINATIONS
3 Activity Flexfield FEAC Enterprise Performance Foundation  
4 AHL Route AHLR Complex Maintenance, Repair, and Overhaul  
5 Asset Key Flexfield KEY# Oracle Assets FA_ASSET_KEYWORDS
6 Bank Details KeyFlexField BANK Oracle Payroll PAY_EXTERNAL_ACCOUNTS
7 CAGR Flexfield CAGR Oracle Human Resources  
8 Category Flexfield CAT# Oracle Assets FA_CATEGORIES
9 Competence Flexfield CMP Oracle Human Resources  
10 Cost Allocation Flexfield COST Oracle Payroll PAY_COST_ALLOCATION_KEYFLEX
11 Grade Flexfield GRD Oracle Human Resources PER_GRADE_DEFINITIONS
12 Item Catalogs MICG Oracle Inventory MTL_ITEM_CATALOG_GROUPS
13 Item Categories MCAT Oracle Inventory MTL_CATEGORIES
14 Job Flexfield JOB Oracle Human Resources PER_JOB_DEFINITIONS
15 Location Flexfield LOC# Oracle Assets FA_LOCATIONS
16 Oracle Service Item Flexfield SERV Oracle Inventory MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS
17 People Group Flexfield GRP Oracle Payroll PAY_PEOPLE_GROUPS
18 Personal Analysis Flexfield PEA Oracle Human Resources PER_ANALYSIS_CRITERIA
19 Position Flexfield POS Oracle Human Resources PER_POSITION_DEFINITIONS
20 Public Sector Budgeting BPS Oracle Public Sector Budgeting  
21 Sales Orders MKTS Oracle Inventory SALES_ORDER_ID
22 Sales Tax Location Flexfield RLOC Oracle Receivables AR_LOCATION_COMBINATIONS
23 Soft Coded KeyFlexfield SCL Oracle Human Resources HR_SOFT_CODING_KEYFLEX
24 Stock Locators MTLL Oracle Inventory MTL_ITEM_LOCATIONS
25 System Items MSTK Oracle Inventory MTL_SYSTEM_ITEMS
26 Territory Flexfield CT# Oracle Receivables RA_TERRITORIES
27 Training Resources RES Oracle Learning Management