APS 11.1.2.2 New Feature: Essbase Web Services

APS 11.1.2.2 appears to have a significant new feature, Essbase Web Services.  Here is an excerpt from the readme file posted on the Oracle website:

Essbase Web Services

Web services are self-contained, modular applications that one can describe, publish, locate, and invoke over a network. Web services allow access to regular applications using a Web browser. Web services use XML to code and decode data, and SOAP (Simple Object Access Protocol) to transport it.
Essbase Web Services will expose Essbase user and administrative functionality in a services-oriented (SOA) environment via Provider Services, and allow Essbase to be easily integrated with both Oracle and third-party applications.

The APS Admin Guide also posted at the Oracle site has information on the Essbase Web Services and what you can do with them.  It appears you can query data and metadata along with performing some admin tasks.  One thing that looks useful immediately is the ability to execute a Maxl statement via a web service.  This would eliminate the need to install the Essbase client just to run Maxl statements; I have one customer who could benefit greatly from this functionality today.

Hopefully I will get a chance to play with these soon and post some sample code.  On the other hand, ten years ago I wrote web services to retrieve Essbase grid data into Dodeca and they are *very* fast, so I don't see myself working very hard on those particular APIs.

Essbase 11.1.2.2 Patch Set; Full 11.1.2.2 Update Version Still To Come?

There is a patch set out for Essbase 11.1.2.2 which is apparently in connection with the release of the Exalytics system.  According to the docs, however, it appears there may be a full update on the way as well.  This is from the Essbase readme file:

About this Patch

This Readme file describes the defects fixed in this patch set (PS) and the requirements and instructions for applying this PS.


Who should apply this patch: This PS contains defect fixes and changes that are specific to the Oracle Exalytics In-Memory machine. You should install this PS only in the following circumstances:

• You are installing Essbase on the Exalytics In-Memory Machine, or
• There is an urgent need for a defect fix that is included in this PS

Customers considering this PS for a platform other than the Exalytics In-Memory Machine should carefully review the list of fixed defects. If there is not a truly urgent need for a defect fix included in this PS, Oracle recommends customers install the upcoming Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) 11.1.2.2.000 release, which will contain an update, instead of this patch set. To check the availability of the EPM 11.1.2.2.000 release prior to installing this PS, visit the Oracle Software Delivery Cloud (https://edelivery.oracle.com).

Another note in the readme leads me to believe the Essbase VB API lives!  There is a defect fixed in this patch that is described as "API. Update version of esb32.bas file."  It looks like we need to get to work on the 11.1.2.2 Outline Extractor and other OlapUnderground tools.

Wow! More Than 1 Million Rows of Data per Minute!

As we continue to work on Dodeca, we continue to stretch the limit.  Today was certainly evidence of that. Dodeca already has the most powerful relational/spreadsheet technology available in the world, but our development team is not yet satisfied.  Instead, they are working on making it even better.  Specifically, they have implemented a cursored retrieval that will allow the Dodeca client to request a specified number of rows on each trip to the server.

To test this functionality, our dev team created some very large retrieves.  The SQL itself was fairly simple in that it returned only 7 columns of data and joined only 2 tables.  The performance we saw, however, was outstanding.  In tests conducted on a debug build of Dodeca, they saw over 1,030,000 rows of data, or a total of over 7,200,000 cells of data, retrieved from SQL Server and filled into a worksheet in about 37 seconds.  That means Dodeca is processing nearly 195,000 cells per second!

Many people ask me, "Why would you want to retrieve 1,000,000 rows of data into a spreadsheet?"   Well, we have customers who retrieve massive amounts of data.  We believe that, as a software provider, it isn't our place to second-guess why a customer wants to do something like that.  Instead, we focus on allowing customers the freedom to do their business their way; Dodeca just makes it faster and easier.  At 195,000 cells per second, I would call it really fast!  How would you like to see performance like that when you do an Essbase drill-through?

Smart View Dialog Positions

There was a question on the Network54 Essbase Board today about the member selection dialog in Smart View rendering off the screen.  It seems like I may have read something about this issue and a possible solution, so I decided to spend a few minutes investigating it..

The problem occurs when you have multiple monitors hooked up to your computer, open Smart View, connect to an Essbase database, open the Member Selection dialog and then move it onto your second monitor.  Smart View remembers where you moved the dialog and will display it there the next time you open the dialog.  The problem is, if you no longer have your second monitor attached, the dialog will display off-screen.

I took a look at the registry and found there is a DialogPositions setting in the registry under HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hyperion Solutions\HyperionSmartView\Options.

I found that you can close Excel/Smart View, delete the DialogPositions parameter from the registry, and restart Excel and the Member Select dialog will again be displayed centered on the main monitor.

You can make this easier for end users by creating a registration entries file.  On my machine, I created a text file and named it ResetSmartViewDialogs.reg.  In this file, I added the following lines:

REGEDIT4

[HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Hyperion Solutions\HyperionSmartView\Options]

"DialogPositions"=-


To run the file, just double-click on it and you will be warned about the changes to be made to the registry. Simply confirm that you want the entries to be made and the offending DialogPositions setting will be removed.

The Book..

You may have noticed that I haven't been posting consistently over the past few months.  The main reason for that is that I have been involved in writing a book.   Actually, I wrote one chapter of a book, but it was intense work on the Essbase Java API.

The title of the book is Developing Essbase Applications: Advanced Techniques for Finance and IT Professionals which is the brainchild of, and potential cause of heart failure for, my friend Cameron Lackpour. The chapter list is quite impressive:

• Essbase infrastructure
• Data quality
• Essbase Studio
• BSO in depth
• BSO to ASO conversions
• Designing ASO for performance
• Practical  MDX
• Essbase Java API
• Automating with Groovy
• Advanced Smart View
• Administering Essbase

Cameron recruited a team of Essbase professionals to come together on a book, defined what he wanted, managed us authors who whined about the amount of work it turned into, and lived to tell the story.  This book was written by a collection of authors with large amounts of real-life Essbase experience.  Almost all of these authors are speaking at Kscope12 as well. :

• Dave Anderson;
• Joe Aultman;
• John Booth;
• Gary Crisci;
• Natalie Delemar;
• Dave Farnsworth;
• Michael Nader;
• Dan Pressman;
• Robb Salzmann; and
• Angela Wilcox

The first draft of the book is now complete and has been sent to the publisher.  We are hoping the book will be published before, and available at, Kscope12 in late June. 

Kscope12 Venue

This past weekend, I participated in the ODTUG Board of Directors meeting which was held at the JW Marriott Hill Country in San Antonio, TX.  This will be the location of Kscope12 and I have to tell you, I was very impressed by the hotel and grounds.  First and foremost, the meeting areas for the conference are close together, so you will not need to walk very far between sessions, to get to the Exhibit Area or to get to lunch.

One of the big benefits of attending a conference is the one-to-one networking that you can do with other attendees and with the presenters.  This hotel looks like it will make that very easy.  The central atrium of the hotel has a large meeting area called the Crooked Branch Lobby that features a multiple fireplaces, sitting areas, games and a bar.  There are also multiple fireplaces and sitting areas just outside on the patio.  My guess is this area will be a prime gathering spot at Kscope12.  The picture I posted here does not do it justice.

The Crooked Branch Lobby

Just off the Crooked Branch Lobby is a sports bar called High Velocity.  This place has TV screens nearly everywhere and will be a popular hangout for sports fans.

High Velocity Sports Bar

Given that the content will, as always, be extremely good, the networking opportunities at this conference will be the best ever.  If you haven't registered yet, you can register at http://kscope12.com/ and use our discount code AOLAP to get $100 off.  I hope to see you there!

Kscope 2012 Sessions and Discount Code

Sorry I haven't posted anything in the past month or so, but recently I have been spending all of my writing efforts on some material for an upcoming book.  Thankfully, my writing on that project is now complete and I hope to spend more time writing here.

Since I posted last, I have learned I will be giving two presentations at Kscope12.  On Monday, 6/25/2012, I will be presenting on the topic of Oracle Fusion Accounting Hub: Where Oracle Fusion and Essbase Become One.  I think this will be a very interesting session that talks about the strategic importance of Essbase in the Oracle Fusion stack.  On Thursday, 6/28/2012, I will be presenting Advanced Essbase Java API Tips and Tricks.  I have done this session at the last several Kscope conferences, but try to add new content each time.

This year, Kscope12 features four distinct Hyperion related tracks including tracks for Hyperion Applications, EPM Business Content, Essbase and Beginner Essbase.  The session schedule is now posted on the Kscope website at http://caat.odtug.com/odtug_caat/caat_abstract_reports.location_schedule?conference_id=90&location_group=ALL.

If you have not yet registered for Kscope, register today and use the Applied OLAP discount code, AOLAP, to save $100 off your registration.  You can register for Kscope 2012 at http://kscope12.com/registration.  I am headed to the conference hotel tonight to help with conference planning and to participate in the ODTUG Board of Directors meeting.  In a previous board meeting, I voted for the selection of this property, the JW Marriott Hill Country, as the location for Kscope 2012 as I believe it will be a great place to learn and it will be a great place for families to play (while us tech people learn).   This will be my first visit to the property and I will let you know what I think.